The key business challenges facing AtekPC at around 2007
In 2007, AtekPC’s problems were escalating as the PC industry was reaching maturation. This increased price competition among the industry players and, as a result, it decreased the profitability of the organization. At the time also, the industry was undergoing consolidation and the unprofitability exposed AtekPC to the threat of a hostile takeover. To gain a competitive advantage, the company had to come up with strategies that would enhance cost-cutting and increase profitability in the launching of its products.
The potential pros and cons of introducing a Project Management Office (PMO) to AtekPC
In response to these problems, the introduction of the Project Management Office (PMO) was aimed at ensuring a timely response to the problem of decreased profitability by supporting the cost-cutting agenda of AtekPC. In addition, it would effectively manage the company’s projects to enhance innovation in the production of its new products. This would provide a competitive advantage to the company. Like every other new intervention adopted at a time when challenges are rampant, the introduction of PMO raised several concerns that divided the management. Its purpose, responsibilities, and authority were significant causes of concern. As such, the outcome of the initiative could not be measured at once, and its benefits could not be achieved at once.
The key challenges facing the implementation of the PMO at AtekPC
The implementation of the PMO at AtekPC was a very challenging venture. Despite that it was introduced towards the end of 2006, as of mid-2007 there was no common understanding among the management at AtekPC regarding the authority, purpose, and responsibilities of the PMO. As such, the office had to be created first and its value to be proven later. Even after it was agreed on its full mandate in the organization, more unique challenges emerged. These included the limited PMO resources and the lack of official authority that was necessary for the functioning of the PMO. Also, the two PMO models (PMO-heavy and PMO-light) presented a new point of disagreement in the management on where in the spectrum to position the AtekPC PMO strategy.
What have AtekPC done wrong in the implementation of the PMO?
The failure to consider archiving and portfolio management at the inception of the PMO was among the serious errors committed in the implementation of the PMO at AtekPC. The PMO manager had planned to incorporate them later, but due to the lack of the additional resources, this was not implemented in the short-term. The office had scarce resources and depriving other existing departments of these resources was the only way for the office to get them. The PMO-heavy model that was forcibly implemented by the AtekPC PMO manager exerted too much pressure on the company in terms of the resources. As a result, the PMO was unable to prove its worth to get the support it needed.
The differences between PMO-heavy and PMO-light in terms of (1) their pros; (2) their cons; and (3) the level of complexity of projects that the 2 approaches would better apply
While the PMO-light model was an easy option for AtekPC due to its fewer demands in terms of resources, it was going to delay the realization of the benefits of the PMO intervention. This is because it was a considerably relaxed approach to project management. PMO-light would only be suitable for the less complex projects such as in-house projects at AtekPC. On the other hand, the PMO-heavy model was considerably better despite its high demands for resources. PMO-heavy would ensure that all business and IT projects are controlled by the PMO. This was necessary especially for complex projects such as the development of new products and the adoption of new business strategies at AtekPC.