Description
As one of the most dynamic industrial area, the telecommunication industry requires huge investments to align the market needs with the technology, especially in the newly accessed European countries. The paper presents the first implementation of Success Driven Project Management Methodology at the portfolio level in a Romanian telecom company.
©2009 Purnus/Liberzon/Dobre 1
Originally published as a part of PMICOS 2009 Annual Conference
Implementing Project Portfolio Management in
a Telecom Company
Augustin Purnus, PhD, PMP, General Manager, Spider Management Technologies, Romania
Vladimir Liberzon, PMP, General Manager, Spider Project Team, Russia
Mihaela Dobre, MBA, PMP, General Manager Access Network Projects Monitoring&Reporting,
Romtelecom, Romania
Abstract
As one of the most dynamic industrial area, the telecommunication industry requires huge investments to align
the market needs with the technology, especially in the newly accessed European countries. The paper presents
the first implementation of Success Driven Project Management Methodology at the portfolio level in a
Romanian telecom company.
Introduction
In the fast developing IT&C market implementing the latest technologies is the fundamental need that directly
influences performance and competition. Innovation and modernization have been the leading directions of
Romtelecom development over the past years, the company invested in new and reliable technologies to be able
to provide the clients with top quality services.
The increasing market needs of integrated telecommunication services and highly competitive environment
required an intensive network development for Romtelecom, one of the leading Romanian telecommunication
operators. Romtelecom declared strategic goal is to become the main provider of telecommunication services in
Romania, as ranked by consumers and in terms of profitability. Following the strategic goal, a major three years
investment program with an initial budget of 500 million Euro for network development and new technologies
integration was implemented starting 2005.
Romtelecom intent to grow on the Internet, data and video services market entailed the necessity of the
infrastructure development. By commencing a large development program, Next Generation Network,
Romtelecom facilitated improvement of current service delivery and service assurance, and development of new
services.
Concerning the passive access network area, the New Generation Network program included civil works for
cable installations, procurement and installation of street cabinets, taking-over the subscribers from the old to
the new system. Due to the needs of these tremendous efforts made at the country level in 7 regions, and with
an estimate of around 1200 projects, Romtelecom decided to implement a portfolio management system.
Due to the pressure of financial performance of the company, during 2007 the program objectives were revised,
some of the projects were delayed and the program budget was decreased to 280 million Euro.
However,
consisted o
more than
contained
procedures
program m
manage the
The paper
manageme
will discus
for program
Descrip
The implem
?
?
?
?
As a proje
time, Rom
with the pr
The tasks t
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
Or
even thoug
of 1,200 proje
1,600 project
up to 170,000
s in place, and
management tea
e program succ
presents the p
ent, achieved re
ss the applicati
m and portfolio
ption
mentation was
The projec
departments
information
The distribu
The commu
to market fo
The increas
time and wi
ect-oriented org
mtelecom decid
rojects objectiv
that were consi
Select, prio
Romtelecom
Prepare rea
Efficiently
Coordinate
constraints
Analyze an
Monitor and
Establish pr
©
riginally publis
gh the initia
cts, at the end
s, and the prog
0 activities. W
d with a tight
am was able to
cessfully.
program appro
esults, the cha
on of Success
o management
started taking
cts are runnin
s: Constructio
n, and different
ution of the pro
unication mark
or products and
sed shareholde
ithin the budge
ganization per
ded to impleme
ves, and to fulfi
idered as top-p
ritize, assess, a
m strategies an
listic plans in a
coordinate proj
and manage th
d control proje
d control quant
roject performa
2009 Purnus/L
shed as a part o
al program
d it included
gram model
With specific
control, the
o run and to
oach to portfol
llenges and th
Driven Project
.
into account th
ng with tight
on, Procureme
t inputs.
ojects around th
ket is highly vo
d services.
ers demands w
et.
