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Assessment
Understanding the true needs of a business is the first step in a successful implementation. Meeting with management and staff is invaluable to our understanding of your requirements. A detailed requirements analysis will be conducted prior to the start of the implementation. Also, at this time your workflow will be defined and we will discuss the implementation approach to be taken. During this phase we will conduct onsite reviews of your existing hardware, operating systems, and network.
EPM Solutions helps to bridge the gap between business issues, corporate goals, and the technology required to deliver the desired results. Based on thorough analysis and a detailed articulation of the required strategy, design, specifications and success measurements, EPM Solutions is able to effectively translate the project goals and requirements to ensure project success, and to provide tools to the client to manage the changes and the business impact that new or updated technologies impose on an organization.
Planning
Key to any successful implementation of a new software system is the upfront analysis and project planning to chart a course from beginning to end. The project plan provides the road map of how we will together get from A to Z with the building blocks and milestones identified along the way. A defined project plan is a key component to avoiding the pot holes and risks and to ensuring that the project will be on time and on budget.
By utilizing the most experienced EPM experts in the initial planning phase, we make sure the foundation is properly laid down and the road map is defined and developed based on the clients’ short term mission and is in alignment with the client’s long term business objectives. In this phase, we apply our strategic business and project management expertise as well as tactical and technical expertise in defining the overall goals and measurements of the project's success.
Advisory Service: EPMS can help your organization determine what it needs
Advisory Services is a remotely or onsite delivered, daily fee based consultative support option that provides a more comprehensive result beyond your critical-fix product maintenance needs. EPMS Advisory Service is typically used for shorter engagements, and is designed for companies which do not require the full deployment consulting services. Our EPMS Advisory Service is also used to help companies get back on track from failed deployment and to free them from dreaded frustration.
Executive Briefings
EPM Solutions can present the strategic benefits and business value of enterprise project management and collaboration to your decision makers in a few short hours either live or with WebEX presentations. Executives will learn the value of these tools.
Envisioning Workshop
Envisioning Workshop is a phase of collective learning of Project Server, Portfolio Server and SharePoint functionalities and will be used to evaluate and determine what the next step should be.
Culture Change and Buy- In
Many IT projects fail purely because the most important aspect is not given enough focus or sometimes even ignored altogether - the users. Far too many project managers focus too heavily on the technology to be implemented, leaving users wary of change and naturally cautious about any new IT Solution. We have seen that by managing a project properly and communicating with potential users, (using workshops to get feedback, identifying sub- champions and ensuring that through training, users are confident with the new solution), that deadlines are much easier to achieve as the client’s users are motivated and more often than not, welcome the change and benefits it's about to bring them.
Pilot Phase
Delivered onsite or onDemand, EPM Solutions’ Pilot phase utilizes the information gathered and criteria established during the Assessment and Planning phase. This is a phase of collective learning and will be used to evaluate and determine what the next step should be. The Pilot phase is focused on activating your initial core team and establishing the foundation expanding your project management infrastructure to include expanded volume and increased complexity as required.
Department Roll-out Phase
EPM Solutions Project Server continues to expand to the Department Rollout phase. We will work with you in training additional users, deploying additional features, creating advance reports, integrating to other enterprise systems, or working towards standardizing and improving project management processes.
Verification and Validation
EPM Solutions is the first company to develop comprehensive test cases and software tools to ensure detection and correction of defects along with the development of our deployment projects. Although we primarily use these test cases and tools for our software implementation projects, we can also validate and test your Project Sever installation and configuration via remote access or onsite.
Companies that have implemented Project Server but have not been able to take advantage of this tool are often very frustrated, because on one hand, they see the huge potential of what this tool can do, and on the other hand, they see that their system is just not working the way they wanted it to. Often, EPM Solutions is contacted and brought in to diagnose the problem areas and to help them “get it done right. EPM has accumulated significant experience in various industries including healthcare, financial services, software, professional services, manufacturing, etc. We are able to provide both technical know-how as well as the best practices to benefit our clients, and to assist them getting back on track by taking advantage of this tool in managing their projects, portfolios and resources.
Documentation
An important, but often overlooked aspect of a successful implementation, is the proper documentation of organizational and system procedures as to how data is to be entered and processed through the system. However, for the client to write thorough documentation can be time consuming and a tedious process. EPM Solutions utilizes proprietary software tools to capture all the data of the system implemented, creating proper documentation for diagnostic purposes or for future use, in less time.
