Enterprise Navigator

Although late in arriving, the familiar triple-digit summer heat of central Texas has been bearing down on us consistently for several weeks now, and there is no imminent forecast of relief. But despite this, before you know it, temperatures will begin to drift back down to more tolerable levels and all of the great things we love about Fall will be upon us, including new hope for your favorite football team and a new season of shows to replace the inescapable reruns on TV (I can't wait to see Shatner in his new show, and new episodes of "The Big Bang Theory" and "Sons of Anarchy").

Fall also brings a more reinvigorating tempo at work. This time of the year it seems even the pace of business gets lethargic from the Summer doldrums. People take time off in droves, and summer hours kick in. For those actively managing projects, increased staff absences poke holes in the best laid resource plans and hamper progress. Fortunately, sponsors, stakeholders and decision-makers also head off on vacation (or in Europe, 'on holiday'), reducing the level of scrutiny you have to contend with -- perhaps at least delaying the inevitable pressure to catch up. Various approvals slow to a crawl as well because "so-and-so is out until the end of the month." Business at the speed of molasses.

Then comes September. The increase in activity is palpable, as if the entire organization begins to march double-time. Meetings regain full attendance and vigor. The work day gets longer as the days get shorter. Co-workers arrive with a harried look, already full of adrenaline from the added burden of packing lunches and dropping off kids at school. Everyone tries to make up for lost time as an entire quarter of business gets compressed into the month. October brings even more activity as people suddenly realize that the end of the year has (yet once again) managed to sneak up on them.

I like the flurry; it's exciting! Here at Planview we have a lot of things quickly heading our way. We will start out September celebrating a new product release containing some significant new capabilities and improvements. This also marks the beginning of the high season for industry events, which means I finally get to roll out from behind my desk and hit the road to meet some of you -- at PMI chapter events, the PMO Symposium, PDMA, and CampIT.

November also brings us the Planview Horizons 2010 Annual User Conference; face-to-face again after a brief hiatus. Replacing last year's virtual venue, the 2010 conference will be held in downtown Austin at the AT&T Conference Center, situated on the venerable "40 Acres;" the epicenter of college football for so many; the Land of the Longhorns; yes -- the University of Texas campus. How appropriate that Horizons be held at a place whose motto is, "What Starts Here Changes the World." Greg Gilmore, our president, is an Aggie (a.k.a., Texas A&M; constituting one of the great college rivalries), so how this got approved is beyond me -- oh, wait; it must have been while he was on vacation.

Hook 'em Greg.

"Hello it's me, I've thought about us for a long, long time…"

Name that tune.

OK, maybe that's not much of a challenge (duh, given the first three words are the title). How about, name that singer/songwriter/producer?

Yes, it's been a long, long time indeed since my last post, so lots of things to catch you up on.

So, here we are, one month after the publication of Taming Change with Portfolio Management. Most of you probably received an email from me announcing said release and encouraging your purchase. Did I mention lately that marketing a book is at least as much work as writing one? For any potential authors out there, don't forget to consider this as a major aspect of your planning (and budgeting). This also explains why you haven't heard much from me on this page the last few weeks.

We are getting great interest and response from initial readers and reviewers. There are several links on the book website where you can listen to interviews (be sure to check out the two-part interview I did with Cornelius Fichtner on the PM Podcast, Episode 149, read reviews, and download supporting content. We have also started posting excerpts of some videos that Pat and I taped which further explain some of the key topics; find them on the Resources tab.

There you will also find a listing of upcoming engagements I'll be doing related to topics from the book, including the following:

Silicon Valley Chapter PMI Annual Symposium
September 20-21, 2010
Santa Clara, CA

Tearing Down the Wall! Integrating Portfolio Management Across the Life Cycle of Change
Ultimate In Success
September 21, 2010
Santa Clara, CA

CampIT Project and Portfolio Management Symposium
September 30, 2010
Chicago, IL

34th Annual Global Conference on Product Innovation Management (PDMA)
October 16-20, 2010
Orlando, FL

Yes, there are two events listed in Santa Clara; I'm not sure yet which day I will be speaking at the PMI symposium, however, for those in the area who are not attending the Silicon Valley chapter event but are interested in portfolio management, Harish Chinai has asked me to do a 90-minute evening presentation and book signing at his facilities. If you are in the San Jose/Bay area and are even remotely involved with project or portfolio management, then you probably know of Harish. It's a free event, so please register and come by (BYOB).

