To successfully implement the changes planned in the company, it is necessary to clearly understand that every business unit needs continuous engineering. Continuous engineering involves approaching business as a process. A process is a sequence of economic acts (tasks, work, relationships) predetermined by business goals. It is sometimes said that a business process is a set of steps that a firm takes from one state to another, or from "input" to "output". The inputs and outputs here are not parts of the firm or its divisions, but events. General management business and business processes is called "business engineering", meaning by this the constant design of processes - the definition of inputs and outputs, and the sequence of steps - within a business unit.
Nowadays, the concept of business reengineering is becoming popular in the design of business processes. The founder of the theory of reengineering, M. Hammer, defined this concept as follows: "a fundamental rethinking and a radical change in decisions about business processes in order to achieve noticeable improvements in critical performance indicators such as costs, quality, service and speed."
Reengineering has the following properties:
- he abandons outdated rules and regulations and begins the business process, as it were, with " clean slate", this allows you to overcome the negative impact of dogmas;
- it disregards the established systems, structures and procedures of the company and radically changes, reinvents the ways economic activity- if it is impossible to change your business environment then you can remake your business;
- it leads to significant changes in performance indicators.
Reengineering is applied in three main situations:
- in conditions when the company is in a state of deep crisis;
- in conditions when the current position of the company is satisfactory, but the forecasts of its activities are rather unfavorable;
- in situations where aggressive, prosperous organizations seek to increase the gap from competitors and create unique competitive advantages.
The main stages of reengineering:
- formation of the desired image of the company (the basic elements of construction are the strategy of the company, the main guidelines, ways to achieve them);
- creation of a model of the existing business of the company (to create a model, the results of the analysis of the organizational environment, controlling data are used; processes that need restructuring are determined);
- development of a new business model - direct reengineering (selected processes are redesigned, new personnel functions are formed, new information systems are created, a new model is tested);
- implementation of the new business model.
Business reengineering is a process of rapid change based on a sequence of quickly made and implemented management decisions based on the application of modern scientific methods and the use of practical management experience.
Enterprise Management Information Systems (EMIS)
Let's start with the definitions necessary for understanding the further reasoning. Consistent consideration of these definitions makes it possible to enter the area of enterprise management information systems (EMIS) necessary for a modern manager.
Information - information about the surrounding world (objects, phenomena, events, processes, etc.), which reduce the existing degree of uncertainty, incompleteness of knowledge, alienated from their creator and become messages (expressed in a certain language in the form of signs, including recorded on a tangible medium) that can be reproduced by transmission by people orally, in writing or in any other way.
Data - information reduced to the level of an object of certain transformations, including with the help of computer tools.
Document - Announcement in paper, sound, electronic or other form, drawn up according to certain rules, certified in the prescribed manner.
Document management - a system for creating, interpreting, transmitting, receiving, archiving documents, as well as monitoring their execution and protecting against unauthorized access.
Information technology is a system of methods and ways of collecting, transferring, accumulating, processing, storing, presenting and using information.
Information system(IS) - an information circuit (combining the ways of information movement in an organization) together with the means of collecting, transmitting, processing and storing information, as well as the personnel performing these actions with information.
The mission of information systems is the production of information necessary for the organization to ensure effective management all its resources, creation of an information and technological environment for decision making and management of the organization.
Usually, three levels are distinguished in control systems: strategic, tactical and operational. Each of these levels of management has its own tasks, in the solution of which there is a need for relevant data, this data can be obtained by querying the information system. These requests are directed to the relevant information in the information system. Information Technology allow you to process requests and, using the available information, form a response to these requests. Thus, at each level of management, information appears that serves as the basis for making appropriate decisions.
As a result of the application of information technology to information resources some new information or information is created in new form. These information system products are called information products and services.
Currently, there is an opinion about the information system as a system, in without fail implemented through computer technology. This is not true. Like Information Technology , Information Systems can also function using technical means, and without such application. This is a matter of economic feasibility.
Advantages of manual (paper) systems:
- ease of implementation of existing solutions;
- they are easy to understand and require a minimum of training to master them;
- no technical skills required;
- they are usually flexible and adaptable to suit business processes.
Advantages of automated systems:
- the search, dissemination and duplication of information is facilitated and cardinally accelerated;
- the volume of information in IS increases;
- in an automated information system, it becomes possible to holistically and comprehensively present everything that happens to an organization, since all economic factors and resources are displayed in a single information form in the form of data.
The information system of an organization (enterprises, firms, corporations) is usually considered as a certain set of private solutions and components of their implementation, including:
- unified information storage base;
- a set of applied systems created by different companies and using different technologies.
Creation management information system enterprise is a rather long and resource-intensive process in which four main stages can be distinguished.
