MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 12, 2020 – Seventy five percent of projects are not very well aligned with strategic business priorities and 81 percent of project practitioners do not have enough resources to meet project demand, according to the 2021 PMO Outlook Survey conducted by KeyedIn, a SaaS leader in Agile Portfolio Management.
Keyed in was featured on Project Manager News last year when they announced: “KeyedIn Announces That U.S. Based Health Insurance Company Selects It For Agile Portfolio Management.“
The survey of more than 200 portfolio leaders, executives and project managers was developed to assess the state of the project management office (PMO), as it is increasingly tasked with leading large-scale digital transformation initiatives and other strategic efforts.
“We conceived the PMO Outlook Survey because we felt the challenges and opportunities facing portfolio leaders is an under-reported aspect of the industry,” said Shawn Dickerson, CMO for KeyedIn. “A great deal of research has been done on the efforts of project managers and the opinions of CIOs – but portfolio leaders have perhaps the most vital role in business transformation, because they’re the ones tasked with ensuring the most valuable and most strategic projects get the funding and resources they need.”
The role of the PMO is changing, according to the survey results, and 21 percent of the respondents said visibility and reporting was their biggest challenge (ahead of resourcing, prioritization and financial management), indicating that many PMOs are still using a myriad of solutions and spreadsheets to manage projects. When it comes to visibility and reporting, 37 percent cited disparate systems as a primary concern, followed by a lack of real-time project portfolio data at 27 percent, and project portfolio data not being centralized at 24 percent.
Resource Management
At the same time, resource management continues to be a challenge for project practitioners, with these elements reported as most challenging:
- Capacity planning (45%)
- Resource allocation (28%)
- Resource utilization (13%)
Project Prioritization
When it comes to prioritization, saying “no” to new projects was the top struggle (33%). Other top challenges noted in the survey include: aligning portfolio projects with corporate strategy (23%) and accurately scoring the value of portfolio projects (20%). While prioritization is a key focus for PMO leaders, only 25 percent of projects are very well aligned according to the survey.
“With resource management and project prioritization among the top problems cited in the survey, forward-thinking portfolio leaders are seeking new and better ways to address these needs in 2021, such as embracing the Agile Portfolio Management model,” Dickerson said. “KeyedIn helps companies overcome those challenges by applying Agile principles at the portfolio level to enable PMOs to place the right bets, turn quickly and deliver faster.”
KeyedIn conducted the survey online with 213 individuals in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. representing project and portfolio management functions within enterprise organizations. To learn more, register for the 2021 PMO Outlook Survey Results Webinar, hosted Jan. 13 at 11 am CT and thereafter on-demand, by going to https://hubs.ly/H0Dx_1q0.
About KeyedIn
At KeyedIn, our mission is to make our customers more successful by empowering them to place the right bets, turn quickly and deliver faster. As a leader in Agile Portfolio Management, KeyedIn offers a suite of SaaS solutions that support business transformation, strategy realization and organizational change. The company’s award-winning products go beyond simple project management to encompass portfolio analysis, scenario modeling, capacity planning, product portfolio management, strategic resource management and more – supporting the evolving needs of PMOs, ePMOs and SROs. Join the hundreds of customers that have partnered with KeyedIn, including Walgreens Boots Alliance, Universal Electronics and Office Depot. For more information, visit www.keyedin.com, or contact 866-662-6820.