Osler

Microsoft Office Project Portfolio Server Implementation

Customer

With 450+ lawyers in Toronto, Montréal, Calgary, Ottawa and New York, Osler provides integrated legal services with specialists in virtually every area of business law. Osler advises many of Canada’s corporate leaders as well as U.S. and international clients with interests in Canada. Their breadth of legal expertise allows them to provide the kind of seamless, integrated service their clients require.

Challenge

Osler had just completed a formal business case development and portfolio optimization exercise for its 2008 budget using a manual process and were interested in improving and automating the process with the implementation of a Portfolio Management tool.

Approach

In early February 2008, Osler engaged Agora to implement Microsoft Office Project Portfolio Server 2007. Agora used its proven implementation methodology to guide the implementation. This methodology calls for a focused effort on People Change Management, Processes and Procedures, the Technical Configuration and Training. The engagement began with analyzing the current process and tools as well as gathering requirements for the new solution. We worked with Osler to develop the necessary processes to support the introduction of Microsoft Office Project Portfolio Server 2007. We also completed the configuration through the use of an iterative process of gathering requirements, configuring the tool, reviewing and validating the configuration, and making any necessary revisions. After completing the configuration and knowledge transfer to Osler’s PMO, training sessions were held with key users. The training sessions focused on how to use the new tool in an integrated way with the newly developed processes.

Solution

The solution was migrated from a development environment to a production environment and is now in use at the firm. It supports the gathering of all relevant business case information as well as identifying the optimal selection of projects delivering maximized portfolio value. Multiple portfolio selection criteria such as strategic value, financials and risk are used in the various analyses.

Impact

The introduction of Microsoft Office Project Portfolio Server 2007 along with the processes necessary to effectively use the tool has given the firm a much clearer sense of the work being done and its relative importance to the firm’s success. Going forward it will make the IT budget and project review process more focused, less emotional and more strategic in its approach and results.