- Project sketch. Detailed description goals and objectives of the project, available resources, constraints, etc.
- Project evaluation. It is determined what the system will do, how it will work, what hardware and software will be used, how they will be serviced. A list of requirements for the system is being prepared, and the needs of regular users are being studied.
- Building and testing. Personnel must make sure that the IS is comfortable to work with before it becomes the basis of the activity.
- Debugging and implementation. The project is not completed until the project manager can demonstrate that the IS is working reliably.
IS life cycle - the period of creation and use of IS, covering its various states, starting from the moment the need for this IS arises and ending with the moment of its complete decommissioning.
The IP life cycle is divided into the following stages:
- pre-project survey;
- design;
- development of IS;
- putting the IS into operation;
- operation of IP;
- completion of the operation of the IS.
So, management information system enterprise (ISUP) is operating environment, which is able to provide managers and specialists with up-to-date and reliable information about all business processes of the enterprise, necessary for planning operations, their execution, registration and analysis. In other words, a modern PMIS is a system that contains a description of the full market cycle - from business planning to analysis of the results of an enterprise. In reality, the development of PMIS often begins with a partial computerization of information processes, for example, within the framework of accounting or warehousing.
Tasks of the PMIS
Enterprise management in modern conditions requires more and more efficiency. Therefore, the use of enterprise management information systems (EMIS) is one of the most important levers for business development.
Particular tasks solved by PMIS are largely determined by the field of activity, structure and other features of specific enterprises. As examples, one can refer to the experience of creating an ISMS for an enterprise - a telecom operator and the experience of implementing SAP R / 3 system partners at a number of enterprises in the CIS and far abroad. various levels management of an enterprise and for its various services, by now can be considered generally recognized among specialists. It is shown in Table 5.1. In solving these problems, various methods of the theory are widely used. decision making, including econometric and optimization ones.
| № | Management levels and services | Tasks to be solved |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Enterprise management |
|
| 2 | Financial and accounting services |
|
| 3 | Manufacturing control |
|
| 4 | Marketing Services |
|
| 5 | Sales and Supply Services |
|
| 6 | Warehouse accounting services |
|
Project Management Information System (PMIS)
The project management information system is not a mandatory element of the project management system and information support project, but may become a critical element of the system project management under certain circumstances. The presence of PMIS should be justified by the needs project activities organization or the needs of a particular project.
For the purposes of a single small or medium project, the value of PMIS may be limited, however, when implementing large projects, or many projects, when working with a large amount of project information, the importance of PMIS is difficult to underestimate.
A study conducted by PmExpert among domestic companies, the share of large organizations (from 300 people) among which was 65%, revealed that 60% of the surveyed organizations that have implemented PMIS positively assess the effect of implementation. Thus, the increasing importance of PMIS in the presence of a large amount of project data is confirmed.
PMIS refers to software that performs the functions of supporting project management processes or a project management information system.
The use of specialized software allows you to increase the efficiency of project management processes through:
- Reducing labor costs when performing project management processes;
- Improving communications of participants in project activities through the use of common information resources;
- Increasing the speed of project management processes and the process of motivating project participants;
- Minimize the number of design information errors;
- Automated processing and centralized storage of project information.
Depending on the purpose and set of functionality, software to support project activities can be classified as follows:
- Basic project management support systems. They are specialized software designed to perform a narrow set of basic project management processes, such as scheduling, accounting for project labor costs, fixing design decisions, etc. Base systems usually have a local mode of operation, are installed on the user's personal computer, usually a project manager or administrator. Such systems include Microsoft Project local version (Microsoft, USA), Open Project (Serena Software, USA) and others.
- Extended project management support systems. These include software designed to support a wide range of "classic" project management processes. Such information systems contain interconnected data of different project management processes, may have the possibility of different presentation of data for different levels management of the organization, the possibility of multi-user work, but usually have limited integration with related information systems. Systems of this class include such systems as PM Foresight (Proektnaya PRAKTIKA Group of Companies, Russia), ADVANTA (Advanta Group, Russia), Microsoft Enterprise Project Management (Microsoft, USA), etc.
- Advanced project management support systems. They represent the evolutionary development of systems belonging to the "Extended" class. They differ from them primarily in that they allow integrating project activities with other types of activities and processes of the organization by creating a single information space, using advanced data integration mechanisms. It would be more accurate to say that these are no longer specialized systems for supporting project management processes, but complex information systems that create a single information space of the organization, and include, among other things, functionality to support project management processes. Examples of such systems are Oracle e-Busines Suite (ORACLE, USA), SAP ERP (SAP, Germany).
