Project Management Modernization – Why And How Western Moved From Spreadsheets To PrimaveraFrom Spreadsheets To Primavera

Session 10588Presenters – Paul Martin CGA; Fred

Janzen PMP

Agenda

1) Current environment2) Current capital project control3) Why Primavera – “The right stuff”4) Implementation Strategy4) Implementation Strategy5) Change Management6) Questions

Western University Organization

• Research Intensive University• 35,000+ Students• 3500+ Staff and Faculty•• Operating Budget - $555 M• Research Budget - $208 M• Located in London, Ontario, Canada

Campus Geography

• Main campus - 155 hectares/380 Acres

• Land Holdings – 480 Hectares/1175 Acres

• 15 KM (9.5 Miles) • 15 KM (9.5 Miles) Roadway

• 93 Buildings– 9 Residences/ almost 5000 beds

– Growing

Annual Projects

• 200 – 300 capital & Infrastructure projects• $10,000 to $3 Million• Infrastructure, Classroom and Lab enhancements

• 10 – 15 medium projects• $5 to $15 Million• $5 to $15 Million• Renovations, Major Infrastructure

• 4 – 5 major projects • $15 to $100 million• New Building• Major retrofit old buildings to new standards

• $150 to $300 million budget

Staffing levels

• Internal staff• 20 Project coordinators, Managers and Engineers

• 100 Trades persons (includes 6 person project crew)project crew)

• 5 Design persons• External

• 30 to 40 General contractors • 20 to 35 Consultants and Architects

Current Project Control

• Distributed amongst coordinators and managers

• Excel spreadsheets and PeopleSoft Financials ledger for budget and cost control

• Email for tracking correspondence• Email for tracking correspondence• General Contractors control schedule and project in their systems

• Difficult to learn from previous experience• No ability to do “What if” scenarios• Reporting sporadic and inconsistent

Why Primavera?

• Desire to increase transparency, accountability and collaboration while reducing risk

• Common process for all capital projects• Dashboard - project health and budget • Dashboard - project health and budget results

• Repository for all project correspondence and decision impacting designs and schedule

• “What if “ scenarios can be easily created and reviewed for time line and budget impacts

Why Primavera Continued

• Integration with PeopleSoft• Can learn from previous experience (copy projects, build templates, build a “book of Knowledge)Knowledge)

• Enterprise View • Track “Portfolios” of projects

The Right Stuff

• Successful Projects– Right People– Right Tools

• Communicate• Communicate• Track progress• Spot issues• Web-based software

– One version of the Truth– Best Practices and Enterprise level Technology

Aberdeen Group StudyCategory of AEC Firms Mean Performance

Standard Best Practices and Enterprise level Technology (SBPT) - 89% of projects delivered early or on time- Projects not delivered on time are on average six weeks

late- 89% of projects delivered within budget- 10% average overrun on projects not delivered within

budgetStandard Best Practices with Desktop based or no technology - 71% of projects delivered early or on time(SBP) - Projects not delivered on time are on average six weeks

late- 79% of projects delivered within budget- 14% average overrun on projects not delivered within

budget Neither Best Practices or Enterprise Level Technology (Neither) - 64% of projects delivered early or on time

- Projects not delivered on time are on average six weeks late

- 73% of projects delivered within budget- 20% average overrun on projects not delivered within

budget

Implementation Strategy

• Partner with an implementation firm with a successful track record – SAR

• No customization• Map out business processes that are best in • Map out business processes that are best in

class• Project manager should also be a user of the

system

Change Management

• Project Manager– Member of team who will use the product

• Communication– Monthly updates for project coordinators and – Monthly updates for project coordinators and

managers– Process review– Re-enforce the fact the system is changing

Change Management Continued

• Training– Just-In-Time training using Western data

• System Testing– Include users internal and external in system – Include users internal and external in system

testing

• Help Desk and Super Users– Help desk support available– Super Users available to assist others

Questions

Session 10588 - Project Management Modernization – Why And How Western Moved From Spreadsheets

PAUL MARTIN CGA – FINPLM@UWO.CAFRED JANZEN PMP – FJANZEN2@UWO.CA

– Why And How Western Moved From Spreadsheets To Primavera