We are thrilled to continue being recognized as Microsoft’s Partner of the Year for Project & Portfolio Management (PPM). In 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and now 2023, OnePlan was awarded the Microsoft Global Partner of the Year for Project and Portfolio Management, demonstrating breakthrough customer impact and solution innovation. This Partner of the Year award recognizes our deep commitment to helping our customers embrace the future of PPM on the Microsoft platform. OnePlan is working globally with clients, addressing their needs for a Strategic Portfolio Management platform that brings Microsoft’s work management tools together in one Portfolio solution.
How OnePlan Aligns with Microsoft’s Project & Portfolio Management Vision
Microsoft launched Project for the Web in October of 2019, unveiling “Project Re-imagined.” At the same time, they announced that all future investments in project management tools would focus on maturing Project for the Web and creating a compelling offering using the Power Platform. This move brings Project Management into the core of Microsoft’s technology vision, enabling direct access in Microsoft Teams and providing organizations with a flexibility Project Online could never offer.
OnePlan worked closely with Microsoft Engineering and Product Marketing teams to create the Project Accelerator for Project for the Web. The Accelerator provides immediate value to address the needs of many organizations and building blocks to satisfy more detailed requirements. This flexibility and versatility is the real promise of Microsoft’s vision and the Power Platform.
Breaking Down the Accelerator
The Accelerator provides compelling functionality in the following areas:
Demand Management
The addition of demand management enables PMs to begin oversight at the intake of projects or requests. This enhances the available reporting and information, leading to better detail management and prioritization of projects, making it easier to move projects or tasks to the next lifecycle phase.
Program Management
Program management capabilities provide better oversight of various project collections grouped by defining characteristics. Properly managed programs are crucial to effective execution as overarching initiatives grow more complex, often comprising many interconnected projects tied into a single program.
Project Management
Building off of everything expected from Project for the Web, the Accelerator extends project and task management by adding the management of risks, issues, and change requests. It also supports more precise status reports, providing better governance and showcasing KPIs. This further enhances organizational flexibility in proceeding with projects and allows for timely adjustments.
Portfolio Insights and Risk Management
The portfolio insights provided by Power BI and customized report packs serve as a directional tool for project and big-picture management. Identifying issues quickly and accurately creates visibility around risks, allowing for better decision-making. Enhanced insights through Dataverse’s information repository remove purely reactive management from the equation and enable proactive strategic decisions.
Extending Microsoft PPM Vision with OnePlan
Gartner and other leading industry analysts see the Project Portfolio Management (PPM) industry evolving into Strategic Portfolio Management (SPM). SPM supports enterprise-wide strategy-to-execution alignment and adaptation by providing business leaders, enterprise portfolio management office (EPMO) leaders, and IT leaders with the necessary tools for clear strategic definition and execution mapping.
Align Strategy to Execution
Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) have multiple levels in an enterprise. Each business unit may have a unique version based on customer focus, and additional strategies may exist for value streams, functional groups, or geographical teams. OnePlan allows managing different levels and versions of OKRs, supporting various hierarchies and matrices within an organization.
Enterprise Architecture Management (EAM)
As organizations continually evolve, Enterprise Architecture Management helps align IT strategies with business goals, driving organizational transformations effectively.
Portfolio Prioritization and Analysis
OnePlan supports the creation of portfolios with owners, budgets, objectives, and benefit targets. Portfolio Analysis can be done through stack ranking based on prioritization scoring, and scenarios can consider budget and resource constraints. It includes boards for program increment planning and prioritization, supporting Lean Portfolio Management and Agile planning methodologies.
Resource and Financial Management
OnePlan includes rich capacity-based resource planning for understanding resource commitments across projects and tracking resource actuals and changing forecasts. The Financial Plan module enables capturing time-phased financial information against a cost breakdown structure, including budgets, forecasts, actuals, and benefits. Integrations with other systems provide bi-directional information exchange.
OnePlan’s Sofia GPT AI-Powered Assistant
Sofia GPT is a state-of-the-art AI assistant developed by OnePlan to assist individuals and businesses in day-to-day tasks. Powered by advanced AI algorithms, Sofia is capable of understanding natural language and responding in real time, making it an invaluable asset for streamlining work processes and improving productivity.
Sofia GPT can augment data entry, automate information retrieval, enhance communication automation, predict resource estimation, identify underperforming investments, optimize budgets and plans, and much more, providing substantial value for various industries, departments, and roles.
Integration with Modern Work Tools
The OnePlan Adaptive PPM solution supports using Project for the Web, Project Professional, Planner, SharePoint lists, Azure DevOps, JIRA, and more, providing seamless access to the preferred work management tools of an organization.
Scaled Agile & Roadmapping Support
OnePlan includes features for creating sprints, program increments, and epics while enabling resource allocation based on sprints or cross-functional teams. The solution is Scaled Agile Framework certified, supporting Agile and hybrid methodologies within the enterprise.
My Work and Time Tracking
The OnePlan solution consolidates tasks and other items (issues and risks) into a single view for easy status updates. It includes a timesheet module to capture actuals across various work management tools, as well as other administrative tasks and non-project time.
Ready to Help You Transition
Microsoft is encouraging Project Server and Project Online customers to transition to their new vision for PPM. OnePlan has been a leader in developing a future for Project Online, offering seamless integration to Microsoft’s work management tools for Waterfall and Agile, and supporting the continued use of existing SharePoint sites for a smoother transition.
Learn More With These Webinars
Extending Project for the web into a Robust Strategic Portfolio Management Solution with OnePlan
