For Gasum, Thinking Portfolio is a strategy, investment and IT portfolio. Currently, the most prominent area is investments going forward. In addition to the progress of investment projects, financial data and investments are monitored as a whole. According to Gasum’s Engineering Manager Mika Simola, reporting is done directly through the system.
Gasum Oy is a Finnish energy company and Finland’s primary expert in the gas sector. Gasum’s objective is to contribute to the development towards a carbon–neutral future. (www.gasum.com)
Project steering group meetings review investment directly in the tool. The layout of the portfolio serves as the agenda of the meeting; no other records are made, as items and decisions are stored in Thinking Portfolio.
Thinking Portfolio a ready-made solution
Gasum’s project office deals with procedural planning, providing project management services to the company’s business sectors. The procurement of the project portfolio is part of a larger project, which has involved developing the project model. During development work, the previous portfolio software was evaluated and new alternatives were discussed. The procurement team interviewed users and made a list of requirements based on the interviews. Based on the list, the team compared suppliers of portfolio software. The comparison found that Thinking Portfolio was most in line with Gasum’s requirements and appeared to be a ready-made solution.
Gasum’s employees were also connected with Thinking Portfolio’s other customers, reporting that the feedback received was positive. This provided further evidence of the wisdom of taking up the tool.
Thinking Portfolio consultants know what they are doing
As Gasum’s own processes had already been defined before the implementation began, Thinking Portfolio’s consultants had to quickly adapt the portfolio’s parameters to Gasum’s requirements.
Mika Simola is pleased that, despite not having had as much influence on the definition of the portfolio, the tool provided was very useful right from the beginning. He indicates that they were confident in the consultants’ work. The tool was easy to customise with the possibility of making further adjustments after testing without having to think about added costs. In fact, the tool satisfied Gasum’s needs so well that such elements as the reports could be adapted to the current processes with very few changes. Another positive feature of Thinking Portfolio is that it is easy to adapt in terms of layouts and options. Gasum praises both the flexibility of the supplier and the experience of the consultants.
“Portfolio management in itself is an interesting topic, and we discussed this and other matters with Thinking Portfolio’s consultants during the implementation process. We’ve received a great deal of support as it is always good to hear and compare other views on solutions.
The benefits of project portfolio are tangible
Even though Simola feels Gasum is still developing as a user of Thinking Portfolio, he finds that the benefits already witnessed are tangible. Indeed, it is not merely a project management tool, it provides significant assistance in terms of overviewing and steering. Various business sectors have been extremely pleased with the results. Despite its implementation still being in progress, and with several of its benefits as yet unrealised, the portfolio has proven its worth.
“The tool is so easy to use, that so far we have only had to provide usernames and instructions. However, applying the tool is a significant step forward for the organisation. It is not enough simply to implement the application; we must also market it and provide in-house guidelines in order to maximise its benefits.”
Interviewee:
Mika Simola
Gasum