The choice by an organization of a project management support system of a certain class depends on the level of development of project management processes in the organization, the scale of project activities, the level of development of management processes in the organization as a whole, the financial capabilities of the organization to purchase and operate the system, specific requirements for the system.
Before implementing a project management information system, an organization must answer a number of questions that set the scope for using PMIS:
- Should the system be used at all levels of management?
- Who will be the users of the system?
- Should the system be used only for high priority projects?
- What project management processes should PMIS automate?
- What business processes of the organization are planned to be integrated with PMIS?
- What effects are expected from the introduction of PMIS?
The information system can be seen as a replacement for the living and informal communication transfer of skills and experience within the staff, but it should not replace this with rigid channels of communication.
For the effective implementation of PMIS, it is necessary A complex approach, including at the same time activities for integration with the organization's software, training of users of PMIS, development of regulatory documents for working with PMIS, continuous development and adaptation of PMIS to the needs of the organization's project management during operation.
Critical conditions for the successful implementation of PMIS are the support of the organization's management and the presence of a project management methodology in the organization.
The approach to the implementation of PMIS is similar to the approach to the implementation of the organization's project management system - "from simple to complex": first, the key and most easily automated basic and supporting project management processes are automated, such as scheduling, Collection and generation of reports, Organization of meetings and Control over the execution of design decisions, and then there is a consistent increase in the functionality of the PMIS.
Examples of processes automated using PMIS are given in the table.
Typical processes automated by ISUP
| No. p / p | Process name | Recommended order of implementation |
| Project management processes | ||
| 1. | Certification of projects | first |
| 2. | scheduling | first |
| 3. | Project performance management | first-second |
| 4. | Accounting labor resources project | second |
| 5. | Accounting for the working time of project personnel | second-third |
| 6. | Project finance management | first-third |
| 7. | Risk, issue and open issue management | second-third |
| 8. | Collection and generation of reports on the project (projects) | first-third |
| 9. | Change management | first |
| 10. | Storage project documentation | first-third |
| 11. | Organizing meetings and entering meeting results | first |
| 12. | Control of execution of design decisions | first |
| 13. | Contract management and project delivery planning | third |
| 14. | Project Portfolio Management | third |
| PMIS processes | ||
| 15. | PMIS Administration | first |
| 16. | Logging of PMIS actions | first |
| 17. | Notification of project participants | second |
| 18. | Integration with related processes of the organization | third |
When implementing PMIS, at the initial stage of implementation, it is important to ensure the use of the system by users, because the usefulness of the system at first for users may not be obvious and appears after the accumulation of an array of design information in the PMIS.
An important indicator of the active use of PMIS is the presence of integration with other services and information systems of the organization. As a rule, first of all, PMIS is integrated with email(for notifications and alerts), the LDAP directory service, and document management system. The presence of integration with accounting and ERP systems indicates a high degree of relevance and reliability of information in the PMIS.
General recommendations for the implementation of a project management information system include the following: it is necessary to clearly understand the goals and benefits expected from the implementation new system; the results of the implementation of the system must be agreed with everyone who is associated with its implementation or will participate in its operation; consistent implementation of the developed solutions from "simple to complex", from local to global; development of design solutions on pilot projects; priority on the implementation of functionality that demonstrates to users and management the obvious usefulness of PMIS.
Directory Service - software package, which allows the administrator to own an array of information about network resources (shared folders, print servers, printers, users, etc.) ordered by a number of features, stored in a single place, which provides centralized management of both the resources themselves and information about them, and also allows you to control their use by third parties.
LDAP (English Lightweight Directory Access Protocol - “lightweight directory access protocol”) is a network protocol for accessing a directory service.
The functional subsystems of the ISMS have multiple connections with each other. For example, detailed data on accounting for production costs arise in the production management subsystem, and can be generalized in subsystems accounting and information service senior management. On the other hand, the production management subsystem needs data on stocks and the movement of inventory items, which are formed in the logistics subsystem. Labor records and wages are formed in the subsystems of personnel management and production management, and are summarized in the accounting subsystem. Data on the control of the execution of transactions, implemented in the customer relationship management subsystem, mostly arises in the logistics subsystem. And so on.
As a result, when creating an ISMS, it is necessary to provide for all possible internal and external information links between the software of each of the subsystems.
The interaction of subsystems can be carried out in operational or delayed modes.
In the online mode, the software that implements the solution of the tasks of one subsystem, if necessary, in the data generated by another subsystem, requests and receives them from the software of this subsystem automatically. This is the most effective method software interactions of various subsystems. However, it is possible only when the software of various subsystems is able to interact in automatic mode. And this is not always possible. For example, if software from different manufacturers is used to create an ISMS, it is possible to establish operational interaction between subsystems in extremely rare cases. Moreover, if one subsystem uses software products various suppliers, then it is usually not possible to organize operational interaction within this subsystem.
