Optimum transformed a higher education client’s project planning by enhancing resource efficiency, reporting accuracy, and project forecasting.
About the Client
The client is a leading community college district in California who provides accessible and affordable higher education through multiple campuses. The district offers a wide range of associate degrees, certificates, and transfer programs in various fields of study, and is dedicated to promoting student success, fostering community engagement, and preparing individuals for career advancement and further academic pursuits.
Business Challenges
The client sought to enhance the reporting capabilities for large-scale IT projects within their Project Management Office (PMO). When they approached Optimum, they faced significant challenges in managing the reporting of team assignments, timelines, progress, and budgets due to the large number of team members and different departments (each with their own processes) involved.
The client also struggled with resource allocation issues that created bottlenecks in project timelines and limited their ability to leverage cross-departmental expertise. They required a solution to streamline resource planning, improve visibility across departments, and reduce inefficiencies caused by siloed processes.
The client needed a solution to improve performance reporting, provide insights for project forecasting, and better leverage resources and skill sets across various teams.
Optimum’s Involvement
Optimum recommended integrating and configuring Resource Management into the client’s existing project planning and tracking solution. Our team conducted a series of meetings with the team to assess the current processes and technologies and offered guidance through the integration process. Optimum’s agile approach with discovery and development led to a flexible and efficient time to value to align with the portfolio resource and reporting needs.
As part of the project, our team identified additional opportunities for improvement, such as standardizing documentation processes and establishing governance rules for enhanced visibility and accountability. These recommendations formed the foundation for a Center of Excellence within the PMO.
Once the integration was complete, Optimum hosted a training and demonstration session for the executive team and provided comprehensive documentation, including a flowchart explaining data flow and a how-to guide with best practices and callouts.
Project Outcomes and Benefits
Resource Management was successfully integrated with the client’s project blueprints. The template sets were reconfigured to align with Resource Management, and previously created projects were loaded into the system. The transition was seamless for end users, with no work stoppage.
With Resource Management in place, the client’s leadership can now:
- Better allocate resources and identify gaps where project needs outpace available time for various subject matter experts.
- Generate more accurate and timely reports on project performance and progress.
- Gain valuable insights for forecasting project timelines and resource requirements.
- Improve collaboration across departments, enabling each team to establish their own processes within a standardized and governed system.
These resource management improvements also transcended departmental silos, facilitating better communication and coordination across the organization.
Key Metrics:
- Resource utilization efficiency increased by 20%
- Reporting errors reduced by 30%
- Project timeline accuracy improved by 25%
Additionally, the foundation established during this project enabled faster insights and resource planning, boosting overall productivity and profitability. As a follow-up, Optimum helped the client streamline their IT approval processes using defined business logic to prioritize initiatives and route them to the correct manager for deployment.
Future Opportunities
With their standardized system and strong governance framework in place, the client is now well-positioned to leverage advanced analytics tools such as Power BI and Qlik. This could include incorporating AI for risk identification, deeper insights, and actionable recommendations to further enhance their IT project management processes.
These improvements have significantly enhanced the client’s ability to manage large-scale IT projects efficiently and effectively, with the potential for continued innovation and success.
About Optimum
Optimum is an award-winning, nationally recognized IT consulting firm serving clients across multiple industries in the US and Canada. We specialize in helping organizations enhance efficiency, overcome project management challenges, and achieve digital transformation through strategic planning, innovative technologies, and streamlined PMO processes.
We offer a comprehensive range of project management solutions and services, including Smartsheet Consulting, Systems Integration, Business Process Optimization and Automation, Business Intelligence (BI), Custom Application Development, and Staff Augmentation.
Reach out today for a complimentary discovery session, and let’s explore the best project management solutions for your needs!
Contact us: info@optimumcs.com | 713.505.0300 | www.optimumcs.com
