The mutual pension insurance company Varma implemented Thinking Portfolio in 2014. So far, active projects as well as projects starting during the first quarter of 2014 have been added to the portfolio. The portfolio contains mostly IT projects, but there are some business development projects as well.
Implementing Thinking Portfolio was easy
Development Manager and Head of PMO, Katja Siekkeli, describes the implementation process of Thinking Portfolio as fairly uncomplicated. Varma had already utilised Excel for project portfolio management, and was familiar with the concept.
Thinking Portfolio’s user-friendliness and vision of how to develop portfolio management enabled an effortless implementation project.
Clear benefits evident almost immediately
In less than two months, several users have seen clear improvements in daily work in terms of, for example, availability of data and improved reporting functionalities.
Project Managers have enjoyed the benefits of the new tool in terms of reporting and monitoring project hours. The time saved on reporting and monitoring hours can be utilised in other project-related tasks and management.
“Portfolio management executive team members are able to personally view the current status of the portfolio or individual projects with Thinking Portfolio reports and views.
The hour logging functionality is a significant improvement over previous methods.”
The benefits extend beyond project management and the management of Varma itself; department heads are also reaping the benefits of improved resource management. Although the resource management functionalities of Thinking Portfolio are still being implemented, Varma can foresee it having significant benefits in departmental and team resource planning.
Already at this early stage of implementation, Katja Siekkeli can list a number of clear benefits Thinking Portfolio has delivered to Varma. In future, she believes Varma will benefit greatly from Thinking Portfolio in terms of prioritisation of projects.
“While we are only in the early stages of implementing the Thinking Portfolio prioritisation model, we have high expectations of its benefits in annual and operations planning.
The top three benefits of Thinking Portfolio so far have been the facilitated hour logging, improved resource management and additional help in project prioritisation.
More information:
Katja Siekkeli
Development Manager
Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company