In deferred mode, to organize information exchange between different programs (within different or one subsystems), it is necessary to perform data export-import operations. In this case, the data, using a special operation (export), must be unloaded by one program into a separate information array (arrays) in a format that can be recognized by the program that receives the data. Next, this program, using the data import operation, loads them into its information structures for further processing.
Thus, in the delayed mode, to transfer data from one program to another, it is necessary to perform special technological export-import operations, each of which must be specially initiated by the user of each of the programs. If these programs are used by different specialists, then one should ask the other to perform the operation of exporting the necessary data from the program he uses. The latter must perform the operation of exporting the requested data and in one way or another (over the network or on a portable data carrier) transfer to the former the information arrays created as a result of the export operation. This can create additional organizational problems in the operation of the PMIS (one person must ask another person, and he may be out of place, busy, etc.). In the online mode, the interaction of subsystems (programs) is carried out automatically.
It should be noted that export-import operations can be performed in automatic and/or semi-automatic mode, at the request of the user of the program that requires this data. In this case, there are no organizational problems in ensuring the interaction of PMIS subsystems. Performing export-import in automatic or semi-automatic modes actually means the implementation of the online mode of interaction between subsystems. However, this is only possible if the programs that transmit and receive data are specially configured to work together.
Interaction of ISMS subsystems in a delayed mode sharply reduces the efficiency of data processing, increases the likelihood of various kinds of inconsistencies in data at different workplaces, and sharply reduces the capabilities of a computer system as a means of implementing process-oriented control mechanisms.
So, for example, if the program that implements the issuance of payment documents does not have online access to the cost budget data, then it will not be able to check the excess of the cost estimate for this budget item when issuing a document to pay for the costs passing through it. As a result, control over the implementation of cost estimates cannot be performed automatically. To carry out such control, special regulations will have to be developed, and the control itself will be entrusted to responsible specialists. As a result, the efficiency of document approval decreases (the responsible specialist is not in place, busy), and the accuracy of control decreases, since it is performed by a person, not a computer. If in this situation, when issuing a payment document through a computer, the program implementing this function would have access to budget data and actual data on the expenditure of funds for the corresponding item at the current moment, then it could automatically prohibit the formation of a payment document if the amount of expenditure indicated in it leads to to go beyond the limits allowed by the estimate.
Similar problems with the organization of control can also arise when issuing shipping documents to buyers-debtors whose debt may exceed the limits of granted commodity credits, as well as when issuing payment documents to suppliers-debtors who do not deliver inventory items on time, for which payment has already been made.
Thus, the operational interaction of PMIS subsystems should be considered optimal. However, it is possible only if all interacting programs of one or different subsystems operate in a single information space, that is, they either operate on the basis of an integrated database or can automatically recognize the data formats used by each of them. At the moment, the organization of operational interaction of subsystems, as a rule, is possible only when the software products of one developer are used as the basis of the PMIS software, since in this case their automatic interaction is usually guaranteed (and even then not always).
In the general case, the interaction of ISMS subsystems in the online mode involves not only automatic data exchange between programs of different subsystems, but also the interconnected execution of logical chains of data conversion operations.
For example, when a payment is received from a customer, bank statement data is entered in the financial management subsystem. At the same time, these data must be reflected in the logistics subsystem to reduce the client's receivables, if he is a debtor, or increase the company's accounts payable to this buyer, if this is an advance payment. These actions can be implemented by different programs. However, they must be carried out jointly, in interconnection. Otherwise, there may be a discrepancy in the data of different subsystems (the buyer transferred the money, but the data on his debt has not changed). At the same time, payment data must be reflected in the accounting subsystem by generating postings on accounts corresponding to receipts Money. Broadcast finished products to the warehouse should be simultaneously reflected in the subsystems of logistics and production management. At the same time, its prime cost, determined in the production management subsystem, must also be taken into account in the accounting subsystem.
Other examples can be given when business transactions should be interconnectedly reflected by several subsystems of the PMIS. In particular, this concerns the interaction of various subsystems with the accounting subsystem, since almost all business transactions in one way or another must be reflected in the accounts of accounting.
The execution of interconnected data processing procedures by various ISMS subsystems can be organized in various ways. In many Western software products that can be used as the basis for creating application software for PMIS, the principle of fully integrated interaction of subsystems is implemented. In accordance with it, all interconnected data processing procedures are carried out as a single transaction.
transaction- a set of interrelated operations performed as a whole.
Either all operations in the transaction are executed, or none are executed. In database management systems (DBMS) interrelated formal operations on data are performed as a single entity. If the execution of a transaction for some reason cannot be completed completely, then the DBMS "cancels" the execution of that part of the data transformation operations that have already been performed since its beginning. As a result, the database remains in the state it was in before these operations began. This is necessary to maintain the logical integrity of the database.
