UMT360 Blog
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The most recent Gartner Market Guide for Strategy Execution Management features a simple but profound statement: “Strategy should always drive what we decide to do and how we decide to do it.” Take it from a company who has been saying essentially the same thing for years, that quote really nails it. Strategy execution expertise …
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Chances are good that if you’re not already acting on a mandate from your executives to drive business transformation, you’re looking for a way to do just that. But if you approach this challenge focused only on project execution, you’ll soon discover that driving transformation without first connecting execution to strategy is next to impossible. …
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Last month in Washington DC, PPM leaders from all over the world gathered for Gartner’s Program & Portfolio Management Summit. We thought we’d share a few observations from the event. With close to 2,000 attendees, this annual Gartner summit is certainly one of the highlights of the year for anyone involved with PPM. As one …
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Every year, UMT360 participates in the Gartner PPM Summit. This year’s event was held June 12-14 in National Harbor, MD. As they have in previous years, the folks at ProjectManagement.com asked me to provide some observations on this year’s Summit. You can find the whole article here, but if you don’t have an account (register …
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We met a lot of folks at the Microsoft Ignite Conference in Chicago last week. And while everyone we spoke with had unique and specific challenges, one common thread ran through our conversations. Most organizations we spoke with used Microsoft Project Online or Project Server as their PPM tool, yet still wanted a more efficient and effective way to manage their projects. …
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Close to 20,000 people will gather in Chicago for Microsoft Ignite during the first week of May. We’re looking forward to seeing everyone there, but we’re particularly interested in connecting with anyone who manages or depends on Microsoft Project Online and Project Server. If that sounds like you, and you’re planning on attending Ignite, please …
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A big thanks to all the attendees of the IT Portfolio Management Conference in Chicago who stopped by the UMT360 booth. The event was a fantastic opportunity to connect with IT leaders looking to transform how they manage enterprise IT investments. Many of the folks who stopped by the UMT360 booth participated in our 2014 …
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UMT360’s recent webinar schedule has focused on enabling PMOs to be strategic. Great topics, with some world-class PMO professionals including Learning How to Establish a Strategic PMO with Carl Souchereau from SNC Lavalin T&D, and Changing the PMO Status Quo with Frank La Rocca from ConEd. In fact, we’ve seen so much interest in the …
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As the enterprise performance crisis pushes IT investments back to the top of IT leadership concerns, we ran three surveys aimed at understanding where the market is at with respect to IT investment strategies. The questions, asked during the live webinar, Why Integrated IT Portfolio Management Matters, conducted on July 29th, 2014, focused on the …
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During a recent UMT360 webinar covering How to Become a Strategic PMO (see archive here), we found that only 1% have regular dynamic reallocation reviews via automated processes. Another 39% have regular reviews, but require manual, time-intensive efforts to collect and standardize data. UMT360’s message to PPM practitioners is that this is their opportunity to take …
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Many of today’s processes and methods for managing technology investments were not designed for networked organizations operating at high speeds. Financial management best practices were not created for programs, portfolios and assets. In a recent webinar, we polled attendees and asked them about which factors are most important in overcoming IT investment management roadblocks. The top top …
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Having just returned from Gartner’s PPM & IT Governance Summit in Maryland, I’ve been reflecting on the many great discussions our team had regarding Digitized IT and UMT360’s approach to Enterprise Portfolio Management (EPM). Because we have long promoted the tenets of integration, transparency and digitalization as key to successful business investment management, it’s rewarding …
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IT and the business knows: The year-to-year viability of a company depends on its ability to innovate. We have learned over the years that innovation comes from three sources. Top Down – Driven by management imperatives (i.e. we have to be in the cloud) Bottom Up – Can originate anywhere in the organization, everyone participates and …
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Ask ten people to define portfolio management and you’ll likely receive ten different answers. Of the various definitions, most will focus on some sort of aggregate reporting across portfolios or highlight alignment of spend with strategic priorities and selecting the optimal project portfolio under varying budget constraints. I believe firmly that neither definition aptly describes …
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UMT360 today announced the release of the newest module in its leading Enterprise Portfolio Management solution – UMT360 Portfolios. UMT360 Portfolios connects siloed portfolios (e.g. project, application, IT Service and business capability) to build a dynamic blueprint of a company’s operating fabric. It provides three breakthrough EPM models to help CIOs, Portfolio Managers and PMOs visualize …
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UMT360 is pleased to be named a finalist in Microsoft’s 2014 Partner of the Year Awards which celebrate top Microsoft partners that solve customer challenges with creative technology solutions. Microsoft received more than 3200 nominations for the 46 awards. UMT360 has been named either a winner or finalist in the Partner of the Year Awards …
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Businesses today are challenged with ways to fund innovation as budgets remain flat or increase incrementally. The inability to efficiently invest in the future is one of the reason’s IT is becoming less relevant. It’s imperative that organizations make changes and not only gain a greater understanding of their spending dynamics but also adopt a …
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In a UMT360 webcast, an industry analyst said that business leaders are now “reaching out to the market again looking for independent portfolio management functionality that will allow them to justify new investments and justify the redistribution especially of funds in order to exploit new business opportunities.” Today, it can be a daunting process for …
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In a recent HBR article The Hidden Indicators of a Failing Project, author Gretchen Gavett explores why people are reluctant to bring up red flags during the course of a project. On the list of How to Manage Big Projects Differently are “check and revise your business case regularly” and “monitor what’s not being spent.” Those …
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In early October, UMT360’s northwest team took a day to disconnect from technology and lend a helping hand to a wonderful nonprofit in Washington state. The team spent a day volunteering at the Harmony Hill Cancer and Wellness Retreat Center on Hood Canal. Harmony Hill opened back in 1986 as a wellness retreat and added its cancer …
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UMT360 is pleased to bring you a series of webinars on PPM 2.0 – Why Portfolio Financial Intelligence (PFI) is Key. You can click here to view the recording of the first in the series presented in late September by UMT360 CEO Mike Gruia. Join us for the next three webinars being presented by Frank …
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As UMT360 continues to expand its team, we’re accepting applications for a number of positions including Sales/Business Development Representatives, Software Sales Executives, Technical Sales Engineers, Program Managers and Technical Writers. Interested applicants can read more about the positions on the UMT360 website or contact our HR department at hr@umt360.com. Based in Bellevue, WA, UMT360 provides …
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UMT’s product group, UMT360, is pleased to announce the release of its most ambitious product offering to date. UMT360 revolutionizes portfolio management by providing comprehensive, integrated solutions to help companies gain financial transparency and dramatically improve investment decisions across their projects, products and asset portfolios. UMT360 CEO Mike Gruia commented, “UMT360 is the culmination of …
