Nearly every individual today knows that technology is meant to make life simpler and more streamlined.  Today, information technology management allows companies to make their business more competitive by utilizing available information technology resources.  Corporations and companies of all sizes benefit through information technology management, as managers and business owners discover effective ways to utilize technology so that the operation and standing of the company is improved in a competitive business environment.  Technology management is necessary in all divisions, including marketing and communications, development of products, process innovations and reporting efficiency.  Through these strategies, companies are able to create value and remain competitive with a cutting-edge advantage.

Information technology management can be useful in all levels of business, from online websites and internal business functions to management of daily activities in the workplace.  In the corporate environment, information technology management assists owners and managers in determining the markets they choose to operate in.  Most businesses today have an online presence in the form of a website; those in technology management can set up such a presence, making ordering materials and other goods easier and efficient.  In any business setting, forecasting production and projecting sales is essential; information technology also becomes useful in this sense, since many companies use software to create this data.

In any type of technology management, it is essential that an individual or team take responsibility for implementing and developing strategies that are functional, efficient and designed to make the everyday tasks of business easier and more efficient.  At this point, efficient technology management requires that employees and management understand how these processes work, and how to use them in the most productive manner.  In today’s business environment most tasks, communications and projects are made simpler due to the ease of transfer of information between departments and individuals.  This means that good technology management often does away with time-wasting, needless activities that essentially cost the company money.

In the workplace, it’s easy for productivity and efficiency to suffer; time necessary to complete tasks and projects can be drastically reduced, resulting in an impact to the bottom line.  Good technology management often results in an improvement in all aspects of business, including finance, accounting, research and development and human resources.  Various software applications, programs and computers increase the productivity of individual employees, making many processes automatic, accurate and more efficient.  In order to remain competitive in the business environment and stand apart from direct competitors, efficient technology management is an essential investment.

There are many strategies used today in the business world that play a part in the total success of the company.  Planning, organizing, implementing, monitoring, evaluating, staffing – these are all strategies that are necessary to take any organization to its full potential and maintain that level of success.  Technology management is much the same; the difference is that the word “technology” stumps many.  Think about all of the things that make life easier today; cell phones, computers, and software – these are examples of the technological advances that have contributed to making modern life easier and more convenient.  Hence, the term “technology management” simply means the management of technology!

Throughout every level or division of the company, technology management is essential; this includes communications, marketing, product development, and efficiency in reporting.  Today, technology management is one component of the business environment that allows companies to remain competitive in any market, even those with fierce competitors. 

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Those who work in the technology management field are often responsible for determining whether a certain technology is valuable or will be an asset to the performance and success of the company.  Additionally, technology management is often defined as those individuals or team members who work to make all things technical (computers, software programs, etc.) easily usable to the people who use these devices or programs.  

As Nvudev describes it, technology management is a necessary component to corporations and companies both big and small looking to expand; those individuals who make up the technology management team for any business can arrange and organize information so that the data is useful in making future decisions.  In technology management, the proper use of information can either be of extreme benefit to a company, or it can save an executive or manager of that company from making a hugely detrimental mistake that may actually put the business at risk of total failure.

Information is one integral component that helps determine the course of all businesses.  Information can be used to analyze past performance, expenditures, revenues and more, but it can also be used to predict a pattern for the future.  This is why technology management is so vital to the heartbeat of business today.

In today’s world, technology continues to advance at a rapid pace; this is why it is so important that companies and corporations implement technology management in to the strategies they use to remain productive and competitive.  Every business is looking to thrive and expand their horizons in order to become more profitable and cutting-edge; without the implementation of effective technology management, businesses will be left behind as competitors continue to soar ahead.

By Puneet Mathur, PMP

Program as defined in the PMI The Standard of Program Management 2nd EditionTMis a group of related projects managed in coordinated way to obtain benefits and control not available from managing them individually.

A Program Management Office is a structure to manage such group of Programs and provide the benefits and control as part of organizations strategy. It is different from a Project Management Office since the focus here is on Programs and at a much higher level than that of Projects.

In large organizations there is a need to setup Program Management Office due to the following reasons:

Executive reporting of Programs and projects
Alignment of Programs and Projects to organization strategy plan.
Governance around Programs and projects
Centralized management of Programs in a matrix organization
Future Roadmap for Program and projects

All or any of the above could call for a need to setup Program Management Office. Whatever the need to setup a Program Management Office there has to be an Executive Sponsor who would be the chief patron and would provide support to its inception or birth. On identification of the need the next logical step is to appoint a Program Manager/Director who would head the Office. The Program Manager then assists the executive sponsor to build the framework for Governance, management and reporting. In some cases Program Manager may also hire and recruit project managers if they do not already exist in the organization. We can see the entire process in Figure 2 which starts with the need and ends at building an 18 months roadmap for the PMO. Although this sounds very simple but the journey of setting up a PMO is quite arduous and can take up anywhere from 12 to 18 months depending upon the budget and complexity of the organisation in which the Program Management Office is setup.

Figure 2. Process Program Management Office

After this the setting up Governance is very key and vital as it would set the pace for building the entire framework. To setup governance the Program manager should first know what are the projects and programs running in the organization. Also is she may have to look at if there exists a clear definition of what constitutes a project and a program. Some organizations have a good setup of Project management methodologies however lack the program management methodology. Building a framework for Program management methodology may also be looked at as part of the governance process. Project and program management framework are some of the prerequisites for setting up the governance process. A good governance system for program management office should have the following :

Periodic reporting from Projects/components on triple constraints.
Rollup of reporting from projects/components to programs.
Responsibility of project manager on component reporting.
Responsibility of program manager reporting for programs.
Definitions of Traffic light reporting for executive dash board.
Common formats for reporting.
Analysis of needs for reporting for executives and key stakeholders.

Once the above are in place the program manager is all set to publish the first governance report for the program management office.

Later part of the process is to setup a management system in order for the governance to flow. The management system involves defining how the escalation would happen for Program and project organization and the performing organization. The Governance only provides alerts on project/program performance for the stakeholders, however  the actions have to be taken through a well oiled management system. So unless the functional hierarchy is clearly defined the flow of governance would not happen.

The subsequent part of the process comes into play only when the governance and management system are integrated and are in sync with each other. So after that the logical step is to build an 18 month roadmap for the program management office allowing the executive sponsor and key stakeholders a view of the major milestones and deliverables. Even more mature program management offices look at building an audit structure for projects/components and programs at a high level. They could also look at creating the Benefit realization plans and Financial reporting plans.

Some people have asked me as to what is the ideal time of setting up a Program management office. This varies and depends on the size of organization and size of projects/programs that are to be the scope of the Program Management office. A typical cycle could last for 12 months and could be customized to setup key components that the executive sponsor wishes to see as part of the Office setup.

Please post your queries to me on fasleykum@gmail.com