forming a larg
ent a portfolio
fill the business
priority include
and manage the
nd goals
accordance wit
oject teams, equ
he limited reso
ect costs and sc
tities of works
ance measurem
Liberzon/Dobre
of PMICOS 200
lio scheduling
e lessons learn
t Management
he organization
cross-organiz
ent, Contracts
he country, wit
olatile requiring
were a constant
ge number of d
o management
s needs by deli
ed following:
e projects basin
th the Romtele
uipment, and se
ources within th
chedules
executed
ment mechanism
Figure 1 The
e
09 Annual Con
, budgeting, ri
ned based on th
t (SDPM) and r
nal and market
zational depen
, Financial, w
th a large num
g reducing the
t pressure for
different proje
system, in ord
vering the proj
ng on their alig
com standards
ervice supplier
he company ta
ms
distribution of
nference
isk analysis, a
his successful
risk manageme
t constraints:
ndencies, invo
with different
mber of project t
project life cyc
delivering pro
cts and progra
der to link the
jects successfu
gnment and con
s
rs within the pr
aking into acco
f projects and p
level
2
and performanc
experience. W
ent technologie
olving differen
needs for th
team members
cle, and the tim
ojects results o
ams in the sam
e strategic goa
ully.
ntribution to th
rojects
ount the extern
programs at the
ce
We
es
nt
he
s.
me
on
me
als
he
nal
e country
©2009 Purnus/Liberzon/Dobre 3
Originally published as a part of PMICOS 2009 Annual Conference
? Implement regular reporting on the project progress
? Consolidate projects in the company portfolio
? Organize and manage project archives
Project Management System implementation requires creating corporate methodologies, databases, norms and
standards. Implementation of PMS was started with identification and documenting of product life cycles and
process flows, relationships between involved departments, instructions on planning, scheduling and monitoring
project execution. In order to integrate scope, time, cost and risk management, the methodology Success Driven
Project Management has been chosen. As tool, Romtelecom selected Spider Project Professional which has
proved is best fitted to organizational needs for projects, programs and portfolio management. We created
WBS templates for different project types, identified 380 types of project activities, 10 types of multi-resources
(stable resource crews), 650 types of materials grouped in 9 material centres, 32 cost components grouped in 13
cost centres. 45 user fields were added to the standards set of data that are used for planning and scheduling.
The organizational structure was a pyramidal: each of 7
regions has to perform an annual investment program
consisted of several different project types. The regional
teams have the responsibility to manage, control, and report
the status of each project and program; at the HQ level, all
programs were consolidated into the portfolio, in order to
take into account portfolio constraints including limited
resources and financial limitations, to establish the projects
prioritization, and to be able to prepare summary reports.
Taking into account the complexity of the portfolio, several
Portfolio Breakdown Structures were developed:
- Based on the Geographical Regions;
- Based on the type of Programs;
- Based on Contractors
These Portfolio Breakdown Structures are used to analyze
the relationships with Romtelecom contractors, the effects of the projects/programs prioritization on contract
targets, for managing the contract schedules, volumes of work, deliverables, material consumption and financial
aspects.
Telecom is the risky business. Uncertainties are high, technologies are changing rapidly, and besides Romania
is developing country with fast changing environment. So we were most serious about risk management. The
risks were identified and estimated basing on their impact and probabilities, the information on uncertainties
were collected. Project Management Methodology developed for Romtelecom included the rules for creating
optimistic, most probable, and pessimistic project scenarios.
A lot of attention was paid to developing coding system for each project object that can be used for its
identification, sorting and filtering by object codes.
Working procedures were developed for project, program, and portfolio management.
Risk Management
The project management team shall develop realistic plans that include project schedules and budgets,
coordinate project resources and service suppliers within the program, control project work quantities and costs.
Program and Portfolio management teams shall prioritize the projects within the strategic objectives, establish a
sound project performance measurement system, and manage program and portfolio risks and uncertainties.
Main constraints included cross organizational program interdependences, market conditions, stakeholder
demands, financial and technological factors.
Figure 2 The Pyramidal Organization
Structure
©2009 Purnus/Liberzon/Dobre 4
Originally published as a part of PMICOS 2009 Annual Conference
In each region, the projects were included in several multi-projects managed by different project managers.
