On a regular basis around HMS we get specifications from clients of what they’d like to have our TimeControl timesheet do for them. It’s a necessary part of the evaluation process for a client to find the right type of timesheet for their particular business challenge. The problem is that the language that the specifications are put in are rarely those of business. Most often the specifications are made in terms of features as in “the…
In my office recently one of our most experienced employees came to me with a strange question. “How do you know if something is a project management system?” they asked. I opened my mouth to answer then paused… for a long time. The answer is not obvious. In the early 1980s the first critical path scheduling packages became available for personal computers. In fact, I find it interesting that history shows that critical-path scheduling software…
Over the years I’ve had many questions about how to effectively implement resource capacity planning. I’ve written about this often in these pages and in other articles elsewhere. Resource Capacity planning is theoretically very simple. All I need is the resource availability and the resource requirement expectations and a-b=c! Not so fast. The challenge has many facets. Who do we have? First of all, not all resources are made equal. The first challenge we’d…
Many years ago in the project management software industry there was a hotly contested debate that could have no definite outcome. What was better, pundits asked, taking the “best of breed” or “all-in-one”. The timing coincided with the recent release of all new “enterprise” project management systems that purported to do everything you might want all in one system. This movement wished to displace the trend of the time which was to choose multiple project…
I mostly write about enterprise timesheet or enterprise project management systems and the most common phase of deployment that I talk about with such systems would be either the selection or configuration phase; talking about the strategic perspective. This article is much more about operational practices and isn’t specific just to enterprise timesheet or a particulare project management software product or service. It is, instead about enterprise systems in general though the subject matter…
“Can you help us install the EPM system and get it up and running in a few days?” is one of the most common requests EPM deployment firms get. And regardless of the size of the organization, the short answer, is unfortunately, “No.” The challenge isn’t technology; it’s a series of policy, process, procedure and practice questions that have the potential to create far-reaching organizational change. Let’s take a look at what an EPM deployment…
Welcome to a whole new year of the EPMGuidance.com blog. It’s early in the new year but if you were following along with the pace of blog posts and new content from the last few months, you’ll be happy to know that upcoming content is on its way. There are new blog posts scheduled for every week between now and the end of June at least so make sure you’re stopping by regularly or subscribing…
I’d like to take this opportunity to wish all of you the very best of the holiday season. It’s been a remarkable year for me personally and for HMS Software overall and that would not be possible except for the contribution of many great people. It has been a year of expansion in the business, meeting wonderful new clients and numerous speaking engagements all over North America. 2016 promises to be even more of the…
I’ve been a proponent of Enterprise Project Management since I first entered the project management industry in the early 1980s. You’d think, then, that I would always vote on the side of centralized project management, but that isn’t always the case. Let’s discuss for a moment just what we mean by Enterprise Project Management. EPM can mean a lot of different things to different people. I’ve already discussed in other articles in this column how…
Every year I spend days in project management software exhibition halls, so you’ll forgive me I hope for harping on what has become a bit of a cliché in our industry. You know the one I’m talking about – Enterprise Project Management Software. It must be the hangover from the ERP implementation craze from years ago because it seems that every software system available to mankind today is “Enterprise”-something. Vendors seem to all be either…