In PMIS, built on the basis of a fully integrated interaction of subsystems, the same principles are implemented. For example, if the movement of inventory items is recorded in the logistics subsystem, then postings on the accounts corresponding to this operation are automatically generated in the accounting subsystem. However, this approach is not always justified due to the need for separation of powers between specialists in the management system. The prerogative of generating entries on the accounting accounts belongs to the employees of the accounting department of the enterprise and the data processing procedures related to these actions must be initiated and controlled by them, and with a fully integrated interaction of subsystems, the execution of a document for the movement of inventory items in the logistics subsystem automatically causes the formation of postings on accounts, that is carried out without the knowledge and proper control of the accounting department.
More flexible is the approach in which the interaction of PMIS subsystems in terms of data exchange is carried out online, but the performance of interrelated data processing functions related to the competence of different functional departments, is not performed automatically, but at the request of the user.
The term "integrated enterprise management systems" (EMIS) at the beginning of this decade was introduced into use by the analytical company IDC instead of the concept of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) previously used in such studies. The ISMS is based on the principle of creating a single data warehouse (repository) containing all business information accumulated by the organization in the course of doing business, in particular financial information, data related to production, personnel management, and any other data. Having a repository eliminates the need to transfer data from application to application. In addition, any part of the information held by the organization becomes simultaneously available to all employees with the appropriate authority.
The concept of PMIS has been widely adopted because resource planning has reduced lead times, reduced inventory levels, and improved feedback with the consumer while reducing the administrative apparatus. All this made it possible to combine all the resources of the enterprise and increase the efficiency of their management. Historically, the concept of PMIS has become a development of more simple concepts MRP (Material Requirement Planning - planning material needs) and MRP II (Manufacturing Resource Planning - planning of production resources). The software tools used in PMIS allow for production planning, modeling the flow of orders and evaluating the possibility of their implementation in the services and divisions of the enterprise, linking it with sales.
As a rule, the MIS includes the following elements:
- model of information flow management (IP) at the enterprise;
- hardware and technical base and means of communications;
- DBMS, system and supporting software;
- kit software products, automating IP management;
- regulations for the use and development of software products;
- IT department and supporting services;
- actual users of software products.
The main functions of the ISMS include:
- maintenance of design and technological specifications that determine the composition of manufactured products, as well as material resources and the operations necessary for their manufacture;
- formation of sales and production plans;
- planning the needs for materials and components, terms and volumes of deliveries to fulfill the production plan;
- inventory and procurement management: maintaining contracts, implementing centralized purchases, ensuring accounting and optimization of warehouse and workshop stocks;
- planning of production capacities from enlarged planning to the use of individual machines and equipment;
- operational management finance, including drafting financial plan and monitoring its implementation, financial and management accounting;
- project management, including scheduling milestones and resources.
The accumulated experience shows that the stage of choosing an enterprise management system is one of the most important, and the management of the enterprise should be extremely interested in choosing right decision. Any project in the field of automation should be considered by the enterprise as a strategic investment, which should pay off through improvement. management processes, improve production efficiency, reduce costs, and be placed on a par with the acquisition, for example, of a new production line or the construction of a workshop. Classic ISUP, in contrast to the so-called "boxed" software, belongs to the category of "heavy" software products that require quite a long setup in order to start using them. The choice of PMIS, acquisition and implementation, as a rule, require careful planning within the framework of a long-term project with the participation of a partner company - a supplier or consultant. Since PMIS are built on a modular basis, the customer often (at least at the early stage of such projects) does not purchase a full range of modules, but a limited set of them. During the implementation, the project team, as a rule, adjusts the delivered modules within several months. The use of PMIS allows you to use one integrated program instead of several disparate ones. A single system can manage processing, logistics, distribution, inventory, shipping, invoicing and accounting.
Thus, PMIS is a set of integrated applications that allow you to create a single environment for automating the planning, accounting, control and analysis of all major business operations across the enterprise. Among them are the planning of production resources, operational management production plan, accounting and analysis of performance results, etc. All planning and analysis operations are subdivided in ISUP into separate functional modules: resource planning (financial, human, material) for the production of goods or services, operational control over the implementation of plans (supply, sales), contracts, all types of accounting, analysis of business results . All information is stored in a single database, from where it can be obtained at any time upon request.
