In our previous posts, we discussed the differences and overlaps between Project Portfolio Management (PPM), Corporate Performance Management (CPM) and Business Intelligence (BI) software. We also looked at how taking advantage of these overlaps and incorporating CPM or BI into your PPM platform can help improve existing functions. But where is the future of project and business management headed, and why is the integration of these three platforms essential to get us there?
According to leading analysts from Forrester Research, PPM solutions should no longer be a standalone tool for any organisation, regardless of the organisation’s maturity. The future of these platforms lies in the successful integration between them. All centralising around effective data-analysis & visualisation, collaboration and reporting, these platforms can compliment each other to pave the way for a future that is highly data-focussed, hybrid, collaborative and automated so that your business can thrive. Integrations are now easier than ever to implement; no longer relying on complex coding or additional hardware, they are available at the click of a button. At Execview, all the tools you need for innovative, successful decision-making are at your fingertips.
Where is the future heading, and why is integration central to this?
Greater data focus:
The days of making decisions based on gut instinct are ending. Studies have repeatedly demonstrated the importance of reliable data for decision-making, for example with MIT finding that companies properly utilising data-driven decision-making benefit from 4% higher productivity and 6% higher profits. With an increasing awareness of the benefits of data-driven decisions and the ability to collect larger amounts of data than ever before, the future is becoming more and more data-focussed. The WEF Future of Work Report predicts that by 2022, 85% of companies are highly likely to expand their use of data analysis.
However, with larger data comes different struggles. Big Data is too large to analyse by hand or without the right software. While BI tools can analyse large data for patterns and trends, communicating that data effectively and transforming it into decision-making requires the integration of PPM and CPM tools. PPM tools can help provide visualisations tailored towards the ease of understanding of your team and stakeholders, while CPM tools can help you track the full life cycle and outcomes of your data-driven decisions.
Hybrid Approaches:
In the last few years, there has been a trend for agile PPM. While this has proved useful (especially throughout the covid crisis) for getting projects completed quickly and simply, projects and business decisions are not one-size-fits-all. Hybrid approaches are predicted to dominate the future of PPM, as they allow all the benefits of flexible, fast, agile technologies while also giving you the stability and top-down control that comes with traditional approaches. This is made simpler than ever with Execview, where BI tools are available for complete top-down governance when required, and agile features of PPM and CPM are integrated when a more flexible approach is needed.
Collaboration:
Keeping your head down and working individually is quickly becoming outdated. But while collaboration is becoming more common, so is working-from-home, meaning software platforms are now of paramount importance for effective communication. Having separate platforms for PPM, BI and CPM tools means effective communication is disrupted as teams have to navigate between platforms to find all the information they need, wasting time and resulting in human errors like misplacing or ignoring important information. With Execview, essential tools are all integrated within one platform so that teams can quickly and easily communicate and share information.
Automation:
Processes that have traditionally been done by hand are now being automated, saving companies time, money and drastically reducing rates of human error. AI’s are becoming more central to the way we live and manage our projects, and with this comes a changing approach to integrations. Utilising information from BI, CPM and PPM tools, automations can assist in the prioritisation of tasks and allocation of resources. Calculating which projects are best to take on and quickly and efficiently scheduling them has never been easier. With Execview, CRs are also automated to gain budget changes and approve use of contingency. Reporting, an essential feature to all three platforms can also be automated, as can your integrations with CPM tools like SAP so that costs and revenue information for reports can be fully automated.
PPM, CPM and BI platforms all share overlapping functionalities in terms of data analysis, data visualisation, reporting and collaborating. Together, they pave the way for a highly data-driven, hybrid, collaborative and automated future. To keep up with these changing demands and utilise the benefits of these future approaches, your business requires one platform solution like Execview that integrates all your PPM, CPM and BI tools into one. Click here to learn more about our product.
By Alana Bowen-Burford
