Robbins-Gioia Survey Finds Organizations with EPMOs More Efficient, More Aware of Business Issues.

Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers

ALEXANDRIA, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 16, 2002

Robbins-Gioia LLC, a leading provider of management consulting services, today released the results of a survey to determine the impact of enterprise program management offices (EPMOs) and program management offices (PMOs) on the businesses they serve. (An EPMO is a professional organization that serves as an organizational resource to ensure that projects within a department or division are managed consistently and aligned with business objectives. A PMO is a similar entity on a smaller scale--typically instituted to manage a single project.)

The survey highlighted the increasing usefulness of increasingly sophisticated project management structures. Organizations with EPMOs and PMOs reported higher levels of effective project management and lower levels of ineffective project management, as well as increased ability to accept and embrace change.

In addition, the respondents with a project management infrastructure were more focused on the key business objectives of their organization than organizations without an infrastructure.

While the majority of all respondents identified containing costs, managing risk, and gaining investor confidence as their most critical issues, organizations with an EPMO gave higher priority to all three areas than their counterparts without EPMOs or PMOs.

"Because of tightening markets and recent national tragedies, these new priorities have emerged," said Patricia Davis-Muffett, R-G vice president of marketing. "EPMOs provide the view organizations need to navigate risk, control spending, and instill stakeholder confidence."

The survey was conducted between October 2002 and November 2002, with 309 project management professionals responding, 79 percent from North America. Respondents came from government, banking/finance, communications, consulting, healthcare, and manufacturing.

Of the total group, 39 percent reported their organizations did not have either a PMO or an EPMO. A total of 24 percent reported they have an EPMO.

Organizations with an EPMO:

--  Rated their organization's project management maturity more
    highly than those from organizations without an EPMO

    --  30 percent of respondents with an EPMO noted that their
        organizations manage projects "very well" vs. 14 percent of
        organizations without.

--  Are more receptive to change

    --  78 percent of respondents with an EPMO noted they "embrace or
        accept" change vs. 66 percent of organizations without.

    --  4 percent of respondents with an EPMO noted that their
        organizations "resist" change or "never" change vs. 14 percent
        of organizations without.

--  Are more likely to have a process in place to align project
    activity with strategic goals

    --  42 percent of respondents with an EPMO have a process in place
        and follow it vs. 21 percent of respondents without.

--  Are more likely to have project management titles and career
    paths

    --  92 percent of respondents with an EPMO have project management
        titles and career paths vs. 73 percent without.

"Based on the results of the survey, respondents with EPMOs consider their organizations more efficient and proactive than those without them," said Davis-Muffett. "It makes sense for organizations without this structure to seriously considering establishing it."

In a related announcement, Robbins-Gioia today launched a new packaged solution to implement EPMOs for its clients. The three-tiered offering is scaled to address the needs of small or large organizations, and is also available as an assessment and remediation of an existing enterprise project management structure.

About Robbins-Gioia

For more than twenty years, Robbins-Gioia has pioneered the project management consulting industry, bringing process-based solutions to high-risk, complex initiatives in top government agencies and Fortune 500 companies.

With a hands-on approach to project management, we develop and integrate the people, processes, and technologies that will drive your projects to completion. For more information, please call Robbins-Gioia LLC at 800-663-7138, or visit the web site at www.robbinsgioia.com.