Have You been Mis-Sold PPM?

Over the last five years I have come across many clients who have invested in PPM tools. I can probably count on one hand the number of these PPM implementations that the client would consider successful. Too often they have been abject failures.Does your PPM implementation resemble this scenario….

We picked a market-leading tool based on research.
It is now over 18 months since the implementation started and we still have just timesheets and project finances working.
We have spent over £500k on the software and related services.
We are using 10% of the software’s functionality
The software is driving our processes rather than the other way round
We do not have a view on project delivery or the state of the portfolio;
Project managers hate it!
You realize that you have just implemented a very expensive timesheet application.
Now I must declare an interest here as we at Bestoutcome develop and sell a PPM tool, PM3.

If this scenario is familiar then I think you have been mis-sold PPM. The large toolsets in this market have a huge amount of functionality but this comes at a price. It takes a very long time to implement this functionality and usually the implementation is abandoned due to budget constraints and the sheer difficulty.

We are working with 2 clients now who are, despite a large sunk investment, moving towards a more nimble tool (PM3) rather than stick with a leviathan PPM tool.

So if your PPM implementation resembles the above scenario, it maybe time to cut your losses. If it cannot highlight true project statuses or allow management to control and deliver key project initiatives then it is time for a change.

Similarly, if you are about to embark on a PPM selection process, go for the 80:20 rule. Don’t pick a tool that does everything and ask about speed of implementation. This could save you a lot of pain and heartache.

Remember: Biggest is not always best.