BCom (Hons) IT Management
Management of Information Technologies Projects
Assignment 5
Project Management Offices
University of Johannesburg
Name:
Student Number:
Lecturer:
Contents
What is the purpose and mission of a PMO?. 3
What are the main challenges and obstacles in implementing a PMO?. 4
What structures and governance mechanisms are critical to effective PMO
implementation?. 5
How much PM is enough PM? How much PMO support is enough PMO support?. 6
Bibliography. 7
What is the purpose and mission of a PMO?
The purpose of a Project Management Office is to achieve benefits from standardizing and
following project management policies, processes and methods. The PMO will become the
main source for guidance, documentation and metrics related to managing and
implementing projects within a company. The PMO may also get involved in
project-related tasks and follow up on project activities through completion. The PMO can
report on project activities, problems and requirements to executive management to assist
them in making consistent business- or mission goals and objective decisions. The PMO
generally makes use of an industry standard like PMBOK or PRINCE2.
The PMO also collaborates across the company to co-ordinate planning, management and
execution of multiple projects directed towards the same strategic goal. This collaboration
may be with project managers from within IT or from the business units involved in the
specific project as well as other functional areas as needed.
The PMO relies heavily on relationship management because they will be the go between
for all business units working on a specific project. Due to this relationship management
the PMO is able to understand the business, assist in prioritization of projects and to ensure
that projects align with the technology that best provides maximum return on investment.
A PMO can be defined as a service organisation created for the specific purpose of
supporting the successful and effective delivery of Information Technology projects. The
mission of the PMO is two-fold:
Create a foundation for consistent IT project success throughout the company
Guide key IT projects from implementation through a successful conclusion (University of
Miami, 2014)
A PMO can be broken down into these roles:
Relationship management: Communicates and collaborates with the business units on
project status reporting
Project management: Co-ordinates planning, management and execution of multiple
projects directed toward the same strategic goal
Portfolio management: Oversees the processes, governance and tools used to plan, create,
assess, balance and communicate the execution of the IT project or program portfolio.