At the beginning of 2010, the division of Microsoft Corporation in Russia presented the results of a study of the level of maturity of ISUP solutions used by various Russian companies. The project was implemented by IDC. The study interviewed 50 business leaders and 100 IT leaders from 120 companies. The survey was conducted in the most indicative for the Russian market segment of companies with an annual turnover of 50 to 500 million dollars. Regional structure of the sample: Moscow - 52%, other regions - 48%. Industry structure of the sample: retail - 22%, industrial production- 20%, food production - 15%, distribution - 16%, transport - 14%, telecommunications and media - 13%. The study showed that the average value of the PMIS market maturity index was 55%. The lowest result was 20%, and the highest - 95%. Only 38% of companies showed the level of penetration and efficiency indexes above the average values. In another 24% of companies, the efficiency was quite high with a low level of penetration. The efficiency of the remaining 38% of companies was assessed as low, and 15% of companies showed low values of both the efficiency index and the PMIS penetration index. In practice, this means that 62%, or almost two-thirds, of enterprises should take steps to optimize existing business applications. The low degree of implementation of the potential of the implemented solutions is due to the fact that many enterprises treat the implementation of PMIS as technical rather than business projects, the authors of the study believe. The main task of projects to create corporate management systems is still the automation of accounting, finance, personnel, and payroll management. Relatively few companies attempt to address strategic issues with PMIS. Issues such as finance and strategic analysis, business intelligence, project management, are in the list of goals of projects implementing ERP in less than half of the cases.
In the last five years before the crisis Russian market PMIS grew at a faster rate than even experts predicted (the actual volume in 2008 exceeded the five-year IDC forecast by 40%). There are five leading companies on the market (in alphabetical order): 1C, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP and Galaktika. According to IDC research (Russia Enterprise Application Software 2010-2014 Forecast and 2009 Vendor Shares), the volume of the Russian market of integrated enterprise management systems (IMMS) in 2009 amounted to 492.18 million dollars, which corresponds to a decrease of 18.9% in terms of compared to the previous year. Experts believe that the decline was primarily due to the crisis in the Russian economy, especially in the first half of 2009. Cutting IT budgets large companies led to a significant decrease in the number of new full-scale projects for the implementation of PMIS. The demand for PMIS solutions in the segment of small and medium-sized enterprises has significantly decreased. At the same time, an extensive base of existing customers, projects for the implementation of individual functional modules, as well as a significantly increased demand for business intelligence solutions from large companies, made it possible to avoid a significant drop in the PMIS market in an environment where the Russian IT market as a whole decreased by more than a third.
The leader of the Russian market of PMIS in 2009 was the company SAP, whose share was 50.1%. 1С and Oracle ended the year with 22.3% and 9.6% of the market and took second and third places, respectively. Microsoft Dynamics with 7.1% became the fourth. The market share of Microsoft Dynamics is displayed taking into account the adjustment of the company's revenues in the Russian market of PMIS for 2008 in accordance with more accurate information received from suppliers. According to the adjustment, the company's share in 2008 was 6.9%. Galaktika, which occupied 3.9% of the market, closes the top five suppliers. Total share Russian companies in the group of leaders was 26.2%, exceeding the same figures of the previous year. The leading industry for the Russian PMIS market in 2009 was continuous production. Second place, as in the previous year, was for retail trade. Discrete manufacturing remained in third place in the list of the most profitable industries for PMIS suppliers. On the fourth and fifth positions - wholesale and energy.
IDC believes that the Russian PMIS market will grow by an average of 15.1% annually over the next five years. The most noticeable growth will be observed in the public sector and healthcare. The government plans significant expenditures for the development of the concept of e-government and automation of public medical institutions. Costs in the energy, finance, wholesale and retail, business services, discrete manufacturing, education, Agriculture, construction and extractive industries.
The leading suppliers of large PMIS, unfortunately, are far from fully represented at Softool, although in some cases there are their partners at the exhibition promoting the respective products. Thus, at Softool 2009 the Russian PMIS market was represented by 36 companies that positioned themselves as suppliers and/or developers of such solutions. At the same time, the share regional companies amounted to approximately 9%. In particular, these are Tandem (Novosibirsk), Gradient - New Technologies (Izhevsk), RELEX (Voronezh), SKB Kontur (Yekaterindburg).
A project management system is a set of organizational and technological methods and tools that support project management in an organization and help improve the efficiency of project implementation. Often the term project management system» is interpreted more narrowly as an automated or information project management system, i.e. program. At the same time, the organizational and methodological components are invested in the term corporate system project management. In what follows, we will adhere to such interpretations of terms.
