Volume IX - Issue VIII - August 2007
PM Industry News
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Strategy & Projects Summit in Arizona Deemed Successful Reported by Matt Piazza in Texas The Center for Business Practices successfully conducted an excellent two-day Strategy & Projects Summit for 75 PMO VPs, directors, and managers in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA during 28-29 June 2007. The event attendees represented several notable corporations, namely Wachovia, Norton Healthcare, New York City Housing Authority, Sun Microsystems, Republic Bank Limited (Trinidad) and Insurance Corp of British Columbia.  The agenda included excellent case studies, a panel forum and an award for Best PMO of the Year, with honors going to Norton Healthcare of Kentucky. The Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort & Spa provided the executive facilities for this event. This summit is an evolution from several project management benchmarking events that are still been conducted each year. This summit was the 3rd in the annual event series. The next benchmark event with very limited seating (30) is in October in Las Vegas and another in Orlando. Information on these events can be found at: http://www.cbponline.com/. At the Scottsdale Summit valuable research findings were shared regarding PMO success factors, portfolio management practices and promotion of the Chief Project Officer position. The design of the summit encourages knowledge sharing among participants as well as presenters and facilitators. Unlike large seminars or symposiums, the summit was a more intimate forum. The quality of the knowledge shared, the spacious and modern facilities and the top-flight food all added to the success of this event. The schedule allowed time for informal dialogs among new business contacts. With only 75 attendees, I was able to speak with nearly 50% of all the attendees. The response was overwhelmingly positive regarding the value obtained from attending. When asked, everyone desired to return again next year! If you have interests and especially experience in directing or managing an Enterprise PMO and a business unit PMO, you will find a wealth of real-world experiences and best practices at this annual event. I have found that no matter how much I already know, I always learn more from other professional practitioners like myself. I am looking forward to next year’s even 2007 Excellence in Enterprise Integration Awards Organizations and project teams are invited to submit a nomination for this prestigious award which recognizes achievement and best practices in technology and leadership to improve enterprise performance. The 2007 Excellence in Enterprise Integration Awards will be awarded by AFEI to the top government and the top industry teams that have made significant advancements in Enterprise Integration on Thursday, September 20, 2007. The award winners will be selected based on the following criteria:
Nominations must be made electronically by e-mailing a request to Betsy Lauer (). The request must contain the name and organization of the person(s) requesting the nomination, plus the project title and organization(s) of the potential nominees. Nominations should apply to recent projects. Completed forms must be submitted no later than August 3, 2007 via email. The Association for Enterprise Integration (AFEI) is a leading industry group in the USA that promotes collaboration between government and industry. AFEI is a non-profit association for corporate and individual members whose common goal is to advance enterprise integration, network centric operations and world-class electronic business practices for industries and governments around the globe. AFEI builds government and industry inter-relationships that cut across national and organizational boundaries and promotes the development of a global information infrastructure. AFEI is a member of the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) family of associations. For additional information about AFEI, visit http://www.afei.org/. Imagination visits Dubai for PMI Reported by Mounir Ajam in Dubai  Representatives from Imagination, the publishing partner of the Project Management Institute (PMI®) on PM Network (a monthly magazine about project management), were in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from 5 to 9 July to interview executives about the status of Project Management in Dubai, the UAE, and the Region. The interviews will be filmed and included on a DVD that will be distributed at the Forbes CEO Conference that is planned for Singapore in September of this year. PMI is a principal sponsor for the conference. We were able to assist Imagination in organizing 5 interviews with executives that represent a spectrum of industries. These executives believe in promoting project management and many of them have either adopted professional project management processes or are currently implementing a PM system in their organization. The participating executives included the Executive Director of Dubai Knowledge Village, the Director of the Outsourcing Zone, the CEO of Arab Media Group, the Regional VP for ARAMEX International, and the Director of Projects and Assets Management for the Dubai International Financial Centre. Government Co-funded Program to Promote Project Management Certification in Greece has Been Launched Reported by Theofanis Giotis in Athens The first ever Government co-funded program to promote project management certification in Greece was launched on July 18, 2007 in Athens following its official approval by the Greek Ministries of Development and Education. The program will promote the IPMA 4-Level Certification Scheme adapted to the Greek / European Union requirements.  