These multi-projects belonged to the regional programs. In the Headquarters all regional programs were
consolidated in project portfolio which allows the portfolio management team to analyze, develop reports and
take the best decisions at the portfolio level.
The project computer model
included 3 project scenarios.
The first one was optimistic. It
was based on optimistic
estimates of activity durations
and costs and included those
prioritized risk events that had
at least 90% probability to
occur.
Second most probable scenario
was based on most probable
estimations of project
parameters and included risk
events with more than 50%
probability to occur.
Third pessimistic scenario was
based on pessimistic estimates
and included all risk events that were estimated as serious enough to be considered.
This models were included in corresponding multi-project and program models that also had optimistic, most
probable and pessimistic scenarios. To the risks of separate projects some risks were added at the multi-project,
program, and portfolio levels.
Taking into account the results of portfolio scheduling and budgeting in each of these scenarios portfolio
planner obtains three estimates of all program and project parameters like finish dates, costs and material
requirements. Basing on these estimates Spider Project restored probability curves for portfolio, program, and
project durations and costs. Defining the necessary probability of meeting project targets portfolio planner
calculated the dates and costs that can be met with the required probabilities. And reverse – the software
calculated the probabilities to meet the defined target dates and costs.
At the planning stage portfolio management team suggested and negotiated the reasonable targets. After some
adjustments the targets for each program were set. The target dates and costs for each project were defined on
the program level. These targets had reasonable probabilities to be achieved. Since that moment each program
team monitored what happens with the probabilities to meet the set targets and analyzed and reported success
probability trends.
Project Databases
The portfolio included many activities that may be considered as typical. Such activities shall be estimated the
same way in different projects. The same is true about resource productivities, material requirements and other
parameters used in project, program and portfolio planning. That is why Project Databases (or Reference-books)
were created for typical activities, resources, materials, resource assignments, cost components, etc. These
Reference-books include the norms for resource productivities on typical assignments, material requirements
per activity volume unit, unit costs, etc. Activity volume is defined as the quantity of work to be done and is
usually measured in physical units – meters, square meters, tons, etc. Activity duration, material consumption,
costs are proportional to activity volume. So it is natural to define resource assignment productivity as volume
per hour, material consumption and costs per volume unit and use these norms in every project of the
organization.
0%
Target
Dates
Optimistic Scenario Most Probable
Scenario
Pessimistic Scenario
Probability =100 %
Target
Cost Probability =0 %
Figure 3 Probability Curve
©2009 Purnus/Liberzon/Dobre 5
Originally published as a part of PMICOS 2009 Annual Conference
These norms were created for optimistic, most probable and pessimistic performance and were used in
optimistic, most probable and pessimistic versions accordingly.
Besides norms Romtelecom portfolio management team created a Library of typical project fragments. Typical
fragment is a small project computer model that describes typical process that is performed in different or the
same project not once. It is useful to describe the process once and then to use the created typical fragment
models including them in the project and program models if the simulated processes are met.
The Library of typical fragments was created in the Portfolio Management Office and was mandatory for usage
in all projects that belong to the Romtelecom Portfolio.
Portfolio Management Office Functions
The functions of Portfolio Management Office created in Romtelecom included:
1) Development and implementation of the corporate project management methodology,
2) Assessment and consulting on the corporate methodology usage,
3) Training project management teams,
4) Creation and maintenance of the corporate Reference-books,
5) Creation and maintenance of the Library of typical project fragments,
6) Creation and maintenance of the WBS templates,
7) Maintenance of the project archives,
8) Consolidation of the project and program models in the portfolio model,
9) Portfolio Scheduling and Budgeting,
10) Portfolio Risk Analysis and Management,
11) Defining project, program and portfolio targets,
12) Project, program and portfolio performance analysis,
13) Change requests evaluation and corrective actions development,
14) Supplying portfolio stakeholders with the information that is necessary for project, program and
portfolio management and performance analysis.
