Speakers

Mr. Kendall opened the General Session with a presentation on how to utilize executive level characteristics and detailed analysis techniques to streamline a project portfolio while establishing yourself as a project management legend. He initially defined the key characteristics of a Chief Project Officer; being results oriented, multi-disciplined, and heavily focused on what is best for the organization. Among these characteristics, Mr. Kendall identified a project management legend as being someone who successfully focuses on achieving astonishing goals while improving the quality of an organization’s project portfolio. One of the techniques Mr. Kendall described for being a project management legend was the Theory of Constraints.

Mr. Kendall’s presentation initially focused on some of the challenges he has encountered as a Project Portfolio Management Consultant and Expert. He found that the first problem within most projectized organizations is that the project portfolio is too large, often times by 300-400%! He also found that it is common to have a resource constraint that inhibits throughput capacity. He offered a solution to these problems by stressing that a project portfolio should be right-sized to allow for quick turnaround and ROI. He also described how every organization”…must recognize that there is one major leverage point for improvement – the constraint of [the] organization”. To use these conditions to the fullest advantage, Mr. Kendall explained the Theory of Constraints.

The Theory of Constraints, according to Mr. Kendall, is based on five steps for identifying and dealing with leverage points that are key to having an organization reach maximum potential. The first step is to identify the biggest leverage point for the entire organization (the system's constraint). The next step is to decide how to exploit the constraint for maximum benefit. The third step is ensuring that everyone in the organization, including executives, is subordinating themselves to the above decisions to exploit the constraint. Once this has been done, the constraint can be elevated to the degree that it is no longer the constraint. Mr. Kendall pointed out that the final, and most crucial, step is to continue to go through the process continually. This will make it possible to utilize all of the constraints within an organization to the fullest benefit.

Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Gus Pagonis

Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, Genco
Chairman of the Board of Directors, Rail America

Executive Level Balanced Scorecards

Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Gus Pagonis went on from being the Chief Logistician for the First Gulf War to being Vice President of Sears Roebuck & Co. during the turnaround effort at that company. He is now utilizing his military and corporate experience as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors at Genco, where he has implemented a corporate-wide balanced scorecard and digital dashboard system to measure Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). He explained how the first step to implementing a balanced scorecard system is defining a strategy that can be understood and executed at all levels of an organization. He explained how the flow of KPIs begins with a focused strategy that is pushed down the chain of command in the form of goals and quantifiable objectives. At each level, management and personnel have a number of quantifiable objectives that are used as the basis for assessing the health of the organization as a whole.

Mr. Pagonis stressed the need for the balanced scorecard system to have buy-in from all levels of the organization; otherwise it simply will not work. His approach to gaining buy-in was to first keep the process simple. He kept the KPIs simple and easy to gauge, requiring a minimum of additional effort to report on them. Additionally, he adhered to his own initiative, leading by example for his team at Genco. With the balanced scorecard system in place, Mr. Pagonis was then able to develop a digital dashboard with the use of Dekker iPursuit® to have quick and easy access to the underlying information collected from all of the balanced scorecards.

Ultimately, what Mr. Pagonis has developed is an aggregated Executive Information System that has helped the Board of Directors have access to critical information that they can use to speed up the decision making process.

Click here to view the presentation in .pdf format.

Bruce Bartells

CEO, Bartells & Associates Financial Consultants

Sarbanes-Oxley Implications And Solutions

In the wake of corporate corruption scandals, such as the Enron episode several years ago, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was enacted to ensure that corporate financial record keeping and audit processes are well documented and accurate. But how does an organization wade their way through the nebulous definition of the Act, and how do they ensure they are in compliance? Bruce Bartells, CEO of Bartells and Associates Financial Consultants, delivered a presentation that not only clarified just what the Act means to Fortune 500 companies, but also to any publicly traded companies and project management personnel within those organizations.

First, Bruce identified the cost implications of meeting the requirements of Section 404 of the Act, which is the section that specifically pertains to documenting, testing and reporting on internal control mechanisms. The total cost for Fortune 500 companies to meet the Act’s requirements was initially estimated at $30 billion by the end of the 2005 calendar year. Today, the actual cost has escalated to over $150 billion. Mr. Bartells warned that in the following years, all publicly traded companies will be required to implement a solution that will enable them to meet the Act’s requirements for internal reporting.

Mr. Bartells’ presentation focused on how the application of Dekker TRAKKER® and Dekker iPursuit® enable projectized organizations to have a system that can accurately supply the control mechanisms as well as the raw financial data necessary to meet the Act’s requirements. Beginning July 31, 2006, all publicly traded companies will be required “…to report annually on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal controls over financial reporting”, said Mr. Bartells. This report requires an independent auditor to have assessed the system framework for financial accuracy.

