21 August 2003

Volume 1, Number 1

Welcome to the inaugural edition of the PMOUSA Network newsletter.

PMOUSA endeavors to bring you the most current information effecting the Program Management Office (PMO) today.

In my work in Asia, Australia, USA, Canada and Europe, in every company I visit, management is complaining about the number of projects that are on the go. Project managers are often angry about how unrealistic executives have become with their due date demands and resource allocation. At the same time, from my experience, I can tell you that executives are not making demands to be hard-nosed. They are caught between a rock and a hard place. They feel forced to escalate their demands, even without a softening economy. Every PMO must find a way to quickly help both sides, or they will soon be dead.

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Most project management software does not work as promised. It is regrettable that organizations spend over $1 billion per year on project management software, yet most projects end up being late, over budget and under scope:

• Over 83% of all IT projects are delivered late/over-budget. Projects completed from large companies have only 42% of the originally designed features and functions – Standish Group Report, Chaos 2000
• On average, high-tech projects are late by 100% despite the use of project management software and traditional tools – University of California at Berkeley
• Most defense projects take too long/cost too much. Seven of the 10 largest smart procurement projects are late/over budget – National Audit Office, UK, Dec 2002

Traditional project management software assume a perfect world, one that doesn't exist.

• The voting has begun! Review the candidates and cast your vote for the best PMO!

Microsoft Project Community

Microsoft® Office Project 2003, the latest release of its project management family of products. Available later this fall, the Microsoft Project 2003 product line is integrated with the Microsoft Office System business productivity tools and is designed to meet the needs of two specific customer usage scenarios: Microsoft Office Project Standard 2003 for stand-alone desktop application use, and the Microsoft Office Enterprise Project Management (EPM) Solution, which is made up of Project Professional, Project Web Access and Project Server. Coupled with the familiarity of the Microsoft Office System, the EPM solution makes it easier for executives to gain visibility into their portfolio of projects and employees to collaborate on the documents, issues and risks associated with their projects.

Join the PMOUSA Microsoft Project Community and stay current with the latest developments in Microsoft Project and the secrets on how to get the most from this popular project management tool.