Goals of the project management system
- Improving the efficiency of company employees when working on projects
- Improving the quality of project management by project managers
- Improving the efficiency of managing the company's entire portfolio of projects - more projects on time and on budget with less cost
Tasks of the project management system
Appropriate tools are needed to achieve these goals. If you do not describe in detail all the functionality, then project management systems are designed to solve the following tasks:
- Provide the project manager with tools for planning the project and monitoring the progress of its implementation
- Provide the project participant with a clear tool to complete project tasks and access all the information necessary to complete them
- Give the head of the department a tool to control the workload of employees for project and non-project tasks, provide information for making a decision on assigning employees to new projects, redistributing the workload between them
- To provide the director of the project office with a convenient tool that will automate routine operations and establish full transparent control over the state of the entire project portfolio and the quality of work of specific project managers
- Provide the head of the company with a single monitoring panel for all projects of the company with the ability to quickly analyze deviations and make management decisions
- It is important for the shareholders of the company to see the compliance of the portfolio of ongoing projects strategic goals companies
The requirements for project management information systems arise from the characteristics of project management processes in each particular organization.
Application areas of project management systems
Depending on industry affiliation and specifics, there are various areas of application of project management systems, for example:
There are both specialized systems for these industries, and integrated project management systems that are designed to manage various. Adjustment to the specifics of the industry is carried out through flexible settings of the project passport, industry directories and management methods. Such a product, in particular, is the online information system ADVANTA.
Benefits of using a project management system (ROI)
The project management system can and should pay off by increasing the efficiency of project activities - activities operating with finances, resources and deadlines (which in turn are well converted into finance). To calculate the possible ROI (Return On Investment), it is necessary to take the financial and temporal characteristics of the company's projects and apply to them the expected business benefits from the implementation of the system.
Possible business benefits from a project management information system according to Forrester Research:
- Reducing the number of projects that do not match the company's strategy
By refusing projects that are not needed or do not fit the strategy, you can reduce costs across the entire portfolio of projects.
- Improving Resource Efficiency
By improving the distribution of resources between projects, more precise control of the workload of employees.
- Reducing budget overruns
Can be achieved through improved planning and increased control over spending.
- Reducing the percentage of failed projects
Thanks to effective means monitoring projects, implementing the methodology through an information system, the project office can significantly reduce the percentage of projects that are unable to achieve their goals, meet deadlines and budget.
- Reducing the time spent by project offices and project managers
Reducing the time it takes to collect data and generate manual reports on project status frees up time resources for higher priority tasks.
How to justify the need for a project management system to management?
This question is more from the field of psychology than from the field of economics. It is quite clear that if the head of the organization (or at least one of his deputies) is not interested in implementing a project management system, then such a project will almost certainly be unsuccessful.
It is imperative to talk about the economy with the manager, as well as about improving the efficiency of project management. For this, articles about the return on investment in the creation of a project office, project management information systems, examples of improvements from colleagues from the industry and a simple explanation of the benefits on cases of your own not very successful projects are suitable. But without taking responsibility (at least limited) for the results of the changes, nothing will work. So keep it up!
Development of a project management system
Does it need to be developed?
Today there are many on the market modern systems project management, which can be adapted to the needs of the company without programming. An example of such a system is ADVANTA. It is worth resorting to your own development of a project management system only if the industry specifics and tasks of the project management organization are very unique. To solve the problems of the project management department, you can adapt ready-made tools.
Are you ready to invest in development and support?
It should be borne in mind that in-house development, in addition to significant time and financial costs, is fraught with many risks associated with the further development and support of the system. You should also think carefully about the risks of choosing boxed project management tools with limitations in customization and programming capabilities (for example, 1C, Microsoft Project Server + Sharepoint). Such projects often turn into a format of constant improvements and programming, the project timeline increases many times over, and accordingly the project budget increases many times over, the company becomes dependent on the work of rather unique programmers.
Types of project management information systems
By technical specifications Project management systems can be divided into the following types:
- Local/desktop (like Microsoft Project)
- Client-server, when the main components of the software are installed on the server, and the client application is installed on the local computer (for example, Microsoft Project Server, Oracle Primavera)
- Web-based - only an Internet browser is needed to use such applications (for example, ADVANTA)
Modern project management information systems are increasingly being created as web-based Internet applications. They have 2 distinguishing features:
- at the location of the software (systems based in the cloud or on an enterprise server);
- according to the pricing model (systems are purchased once for the entire period of use, or a rental fee for use is charged - SAAS).
There are a lot of free or shareware (inexpensive) software on the market for project management tools that are sold under the SAAS scheme. As a rule, inexpensive software is suitable for small teams and mainly has the functionality of task managers (task management systems), maintaining a list of clients (etc.). Such systems are mainly focused on small businesses.
Medium and big business in Russia, as a rule, he prefers to be able to store the main data on his servers or in a rented data center (which also allows you to quickly transfer the data to yourself if necessary). Software service providers under the SAAS scheme (both Russian and Western) are still trusted mainly by small businesses due to existing security risks, data leaks that have already happened more than once in Russia.
