Summarize Enterprise Project Management (EPM) and Project Management Office (PMO)

This article summarizes the Enterprise Project Management (EPM) model and Project Management Office (PMO) and how they relate to Agile Scrum and the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe). Summarize the Enterprise Project Management (EPM) model and Project Management Office (PMO).

Enterprise project management (EPM) takes into account the organizational processes that are in place, any technology that the company is using, and the company organization hierarchy or structure, which assists the company in devising a strategy for running many projects at once as described by Verzuh (2015)

The EPM model, as Verzuh (2015) points out, has three levels of management that provide a relationship between the organizational strategy and project resources. The lowest level is a single project. This is followed by the tier with multiple projects. The multiple project level becomes a bit more complex since resources need to be coordinated between all projects, as Verzuh (2015) points out. The highest level is the project portfolio management. Project portfolio management joins the company's strategic objectives with the projects in the other two, which is a project or multiple projects, as Verzuh (2015) points out.

All these levels are working together to enable the EPM to function. Standardized processes and methods are put in place to manage projects and for management activities at the program and project levels, as Verzuh (2015) discusses, to assist in making all projects run smoothly in the EPM model. The use of technology, such as project management software, assists in helping people follow the processes and methods put in place. The project management office (PMO) is the group that creates, defines, and maintains the standards for project management within the organization. The rest of the people within the EPM model work on or manage the projects, and skills are needed to understand the processes and technology put in place by the PMO to complete the project work, as Verzuh (2015) points out.

The organization I work in uses Agile Scrum Methodology. They also practice the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe). SAFe is similar to the EPM and PMO in that some high-level positions organize more than one Agile Scrum Team. A number of Agile Scrum teams are referred to as a Release Train. One person in our group functions as the Release Train Engineer. This person acts as the chief ScrumMaster, as described by SAFe (2016). This person organizes the onboarding of any new scrum teams that are brought in to assist with extra work that needs to be completed and also sets the standards and process for the ScrumMasters. The technology used to manage all the scrum teams is RallyDev, now owned by Computer Associates. The Release Train Engineer is also the person who receives any work that needs prioritization along with the Chief Project Owner. The release train engineer asks that any new defects found be passed to them for prioritization when they meet with the Chief Product Owner. The Chief Product Owner oversees the roadmap for our products and works with stakeholders and product owners on the team to plan out current features and the roadmap for future quarters. Each team has a product owner and a ScrumMaster, which meet with the release train engineer and chief product owner regularly so they can do planning.

References

SAFe. (2016). SAFe® 4.0 Introduction, Overview of the Scaled Agile Framework® for Lean Software and Systems Engineering White Paper [PDF File] A Scaled Agile, Inc: Retrieved from (https://scaledagile.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/SAFe_4_whitepaper_digital_7-16.pdf)

Verzuh, E. (2015). The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management, 5th Edition [VitalSource Bookshelf version]. Retrieved from (https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9781119086673)