The partners of the program include the National Technical University of Athens (Department of Construction Engineering & Management), Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Department of Civil Engineering), Technological Educational Institute of Larissa (Department of Project Management), Loughborough University of Technology, U.K. (Department of Civil & Building Engineering), the Network of Project Managers in Greece (PM-Greece), Egnatia Odos S.A. (a major project management company in Greece), Ergose S.A. (also a major project management company in Greece), Edrasis – Ch. Psallidas S.A. (major contractor), Bovis-Lend-Lease (Greece), Hellenic Agency for Local Development & Local Government S.A. (a state owned company providing professional and technical support to local goverments in Greece) and the Development Agency of Karditsa S.A. (a state owned company providing advisory services for development projects in central Greece). The program, known as “profPM” (acronym standing for “professional Project Management”) has a budget of over € 200,000 and a duration of 14 months. The most tangible output expected is the certification of the first project managers in Greece according to the IPMA scheme by mid-2008. Additional information can be obtained from the program coordinator Dr. J.P. Pantouvakis (http://paris.pantouvakis.gr) and/or from the program website at (currently under construction). (This article is based on information provided to PMForum by Professor Paris Pantouvakis, NTIU and PM-Greece.) Microsoft Names Pcubed as Enterprise Project Management Partner of the Year Pcubed has been named Enterprise Project Management Partner of the Year by Microsoft. The award was announced at a ceremony on July 11 in Denver, Colorado, USA at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference. Pcubed was chosen out of an international field of Microsoft partners as delivering best in class customer solutions built on Microsoft’s technology. According to the press release received by PMForum, Microsoft describes the award as recognition of: “the exceptional partner that has excelled in offering breakthrough Microsoft Office System solutions. The winning partner’s innovative thinking has helped solve a technical challenge or helped address its customers’ business needs and empower their employees, and has had a unique and positive impact on customers’ business pain points.” The award reflects Pcubed’s long standing partnership with Microsoft and reinforces the leading global solutions enabled for businesses around the world through the Microsoft Office System. Pcubed is a US company dedicated to project and program management delivery and measurement. Pcubed builds long-term relationships with customers by providing a mix of project management best practices integrated with leading technologies such as Microsoft Office System’s Project and Portfolio Servers to ensure programs and projects are delivered on time and within budget. PM Industry News - US$ 2 billion Telecom Project Reported by Raju Rao iin Chennai India Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) and Bharti Airtel have signed one of the world's largest network expansion deals, worth an estimated USD 2 billion. The state-of-the-art network will help Airtel offer world-class and cost-effective products and services to its customers, and help it expand its reach in rural India. It is Ericsson's largest deal to date. Under the two-year supply and services contract, Ericsson will design, plan, deploy, optimize and manage Bharti Airtel's GSM network across India. It will also deliver pan-India integrated device management solutions, enabling usage of advanced data services by all mobile customers across retail and enterprise segments.  Manoj Kohli, President and CEO, Bharti Airtel, and Mats Granryd, President, Ericsson India Mats Granryd, managing director, Ericsson India, says: "Rollout speed plays an extremely important role in large expansions of this nature and Ericsson has demonstrated expertise in this area.” Bharti and Ericsson are also looking at forming a focus group to work on energy optimization by way of introducing energy-efficient equipment and alternate energy sources." Number of Project Managers in UK Estimated Reported by Miles Shepherd in London, UK. According to Mike Nichols, Chair of the Association for Project Management (APM), the national professional society for project management in Great Britain, “I estimate that there are now around 300,000 project managers in the UK. That is approximately the number of doctors or solicitors in the country.” Under the two-year supply and services contract, Ericsson will design, plan, deploy, optimize and manage Bharti Airtel's GSM network across India. It will also deliver pan-India integrated device management solutions, enabling usage of advanced data services by all mobile customers across retail and enterprise segments.  David Pells, Managing Editor of pmforum.org and pmworldtoday.net (left) and Mike Nichols, Chair of the Association for Project Management (APM)
The remarks were made during dinner at the Art Club in London on Monday evening, 23 July. Mr. Nichols was dining with David Pells, Managing Editor for the online eJournal PM World Today (pmworldtoday.net) and the well-known PM website www.pmforum.org, and Miles Shepherd, International Correspondent for PMForum in the UK. The meeting was primarily for the purpose of discussing possible collaboration between APM and PMForum related to promoting professional project management, both in the UK and abroad. Mr. Nichols, who is also head of the Nichols Group, a UK-based major projects consultancy, also stated, “There are thousands of project managers and members of project teams throughout the country who do not belong to any professional body. We need to get the word out that participation in APM and other professional organizations can help them manage their programs and projects better, and demonstrably help advance their careers.” According to Miles Shepherd, who is a former chair and an honorary Fellow of APM, “PMForum can provide a number of new opportunities and resources for APM, for example to access an existing library of project management literature, for additional visibility, and to promote events.” This was the first meeting between Nichols and Pells, who agreed in