Every project, in one tool.
A growing business-to-business marketing services company was finding it harder to estimate project costs, manage work in flight and plan what came next. Digineer augmented its project management staff, systematized its processes and led the selection, pilot and rollout of Microsoft Project Server. More than 40 concurrent projects now run in one system, and a custom report saves more than 20 hours of manual reporting each month.
At a glance
- Client
- A business-to-business marketing services company
- Program
- Enterprise project management process and tool rollout
- Scale
- More than 40 concurrent projects; more than 80 employees tracking time
- Engagement
- Project management staff augmentation, process design and EPM deployment
- Capability
- Organizational Effectiveness & Change Readiness · Transformation & Value Management
The situation
Growth outran an ad-hoc approach
The company provides incentive and recognition programs for large corporate clients. As it grew and added services, it needed better control of timelines and costs for the back-end IT solutions behind program fulfillment and tracking.
Its project management processes and tools had not kept up. Leaders felt the company was operating well below optimal efficiency because of its ad-hoc approach, and the portfolio tool it first looked at showed product limitations once the team got into the details.
Warning signs
- Project costs hard to estimate
- Work in flight hard to manage
- No reliable way to plan future work
- Ad-hoc project processes
- A shortlisted tool that did not fit
What we did
Fix the process, then pick the tool
Digineer started by managing projects alongside the company’s own staff, then helped systematize processes and procedures for more predictable delivery. When the first tool choice fell short, Digineer brought a better fit.
Process before platform
After managing a few projects, Digineer helped the company put consistent project management processes and procedures in place.
The right tool for the need
The company had first looked at a portfolio tool licensed elsewhere in its parent organization. Digineer proposed Microsoft Project Server as a better fit and served as the knowledge expert through deployment.
Pilot, rollout and training
A three-month pilot in IT came first, then a company-wide rollout. Digineer provided work order orchestration, project management, development resources and enterprise-wide training.
The outcome
Real-time visibility, less manual work
One tool for all project activity
Employees manage more than 40 client recognition program and internal projects at any given time in one system.
Adoption that stuck
More than 80 employees actively track their time in the solution, after training addressed the biggest challenge: daily use.
20+ hours a month back
A tailored add-on report eliminated manual reporting processes and saves more than 20 hours each month.
Better use of people
Resource managers see who is working on what and plan availability, and the company is more consistently hitting deadlines and completion dates.
“Where many consultants would have just focused on the tool itself, Digineer focused on solving our business problem from start to finish.”
Vice President and CIO
Enterprise project management
Has your growth outrun your project tools?
Digineer fixes the process first, then helps you choose, pilot and roll out the tool that fits it.
Client name withheld for confidentiality.