If you have never attended one of the CampIT one-day mini symposiums, I would encourage you to check it out, especially if you are in the midwest; Dan Horwich runs a pretty good program, and it is a great value.  'PDMA' is the Product Development and Management Association 2010 Global Conference on Product Innovation Management; no presentation at this one, but I will be helping out.

I bet some of you are thinking, "Book, schmook. Great info but it's static; what I need is something more interactive where I can go get specific answers to my unique questions." Ah, such a deal I have for you! For readers and those otherwise interested in portfolio management the PMO and business process development, we have launched a LinkedIn Group, titled the same as the book.  The whole purpose of the book is simply to get a conversation started, so the LinkedIn group is where you can "continue the conversation" with others who have the same topical interests as yourself. Please join us, ask questions and share your insights with others.

As for other things going on (that aren't book-related!), if you didn't get a chance to watch it live, please check out the on-demand version of the webcast we did last week with Nick Boxall, the MIS Manager at Best Buy Europe. We explore the topic of how to extract critical information from your PPM system. Hopefully the link will be up on the Resource Center of planview.com by the time you read this, and I think you will find it much more upbeat and informative than a song about almost breaking up with someone over the phone.

Hello after a busy week in London. I am pleased to report it continues to be both jolly and old, as well as undeniably charming. A few topics to cover, including the recent Gartner PPM & IT Governance Summits in Orlando and the UK, the associated 2010 Magic Quadrant Report, and Taming Change.

First, a quick update on the book; Taming Change with Portfolio Management is now shipping from Amazon.com, and I'm sure other retailers are following suit. We handed out several copies at the Gartner events and to those attending our European Advisory Board meeting. Interest in the title continues to grow, but now market response will give us a real measure.

I have begun a LinkedIn Group named the same as the title to provide some continuity for readers who have comments, thoughts or questions. We invite readers and anyone else interested to join us to 'continue the discussion.' Our goal is to create an active community around the topic of managing change using portfolio management. Expect forum activity to ramp up in mid-July after people have had a chance to get a copy and read the book, but it is now live and accepting members if you want to go ahead and join.

On to the Gartner PPM & IT Governance Summits. While I was not personally at the Orlando event, I did get a chance to attend the summit in London. Comparing notes with others, I think the general tone and content were consistent in both locations. Although most of the messaging from Gartner served to reinforce what they are already publishing through their various reports, the live events give their analysts more time to better explain the basis for trends and the recommendations they offer, and a chance for the audience to ask questions.

We were pleasantly surprised by the robust attendance in London, which included more than 60% who came over from continental Europe and elsewhere outside of the UK. I understand that the numbers were double the original target for the event. It seems that practitioners in EMEA are hungry for more opportunities to learn, share and interact.

One session in particular is worth specifically noting, as it featured someone outside of the Gartner organization. Gregory Balestrero, the President and CEO of the Project Management Institute (PMI), was featured in a general session at both events, answering questions from Gartner senior staff and attendees. Among other things, he outlined PMI's plans for future growth and expansion.

I submitted a question to ask how PMI plans to better respond to emerging practices and incorporate these changes into their certification process and body of knowledge. The gist of the response was that works to a 3-year turnaround time, citing how they were now addressing Agile practices as an indicator of their responsiveness.

So, now I have to ask you -- are you OK with that?

On a different note, several people I talked with at the UK event were quick to point out that their interests lie well beyond the specific needs of IT, but they had nowhere else to turn for information and insights. With that in mind, I'll ask the question out loud -- where do we go to for an Enterprise PPM focus? For example, I find it curious that IT PPM is still the primary community discussing the idea of the Enterprise PMO. Clearly, the idea of independently "running IT as a business" is now past tense, in favor of a more inclusive, integrated approach. I would like to suggest that forward-thinking practitioners and industry leaders are now extending their attention beyond the realm of the CIO; isn't it time that we all escape the IT paradigm and adopt a more broad view of the subject? Just imagine what could be accomplished if we could get everyone involved in the cycle of change talking together.

