A dynamic, automated, PRINCE2-oriented PM tool system
User report of DVZ Datenverarbeitungszentrum Mecklenburg-Vorpommern GmbH
As the IT service provider for the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, we have been carrying out all projects according to the process-oriented project management method PRINCE2 since 2008. When the time was right, we found a tool in Projektron BCS that greatly simplified our project work and cleverly merged various functions. With its open standard, BCS represents a future-proof solution for us.
The data processing center (DVZ M-V GmbH) is the IT service provider of the state administration of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and is located in Schwerin. We look back on a long tradition, as today's GmbH resulted from the transformation of the VEB Datenverarbeitungszentrum Schwerin in 1992. We succeeded in aligning the competence of Schwerin's IT specialists and engineers, built up over decades, with the requirements of the new era and in creating a sustainable IT state service provider that combines modern information technology with administrative know-how. Today, the DVZ has more than 600 employees and the strong growth continues.
Modern IT services in a PRINCE2-oriented project landscape
As a partner of the public sector, we deal with issues that constitute modern administrative workflows and processes of a networked society of tomorrow. Our customers are not only the ministries of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and their subordinate authorities, but also customers from the private sector throughout Germany. With the successfully completed certification according to ISO 27001 on the basis of IT-Grundschutz, we are one of only a few data centers at the state level that has certified its entire IT operations.
In addition to classic data center operations, we offer our customers consulting, operating, development, procurement and infrastructure services. These include the digitization of administration by means of e-government services and an electronic award platform for all public contracts, as well as management consulting and compliance services.
Every year, there are around 100 parallel PRINCE2 development projects and over 1,000 operations and service projects, with budgets ranging from 10,000 to 5 million euros. The special feature: Since 2008, PRINCE2 has been the only binding method with which all development projects are carried out. In software development projects, this approach is mixed with the agile Scrum method. With 10 years of experience, over 100 qualified employees* and 25 certified as PRINCE2 Practitioners, we have a high level of maturity and a recognized qualification level in project management. A dedicated project management office (PMO), which monitors the quality of project management internally and supports the project leaders and projects, controls the DVZ project landscape.
From a static solution to a dynamic, automated PM tool system
Project management and the PRINCE2 method are correspondingly deeply rooted in our way of working and shape our internal processes. Until 2016, we worked in our projects with an in-house development based on Microsoft SharePoint as a central repository, as well as with Microsoft Project, Exchange and the Office Suite. With the help of our project management manual, a wiki system and around 30 templates for all management products as well as further templates for cost planning and controlling, the project lifecycle was mapped.
In order to further develop our high level of maturity in the areas of resource and portfolio management as well and to reduce the large manual maintenance efforts for the PMO, we went in search of professional project management software with an EU-wide tendering process. In total, the catalog included about 400 requirements in 14 areas. The most important requirement was, of course, that the software must be able to implement PRINCE2.
Projektron GmbH finally won the bidding process in particular because of the excellent performance evaluation for Projektron BCS, the breadth of the functions offered and their combination for project management. The intelligent system architecture and the object philosophy represented an innovative approach for us. In addition, we liked the high configurability of BCS and the possibility of connecting almost all other systems via interfaces and thus creating deep data integration.
An excellent implementation project
Of course, we also implemented the introduction of Projektron BCS at DVZ as a PRINCE2 project. The focus was on the subsequent users. We attached great importance to internal project marketing in order to introduce the employees to the new software, to sensitize them and to create acceptance for the upcoming change. For example, we organized an internal trade show so that employees could get to know BCS as early as possible and also try it out.
It was important for us to involve project leaders and management in all phases of the introduction. To this end, we developed a multi-stage training concept and paired it with coaching, which we still use today. Project managers are accompanied and coached by the PMO in their first projects. Later, they support other users, pass on knowledge and exchange experiences. This multiplier principle has proven its worth.
With our implementation project, we applied for the PRINCE2 Best Practice Award and were awarded first prize by the Best Practice User Group (BPUG) Germany in November 2016.
Project and program management according to PRINCE2
On January 1, 2017, Projektron BCS replaced the in-house solution in productive operation and has since supported our employees involved in projects in all projects - from initiation to completion. With the help of so-called wizards, our project managers are guided through the following PRINCE2 processes:
- Preparing a project
- Planning / initiating a project
- Steering a project
- Managing a phase transition
- Controlling a phase
- Managing a product delivery
- Closing a project
Employees use personal dashboards and task planning via tickets. Project teams organize operational work in work packages via BCS. Management and steering committee members work with reports, overviews and evaluations on project status, progress, costs and quality.
Our work would be unthinkable without:
1. the graphical product structure plan, a PRINCE2-specific function unique to us, which visualizes the entire project and its status at a glance. Today, BCS creates this automatically and it no longer needs to be recorded; one click takes you to the detailed information about the products.
2. own reports with the information relevant for us and in our layout, created and sent automatically with BCS.
3. resource requests for projects, which can be sent to the supervisor with a click of a button. So BCS facilitates the interaction between the project and the line with a small function that allows the work to be done very intelligently and elegantly.
BCS is the only platform for our projects and allows us to have a paperless project management. The numerous templates in Word and Excel are no longer necessary, cumbersome and lengthy acceptance and approval processes have been accelerated tenfold, and the efforts of the project managers and the PMO have been significantly reduced, which has increased the acceptance of project management.
The entire application landscape was consolidated with the introduction of BCS: where previously 10 to 15 tools were in use, everything is now covered by BCS, we save not only costs and effort for operation, but also for internal training.
In addition, the stability and reliability of BCS should be emphasized; we have not had any bad experiences in this regard since its introduction. Even with frequent new releases: Because configurations and customizing are always done in such a way that the standard is not violated and thus the effort for updates remains manageable.
Another added value is the new kind of overview that BCS has given us. Important data from subsystems such as SAP or our previous performance recording system can be synchronized via interfaces. This gives us transparency at the push of a button.
Overall, we can say that the formalism of the method has been broken in the company and it has become easier to live project management. The tool has increased discipline in projects, for example, performing phase transitions on a regular basis. We simply enjoy working with the software.
In the future, we want to use even more Projektron BCS modules. Since 2020, we have been conducting all resource management in BCS, and in 2019 we introduced TVL-compliant time and activity recording, as well as leave and operations management, so that all DVZ employees* use Projektron BCS. This brought further simplifications and an even greater consolidation of the application landscape, and in short, we have opened up a new world company-wide in terms of the transparency of our data. The plan is to introduce portfolio management with Projektron BCS as soon as we have reached a corresponding level of maturity.
