The first part is the process improvement method first.

Document options Level: Intermediate Nandu, rational High-Level Technical Specialist, IBM China May 25, 2006 Based on IBM's process improvement tool IBM Rational Method composer (RMC for short) and portfolio management tool IBM Rational Portfolio Manager (rpm for short), This article explores three steps for the implementation of portfolio management: first, establish a standardized project portfolio management process for enterprises; secondly, establish a visual project management process; and finally establish an executable project portfolio management process, ultimately, it helps enterprises achieve continuous improvement in the project portfolio management process. Definition 1) project: refers to the creation of a unique product or service within a specified range. A project is the basis of a combination of large projects and projects. 2) Program: a large project is composed of multiple projects with common characteristics. Generally, they are organized for management purposes, to obtain the control and benefits that a single project cannot obtain. Generally, the implementation cycle is long. 3) portfolio: a portfolio consists of multiple projects or large projects. It uses various planning technologies to centrally manage multiple or large projects, including optimizing and balancing the investment portfolio, unified control of project or implementation of large projects. The goal is to achieve the expected business strategic goals. A project group may contain proposals, projects, or large projects, collectively referred to as a project combination element. 4) Portfolio Management (portfolio management): it is to use various planning and analysis and decision-making technologies to conduct intensive management, analysis, monitoring and decision-making on multiple proposals, projects or large projects, this includes optimizing and balancing investment portfolios, unifying monitoring proposals, executing projects or large projects, and optimizing project portfolios based on business objectives, the goal is to achieve the expected business strategic goals. Back to Top 1. Background It is a 3 P Management composed of projects, large projects, and projects. It is widely accepted and recognized by it and project management practitioners. Project management and large-scale project management are the basis for achieving project portfolio management, while project portfolio management raises the management of projects and large projects to the height of achieving the strategic goal of enterprise development, enables enterprises to manage projects and large projects by means of business operations. However, how to help enterprises quickly establish the project portfolio management process and build a project portfolio management platform is a topic that must be solved and worth studying. However, the establishment, promotion, and implementation of the enterprise portfolio management process is a long-term and arduous task. It must be achieved through continuous improvement of the Enterprise portfolio management process, this is also part of the transformation of modern enterprises. From the perspective of practitioners, This article starts from the main problems faced by Enterprise portfolio management, based on IBM's process improvement tool IBM Rational Method composer (RMC) and the project portfolio management tool IBM Rational Portfolio Manager (RPM) to discuss the first step of the implementation of the project portfolio management, that is, first through internal process improvement of the enterprise, establish a standardized and scalable enterprise project portfolio management method, and create an easy-to-use project management method template on the project management platform, establish an executable project portfolio management process to help enterprises continuously improve the project portfolio management process. Based on the standardized and marketing-capable enterprise project portfolio management process, enterprises can quickly build an efficient project portfolio management platform using the tools of the project portfolio management platform, gradually establish the ability to plan, execute, and monitor the project group and project portfolio, and ultimately achieve enterprise-level project portfolio management. Back to Top 2. Question raised: problems faced by Enterprise portfolio management As shown in enterprise-level project portfolio management, you must be able to manage multiple projects. To manage multiple projects, you must first provide a unified project management method for project management. Imagine if an enterprise has 20 project managers and one hundred projects need to be completed in one year. If there is no unified and standardized project management method, each Project Manager manages the project according to his own habits and methods. The quality and progress of the project depend largely on the level of the Project Manager. The level and responsibility of the Project Manager will greatly affect the project management performance, so that the managers of the Enterprise Project Group cannot guarantee the quality of the project, there is no way to evaluate the project performance and evaluate the project manager. Figure 1 problems faced by enterprise-level project portfolio management Because the effective establishment of the Process plays a vital role in the quality of project management, the quality master Dai Ming proposed the idea of "process determines quality" half a century ago. Therefore, to establish project portfolio management capabilities, enterprises must first establish standard project management methods and processes, and establish unified project identification criteria, project management process execution, monitoring procedures, and project result acceptance criteria, to ensure that all projects are implemented in accordance with standard and unified project management methods. Secondly, to ensure that the project management team can execute project management activities well based on the unified project management method, enterprises must also build a unified project management platform. On a unified management platform, on the one hand, the project initiation, planning, implementation, monitoring, and project closure processes are completed, implement specific project management in terms of time management, cost management, human resources management, risk management, communication management, procurement management, and comprehensive management. On the other hand, with the help of the project management platform, it facilitates the implementation of standardized project management methods so that the entire project management team can easily follow the unified project management methods to complete project management activities. Finally, in order to achieve portfolio management, enterprises