Therefore, now the most justified decision is to choose an online project management system with the ability to store all information on your own or rented server equipment.
Choosing a project management system
If you are faced with the task of choosing a project management information system for your organization, then you can, of course, go the standard way and analyze a large number of comparisons, ratings and reviews. But no analytical articles will decide for you which project management tools are best for your company.
Project Management Tools
When planning the creation of a project management department, it should be understood that the presence of such a structure in itself will not solve problems with the optimization of work processes at all levels. In order for the employees of the new division to be able to successfully fulfill their duties, it is necessary to provide them with convenient and functional project management tools to help them. One should not think that this can be done not immediately, but later, already in the process of the work of the new department. Without the right tools, it is impossible to get analytics on current projects, that is, at least plan a set of measures to increase the efficiency of project management and monitor their implementation.
The presence of project management tools consistently solves the following tasks:
- Collection of information about current and planned projects of the company
- Analytical work and deviation detection
- Phased introduction of innovations aimed at standardizing project management
- Control over the work of the new structure and its subsequent upgrade
Formulate Requirements
First of all, it is important to formulate the requirements for your future information system. There is no need to be afraid of the words Terms of Reference, and even more so for months to develop such documents. It is important to collect the goals, business requirements of the main managers and beneficiaries of the system in the company, summarize them and start a careful choice of solutions.
Develop test case
A very smart approach is to develop a test case based on your existing process project management (since you manage projects, then you definitely have some kind of process, albeit not on paper). Write it in plain text with a numbered list, separately write a list of general requirements, and attach a list of the reports you would like to receive. You can use this test case to view and test the systems you will be choosing between. And it is best to send this example to the system developer/supplier and ask them to model a demo/prototype for you.
The speed, ease of prototype setup and the supplier's willingness to do it for your company is a great litmus test. This will show you the simplicity / complexity of the subsequent implementation of the system, the competence of the supplier's specialists and the willingness of the future partner to work with you for your results.
Choose an implementation partner
By the way, the quality of interaction with you by representatives of the software and service provider company at the stage of discussing your task, preparing a prototype, testing the system is decisive when choosing a reliable partner for such an important project as the implementation of a project management system. Neither additional functionality, nor low price, nor a well-known brand of other systems and suppliers will be able to compensate you for possible economic and reputational damage from an unsuccessful implementation project. Of course, you will reduce your initial responsibility by offering management a choice of the most famous brands and giving the leader the opportunity to make this choice, while remaining in the shadows himself. But will it bring meaningful results to you and your company?
Only an active, or rather proactive position of the initiator of the choice and implementation of the system, his indifference to the results of the project will allow the project to become successful, regardless of the pitfalls that will meet on your way. After all, you will make an informed choice and you will have a reliable partner with you.
Implementation of a project management system
The implementation of a project management system in practice is a large independent organizational project that needs to be managed according to all the rules of project management and change management in a company.
Properly initiate a project
First you need to competently initiate the project in the company. It is necessary to appoint a project leader, to form working group and develop its internal plan for the implementation of the project management system. It is not necessary to make a detailed plan, it is important that you clearly define the organizational (in which departments) and functional (what functionality) scope of the project and divide the entire project into understandable and self-sufficient stages.
The system implementation plan must be agreed with your implementation project partner (if you plan to involve external specialists). An experienced partner, based on his practice, will tell you how best to build a system implementation project in order to quickly get results and avoid making typical mistakes.
Get first results fast
It is very important to quickly get the first positive results from the project. This will allow the management of the company to be convinced of the correctness of the chosen course, and the project participants and users of the system will be inspired and stocked up with additional motivation for the implementation of the entire project.
What should be included in the scope of the pilot project?
It is necessary to give users and management a convenient and simple single tool for managing enterprise projects, while not complicating the management processes themselves.
Main objectives of the pilot project:
- Create single register projects, launch procedures for updating it at the top level
- Create a single repository of project documentation
- Automate project workflow with basic processes for the development and approval of documents
- Provide all project participants with a single working environment for discussing project issues and exchanging information
In fact, at the first stage, it is important to get a project portal that will allow everyone interested persons from top managers to project participants to cover their basic needs for information during the implementation of projects in the company.
What system will allow this?
That is why it is important to choose one that will allow:
- start using the basic functionality with the possibility of its phased development (not a rigid system that needs to be designed and programmed immediately, taking into account all the functions);
- quickly (in 1-2 weeks) launch the main processes in the company;
- it is easy to train users during implementation (the user sees only the functionality he needs);
- get not resistance from the user, but gratitude due to the ease of work (user-friendly interface);
- have a stock of wide functionality and flexible options for customizing it to automate new processes and adjust implemented processes as the level of maturity of the company increases.