Global competition and volatile markets are creating a challenging business climate for project-based firms which leave them with little room for error when managing projects. Asset intensive industries have their own individual challenges when it comes to managing their asset's lifecycles, but one area that is often overlooked or pushed off until the last minute is the decommissioning phase of their assets. The key to decommissioning is delivering projects and milestones on time and within budget. However, as the number of moving parts in a project increases, so does the difficulty in maintaining visibility and control. Companies need to take a holistic approach to enterprise project management to reduce risk in the business and be successful.

Based on the experiences of over 600 respondents, this report will explore proper asset lifecycle management. Specifically the decommissioning phase of an asset's lifecycle - how it needs to be treated like its own major capital project and planned for now while the necessary resources are present.

Communication and collaboration between owners and contractors has been a frustrating, expensive, and ongoing issue in the engineering and construction industry. All the players agree that clear communication is critical to the successful completion of construction projects. Yet, poor communication happens all the time as projects progress to completion. Misunderstandings are commonplace—not only when owner and contractor organizations communicate with each other, but even within those organizations between project team members.

The purpose of this white paper is to explore how communication and collaboration between owners and contractors can be dramatically improved when all players continually invest in three key areas:

• People
• Processes
• Organization

In addition, this white paper will discuss how mobile devices, such as iPhones and tablet computers, further enhance communication between owners and contractors. Mobile applications represent a fundamental change in the way all project participants can communicate and collaborate by enabling project teams to share information from where the work is being done: the field.

Success Factors in Public Infrastructure Project Management

Public infrastructure projects drive a country’s economic success – providing the ability to grow and become more viable and competitive in world markets. Constructions such as roads, airports, bridges, buildings, complexes, and the delivery of essential services, also improve the quality of life for citizens.

As much as public infrastructure projects create positive impact on societies, influence cultures, and affect lives, when they fail the negative impact is far-reaching. It is estimated that for every US$1 billion spent on a failed project, US$135 million is lost forever… unrecoverable. The cost of failure, however, can be more than purely financial. When projects involving billions of dollars’ worth of investment overrun on budget or time the result can hurt the tax-payer, delay essential improvements, and even trigger civil unrest. The results can topple governments.

For companies that don’t want merely to succeed in their industries but to lead them, continual business transformation is a must. With 93% of U.S. companies in some phase of changing their business model, according to recent research by consulting firm KPMG, businesses that aren’t thinking about transformation are all but irrelevant. Business transformation can mean everything from a major shift in IT systems to a large-scale innovative construction project or changes to business models and product designs. Similarly, the drivers of transformation vary widely, ranging from the increased globalization of markets in all industries to shifting energy prices to consumer expectations of constant innovation.

This paper looks at what tends to drive business transformation initiatives both internally and externally for a company, and what determines the success or failure of such initiatives. It also reveals how companies execute business transformation and the value a well-executed initiative can deliver.

Article written by Guy Barlow (Director, Industry Strategy & Business Development, Primavera Global Business Unit, Oracle) and appeared on the Oracle EPPM Blog.

We’ve seen the rapid rise of the project management office (PMO) over the last two decades. An annual survey of more than 400 companies worldwide pegs adoption at 80% and 90% among larger organizations^[1]. The 2014 results, however, yielded an interesting blip – a slight decline over 2012 findings. Is this an anomaly or might it be the start of a next generation transformation?

Earlier this year, The Enterprise Project Portfolio Management (EPPM) Board looked at a related issue that will impact the future of the PMO. Specifically, can a PMO guarantee strategic and financial success when managing multiple global projects? The board – a steering group of senior executives, academics, and industry experts that looks at how C-level executives can successfully prioritize and mange the project portfolio – shared some interesting insights and concurred that a one-size fits all strategy – in the form of a centralized PMO – is not always the best approach.

Article written by Melissa Centurio Lopes, and appeared on the Oracle EPPM Blog.

It all starts with good intentions; your good intentions to make a positive impact on the business, your good intentions to help the business become organized, and your good intentions to improve efficiencies and effectiveness. You’re thinking creatively, you’re excited about making positive changes and you’re full of optimistic energy. Yet with all these good intentions, your attempt to deploy a Project Management Office (PMO) is met with resistance from colleagues and fraught with difficulties in implementation. 

Why?

Corey Spagnoli, Senior director of Continuous Improvement PMO from NCR Corporation, a PMO veteran with 13 years’ experience, talks through three of his most problematic examples of PMO rollout in IT and Continuous Improvement environments, and the critical success factors involved. Corey talks us through his PMO deployment mistakes, demonstrates the pitfalls to avoid, and shows us how to overcome the difficulties, becoming one of our PMO rollout success stories. 

Corey’s advice is to consider three key elements for a successful PMO rollout:

This article appears in the current issue of Construction Connection.

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) recent report, Building in change: project construction in asset-intensive industries, found that over one-third of asset-intensive companies miss their budget (39%) and schedule (34%) targets on major projects at least one-quarter of the time; and more than 60% of respondents blame unexpected change for at least one-half of all project overruns. While they frequently acknowledge that some change is inevitable on large-scale projects, E&C firms and owners admit that they could vastly improve how they deal with these changes.

Improved and less adversarial relationship between owners and contractors in recent years have certainly helped deliver better projects. The overall industry shift to fast-track project delivery such as design-build adds another element of speed to the overall process.

Article written by Melissa Centurio Lopes, and appeared on the Oracle EPPM Blog.

Recent research has shown that more than 60 percent of Fortune 1000 companies plan to implement an enterprise project management office (EPMO) over the next two years. Don Kingsberry, deputy director and leader of the EPMO for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation–the largest private foundation in the world–shares what he has learned over 30 years in establishing six different EPMOs across multiple industries. Kingsberry's focus areas for the session include linking strategy to execution, prioritization, EPMO implementation, critical success factors, and resource management.

A report from the Economist Intelligence Unit

Executive Summary

Process manufacturing companies in the oil and gas, utilities, chemicals and natural resource industries rely on proprietary infrastructure to run their operations. Much of this infrastructure is rapidly aging, thus increasing the risk of failure. Subsequent disruptions hamstring operations and impede opportunities for growth, with the impact of these interruptions felt worldwide. As a result, executives in these industries must make tough decisions about where, when and how much to invest in infrastructure upgrades.

To control the rising costs and risks related to their infrastructure, many executives advocate a proactive approach to infrastructure upgrades and investment in innovative technologies as the best way forward. Such approaches, they say, will help them get ahead of breakdowns, improve safety and manage their resources more effectively.

This paper, based on a survey of more than 350 global executives in the oil and gas, utilities, chemicals and natural resource industries, explores how aging infrastructure has affected operations in those sectors and the strategies executives are employing to overcome problems.

The research examines:

Article written by John Reichard, Oracle Primavera Discrete Industry Strategy Director, and appeared on the Oracle EPPM Blog.

Manufacturing is critical to the global economy. It is driven by innovation and operational excellence, which impacts the economy and international trade—all in a volatile and demanding marketplace; A global marketplace which over the last few years has been strained by economic, political and environmental stress.Economists describe the business climate as gradually improving but still very sensitive to market conditions and customer demands. Or is this really the new normal environment for businesses?

Manufacturers that survived the difficult economy over the last few years, now face a more competitive environment where they must do more with less to win. They will have to optimize dwindling experienced resources, choose projects wisely for improved financial results, and better manage risk to deliver on time in order to thrive. How will you innovate, evolve and compete to win in this new normal global marketplace?