IBM Wins Project Management Office of the Year Award

PM Solutions and the Project Management Institute's Program Management Office Specific Interest Group (PMOSIG) announce that IBM's Project Management Center of Excellence (PM/COE) has been selected as the 2010 PMO of the Year. The award, which distinguishes a project management office (PMO) for its success in developing and maturing an organizational structure that supports the effective management of projects, recognizes IBM's PM/COE specifically for creating global project management standards and enterprise-wide consistency among its 26,000 project managers worldwide; establishing a dedicated project management knowledge repository and communications network; increasing project accountability; improving time-to-market by 65%; and decreasing the number of troubled projects by 25%.

Now that's worth an award.

IBM's Center of Excellence was selected from a field of more than 40 applicants from nearly every continent and including state and federal agencies, major nonprofit organizations and Fortune 1000 companies. The finalists include:

Finalist #1 The Doe Run Company's Enterprise Program Management Office (St. Louis, Missouri) Finalist #2 Auckland City Council's Program Office (Auckland, New Zealand) Finalist #3 T-Mobile USA's Enterprise Program Office (Bellevue, Washington)

"All of this year's award applicants are excellent examples of the incredible impact a mature PMO can make on an organization and of how far the PMO has come over the last decade," said J. Kent Crawford, PMP, CEO of PM Solutions. "The vast measures that IBM has taken in this area and its outstanding accomplishments reveal a telling story on how to create a successful PMO that sets the course for the entire enterprise."

Inside IBM's Program Management Center of Excellence (COE) During the early 1990s, industry dynamics such as global competition, resource pressures, rapid change in customer segments, and new technology drove IBM to rethink its organizational structure, business model, and management approach. IBM identified project management as key to reliably delivering complex business solutions to its global customers. Studies supported that the lack of good project management was a major contributor to project failure, customer satisfaction issues, and the erosion of revenue and profit. So the company initiated a corporate strategy to transform IBM into a project-based enterprise by raising project management to a core competency. An Executive Steering Committee (ESC) of senior executives from all major business units was established and remains in place today.

IBM's ESC chartered the Project Management Center of Excellence (PM/COE), a formal global PMO, as the change agent for this transformation. Its mission is to develop and implement a corporate strategy to achieve global organizational competence in project management. Then and now, IBM's PMO establishes and drives a consistent career infrastructure, a common methodology based on industry standards and the PMBOK(R) Guide, a community of knowledgeable practitioners, and supportive enablers including processes and systems. It also develops and maintains a professional project management community within IBM and is the interface between this community and other internal and external professional communities.

"Being honored with this award is a coming of age for our team," said Deborah Dell, PMP, IBM's PM/COE Manager. "We've been working toward this level of maturity for years and will continue to do so simply because it is a business model that works. It keeps our enterprise operating efficiently, productively, intelligently...and profitably."

According to one judge, "IBM set the stage for other organizations to follow with the creation of its Center for Excellence back in 1996. IBM has continued with its maturity initiatives, career progression, emphasis on portfolio management, its return on investment in knowledge management, and its continuous emphasis on business benefits."

PM Solutions and the PMOSIG will jointly present the award to IBM at the PMOSIG's PMO Symposium, being held November 7-10, 2010 in Dallas, Texas.

"IBM has unquestionably demonstrated the ability to integrate project and program management into the infrastructure, organization, and processes used to execute its business," said Rommy Musch, Executive Chair of the PMOSIG. "All PMOs, including the ones represented by our 4,000+ members around the world, can benefit from hearing how IBM's PM/COE was able to accomplish such significant business impact."

For complete details on the award, including in-depth profiles on the 2010 winner and finalists, view the new PMO of the Year 2010 digital eBook -- downloadable at http://www.pmsolutions.com/pmoaward.

About IBM

International Business Machines (IBM) is a multinational computer, technology and IT consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software and offers infrastructure services, hosting services, and consulting services in areas ranging from mainframe computers to nanotechnology. With almost 400,000 employees worldwide, IBM is the second largest (by market capitalization) information technology and services employer in the world. IBM holds more patents than any other U.S.-based technology company and has eight research laboratories worldwide. The company has scientists, engineers, consultants, and sales professionals in over 200 countries.

About the PMOSIG The Program Management Office Specific Interest Group (PMOSIG) is a non-profit, global professional association focused on the project/program management office (PMO) and related disciplines. It provides education, collaboration, knowledge-sharing and professional development opportunities for a growing global community of over 4,000 members worldwide, and is registered as a chartered specific interest group of the Project Management Institute (PMI(R)). For more information, visit http://www.pmosig.org/.

About PM Solutions PM Solutions is a project management firm helping organizations execute, govern, and measure their portfolios to improve business performance. They are the leader in applying project and portfolio management processes and practices to drive operational efficiency for our clients. Their comprehensive offerings address organizational improvement, project execution, and learning and development delivered through their training arm, the PM College(R). PM Solutions serves a diverse client base that includes some of the world's leading organizations. For more information, visit www.pmsolutions.com.