must build on a unified project management platform, establish multi-project monitoring, management, human resource balance, and dependency processing among multiple projects to ensure that enterprise managers can have a comprehensive understanding of the project management of the entire enterprise, perform good portfolio analysis among multiple projects according to business development requirements. Back to Top 3. Step 1 of Enterprise Project Portfolio Management Process Improvement: establish standardized enterprise project management methods The establishment of standardized enterprise project portfolio management methods can improve the production efficiency of the project management team, control the risks, progress deviation and cost deviation in the project implementation process, so as to ensure the quality of the project. At the same time, by providing comprehensive guidance information, templates and examples for all important project management activities, the entire project portfolio management team can effectively share successful experiences and improve team efficiency. The establishment of standardized enterprise project management methods must solve two problems: Definition of project management methods and promotion of management methods. With the latest IBM method definition tool rational method composer (RMC), enterprises can effectively solve the above problems. 3.1 Introduction to IBM's latest method definition tools IBM Rational Method composer (RMC) is a Rational Unified Process? (RUP for short) is the latest version. It is a web-based software engineering method delivery tool that uses the industry standard browser technology web site to deliver the RUP to the executive. At the same time, it is also a definition and Configuration tool for a RUP-style visual method. It is composed of methods described based on the unified method architecture (UMA) of international standards, it provides an architecture and platform for enterprises to express their core methodologies. enterprises can use it to customize their own visual enterprise project portfolio management methods. The core content of RMC includes: A group of core concepts and principles for successful software development; Reusable method content and process build block framework: through continuous improvements from IBM, the RUP method plug-in series define a general method framework, from this framework, you can create your own method configurations and custom processes. Underlying method and process definition language: the bottom layer is the meta-model of the unified method architecture (UMA. This model provides a language used to describe the content and process of a method. It aims to unify different methods and process description languages, it is an extension of the Software Process Engineering meta-model (spem) of UML in terms of process engineering. Shows the core concepts of RMC: Figure 2 core concepts of RMC The so-called method can be either a management method of various workflows formed after years of accumulation within an enterprise, or a common method in the industry, for example, RUP is a collection of management methods in the software engineering field. It also includes the rational case-based requirement management method (rmuc) and Object-Oriented Analysis and Design Method (OOAD), testing, project management, and unified change management (UCM); PMBOK is a common method in the project management field, it includes PMI progress management, cost management, human resource management, scope management, risk management, and other methods. Based on the unified method architecture, each method can be composed of two main parts: Method content and process. The "Method Content" section describes the process-independent and reusable method construction blocks, including the roles, tasks, work products, and guidance information. All methods can end with an end-to-end flow. The basic component is a role that executes a series of tasks based on specified input work products, produce the desired output work product. The guidance information provides instructions on tasks and work products and best practices. Figure 3 core concept model in "Method Content" The "process" section describes how to build an executable process, which consists of three core concepts: Activity, function model, and delivery process. "Delivery process" represents an end-to-end process instance for a method applied to a certain field. It provides a complete implementation for a certain type of method, covering the entire lifecycle management process template, it answers questions about who, when, what, and how to do it throughout the lifecycle. For example, an IBM software development process (irup) Customized Based on RUP can be seen as an application instance of the RUP method in IBM, so irup can be seen as a "delivery process ". The "functional model" represents the process knowledge about a key area of interest. It is a reusable process segment definition or a subset of the best experience, for example, we can define an Object-Oriented Analysis and Design Method as a functional model, which can be referenced by other "functional models" or "delivery processes; activity is a basic concept used to define a process. Activities define the work breakdown structure and work flow. In other words, activities can be nested to define the work breakdown structure, or activities can define the first job relationship with other activities to define the process displayed in the activity diagram. Activities can also include references to "Tasks", "Roles", and "work products. Multiple activities or "function Modes" are associated to form a "delivery process ". Figure 4 core concept model of "process" 3.2 use RMC to help enterprises establish standardized project management methods and practices In order to better understand the various core concepts of RMC, the following uses a specific project management method customization example to illustrate the specific application of the above concepts in RMC. 3.2.1 create a project lifecycle management model by project type There are various types of projects in an enterprise, including software development projects, hardware projects, Engineering Projects, business development projects, and software research projects. In terms of project management method definition, the difficulty lies in that enterprises must define a project management process for each type of project management by referring to mature methodologies such as PMBOK and RUP, and combining the project management features and project management requirements of enterprises. It includes the main phase division of the project, the main tasks of each phase, the input and output of each task, the main milestones of the project life cycle and the definition of the main status. The following table describes how to create a project management model