A project management office (PMO) should constantly be looking to improve and become more efficient. Disrupting your PMO with cloud technology is an accessible way to work smarter and release time and resources to be used better.
Cloud technology has been around for a while and has a solid business case, but it’s not pervasive across all PMOs, yet. Concerns about security and data locations may be raised by your IT department, but with private cloud solutions available, you can maintain data control.
If you’re ready to take the leap and disrupt your PMO and project working by moving over to cloud-based solutions, we’re here to help. We’re going to explore:
- What cloud technology is
- How cloud technology fits into your PMO and projects
- Why you need to disrupt your PMO with cloud tech
What is cloud technology in a PMO context?
Cloud storage is ubiquitous – your mobile phone data is probably backed up to a cloud, as are your family holiday photos. While plenty of businesses will have moved to the cloud or a mix of on-site and cloud storage, some haven’t yet made the leap.
Cloud storage and tools keep your data stored off-site and accessible from anywhere in the world. The cloud your PMO uses can be public, meaning your data is stored on shared servers or private, where you don’t share your off-site storage space.
Along with storage, you’ll also tend to get access to collaboration tools where your team can access a document and work on it in real-time.
It is a mature market sector, so there are solid business solutions that you can bring in to disrupt the way your PMO works. Some of the well-known cloud providers you can explore include:
- Amazon
- Microsoft
How can I use cloud technology in my PMO?
One of the most salient benefits of adopting cloud technology is improved collaboration. You’re probably familiar with the issue of only one person being allowed to access a Microsoft Office file on your network at any one time.
With a cloud solution, multiple people can be in a document and make edits at any one time. Commenting and changes can be dealt with in real-time, and it can negate the need for multiple meetings and calls.
This should see the time it takes to complete project elements decrease quickly.
It will also facilitate better remote and hybrid working in your PMO. When your team members can be working from home or the office, you need to make sure everyone has secure access to the information they need without the risk of having hard copies on multiple hard drives.
You should also be considering using AI to disrupt your PMO, and having that data default to the cloud will mean quicker access to the data that is generated.
What are the benefits of using cloud technology to disrupt your PMO?
Disrupting your PMO should be a positive experience where you can recentre your focus away from admin and governance and towards leadership and strategy. Your team will have more time to analyse data when they don’t need to gather it, for example.
When you bring in cloud storage and collaboration, you should see the time your project workers spend on tasks decrease. Their work should become quicker and more collaborative.
As a smart PMO, you should already be looking to be hybrid or remote-first. This process will be eased by cloud tools, and your workers will be happier and more productive when they have a working setup that is good for them.
There is also a hardware benefit. You can decrease or lose completely the on-site hardware that has been used to store data. There will typically have lower maintenance costs, and as your PMO and projects scale, you will be able to increase costs in increments with a cloud provider.
Disrupting your PMO with cloud technology
If you’ve not already moved over to the cloud in your PMO, you should be seriously considering it. Disrupting your PMO with cloud technology will help make work more efficient, improve project outcomes with effective collaboration, and reduce costs without the need for server maintenance.