Finally, the 2010 Gartner Magic Quadrant for IT Project and Portfolio Management was unveiled in Orlando, and again presented in London. For those who have seen the report, then the case of the mysterious t-shirt from my last entry is now solved.

Sorry I've been a little lax in posting lately -- suffice to say things have been very hectic on several fronts.

I am pleased to announce that the first printing of our book, Taming Change with Portfolio Management, is now off the presses and heading to warehouses and resellers. If I do say so myself, the final hard-bound book is a handsome product; the publisher and printer did a very nice job and we are pleased with the results.

Pat Durbin and I have worked hard to include the best possible balance of topics, concepts and practices to provide a solid foundation for any organization that wants to apply portfolio management to improve operational efficiency and effectiveness. The subtitle, 'Unify Your Organization, Sharpen Your Strategy and Create Measurable Value' sums up what we believe is a compelling case for using the approaches we describe.

I hope that those of you who choose to get a copy find it relevant to the challenges you face. Although we have drawn immensely on our collective experience to provide useful practices, Taming Change is not so much about where portfolio management has been, but rather about where it is going. Below is an excerpt from the preface:

"This leads us to the third driver for this book-timing. We believe we are at an important juncture in the evolution of business management that is best summed up by one word-convergence. Over the last decade, improvements in processes, techniques, and supporting technology have enabled us to make significant advances in several individual fields of business management. However, the proliferation of specialized capabilities within individual functional areas is also awakening the business world to the need to unify how organizations operate. We are seeing this among industry analysts, executives in different business sectors, professional associations, supporting vendors, and practitioners in many disciplines. As the volume and pace of change increases, there is a compelling need to align and consolidate the efforts of marketing specialists, product and brand managers, strategic planners, financial analysts, PMOs, project managers, operations leaders, technologists, and others to achieve shared business objectives.

We believe this growing recognition, combined with the use of portfolio management as a common unifying mechanism, creates a perfect storm for improving how organizations perform."

Early feedback has been promising. I am happy to announce that we have agreed to a request by the PMI PMO Specific Interest Group to use Chapter 16, The Portfolio Management Office, as the epilogue in their forthcoming PMO Handbook, which will be published by J. Ross later this year.

I had sent an advance reader copy to John Worthington, principal consultant at MyServiceMonitor, and he did an excellent online webcast on Bright Talk recently, featuring how the concepts in the book are applied to implementing ITIL. View the on demand version of Portfolio Management & ITIL: A Book Review. You can always find out the latest news about the book, what people are saying and upcoming public presentations at the Taming Change Web site.

Although the official publication date is 1 July, everything is a few weeks ahead of schedule. The book is available for pre-order now at Amazon.com and other online retailers, and should be on bookshelves very soon. Pat and I look forward to your thoughts on the book, and we hope that it helps to spark ongoing dialogue on how we can all better manage our organizations in the changing world we live in.

We can tell that May has finally arrived in central Texas, as indicated by the 90-degree high temperatures forecast for most of the week. But, before you know it, it will be a comfortable early November just up the road in Dallas, which is the host city for the 2010 PMO Symposium.

The PMO Symposium is organized by the PMI PMOSIG (which will soon transition to become part of the Program Management Community of Practice), who released the initial agenda on Friday; you can access it on the port side of the event homepage from the link above. I am honored and humbled to be among the speakers selected for this years' event, given the list of other industry notables and practitioners presenting, including several people that I know and highly respect -- Mark Perry, Lisa DiTullio and Jim Furfari, to name a few. I've also spoken with Cindy Margules on a call before, so I am looking forward her presentation. Conspicuously, the keynotes for this year still remain a mystery at this early date; I must admit, I'm intrigued. Could it be… do you think… nah, no way.

