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Project Management Services

Project & Program Management

Virtual Project Management Office

IT Strategy Alignment

Project & Program Management
Projects often fail for a variety of reasons, but the most frequent one is lacking formal structure and approach to defining, executing and implementing the project deliverables. Strategic Project Solutions core strength is in managing projects, or multiple projects (otherwise known as programs). We comply with the application of PMI’s (Project Management Institutes) PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge) 39 core processes mapped against their 5 process groups and 9 Knowledge Areas. Best practices are utilized throughout the applicable project management methodologies to ensure the best results. Effective cost management and contract negotiations are assured from fiduciary duties expected by a CMA (Certified Management Accountant) and PMP (Project Management Professional) that can capitalize of cost savings throughout the project life cycle. Diverse industry and project experience includes:

ERP and Accounting System Implementations

Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS)

Global Inventory and Service Tracking Solution

Virtual PMO (Project Management Office)
While many organizations recognize the benefit of following project management methodologies, and could benefit by establishing a permanent PMO (Project Management Office) or PCO (Project Control Office), the cost is often prohibitive. Yet for the small to mid size organization, projects sometimes do have to be done (meeting regulatory, competitive or customer driven requirements).
Strategic Project Solutions addresses this need by offering a Virtual PMO. A cost effective approach to managing projects and bringing compliance with the application of PMI’s (Project Management Institutes) PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge) 39 core processes mapped against their 5 process groups and 9 Knowledge Areas. An organization can expect to utilize Strategic Project Solutions one to four days a month to monitor the progress of their projects. When it becomes cost effective to bring this service in-house, Strategic Project Solutions will ensure an effective transition of the structures already in place. Specific services may include:

Project Monitoring

Executive Reporting

Project Quality Assessments and Reviews

In-house project management training for project team members, IT and business staff

Project tracking portal with dashboard and escalation management monitoring

IT Strategy Alignment
Technical solutions require alignment to the business strategy of any organization. Systems are expensive to purchase, implement and maintain. Failure to ensure that the technology platform and systems meet the changing needs of an organization can be catastrophic. Strategic Project Solutions bridges IT and business through three key aspects: business analysis, strategy development, and business transformation.

Business Analysis & Business Case Preparation:
Many organizations have an idea of what they’d like to accomplish, but are uncertain of the impact, cost, benefits or return on investments. Strategic Project Solutions provides a comprehensive approach to completing analysis of the business processes and systems that leads to the production of accurate business cases. Well-defined SWOT (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats) are captured that strengthens the validity of the business case. Many clients have benefited by expansion of business analysis to include completion of detailed business requirements and preparation of appropriately defined business models.

Strategy Development:
A natural extension beyond business analysis is completion of comprehensive Business & IT Strategy Development. Strategic Project Solutions provides exceptional experience in understanding business needs and drivers required for effective executive decision making. Building IT solutions in isolation of business needs leads to ineffective, costly systems. Many clients have benefited by having their business needs documented leading to the production of cohesive Business & IT Strategies. Prior to making substantial investments in undertaking projects, organizations must have well defined strategies that act as a blue print to the work ahead. Samples of strategy development include:

Billing Strategy for major bank

Recruiting Strategy for major resource services organization

HRIS Strategy for services organization

Process Overviews of several accounting functions (payables, billing, inventory management, etc) and ERP requirements

Business Transformation & Change Management:
Agreement on strategy leads to requirement to document changes. Strategic Project Solutions has lead several organizations in defining effective Business Processes that lead to improved management control; improved business intelligence and metrics management; lower operating costs; and improved decision making. Championing Change Management across a department or enterprise to stakeholders is a value added service provided by Strategic Project Solutions . Properly defined organization structures and corresponding roles, responsibilities and aligned job descriptions support new business solutions that positively impact people, processes and systems.

Client Success Stories

Challenge – government organization replacing 30-year-old financial systems with PeopleSoft financials v9.0. Needed to integrate over 70 ancillary systems. Management lacked formal experience to establish project team and align requirements to funding constraints.
Size – $20 million program involving 30 team members.
Response – provided executive leadership and established teams to implement solution. Identified requirements, architected business solutions, hired and managed staff and systems integrators, and led teams configuring applications. Delivered over $0.5 million in negotiated savings from vendors.

Challenge – large international insurance firm needed compliance with regulatory requirements in supporting and reporting on IAS (International Accounting Standards) GAAP. Required new systems, processes and complete review of impact on personnel. Eight inter-dependent projects and consolidation of two principle business units would need to be addressed.
Size – $10 million program involving 30 team members.
Response – delivered comprehensive approach to program management. Identified requirements, architected business solutions, hired and managed staff and systems integrators, led teams configuring applications, and implemented solutions. Delivered over $1.2 million in negotiated savings from vendors.

Challenge – large utility firm unbundling services into spin-off company. Project functional areas of finance and HR solutions were far behind other program deliverables, thereby jeopardizing entire program. Five month turn around required to meet firm date.
Size – $3 million project involving 12 team members.
Response – brought in as replacement team leader, and quickly assessed need to implement structured approach to capture requirements, developing models, and execute appropriate configuration, testing, and implementation of solutions. Both HR and financial system applications and personnel were ready by required due date.

Challenge – large financial institution required billing strategy for wholesale clients. Added dimension of limited funding and complex infrastructure had to be addressed.
Size – $0.5 million project involving 12 team members.
Response – completed comprehensive needs assessment, inclusive of identifying impact to business units, of proposed solution. Addressed funding shortfall by identifying realistic phased approach that supported overall strategy.

Success Stories

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