Project Management Office stuff participated in the implementation of project management methodology in all
regional Program Management Offices.
Performance Management
Romtelecom accepted project management methodology that pays most attention not to the projects, programs,
and portfolio status but to trends of project parameters.
If the project is 20 days ahead of the baseline schedule it does not mean that everything is fine. If one week ago
the project was 23 days ahead of the baseline, one month earlier 35 days ahead of the baseline it means that
there are serious problems that require close attention. If the project is behind the schedule but the difference
became lower last weeks then the performance is improving and project management team knows what to do.
So performance reports that were analyzed included trends of main project parameters and colour indicators if
these parameters are improving or not. The same approach was used for analyzing Earned Value data.
©2009 Purnus/Liberzon/Dobre 6
Originally published as a part of PMICOS 2009 Annual Conference
If CPI and SPI have positive trends then project trend status is green and it does not need close attention of top
management.
The higher attention was paid to success probability trends. These trends were considered as the most valuable
performance indicator. Negative success probability trend means that project buffer created for the considered
parameter is consumed faster than expected and if no measures will be taken then achieving project goals will
be endangered.
Trends of success probabilities depend not only on project performance but also on project environment. If risk
analysis team of the Portfolio Management Office or project management team discover new risks and included
them in the pessimistic scenario it changes the shape of probability curves. In this case the probability to meet
project targets become lower and success probability trend will show the problem even if the performance was
good enough.
The success probability trends measure and show not only project performance but also project health taking
into consideration both internal and external factors.
Figure 4 Trends of Earned Value Parameters
Figure 5 Trends of CPI and SPI
Figure 6 Success Probability Trend
©2009 Purnus/Liberzon/Dobre 7
Originally published as a part of PMICOS 2009 Annual Conference
Conclusions
The implementation of project portfolio management in the telecommunication company Romtelecom lead us
to the following conclusions:
1. For implementing a portfolio management system, main processes should be identified, analyzed and
documented.
2. PM processes should be performed in addition to the specific network development processes.
3. From the very beginning it is necessary to standardize the resources, data gathering, portfolio templates
and Report templates. Later changes in processes or in standardized items means increased work.
4. We recommend paying most attention to trends of the project and program performance parameters as
the main indicators if corrective actions are needed.
5. Risk simulation and analysis of success probability trends is the most reliable tool that integrates
performance measurement with environmental factors and provides portfolio managers with the
necessary estimates of project and program health.
6. Romtelecom is using successfully the approaches, methods, and the tools described above for several
years.
7. Our experience shows that these approaches to the portfolio management are practical and produce
satisfactory results.
References
Liberzon, Vladimir, and Russell D. Archibald, “From Russia with Love: Truly Integrated Project Scope,
Schedule, Resource and Risk Information,” PMI World Congress- The Hague, May 24-26, 2003
Liberzon Vladimir, “Resource Critical Path Approach to Project Schedule Management,” 4
th
PMI Europe
Conference Proceedings, London, UK, 6-7 June 2001
Liberzon Vladimir, “Project Management Development in Russia - Achievements and Lessons Learned”, 1st
International Project Management Conference in Portugal, “Global Trends in Project Management for the XXI
Century”, Lisbon, Portugal, 22-24 November 2000.
Liberzon Vladimir, “Resource Management and PMBOK.” Proceedings of the 27th Annual PMI 1996 Seminars
& Symposium, Boston.
Purnus Augustin, “Challenges and Lessons Learned in Project Management Implementation in
Telecommunication Projects”, The Symposium Project Management, State, Society, Business, SOVNET,
Nizhniy Novgorod, Russian Federation, 2007
PMI
®
PMBOK
®
Guide: A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. Fourth Edition. Newtown,
PA: Project Management Institute 2008
PMI
®
The Standard for Portfolio Management. Second Edition. Newtown, PA: Project Management Institute
2008
For additional information on the Spider Project software package visit these Web sites:
English/Romanian: http://www.spiderproject.ro
English/Russian: http://www.spiderproject.ru
doc_641417520.pdf
As one of the most dynamic industrial area, the telecommunication industry requires huge investments to align the market needs with the technology, especially in the newly accessed European countries. The paper presents the first implementation of Success Driven Project Management Methodology at the portfolio level in a Romanian telecom company.