So, if you weren't able make it to San Antonio for the inaugural symposium in 2008, or to Atlanta last year, what should you expect? In my opinion, this is currently THE premier North American gathering for PMO practitioners and stakeholders. It is a high quality, well-rounded program that is long enough (3 full days, including the workshops on Sunday afternoon) to offer a meaningful learning and networking opportunity. There is good sponsorship from the supporting community (Planview is proud to sponsor the SIG and symposium again this year) so the exhibition hall is busy, including a nice bookstore the SIG operates with all of the latest titles from many publishers. Also, new this year is that the PMO of the Year award, co-sponsored by PM Solutions, will be handed out in conjunction with the conference. (Hurry -- there's still time to submit your PMO!)

Speaking with a few of the organizers, they are expecting well over 200 people in Dallas. Quite frankly, I won't be surprised to see that number grow to more than 300, now that the financial outlook (and corporate travel budgets) seems to be easing. I think the last few years have created some pent up demand on the part of managers who are anxious to get out and physically reconnect with their professional communities. If you are in a PMO, this is the place to be, and the year to be there.

You don't have to be a member of the PMO SIG (or even PMI) to attend, and let's face it, Dallas is about as good as it gets when it comes to centrally-accessible air travel. The event venue will be downtown at the newly renovated Sheraton Dallas Hotel, with plenty of extracurricular activities nearby to occupy your spouse or your evenings. I'm planning to go up Friday afternoon to make it a (short) long weekend. (I say "short" because I'll also be hosting a workshop on Sunday afternoon.)

Okay, you've heard enough about this event from me -- but what do others think? If you have been to the symposium in the past, drop a comment and share your own impressions. In the mean time, be sure to register and we look forward to seeing you in Dallas!

For as long as there have been project managers, there has been the issue of where they should be on the organization chart, and why. In particular, the question routinely arises about whether it is a good idea for project managers to report to the PMO, and if so, to what degree?

This subject is revisited in a short paper recently released by Gartner and written by Audrey Apfel; "Q&A: Should Project Managers Be Inside or Outside the PMO?" (G00175471, dated 8 April, 2010). It contains a few pages of thoughtful response in the form of the advantages and disadvantages of various reporting models, which I won't repeat here. Bottom line, Audrey suggests a decentralized model makes the most of project manager skills and to spread the practice (…and furthermore, she adds that even though a decentralized model is hard to manage, the PMs are likely already so embedded in other departmental activities that it is even harder to change).

If you are expecting a different or more definitive answer from me, well, probably not so much. But, it is an interesting topic worthy of further cogitation. I have gotten the sense over the years that many organizations have not put a lot of concentrated thought and planning into the subject; it just sort of ends up being a certain way based on where the formal project manager role was originally created.

For example, in IT, it is a common practice for many project managers to report to Application Development. Now, this is fine for the actual development part of a software project, but what about those phases that happen before and afterwards? Hmmm, does this possibly have any bearing on whether business requirements are nailed down tight, or if adequate focus is placed on successful deployment of a new solution? If most of your project managers do indeed come from App Dev, what will the Agile revolution do to the number of PMs in the organization in the long run?

Furthermore, do you really want your PM to come from App Dev when you are facing a process improvement project, implementing a procured asset, or some other initiative that doesn't involve cutting code? I know, I know -- if the PM is good, theoretically it shouldn't really matter, but let's face it, we are products of our environments. Then there is also the inherent reluctance of the App Dev manager to cough up resources for projects outside of his or her interests.

Taking this a step further, how many projects are done primarily within the confines of a single department versus drawing significant resources from across several groups? Does it make sense that the majority of project managers reside in technology groups when the majority of projects are requested by other parts of the organization to implement business improvements? I'm just asking.

Of course, having project managers report directly to the PMO presents its own set of dilemmas. It is after all, a bit of a "fox in the hen house" situation, in that the ability of the PMO to provide oversight and accountability becomes a bit tricky.

(Reading this so far, it is getting a bit too Andy Rooney-like for comfort; can't you just picture him, hands folded on the desk, reciting this in that whiney voice?).

