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In this second interview with Pat Zornes we are going a lot deeper into PMO Assessments.

In her white paper titled “Accelerating Enterprise Improvement with a PMO Assessment” Pat discusses 7 methods that can be used when performing such a PMO assessment. We look at what these methods are and how to use them.

Pat also recommends that we focus on the Process Life Cycle, Organizational Environment and PM Competency in our PMO as we perform the assessment. Here she’ll tell us why we need to assess these and how.

Update: Pat's paper is no longer available for download and we do not have a copy either. So sorry.

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This week’s episode is on one of my favorite topics: PMOs. In particular we are going to discuss if a PMO Assessment will lead to accelerated enterprise improvement or if it is simply a waste of time. But of course, we first answer the question what on earth is a PMO assessment, how do you do one and what type of results and follow up work can you expect if you do it right.

To help us look at this I have invited Pat Zornes as a podcast guest. Pat is an executive consultant for Robbins Gioia (www.teamrg.com)  wrote a whitepaper on exactly this topic so she has a lot to say about this. For instance, Pat says that “An effectively conducted assessment can save months or even years of effort and frustration.  But a poorly conducted assessment can waste not only the time to do the assessment, but valuable time afterward implementing the wrong “solutions”.”

Let’s see what her recommendations are.

Update: Pat's paper is no longer available for download and we do not have a copy either. So sorry.

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I attended the Gartner PPM & IT Governance Summit in Orlando, FL last month. During this time I got a chance to speak with Gartner's Audrey Apfel and learn more about specific findings and recommendations that Gartner has for it's clients.

Unfortunately, I was 25 minutes late to our 30 minute meeting.

However, Audrey was kind enough to get with me over the phone, so that we could still discuss the summit, what she sees as surprising research findings that were presented, her personal thoughts on important Project Management Office (PMO) strategies that organizations should keep in mind and lastly we also look at her recommendations in regards to Project Portfolio Management and Governance that companies with an existing structure and those who are just starting out must know about.

She has some excellent advice for all of us.

If you are interested in learning more about Gartner's services please visit www.gartner.com. Also, the tentative dates for the 2010 PPM & IT Governance Summits are May 2010 in London and June 2010 in Orlando, FL.

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Project Portfolio Management (PPM) describes a methodical approach for analyzing and collectively managing a group of current or proposed projects based on numerous key characteristics. And yes… you’ve heard me say this exact sentence about 2 weeks ago as I introduced the interview with Rick Moreau from Compuware. The reason why I am repeating this sentence here is because you are going to hear from 8 companies who were exhibitors at the Gartner PPM & IT Summit and learn more about 7 PPM Solutions and 1 online project management community.

The original plan was that I would have a short interview with every single one of the solution providers at the exhibition for you. Unfortunately in the end only the following7 solution providers and 1 media company had a representative who found the time to talk to me:

• www.daptiv.com
• www.compuware.com
• www.portfoliodecisionware.com
• www.gantthead.com
• www.myclarity.com
• www.planview.com
• Update: Some companies are no longer in business, so we removed their links above.

The order in which they are listed and in which you will hear these interviews in this episode is completely at random. I got a business card from each of my interview guests, tossed them into a hat and drew them out one by one. And the way they came out of the hat is the order we present them to you.