©2009 Purnus/Liberzon/Dobre 1
Originally published as a part of PMICOS 2009 Annual Conference
Implementing Project Portfolio Management in
a Telecom Company
Augustin Purnus, PhD, PMP, General Manager, Spider Management Technologies, Romania
Vladimir Liberzon, PMP, General Manager, Spider Project Team, Russia
Mihaela Dobre, MBA, PMP, General Manager Access Network Projects Monitoring&Reporting,
Romtelecom, Romania
Abstract
As one of the most dynamic industrial area, the telecommunication industry requires huge investments to align
the market needs with the technology, especially in the newly accessed European countries. The paper presents
the first implementation of Success Driven Project Management Methodology at the portfolio level in a
Romanian telecom company.
Introduction
In the fast developing IT&C market implementing the latest technologies is the fundamental need that directly
influences performance and competition. Innovation and modernization have been the leading directions of
Romtelecom development over the past years, the company invested in new and reliable technologies to be able
to provide the clients with top quality services.
The increasing market needs of integrated telecommunication services and highly competitive environment
required an intensive network development for Romtelecom, one of the leading Romanian telecommunication
operators. Romtelecom declared strategic goal is to become the main provider of telecommunication services in
Romania, as ranked by consumers and in terms of profitability. Following the strategic goal, a major three years
investment program with an initial budget of 500 million Euro for network development and new technologies
integration was implemented starting 2005.
Romtelecom intent to grow on the Internet, data and video services market entailed the necessity of the
infrastructure development. By commencing a large development program, Next Generation Network,
Romtelecom facilitated improvement of current service delivery and service assurance, and development of new
services.
Concerning the passive access network area, the New Generation Network program included civil works for
cable installations, procurement and installation of street cabinets, taking-over the subscribers from the old to
the new system. Due to the needs of these tremendous efforts made at the country level in 7 regions, and with
an estimate of around 1200 projects, Romtelecom decided to implement a portfolio management system.
Due to the pressure of financial performance of the company, during 2007 the program objectives were revised,
some of the projects were delayed and the program budget was decreased to 280 million Euro.
However,
consisted o
more than
contained
procedures
program m
manage the
The paper
manageme
will discus
for program
Descrip
The implem
?
?
?
?
As a proje
time, Rom
with the pr
The tasks t
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
Or
even thoug
of 1,200 proje
1,600 project
up to 170,000
s in place, and
management tea
e program succ
presents the p
ent, achieved re
ss the applicati
m and portfolio
ption
mentation was
The projec
departments
information
The distribu
The commu
to market fo
The increas
time and wi
ect-oriented org
mtelecom decid
rojects objectiv
that were consi
Select, prio
Romtelecom
Prepare rea
Efficiently
Coordinate
constraints
Analyze an
Monitor and
Establish pr
©
riginally publis
gh the initia
cts, at the end
s, and the prog
0 activities. W
d with a tight
am was able to
cessfully.
program appro
esults, the cha
on of Success
o management
started taking
cts are runnin
s: Constructio
n, and different
ution of the pro
unication mark
or products and
sed shareholde
ithin the budge
ganization per
ded to impleme
ves, and to fulfi
idered as top-p
ritize, assess, a
m strategies an
listic plans in a
coordinate proj
and manage th
d control proje
d control quant
roject performa
2009 Purnus/L
shed as a part o
al program
d it included
gram model
With specific
control, the
o run and to
oach to portfol
llenges and th
Driven Project
.
into account th
ng with tight
on, Procureme
t inputs.
ojects around th
ket is highly vo
d services.
ers demands w
et.
