REDMOND, Wash., October, 2007 -- Successfully managing complex scientific, engineering and design projects takes teamwork, observes Dr. Amjad Farooq, head of business improvement at British defense technology firm QinetiQ.
“We’re basically a science and technology company with 13,500 employees in the UK and overseas that do scientific research,” explains Farooq. “The nature of every one of our projects is pretty much unique. We don’t make soap; everyone’s trying to solve big problems that haven’t been solved before.”
For Farnborough, Hampshire-based QinetiQ (pronounced as in 'kinetic energy') a leading international defense and security technology business, projects come in all shapes and sizes, from conceptualizing new equipment for Britain’s Ministry of Defence, then drawing up design blueprints, advising on manufacturers and being retained as a consultant – protracted engagements that can last up to 20 years – to discrete three-month contracts in which the firm’s called in by a carmaker, for instance, to troubleshoot a specific problem.
But the common denominator is the need to coordinate a collaborative effort reaching across an often far-flung interdisciplinary network of experts.
“In the nature of solving technical problems we need to involve large numbers of diverse people from different fields to contribute,” says Farooq.
The project management challenges faced by QinetiQ mirror those gripping the world of business at large amid the growing imperative for organizations to foster collaboration across an increasingly global and mobile workforce.
With individual scientists juggling up to 20 to 30 projects located across a sprawling geographical footprint spanning some 50 sites in the UK alone, the company found its existing project management mechanisms at times operating at full stretch.
“Information would stay on project managers’ hard drives or sit on a server,” Farooq says. “Project management was done, but it was fragmented. Every project manager had their own [way] of managing projects. There was no central repository, which was a big issue when we wanted to aggregate data from a number of projects. People had to use multiple systems to find out what was going on.”
In April, QinetiQ turned for relief to Microsoft Office Project Professional 2007 and Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 to put its project management on a standardized footing, enhance executive oversight, and enable earlier detection of prospective problems.
The firm wanted to effect change in its business processes, recounts Farooq, and Office Project provided the “lever” to bring this about. “We wanted more professional project planning through better, more efficient tools and to give executives a better handle on projects with earlier visibility into [those needing] intervention.”
QinetiQ is in the vanguard of a growing movement of organizations now embracing the recently retooled Microsoft Office Enterprise Project Management (EPM) Solution -- encompassing Microsoft Office Portfolio Server 2007, Microsoft Office Project Standard 2007, Microsoft Office Project Professional 2007, Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Project Web Access 2007 -- as a robust and indispensable enterprise management tool.
............................................................................
Read Microsoft ARTICLES on TAXI Design Network
............................................................................
This news message is supported by The Bazaar, a marketplace to buy and sell creative objects. Earn more revenue by selling your prints, downloadable images, or custom products. Set up your store today and stand a chance to have your products featured on DesignTAXI, towards millions of lovers of creative content!
