Implementing a cloud-based approach for project and programme management

After achieving £3.2 million of annual savings, Peterborough City Council had a further £20.8 million of cumulative savings to deliver. With over 70 individual projects the council introduced rigorous performance monitoring and clear project ownership responsibilities to ensure delivery of anticipated financial benefits from new, more efficient operational practices.

The challenge

• As the transformation programme grew and gained pace, it became impractical to manage project ownership and performance using spread-sheets and emails.
• Failure to achieve project deadlines could damage performance in connected operations, and jeopardise the delivery of strategic objectives and financial targets.
• There was a need for one central place where project teams, stakeholders and senior management could get a clear overview of the whole business transformation programme.

Our Solution

• Peterborough City Council engaged TMI Systems Ltd to develop a Cloud-based application for programme and project management, reporting and work collaboration.
• A joint team was established to develop the solution made up of project managers, programme office teams and developers.
• The council’s PPM methodology, governance and risk management were all incorporated into the new service.

The new benefits realisation methodology provides the high level overview required by senior management alongside the detailed project plans and benefits data required for effective benefits realisation. It has supported the delivery of significant benefits over the last year.

Heather Darwin, Business Transformation Manager.

The system – Verto

• Allows real-time sharing of information with project teams, stakeholders and senior management.
• Enables management and monitoring of all projects from initial ideas to completion.
• Provides a robust system for tracking project deadlines and key delivery dates.
• Gives visibility of end-to-end savings and other non-financial benefits.

The 10 benefits Peterborough City Council is seeing

1. Verto embedded the councils PPM methodology in a simple to use system
2. Greatly improved control and governance with all project workflow and approvals online
3. Clear assessment of risks and dependencies across the programme
4. Alignment of project outputs with performance outcomes
5. Simplified online reporting
6. Removal of data gathering and duplication in PMO
7. Medium-term financial strategy targets achieved £23.1 million cumulative savings over three years
8. Staff savings of 25% in the programme office due to an automation of reporting process, data capture and removal of duplicate administration activities
9. A 50% saving on software licence costs
10. A 30% improvement in resource utilisation through the identification of poorly performing projects leading to remedial action or closure