forming a larg
ent a portfolio
fill the business
priority include
and manage the
nd goals
accordance wit
oject teams, equ
he limited reso
ect costs and sc
tities of works
ance measurem
Liberzon/Dobre
of PMICOS 200
lio scheduling
e lessons learn
t Management
he organization
cross-organiz
ent, Contracts
he country, wit
olatile requiring
were a constant
ge number of d
o management
s needs by deli
ed following:
e projects basin
th the Romtele
uipment, and se
ources within th
chedules
executed
ment mechanism
Figure 1 The
e
09 Annual Con
, budgeting, ri
ned based on th
t (SDPM) and r
nal and market
zational depen
, Financial, w
th a large num
g reducing the
t pressure for
different proje
system, in ord
vering the proj
ng on their alig
com standards
ervice supplier
he company ta
ms
distribution of
nference
isk analysis, a
his successful
risk manageme
t constraints:
ndencies, invo
with different
mber of project t
project life cyc
delivering pro
cts and progra
der to link the
jects successfu
gnment and con
s
rs within the pr
aking into acco
f projects and p
level
2
and performanc
experience. W
ent technologie
olving differen
needs for th
team members
cle, and the tim
ojects results o
ams in the sam
e strategic goa
ully.
ntribution to th
rojects
ount the extern
programs at the
ce
We
es
nt
he
s.
me
on
me
als
he
nal
e country
©2009 Purnus/Liberzon/Dobre 3
Originally published as a part of PMICOS 2009 Annual Conference
? Implement regular reporting on the project progress
? Consolidate projects in the company portfolio
? Organize and manage project archives
Project Management System implementation requires creating corporate methodologies, databases, norms and
standards. Implementation of PMS was started with identification and documenting of product life cycles and
process flows, relationships between involved departments, instructions on planning, scheduling and monitoring
project execution. In order to integrate scope, time, cost and risk management, the methodology Success Driven
Project Management has been chosen. As tool, Romtelecom selected Spider Project Professional which has
proved is best fitted to organizational needs for projects, programs and portfolio management. We created
WBS templates for different project types, identified 380 types of project activities, 10 types of multi-resources
(stable resource crews), 650 types of materials grouped in 9 material centres, 32 cost components grouped in 13
cost centres. 45 user fields were added to the standards set of data that are used for planning and scheduling.
The organizational structure was a pyramidal: each of 7
regions has to perform an annual investment program
consisted of several different project types. The regional
teams have the responsibility to manage, control, and report
the status of each project and program; at the HQ level, all
programs were consolidated into the portfolio, in order to
take into account portfolio constraints including limited
resources and financial limitations, to establish the projects
prioritization, and to be able to prepare summary reports.
Taking into account the complexity of the portfolio, several
Portfolio Breakdown Structures were developed:
- Based on the Geographical Regions;
- Based on the type of Programs;
- Based on Contractors
These Portfolio Breakdown Structures are used to analyze
the relationships with Romtelecom contractors, the effects of the projects/programs prioritization on contract
targets, for managing the contract schedules, volumes of work, deliverables, material consumption and financial
aspects.
Telecom is the risky business. Uncertainties are high, technologies are changing rapidly, and besides Romania
is developing country with fast changing environment. So we were most serious about risk management. The
risks were identified and estimated basing on their impact and probabilities, the information on uncertainties
were collected. Project Management Methodology developed for Romtelecom included the rules for creating
optimistic, most probable, and pessimistic project scenarios.
A lot of attention was paid to developing coding system for each project object that can be used for its
identification, sorting and filtering by object codes.
Working procedures were developed for project, program, and portfolio management.
Risk Management
The project management team shall develop realistic plans that include project schedules and budgets,
coordinate project resources and service suppliers within the program, control project work quantities and costs.
Program and Portfolio management teams shall prioritize the projects within the strategic objectives, establish a
sound project performance measurement system, and manage program and portfolio risks and uncertainties.
Main constraints included cross organizational program interdependences, market conditions, stakeholder
demands, financial and technological factors.
Figure 2 The Pyramidal Organization
Structure
©2009 Purnus/Liberzon/Dobre 4
Originally published as a part of PMICOS 2009 Annual Conference
In each region, the projects were included in several multi-projects managed by different project managers.