Mr. Bartells’ presentation dispelled some of the ambiguity of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and provided a roadmap for project driven organizations to implement a system that will help them to meet the strict requirements as a by-product of a sound Enterprise Project Management System built on Dekker, Ltd. technologies.

Click here to view the presentation in .pdf format.

David Dennis

Group Manager, Microsoft Solomon R&D, Microsoft® Business Solutions

Microsoft Project Management And Accounting

Dekker, Ltd. has been working closely with Microsoft to advance its involvement in the Microsoft Partner Program. To exhibit the potential of this relationship, David Dennis, Group Manager for Microsoft Solomon® R&D, presented Project Management and Accounting solutions from Microsoft Business Solutions and Dekker, Ltd.

Mr. Dennis described a project management system built on Microsoft and Dekker, Ltd. technologies that is geared towards connecting all personnel through a common system while providing visibility into Key Performance Indicators and other operational issues. Based on Microsoft SQL Server, accounting information is captured through Microsoft Business Solutions and integrated with project information through Dekker TRAKKER® with Microsoft® Project. To provide insight into all of this information, Dekker iPursuit® works with Microsoft® Windows SharePoint Services to deliver digital dashboards and drill down reporting capability accessible from anywhere through the internet.

Mr. Dennis went on to explain the solution encapsulated by Microsoft® Solomon and the MBS Business Portal. Solomon delivers a project oriented accounting system that works closely with Dekker TRAKKER® and Microsoft® Project to meet the unique accounting needs of a projectized organization. MBS Business Portal provides a control center for every employee to receive alerts issued by Solomon and Dekker iPursuit®, while also providing access to a number of other key business processes, such as expense reporting and time card entry.

Mr. Dennis’ presentation provided a glimpse into the total Enterprise Project Management and Accounting solution that is offered with an integrated solution composed of contemporary Microsoft Business Solutions and Dekker, Ltd. technologies.

Click here to view the presentation in .pdf format.

Carmelo Rodriguez,
Tom Tasker

Director of Advanced Arresting Gear, Project Controller,
General Atomics

Where did the Critical Path Go?

Carmelo Rodriguez, Director of Advanced Arresting Gear at General Atomics, and Tom Tasker, Project Controller at General Atomics, jointly presented best practices learned from utilizing Dekker TRAKKER® on their Advanced Arresting Gear Project at General Atomics. The focus of their presentation was the development of a project schedule that accurately portrayed the critical path while maintaining cost and schedule integration.

Mr. Rodriguez opened the presentation by highlighting some of the concerns that normally arise when scheduling a large engineering effort. There is a natural tendency fir each engineering task to be scheduled so that it consumes as much float as possible.  This is caused by the desire to level staffing requirements, but it tends to create a project schedule that is composed entirely of critical activities. To help define the real critical path, the team weighted each activity by its degree of risk, and either increased or decreased the planned duration accordingly. Mr. Tasker went on to explain how they developed a project schedule that contained float in between each major milestone while high risk areas of the project were clearly defined by their criticality. During his presentation, Mr. Rodriguez commented on the delicacy of developing a realistic complex project schedule: “We have learned that it is an art and a science…”

Mr. Tasker also described how General Atomics came to select a software tool that could support their Earned Value Management System (EVMS) requirements. As the Advanced Arresting Gear Project is a government funded contract for the Navy, General Atomics must meet certain reporting requirements. In addition, General Atomics had their own set of criteria for selecting a software solution for their EVMS:

• It had to be compatible with Microsoft® Project
• The solutions provider had to have local support services
• The solution had to integrate cost and schedule

Dekker, Ltd., and it’s solution Dekker TRAKKER® EVM, were the only solution that met General Atomics criteria.

Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. Tasker provided an interesting insight into how TRAKKER can be used to accentuate a formal approach to project management, particularly with large and complex projects.

Click here to view the presentation in .pdf format.

Simon Dekker

Chief Executive Officer, Dekker, Ltd.

Key Performance Indicators

Simon Dekker, CEO of Dekker, Ltd., closed out the General Session with a look forward into the world and technologies of Contemporary Project Management.  He began by explaining what Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) really are, and how they can be derived from any organization.  A Key Performance Indicator is basically any important element within an organization that can be measured to determine performance.  Mr. Dekker went on to explain how KPIs can be aggregated into a digital dashboard that makes it possible to monitor them.  He also introduced the newest member of the Dekker suite of products, Dekker Traction™.  Traction has been developed to provide an automated system that tracks and monitors KPI levels in conjunction with Dekker TRAKKER® and Dekker iPursuit® for a completely automated Project Portfolio Management System.

Mr. Dekker also provided a brief glimpse into the advancements being made in Dekker products.  These adavancements were displayed in detail in the "TRAKKER Release 7 and Beyond" Workshop.

Click here to view the presentation in .pdf format.