most effective steps
that an organisation
can take to improve
the accuracy and
validity of its IT
investment strategy.
Figure 3.2.2: Corporate Vision (AG-CV) Architecture (Source: Atlantic Global)
Portfolio Management is a popular term and software sector in its own right. Atlantic Global delivers these features and capabilities within its Corporate Vision solution set. It establishes a clear line of sight from the top-level, pan-initiative view right down to the individual project layer, allowing managers and executives to clearly see and understand how effective their strategies are, and if necessary, which programs or projects to review.
At this top level it is also possible to undertake full forecasting and planning activities within the same Corporate Vision environment. For example, various strategies and plans can be simulated using scenario modelling and ‘what if?’ analyses conducted to ascertain the impact of certain decisions. A classic example here is the impact of slipping milestones on other projects. Key performance indicators or warning indicators can easily be surfaced, again giving executives and managers an important window on what is happening today, rather than having to wait until it is too late to be rectified.
Part of rectifying problems and ensuring effective portfolio management is the ability to view resource allocation across projects and, if necessary, reallocate people to more critical activities. Again, having this level of visibility whilst retaining the capacity to drill-down into detail is an extremely valuable resource. Corporate Vision is designed to handle automatic resource allocation, facilitated by an underlying skills database. This allows resource plans to be tested for feasibility, matching against skills, competencies, experience, and availability. This gives resource managers the means to match supply and demand, and clearly demonstrate to the rest of the business where potential shortfalls exist.
Almost every organisation uses project management software to one degree or another. Service-oriented businesses rely on project management (and hence project managers) extensively; yet tend to struggle when it comes to truly delivering value out of the function. This is not meant as a slight against project managers; it is simply that no-one within the business has an accurate, constantly updated view of exactly where resources are being used, misdirected, or under- or over-worked. Also, lacking this view, projects are often run in isolation of one another, meaning that the knock-on impact of delays or poor resource and time allocation cannot be predicted, leading to the inevitable fire fighting situation.
Butler Group feels that Corporate Vision improves this situation, firstly by integrating data, projects, resources, and time management, and then acting as a central facility for describing and instilling best practice project management disciplines right into the heart of the business.
The key to how this is achieved is through a consistent planning methodology, which is independent of any specific management methodology. All project data is stored in a central databank allowing clear visibility of resources and project-specifics such as tasks, budgets, goals, and milestones. Whilst Atlantic Global can deliver such capability directly through the functional modules of its Business Solutions Set, the added value of Corporate Vision is to deliver this visibility across any number of projects.
Using the underlying features of Atlantic Global’s Business Solutions Set, users are asked to record their time and effort expenditure against the tasks they have been assigned within the projects that they are involved. Corporate Vision is designed for immediate repurposing of data and information, meaning that if necessary such time sheet information can be read in real time. Timesheet approval is also built in, allowing supervisors to monitor input.
Time management goes further than just recording the time people spend in various activities – although this in itself can be extremely valuable. Atlantic Global ties expense management to the time management function, allowing costing and rates (multi-currency if necessary) to be applied. This instantly allows costs to be analysed (in real-time if required) in a number of ways, for example, by project, by client, by activity, and by department. This gives visibility into cost distribution and has a dramatic impact on billing. Corporate Vision also provides clear visibility of important financial information. This is vital in order to deliver the complete picture of how well the organisation is able to translate its resources and time into cash. At the Corporate Vision level the mandate is very much for tracking and overview of budget, expenses, margin, profits, and general cash flow. In addition, it provides financial modelling and forecasting capabilities, encouraging the business to become more proactive. The expense management functional module of Atlantic Global’s Business Solutions Set provides the micro-financial control, ensuring that information is entered and collated in line with the businesses needs. The way information is accessed and utilised is clearly critical in a solution of this nature. Corporate Vision uses business roles as the primary basis for filtering information. Roles are designated with the required security and administration levels, allowing users to see data pertaining to their function and position within the business. These role-based dashboards display key metrics and reports, and support drill-down to the lowest level of detail. Corporate Vision is Web-based and is highly configurable. Configuring the solution as opposed to customising it ensures that upgrades and enhancements can be performed easily. Any changes made by a user are captured and logged, providing a full audit trail. For example, in order to change a milestone the project manager will have to enter an explanation as to why it needs to be shifted, and this data automatically becomes available to his or her superiors. Corporate Vision directly supports a decent level of reporting, for example, with out-of-the-box trend analysis. However, the underlying database can also be accessed and queried by any enterprise BI solution.
Service-based businesses find great difficulty in achieving and maintaining a consistent high-level view that tells them how effective they are at using their key assets – people, time, and cash. Consequently, opportunities are lost and resources wasted as initiatives and projects get delayed and/or delivered over budget. Atlantic Global’s Corporate Vision solution aims to address the situation, providing an abstracted,