These multi-projects belonged to the regional programs. In the Headquarters all regional programs were
consolidated in project portfolio which allows the portfolio management team to analyze, develop reports and
take the best decisions at the portfolio level.
The project computer model
included 3 project scenarios.
The first one was optimistic. It
was based on optimistic
estimates of activity durations
and costs and included those
prioritized risk events that had
at least 90% probability to
occur.
Second most probable scenario
was based on most probable
estimations of project
parameters and included risk
events with more than 50%
probability to occur.
Third pessimistic scenario was
based on pessimistic estimates
and included all risk events that were estimated as serious enough to be considered.
This models were included in corresponding multi-project and program models that also had optimistic, most
probable and pessimistic scenarios. To the risks of separate projects some risks were added at the multi-project,
program, and portfolio levels.
Taking into account the results of portfolio scheduling and budgeting in each of these scenarios portfolio
planner obtains three estimates of all program and project parameters like finish dates, costs and material
requirements. Basing on these estimates Spider Project restored probability curves for portfolio, program, and
project durations and costs. Defining the necessary probability of meeting project targets portfolio planner
calculated the dates and costs that can be met with the required probabilities. And reverse – the software
calculated the probabilities to meet the defined target dates and costs.
At the planning stage portfolio management team suggested and negotiated the reasonable targets. After some
adjustments the targets for each program were set. The target dates and costs for each project were defined on
the program level. These targets had reasonable probabilities to be achieved. Since that moment each program
team monitored what happens with the probabilities to meet the set targets and analyzed and reported success
probability trends.
Project Databases
The portfolio included many activities that may be considered as typical. Such activities shall be estimated the
same way in different projects. The same is true about resource productivities, material requirements and other
parameters used in project, program and portfolio planning. That is why Project Databases (or Reference-books)
were created for typical activities, resources, materials, resource assignments, cost components, etc. These
Reference-books include the norms for resource productivities on typical assignments, material requirements
per activity volume unit, unit costs, etc. Activity volume is defined as the quantity of work to be done and is
usually measured in physical units – meters, square meters, tons, etc. Activity duration, material consumption,
costs are proportional to activity volume. So it is natural to define resource assignment productivity as volume
per hour, material consumption and costs per volume unit and use these norms in every project of the
organization.
0%
Target
Dates
Optimistic Scenario Most Probable
Scenario
Pessimistic Scenario
Probability =100 %
Target
Cost Probability =0 %
Figure 3 Probability Curve
©2009 Purnus/Liberzon/Dobre 5
Originally published as a part of PMICOS 2009 Annual Conference
These norms were created for optimistic, most probable and pessimistic performance and were used in
optimistic, most probable and pessimistic versions accordingly.
Besides norms Romtelecom portfolio management team created a Library of typical project fragments. Typical
fragment is a small project computer model that describes typical process that is performed in different or the
same project not once. It is useful to describe the process once and then to use the created typical fragment
models including them in the project and program models if the simulated processes are met.
The Library of typical fragments was created in the Portfolio Management Office and was mandatory for usage
in all projects that belong to the Romtelecom Portfolio.
Portfolio Management Office Functions
The functions of Portfolio Management Office created in Romtelecom included:
1) Development and implementation of the corporate project management methodology,
2) Assessment and consulting on the corporate methodology usage,
3) Training project management teams,
4) Creation and maintenance of the corporate Reference-books,
5) Creation and maintenance of the Library of typical project fragments,
6) Creation and maintenance of the WBS templates,
7) Maintenance of the project archives,
8) Consolidation of the project and program models in the portfolio model,
9) Portfolio Scheduling and Budgeting,
10) Portfolio Risk Analysis and Management,
11) Defining project, program and portfolio targets,
12) Project, program and portfolio performance analysis,
13) Change requests evaluation and corrective actions development,
14) Supplying portfolio stakeholders with the information that is necessary for project, program and
portfolio management and performance analysis.
