Our Mission & Charter

PMO MISSION

Consistent, effective, and efficient management of the full ITS Project Portfolio providing the University Community with quality enterprise solutions in accordance with the University Strategic Goals.

Objective and Goals

• Build a Portfolio Management Office
• Serve as authority for standard IT Project Management best practices
• Keep IT Governance and CTO informed on overall project status and health
• IT Project Management
• Provide a gateway for vetting and prioritization for all new projects as well as current project backlog
• Manage and cultivate a project pipeline
• Provide master scheduling for all projects 100 plus
• Resource allocation
• Risk and Issue forecasting across Portfolio and Projects
• Providing Standard Methodologies, Mentorship, and Training in PM best practices
• Manage individual projects providing:
  • Scheduling
  • Coordination
  • Project Plan Creation
  • Ushering Project through Project Lifecyle
  • Cost and Budget Tracking
  • Timeline creation and adherence
  • Documentation / Requirements Gathering
  • Training
  • Roll Out Management
  • Project Communication
• Reporting
  • Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, and Yearly reporting to
    • CTO
    • IT Governance
    • Project Teams
    • University Community
  • Providing Information on – Analytics and Reporting to guide decision making
    • Timelines
    • Expectations
    • Budget / Cost
    • Soft Value
    • Resource Allocation / Needs

 

Business Drivers

• The PMO will operate in support of the ITS mission providing technology infrastructure and services that advance teaching and learning, enable research, enrich the student IT experience, and effectively manage institutional information, in support of LSU’s pursuit of national prominence as Louisiana’s Flagship University.
• The PMO will support strategic initiatives by making available and maintaining IT tools for business process improvement and operational excellence.
• The PMO will be good stewards of its resources by employing better resource and capacity management strategies.

 

Project Parameters

• Business Objectives
  • The PMO under the guidance of the CTO and ITS Leadership, will be responsible for the initiation, planning, implementation, execution and monitoring of the following critical areas:
  • Support for IT Governance: establish standardized project framework, maintain project repository, serve as the organization’s authority on IT project management practices, keep IT Governance and ITS Leadership informed, and execute project management by providing management, oversight, and quality assurance to projects assigned to the PMO.

 

Assumptions

• Methodologies and standards consistent with those outlined by the Project Management Institute (PMI) will be developed.
• Stakeholders will embrace the defined project methodologies and processes.
• Training/mentoring on established methodologies and tools will be provided for staff at every level of the organization.
• ITS leadership will hold themselves, staff and customers accountable to the standards and procedures developed.
• ITS executives and leadership will be vocal and positively support project management efforts and work in collaboration with the PMO to make this a center of excellence for ITS.

 

Constraints

• Lack of support for the PMO by those who are resistant to change.
• Tendency to revert to old processes and thinking without regard for the bigger picture
• Project workload may lead to taking shortcuts
• Lack of external executive administrative sponsorship

 

Success Criteria

• ITS leadership provides the PMO with visible support
• ITS leadership supports the process of Project/Portfolio Management
• Project Management is recognized as a core competency
• The PMO designs a scalable and flexible Project Management System

 

What the PMO is NOT

• The PMO is not taking over the accountability for individual project success
• The focus of the PMO is to implement project management discipline, not to require arbitrary project documentation.

 

PMO Metrics

• Has communication about projects increased?
• Is the ITS staff continuing to increase its professional approach towards management of the organization’s IT projects?
• Are projects more successful over time?
• Is ITS able to report what projects are in the queue and in progress?

 

Expected Benefits

• ITS Leadership
  • Overview of what is being worked on in ITS and by whom (weekly portfolio report and executive reports)
  • Mechanism for receiving reports regarding accomplishments, as well as justification for requests for additional funding, resources, etc.
• Project Managers
  • Standard processes and tools
  • Enhanced capability through training and mentoring
  • Increase in collaboration and knowledge transfer between project managers
  • Optimized use of ITS staff
• ITS Staff
  • Enhanced project execution through establishment of a consistent framework
  • Efficiency gains through the use of standard processes and tools
  • Greater understanding of tasks and priorities
• University Customers
  • Increased communication with ITS about overall priorities and project status
  • Increased probability of implementing projects that meet customer requirements and needs
  • Increased customer satisfaction

 

 PMO Stakeholders

 

 PMO Team

 

 

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