based on PMBOK: After clarifying the project management process for each type of project, the enterprise's project management office should form a general project management method specification for the enterprise, to standardize the project management activities of enterprises and the work content of project management personnel. At this time, enterprises will face the second challenge: how to ensure the implementation of project management methods. Constant management methods always encounter various problems when managing and standardizing creative project teams. So how should we ensure the implementation of the project management method? The key to execution lies in people-that is, the project management team. Therefore, we should publicize and train the project management methods and unify the understanding of the project management team, it will provide important help for the implementation of the entire project management method. In this regard, a project management method website similar to RUP can serve as either a training manual for the team or a guide for the project management team to perform project management activities, this will greatly improve the process execution of the entire project management team. 3.2.2 use RMC to establish a visual project lifecycle management method website After an enterprise establishes a project management method specification based on the project management lifecycle model, it can use RMC to establish a visual project management method website. The procedure is as follows: 1> Step 1: Create a method plug-in: when using RMC to create a visual project management method, you must first create a method plug-in (method plug-in) in RMC ). The method plug-in can be an independent method plug-in, or expand a new method based on the content of other method plug-ins. Figure 5 create a new method plug-in In the RMC method Creation View (authoring), we can see the specific application of the unified method architecture (UMA) in the tool and the specific application of various core concepts of RMC. First, the method plug-in contains the method content and process. Figure 6 organization of various core concepts in RMC The "Method Content" directory contains four main directories: Role, task, work product, and guidance information. The process directory contains two directories: "function mode" and "delivery process. 2> Step 2. Complete method content development. When customizing the methods, we can take the task as the core and complete the four pages of "Step", "role", "Work product", and "Guidance Information" in the task attribute window, at the same time, you can customize the "Roles", "Work Products", and "Guidance Information" required for the specified task. Figure 7 Development of "Method Content" For example, PMBOK defines that the core content of the project management method is nine knowledge domains. to define a project management method based on PMBOK, a "method content package" must be created for each knowledge domain ", in each "method content package", specify the roles, tasks, and input/output work products required for the knowledge field, and define the corresponding guiding information for the task and work product as needed. 3> Step 3: complete the definition of "standard category" and "Custom category. Methods are divided into three types in Uma: job definition (task and activity procedure), work product (domain and work product type), and role (role set ). After "Method Content" is completed in RMC, to facilitate the development of "function mode", the implemented methods are generally classified. As shown in figure 8, RMC contains two classification directories: "standard category" and "Custom category", which determine the display of the Method Content on the final release website. "Standard category" is a pre-defined classification method in RMC. It reflects the Standard Classification Method of UMA, including "regulations" and "domains) "Work product kinds", "role sets", and "Tools, only one type of "Method Content" can be saved in each category to classify tasks, work products, roles, and guidance information. "Custom category" is different from "standard category". It can contain any number of different "Method Content" or multiple "standard categories ", you can use this function to classify the content of a method based on user conditions, define the tree structure of the nested category, and allow users to systematically browse the content and process of the method based on these categories, these "Custom categories" can be used as the view on the method release page to determine the final display interface after the method is released. Figure 8 Definition of "standard category" and "Custom category" Step 4. Define "configuration ). Method Configuration is a collection of method plug-ins, method packages, and delivery processes. It defines the logical subset of the worker library. In RMC, the final method website is published based on "Method Configuration, it uses "Method Configuration" to determine the "Method Content" and "process" to be included in the website to be published and the final display view of the website to be published. When you create a new "function mode", you are prompted to select the default "configuration" to determine the method content that can be used in "function mode. The specific content of "Method Configuration" is as follows: Figure 9 Procedure "configuration" 4> Step 5: complete the development of "function mode. In RMC, "function mode" represents process knowledge about a key area of interest. It is a reusable process segment definition or a subset of the best experience, we can then establish the entire delivery process based on it. 10. Based on the PMBOK and enterprise standard project management processes, we can define specific "function models" for the three phases in the nine knowledge domains and lifecycle models ". Figure 10 create a "function mode" In "function mode", you can add a work breakdown structure element as needed to indicate the specific work content and its logical relationship, as shown in Figure 11, it can include stages, iterations, activities, tasks, and milestones. Figure 11 create a work breakdown structure in "function mode" To simplify the creation process of "function mode", you can drag the task from the configuration View to the work breakdown structure view of "function mode, customizes the work breakdown structure. Figure 12 customize the work breakdown structure by dragging Then, you must manually customize the "activity flowchart" to visually display the logical relationship between activities, as shown in Figure 13, RMC automatically generates a "detailed activity diagram" based on the definition of "Method Content" contained in "function mode ". Figure 13 "activity flowchart" and "detailed activity diagram" are customized" 5> Step 6. Customize the "delivery process ". A "delivery process" represents an end-to-end process instance for a method applied to a certain field. It provides a complete execution of a certain type of method, covering the entire lifecycle management process template. The new "delivery process" is generally implemented by reusing the existing "function mode" or modifying the existing "function mode. This can be achieved through two reuse modes: "delivery process" and "function mode. Copy indicates that all content in "function mode" is copied to the "delivery process". Modifications to "function mode" will not affect the "delivery process; the extended mode indicates content in the "delivery process" Reference "function mode". Therefore, modifications to the "function mode" will affect the "delivery process" synchronously ", in addition, the content in "function mode" in "delivery process" is read-only. Figure 14 "activity flowchart" and "detailed activity diagram" 6> Step 7: publish "configuration" to a website. Before the final release of the configuration, we usually patronize the "Custom category" section of RMC, and add the "delivery process" or "function mode" that has just been completed to the category ", so that the method content can be displayed on the published website according to our designed view. Then we can officially launch the configuration release process. As shown in Figure 15, select the configuration to be released, and then create the website release path and related configuration information in the method release Configuration window to complete the release process. Figure 15 release method content to the Process website 7> Step 8: post-production of the website. After the final release of the configuration, we usually create a home page similar to the RUP method, as shown in 16, to facilitate the browsing of the project team. Then, you can use was, tomcat, IIS, and so on to complete the final release process of the website. This process is the same as the General website publishing process. Figure 16 post-production of a website So far, we have completed the whole process of building a visual website using RMC based on the standard enterprise project management method. Back to Top 4. Create an executable Project Management Process Template IBM Rational Portfolio Manager (RPM) is a rational enterprise-level project management platform tool and a standardized platform for IBM internal project management, it not only provides good platform support for enterprise project management, large-scale project management, and portfolio management, but also has good scalability and flexibility, it can meet the needs of different enterprises, different project management levels and maturity, different project types, different project scales and project complexity. Rpm has a built-in template mechanism, which is a key strategy for IBM to support project management practical experience sharing and method reuse in RPM. In the RPM Process Template, as shown in figure 17, it not only includes the work breakdown structure, process documentation, task description and handling time required for the project management process, task participants and skill requirements, score cards, and risk of common problems, in addition, the RPM and RMC built-in import and export functions allow you to directly import the customized project management methods in RMC to RPM to generate executable project management process templates, the project management team can easily and happily complete the project management work according to the predefined project management methods of the Organization without knowing it. This not only fundamentally solves the issue of project management process execution, but also provides a good knowledge sharing mechanism for enterprises, which is of great help to improve the maturity of the Organization project management process. Figure 17 use of the method template in RPM Back to Top 5 Summary The establishment, promotion and implementation of the enterprise portfolio management process is a long-term and arduous task, which must be achieved through continuous improvement of the Enterprise portfolio management process. In practice, the enterprise's project management process improvement will inevitably go through three major stages: Stage 1: establish standardized and executable project management methods to guide the project management team in project management activities; Stage 2: Build a unified project management platform to support the specific management process of the project team; Stage 3: Establish multi-project monitoring, management, human resource balance, and dependency processing among multiple projects to ensure that enterprise managers can meet business development requirements, perform good portfolio analysis among multiple projects; The establishment of standardized project management methods is the basis for improving the enterprise project management process. In this regard, the IBM method definition tool RMC will provide important help for enterprise method establishment and promotion implementation. References IBM Rational portfolio manager tool help IBM Rational Method composer tool help IBM Rational Unified Process About the author Ningde army is now a Senior Technical Specialist in the software department of IBM China Ltd., a consulting consultant for IBM Rational product certification, and a head of East China technology. Six years of work in IBM Rational China, we have provided software management consulting services for companies such as, ZTE, Datang Mobile, Zhejiang mobile, Jiangsu mobile, ut lukang, Wuhan jinglun, and Shanghai Electric Power. As the project manager and main technical director, the project has successfully managed the Shanghai Electric Power Project Portfolio Management Platform project and Software acceptance platform project, configuration Management or software development platform projects for, ZTE, ut yunkang, Wuhan jinglun, Datang Mobile, and Jiangsu mobile, as well as test platform projects for Shanghai mobile. During this period, we also conducted a large number of Rational Software engineering courses for our customers, including project management, object-oriented analysis and design, software development process, software configuration and change management, software testing and other training courses. Prior to this, he worked at Bell Alcatel and participated in the analysis, design, development and project management of multiple Telecom switch software from the Belgian R & D center and the Shanghai R & D center. In terms of software engineering technology, Ningde army has many years of practical experience and has a profound understanding of Rational Software Engineering Technology. At present, it focuses on software project management, software process improvement technology, object-oriented visual modeling, Software Configuration Management and other technologies.