Migration to Project Server 2007
Project Server 2007 has a new architecture, enabling the system and solutions to provide new functionality and capabilities. Data Migration from previous versions to Project Server 2007 can be a challenging process. EPM Solutions employs the best practices for data migration allowing us to deliver maximum speed and efficiency.
Project Server Configuration Audit
When an organization has been using the tools for a while the domain experts may no longer be available, the configuration details may not be well understood, or the objectives have changed requiring a detailed look at what is there and ascertain the gaps for the present needs. This engagement provides all the configuration parameters in an easy to understand format and a strategic assessment report of recommendations to utilize more of the tools capabilities.
PMO Office
EPM Solutions works with you to design suitable project and organizational policies develop and enhance portfolio, program and project-level work processes; project and portfolio performance measures to manage your resources and projects to maximize the attainment of your business objectives. We implement software tools to give you a comprehensive view of your organization’s work at all stages of the lifecycle for better decision-making in additional to better project management, resource management and process standardization.
Project Maturity Assessment
EPM Solutions' team of project management experts begins the process by conducting a maturity assessment using proven tools and techniques, such as interviews, working paper evaluation, and surveys to establish your organization’s baseline capabilities. In general, the assessment provides a framework for measuring an organization's maturity level in each of the PMBOK® Guide's nine knowledge areas. It also takes into consideration such areas as management oversight, and professional development.
Once the assessment is complete, the results are then used to develop a clear, step-by-step path that charts the way to superior organizational performance and maturity.
Advance Reports and Analytics
EPM Solutions offers the Dashboards to deliver improved decision making by leveraging data from Project Server in real time. These dashboards can be tailored based on a user’s role (CIO, portfolio manager, project manager, resource manager), and they allow the user to take action through integrated collaboration capabilities. Data can be displayed in a variety of formats including, static reports, pivot tables, graphs and charts. Rolling up and consolidating data into drillable executive dashboards. Our Project Reporting capabilities also include Earned Value, a performance measurement tool which provides better project visibility and insight into how time, cost and resources are spent and into the overall health of the projects. reak more
Enterprise Application Integration
Many of our clients require that their business system integrate with other software applications within their current business process framework. Key to all the streams is our underlying ability to integrate Microsoft technology with other systems. The advantage of Microsoft SQL Server-based and object-oriented architecture, combined with its Component Object Model, is the ability to utilize industry standard application development tools to seamlessly integrate external systems. This approach will eliminate double entry and reduce the opportunity for human error, as well as provide information in a timelier manner. read more
Project Server Extensions
Drawing from our extensive custom development experience, EPM Solutions has developed a wide variety of add-on products aiming at improving efficiency and meeting different needs including Report Manager, EAI Timesheet Synchronizer, Scheduled Field Updater and Mobile EPM. read more
Public Courses and Onsite Training
EPM Solutions provides the most comprehensive training courses to administrators and users in Project Server and SharePoint, which are delivered both on site and via public format. These courses focus on how to implement, administer, support, maintain the software environment and how to properly use these software tools in your day-to-day operations. EPM Solutions offers regularly scheduled public classes in Washington D.C. and in San Francisco, California. We also conduct custom classes created specifically for your team. Also, one-on-one mentoring sessions at your facility or remotely can be arranged as well. read more
Project Server Learning Lab
EPM Solutions has online learning labs created for clients to practice their skills in using this tool, making sure your production system remains intact while equipping your users to sharpen up their skills. Students participate in EPMS public classes are also entitled to use the lab for 30 days for post training practices.
Client Project Workspace
During both of the Pilot Deployment and Rollout Phases, we will give you insight, visibility, and control of the implementation project via Project Workspace. You will have real-time access to your implementation project tasks, issues, risks, documents, and status reports to jointly manage your projects to ensure that you, our clients will enjoy on time and on budget deliveries.
On-Going Support
Nobody provides better support service than us in today’s EPM service field. We provide dedicated help desk support for our consulting clients with fixes to their critical issues, training new staff, upgrading to the latest version, or developing a new report, to name a few of them. Besides, dedicated support to our consulting clients, we have Training Advantage Support designed to give people who come to our public classes a jump start in all areas of Project Server, Portfolio Server deployment. read more
OnDemand Hosting Services
EPM Solutions Project Server onDemand is our industry-leading hosting service. It enables organizations to have a hosted Project Management and Collaboration workplace through a monthly subscription model. This cost-effective service enables organizations to immediately deploy and use Project Server without the time and expense of building and managing your own technical infrastructure. EPM Solutions’ hosting packages meet the needs of most companies from Basic package to a complete enterprise turn key solution that directly address deployment concerns on top of the infrastructure concerns. read more |
