Government Technology - April 2008 - (Page CA7)

Meaningful Change Brings Real Results Project and Portfolio Management helps Oakland County, Mich., move in a better direction. well as transparency into the process,” said Bertolini. “Project and portfolio management has changed everything we do.” —Phil Bertolini, Deputy County Executive and CIO, Oakland County, Mich. A key part of any meaningful change is the decision to change — making that commitment to arrive at a better place. The leaders of Oakland County, Mich., decided to get IT to a better place. It was a smart decision for this Detroit-area county with more than 1 million residents. “Project and portfolio management has changed everything we do,” said Phil Bertolini, deputy county executive and county CIO. “It changed our entire ability to satisfy the needs of our customers, while keeping our process very transparent.” This transparency lets the county executive and board of commissioners say yes to new projects with greater conﬁdence. But circa 1996, there wasn’t much trust in the IT department. That was something Bertolini had seen for himself. As the county’s administrator of equalization back then, he was an IT customer. Once he took over as CIO in 2001, he knew he needed to continue to change the perception of the department within the county. Project and portfolio management (PPM) tools from CA helped Bertolini transform things. CA Clarity™ PPM software helps to more effectively manage the 100 or so IT projects the county usually has in progress. Bertolini can view the entire portfolio and keep tasks aligned with the county’s business goals. CA Clarity™ PPM also lets project managers keep things on track, spot risks and issues, generate reports and control costs. IT is more trusted now, because people can use CA Clarity™ PPM to track how projects are doing. “The only way we could gain that trust is through strong project and portfolio management, as Less Time, Lower Costs CA Clarity™ PPM also drills down into the details. The county tracks 202 IT employees and contractors 24/7. This amount of detail helps effectively allocate resources and bill customers. The whole process is now quicker and less expensive. Historical data in CA Clarity™ PPM lets the county look at past projects and use the information while planning new projects. It also helps to benchmark ﬁnancials, so the county has less variance when it compares estimates to actual costs. PPM has saved the county signiﬁcant money in numerous ways. To date, PPM through CA Clarity™ PPM has been very effective. So effective, in fact, that in order to showcase IT’s importance in the planning process, Bertolini was promoted to deputy county executive. “Now, technology is much more of a strategic initiative, versus a provider,” Bertolini said. Since CA Clarity™ PPM is a robust, powerful tool, and IT governance is of huge importance, Bertolini and other county leaders believe in the PPM process they’ve adopted. Bertolini would recommend CA Clarity™ PPM for other governments. “The No. 1 piece of advice I would give would be to create a strong project management methodology, and live by it,” he said. Oakland County has worked with CA for many years now, and the county sees CA as an operational partner, not just a vendor. “We bring in the Clarity folks on a semi-annual basis and have them look at our process to see if we’re headed in the right direction,” Bertolini said. Although the county’s leaders have been moving IT in a better direction for years, they know there are always opportunities to improve further. ❖ 7

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Government Technology - April 2008

Government Technology - April 2008 Contents Point of View Big Picture The Last Mile On the Scene Four Questions for... Freeze Frame How Safe Is Your Data? Easy Street Gadget Overload Indiana Overhaul First Person: A Better Bill Data Defense Strength in Numbers Public Storage Products Two Cents Spectrum Personal Computing signal:noise

Government Technology - April 2008

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