principle to cooperate, and to now seek some concrete ways to collaborate in order to advance the project management profession. CH2M HILL Recognized as the Largest Employee-Owned CH2M HILL, a global full-service engineering, construction and operations firm, has been ranked the sixth largest employee-owned company in the USA, according to the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO). Among the 100 companies listed, CH2M HILL is the largest employee-owned company in the engineering and construction industry and holds the top ranking in the Rocky Mountain region. Rankings are based on the number of company employees. Companies must be at least 50 percent owned by current or former employees through a broad-based employee ownership plan. The full list of rankings is available online at www.nceo.org/library/eo100.html. Headquartered in Denver, Colo., employee-owned CH2M HILL is a global leader in engineering, construction and operations for public and private clients. With $4.5 billion in revenue, CH2M HILL is an industry-leading program management, construction management for fee and design firm, as ranked by Engineering News-Record (2007). The firm's work is concentrated in the areas of transportation, water, energy, environment, communications, construction and industrial facilities. The firm has long been recognized as a most-admired company and leading employer by business media and professional associations worldwide. CH2M HILL has more than 19,000 employees in regional offices around the world. Martin Barnes named PM Ambassador™ Martin Barnes, PhD, former Chairman and current President of the Association for Project Management in the UK, has joined the PM Ambassadors™ Speakers Bureau recently created by PMForum. Dr. Barnes is one of the best known and widely respected project management leaders in Great Britain and around the World.  Dr. Martin Barnes is President of the Association for Project Management (APM), the professional body for project managers in the UK. He was a founding member (no. 10) of APM in 1972 and has been an active APM leader since that time. He was APM Chair in the 1980s and was named an APM Fellow in 1995. Martin has a civil engineering degree from the University of London and a PhD from the University of Manchester, UK. His doctorate was awarded in 1971 for research into improved methods of financial control for engineering projects. Martin Barnes invented the classic Time/Cost/Quality triangle and other project management techniques over the years. He built up his own PM business over 15 years until it merged with what is now PricewaterhouseCoopers in 1985. Now a consultant in project management, Martin was also Executive Director of the Major Projects Association (MPA) for nine years until 2006. Dr Barnes has advised on significant projects in many countries in Europe, Asia and Africa, for the World Bank, other funding agencies, governments, promoters and major contractors. He has worked on projects in the engineering, defense, aerospace, IT, financial, business change and media sectors. Martin’s BBC television programme on project management has been used as a training aid in many countries. He has acted as expert witness in a number of arbitrations concerning major projects. He has presented papers or training courses in project management in 22 countries. Martin led the team that produced the New Engineering Contract (NEC), a system of contracts designed to facilitate and stimulate the use of modern project management across all the contributors on a project. The NEC is now being used in over 20 countries and has been adopted by the UK government for all publicly funded construction projects.  Martin Barnes has been active in the IPMA since 1972, having attended all but one of its world congresses since that year. He presented papers at most of them. He is a Fellow of IPMA and a former board member and Chairman of its Council of Representatives. Dr Barnes is a recipient of the Chartered Institute of Management’s Special Award and of the Institution of Civil Engineers’ Watson Medal in the UK, both for his personal contributions to the development of project management. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the UK’s highest engineering recognition, and is a Churchill Fellow. Dr. Barnes is prepared to provide keynote speeches, lectures and executive briefings on the following topics, among others:
For information on Dr. Barnes’ availability, please contact On 26 June 2007, PMForum announced the formation of the PM Ambassadors™ Speakers Bureau, a new global service for project management leaders and meeting planners worldwide. The program offers and promotes leading project management authorities, experts and professional leaders who are available to speak at conferences, meetings and seminars worldwide. PM Ambassadors™ include globally-recognized project management professional experts; authors of PM textbooks; former presidents and chairs of PM professional societies; experienced project managers and PM professionals; and retired executives of project and program-oriented organizations.  PM Ambassadors™ are available to speak at project management conferences, meetings, seminars and workshops, and at corporate events. Interested meeting organizers and planners can contact for more information. Background information about individual speakers, availability and potential presentation topics can be found at http://www.pmforum.org/ambassadors/ambassadors.htm. Established in 1995, www.pmforum.org. was the world’s first website devoted to professional project management and continues to be one of the world’s most popular sources of project management news and information. PMForum is a company formed to operate and administer the pmforum.org website. PMForum also produces the monthly online PM World Today eJournal where articles, case studies, papers and viewpoints by leading PM authorities from around the world can be found; free subscriptions are available at pmworldtoday.net. |
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