Project Management Office stuff participated in the implementation of project management methodology in all
regional Program Management Offices.
Performance Management
Romtelecom accepted project management methodology that pays most attention not to the projects, programs,
and portfolio status but to trends of project parameters.
If the project is 20 days ahead of the baseline schedule it does not mean that everything is fine. If one week ago
the project was 23 days ahead of the baseline, one month earlier 35 days ahead of the baseline it means that
there are serious problems that require close attention. If the project is behind the schedule but the difference
became lower last weeks then the performance is improving and project management team knows what to do.
So performance reports that were analyzed included trends of main project parameters and colour indicators if
these parameters are improving or not. The same approach was used for analyzing Earned Value data.
©2009 Purnus/Liberzon/Dobre 6
Originally published as a part of PMICOS 2009 Annual Conference
If CPI and SPI have positive trends then project trend status is green and it does not need close attention of top
management.
The higher attention was paid to success probability trends. These trends were considered as the most valuable
performance indicator. Negative success probability trend means that project buffer created for the considered
parameter is consumed faster than expected and if no measures will be taken then achieving project goals will
be endangered.
Trends of success probabilities depend not only on project performance but also on project environment. If risk
analysis team of the Portfolio Management Office or project management team discover new risks and included
them in the pessimistic scenario it changes the shape of probability curves. In this case the probability to meet
project targets become lower and success probability trend will show the problem even if the performance was
good enough.
The success probability trends measure and show not only project performance but also project health taking
into consideration both internal and external factors.
Figure 4 Trends of Earned Value Parameters
Figure 5 Trends of CPI and SPI
Figure 6 Success Probability Trend
©2009 Purnus/Liberzon/Dobre 7
Originally published as a part of PMICOS 2009 Annual Conference
Conclusions
The implementation of project portfolio management in the telecommunication company Romtelecom lead us
to the following conclusions:
1. For implementing a portfolio management system, main processes should be identified, analyzed and
documented.
2. PM processes should be performed in addition to the specific network development processes.
3. From the very beginning it is necessary to standardize the resources, data gathering, portfolio templates
and Report templates. Later changes in processes or in standardized items means increased work.
4. We recommend paying most attention to trends of the project and program performance parameters as
the main indicators if corrective actions are needed.
5. Risk simulation and analysis of success probability trends is the most reliable tool that integrates
performance measurement with environmental factors and provides portfolio managers with the
necessary estimates of project and program health.
6. Romtelecom is using successfully the approaches, methods, and the tools described above for several
years.
7. Our experience shows that these approaches to the portfolio management are practical and produce
satisfactory results.
References
Liberzon, Vladimir, and Russell D. Archibald, “From Russia with Love: Truly Integrated Project Scope,
Schedule, Resource and Risk Information,” PMI World Congress- The Hague, May 24-26, 2003
Liberzon Vladimir, “Resource Critical Path Approach to Project Schedule Management,” 4
th
PMI Europe
Conference Proceedings, London, UK, 6-7 June 2001
Liberzon Vladimir, “Project Management Development in Russia - Achievements and Lessons Learned”, 1st
International Project Management Conference in Portugal, “Global Trends in Project Management for the XXI
Century”, Lisbon, Portugal, 22-24 November 2000.
Liberzon Vladimir, “Resource Management and PMBOK.” Proceedings of the 27th Annual PMI 1996 Seminars
& Symposium, Boston.
Purnus Augustin, “Challenges and Lessons Learned in Project Management Implementation in
Telecommunication Projects”, The Symposium Project Management, State, Society, Business, SOVNET,
Nizhniy Novgorod, Russian Federation, 2007
PMI
®
PMBOK
®
Guide: A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. Fourth Edition. Newtown,
PA: Project Management Institute 2008
PMI
®
The Standard for Portfolio Management. Second Edition. Newtown, PA: Project Management Institute
2008
For additional information on the Spider Project software package visit these Web sites:
English/Romanian: http://www.spiderproject.ro
English/Russian: http://www.spiderproject.ru
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