ITMG624 W8; The Next Course Enrollment & Project Management Office

Enterprise Project Management (EPM)

Required Reading Resource;

Project management is recognized as a professional discipline that contributes significant competitive advantages to any enterprise. In addition, project management is now understood as something more than just a set of processes for controlling a project’s cost and schedule. The enterprise project management office (EPMO) is the vehicle that enables executives to successfully implement project business management practices. The EPMO provides executives with a management oversight capability that keeps all project teams, business units, departments, and divisions aligned with the enterprise’s business objectives. Executives and business unit managers want the answers to key questions before they agree to implement project business management on an enterprise-wide basis.

Chapter 1 - This is an overview of what Enterprise Project Management is all about. Read this to grasp EPMO concepts.

Chapter 2 - The EPMO as a Business Orgarnization

• Section 2.1 - Case Study

• Section 2.2 - Typical Project Management Office (PMO)

• Section 2.3 - Structuring the EPMO

Chapter 3 - Enterprise-wide Project Management

• Sections 3.1- Enterprise-Wide Project Management

• Section 3.2 - Integrating Project, Business and Operations Management

• Section 3.3 - Project Business Management - Six Key Factors

• Section 3.4 - Institutionalizing Project Management Takes Commitment

Chapter 7 -Managing Portfolios, Programs and Projects

• Section 7.1 - Role of the EPMO in Managing Portfolios, Programs and Projects

• Section 7.2 - The EPMO in Larger or Global Enterprises

Instructions: Class, I appreciate your participation in this discussion. For this discussion, create an original post addressing the topic(s) below, prior to midnight ET on Wednesday. Continue to follow your classmates' posts for the remainder of the week and respond to two or more of your classmates prior to midnight ET on Sunday. Your follow-up posts may add additional insights to a classmate's opinions or may challenge posted opinions. Use examples from the readings or from your own research to support your views as appropriate. Be sure to read the follow-up posts to your own posts and reply to any questions or requests for clarification. By the way, include the name of the person's post you are replying to. Thanks!

What is the role of EPMO in managing Portfolios, Programs and Projects?

Congratulations on completing over 75% of your course! Please reflect and share your educational goals. Here are some questions to serve as a catalyst for your reflection and discussion:

• What degree are you working toward?

• What benefits do you hope to achieve with your degree e.g. career advancement?

• What is your progress in accomplishing your educational goals?

• What courses are you starting next month? Why did you choose these courses?

• If you anticipate any obstacles or have any concerns, how do you plan to address them?

• Would you like to discuss your concerns with an APUS representative?

• Faculty Only Response

What is the role of EPMO in managing Portfolios, Programs and Projects?

An Enterprise Project Management Office (EPMO) is a centralized business function that provides project management business practices, processes, and support services. Staff within this group provide services such as providing support directly to portfolio, program, and project managers, integrating the application of portfolio, and project management business practices with

operational business practices (Bolles & Hubbard, 2007).

The EPMO is located at the highest level of the organization. The role of EPMO in managing Portfolios, Programs and Projects includes:

Portfolio Management which involves developing and maintaining a master schedule of portfolios planned and in process and assigning managers to portfolios.

Program Management calls for monitoring program status on a scheduled basis to measure performance against performance metrics and assigning managers to programs.

Project Management involves applying project management processes enterprise wide.

Project Administration involves utilizing plans and procedures, systems administration, and process tool improvement.

Training and education require developing an education and training program to achieve the skills and knowledge required to meet competency requirements.

and Managing Distributed Project Management Offices requires developing and maintaining a master budget, master forecast plan and master schedule for distributed PMOs.

Questions to serve as a catalyst for my reflection.

I’m working towards an MBA with concentration in Information Technology Management. I hope this degree will help towards getting my feet in the door and lead to better career opportunities and advancement options in the Information Technology space.

I have three more courses including a Capstone project to complete this program.

I am starting the course Information Security Management next, and I choose this course because I believe Security is important in the IT world and I hope with the course I can learn how to help organizations better protect their data and operations.

I don’t anticipate any obstacles at this time but if I do have any, I’ll get them resolved using resources available to me via the proper channels. Currently, I do not have any concerns to discuss with an APUS representative.

Wish everyone all the best in their careers!

REFERENCES

Bolles, D. & Hubbard, D. (2007). The Power of Enterprise-Wide Project Management (1st ed.).

Saranac Lake: American Management Association