But, I've had pretty good luck with centralization of service staff over the years. So, cultural idiosyncrasies notwithstanding, if I were to design an approach, I might be inclined to centralize most PMs who support routine projects within something akin to the latticed PMO structure as described by Margo Visitacion of Forrester. This would keep them close to the departmental action to still retain the advantages of a decentralized model that Audrey points out, while also countering many of its disadvantages. I would then give those project managers a career path to become Senior PMs, who report to the EPMO and manage the big strategic projects or those that involve multiple lines of business -- if I were to design an approach, that is (and of course, I'm not). And, just to show you the influence that Mr. Perry has had on me, let me quickly say that I am only talking about 'formal' PMs in a so designated full-time role, not the myriad informal/accidental/part-time project managers that spring up in organizations like the crabgrass in my backyard. The PMO (and PMs) should give them assistance and love whenever they can (the informal PMs, not the crabgrass -- it gets NO love).

Still imperfect, but I'm just trying to have my cake and eat it too. I love cake. Just ask my family; I'm a fool for cake. Mmmmm, cake.

Remember the Binary Day post from November of last year? Well, I just checked the market (DJIA) and it was at 11011.11 -- go figure.

We don't spend an inordinate amount of time here discussing multiple PMO situations, so this post is dedicated to the topic. Those of you who attended (or saw the on-demand version) of "The PMO in 2010 and Beyond" Webcast may recall a discussion we had about 'latticed PMO structures' with our esteemed guest, Margo Visitacion of Forrester. Well, Margo just released her research paper on the subject, dated April 9, 2010 and titled, "The Next-Generation PMO: The Latticed Model Enhances Enterprise IT Visibility."

Suburbanites who have fishbowl backyards are already familiar with the use of lattice. You can use it to create a sense of intimacy and personal space around decks, porches, or hot tubs. Whether it is in form the stapled redwood variety or of the more recent molded plastic type, lattice serves to define an area and add some privacy, while still communicating part of the view, breeze and sounds of your surroundings.

In some respects, this relates to the concept of the latticed PMO model for multi-PMO situations. Margo is quick to point out it is not hierarchical in form, but rather a more loosely defined consortium of multiple PMOs that work together as needed. A key concept is that smaller, departmental PMOs have enough autonomy to provide on-the-ground services to their constituents; this fits well with my personal PMO mantra of 'global alignment, local support.'

As Margo answered during the Webcast, a latticed PMO model is not mutually exclusive of using an Enterprise PMO; it's more a matter of how the EPMO influences the other PMOs of the organization, and to what degree. Since the other, more localized PMOs do not report to the EPMO, the relationship becomes more advisory, and the local PMOs have more flexibility and freedom to focus on those they serve, rather than being skewed towards primarily taking commands from the mothership.

The idea of a PMO model as Margo explains it is probably more reflective of common multi-PMO environments than one might think. Surveys usually show that a healthy percentage of organizations have PMOs that operate in such a manner. Our 2008 PMO 2.0 survey reflected that 10% of respondents were in a multiple PMO environment that were functionally aligned, while another 24% indicated their multi-PMOs were largely independent. This compares to only 12% who indicated their PMOs were using a federated model (54% of respondents were in single PMO situations).

I wouldn't be surprised to find that, upon closer examination of the PMOs in the functional and independent categories, many of them would really be collaborating in ways similar to what Margo describes. If you are a PMO in a multi-PMO environment and you don't collaborate with the PMOs in other departments at all, well, I'd suggest you may have some serious silo issues -- not to mention a large missed opportunity.

So, for all of you PMOs that fit this model, now you have a name for yourself. Yet one more term to help enrich our colorful and somewhat daunting language of business.

BTW, I'd be remiss if I didn't also mention that Margo also reiterates in this paper the importance of modern PMOs to expand their interests and areas of focus -- Oh yeah.

Finally, we are taking our Webcast series international next week -- I'll be having a discussion with Patrick LeRoy of Allianz France and how they approached the challenge of managing the many demands placed upon their organization. Although this event is primarily directed towards Europe, my French is a little rusty (as in non-existent) so we will be presenting in English. With that and the timing of the event, there is no reason why those in North America shouldn't join us on the Webcast as well if you like. The Webcast will take place Tuesday, April 20th at 4:00 pm CEST / 9:00 am Central US / 10:00 am Eastern US. Register here for the Allianz France Webcast for the Webcast.