Projects and portfolios often struggle to deliver their desired return on investment. Many in the projects business don’t standardize project prioritization, planning and delivery. They select projects without knowing whether they align with strategy. They can’t establish real performance baselines. With these limitations, what result should you expect? With EcoSys, we’ve always focused on project […]
EcoSys 8: Introducing Enterprise Project Performance
October 3rd, 2017
Project controls is a vital part of successful project delivery. The ability to efficiently and accurately measure and forecast project performance can’t be understated. However, project controls alone is not enough. Consider a project that is flawlessly executed, on-time and on-budget, only to learn that it’s not strategic, doesn’t further an organization’s goals, and the […]
EVM: Management with the Lights On
August 31st, 2017
Earned Value Management (EVM) is a method using specific metrics to measure, forecast, and ultimately improve project performance. EVM has been shown to be a very strong indicator of the future performance of a project. In fact, when EVM is effectively deployed, it can be used to predict project performance +/- 10% when the project […]
Improving Projects Performance at CH2M
August 23rd, 2017
Efficiency is important in improving organizational performance, especially in the Engineering & Construction industry where project margins are so thin. CH2M, a leading global engineering company providing consulting, design, construction and operations services recognized that in order to improve the performance of their projects, they needed to increase efficiency by eliminating the time spent manually […]
The Disjoint Between Project Controls and the ERP
July 17th, 2017
Over the last 15-20 years I’ve had many a good debate on the merits of using mainstream ERP systems to manage project finances. Of course, the more accurate term is project cost controls, as opposed to project accounting, as cost engineers know these things to be discrete disciplines. The confusion stems from where they overlap; […]
Stop The Monthly Madness: 7 Steps to Real Project Control
July 11th, 2017
It’s month end. The new VP of Engineering recently issued an edict that ALL projects’ forecasts must be updated monthly, regardless of project size and status. A noble ideal, for sure. Like many such edicts, however, nothing else changed. Your control estimates were rushed together with less than 10% of design complete, Work Breakdown Schedule […]