Building the best Finance function in the FTSE through expert PMO

Our customer is a British multinational defence, security, and aerospace company. It is one of the largest defence contractors in the world, with a global presence in various markets, including the U.S., U.K., and other countries. They are involved in the design, development, and manufacture of advanced defence systems, technologies, and solutions for air, land, sea, and cyber defence.

Our customer has complex finance systems and data landscape. This has developed in a piecemeal and siloed fashion over many years due to the diversity of its many global business operations and multiple systems owners.

This has resulted in:

• Complex and variable processes

• Unreliable data

• Inability to consolidate or drill into data for reporting purposes without manual intervention

• Time consuming to ‘close the books’

• A focus on historical data rather than future-focus

• Higher costs for the Finance function

• Excess manual effort

• Limited access to enterprise-wide insights

• Suboptimal use of Finance talent

The organisation set out to implement the key strategic architectural elements to enable them to be the best Finance function in the FTSE.

• Achieving Faster Cycle Times (i.e. reporting the numbers)

• Access to Enterprise-Wide Insights

• Elimination of Manual Effort

• Delivering the skills of the future to all Finance people

• Increasing Value for Money

• Achieving Real-Time Visibility of Risk and Control

Our customer set out to achieve this by implementing a technology solution based on SAP Central Finance (cFIN), SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) and SAP Group Reporting. The Programme also included the delivery of a corporate-wide data backbone and Master Data Management tools. Delivery partners and a System Integrator were employed to support them on this journey.

Project One was asked to deliver the Programme Management Office capability to support this complex change programme as part of its mobilisation and design phase.

Key objectives being:

• The implementation of the governance and controls necessary to support rapid and informed decision making

• Embedding consistent methodologies, tools, and templates to manage risks and ensure quality

• Develop a robust Programme Plan and resource management capability

• Develop and launch a Programme Change Management capability to ensure the consequences of change are understood and managed in a disciplined and methodical manner

• Design and implement a ‘Governance Backbone’ ensuring all necessary management and control forums are mobilised and informative status reporting is in place

• Develop a PMO operating model to support the compulsory corporate Lifecyle Management (LCM) stage gate reviews.

Our combined long-term relationship with this customer and its best practice knowledge in the delivery of Programme Office Management implementation successfully achieved these goals.

Outcomes achieved included:

• The definition and implementation of a complete and optimum governance model establishing a clear framework for decision-making, oversight, and accountability

• The implementation of a PMO operating model and structure, including clear roles and responsibilities, increasing the efficiency and continuity of the programme’s governance and controls

• Delivering strong, consistent governance, covering delivery plans, milestones, risks, issues, dependencies, assumptions costs and changes​. Achieved using a Jira based controls management solution.

• Delivery of a consistent, integrated and standardised status reporting solution supporting all levels of the governance structure (i.e. workstream, Programme, Steering Group)

• A clear Programme Roadmap, Optimised Plans and Resourcing Model

• An established early warning system to prevent a crisis ​

• The establishment of a single version of the truth ​

• A lasting capability that can be used by other parts of the organisation.

Project One value add:

• Experience in complex business transformation, including project management and project management office

• Specific expertise in project management office methods, tools and governance

• Benefits realised early – rapid mobilisation of key governance controls

• An approach that balances control and pragmatism, delivering outcomes that are both relevant and scaled correctly

• Solutions that draw on experience, tools and techniques that we know work in the customers environment  and align to delivery and governance regimes

• Access to Project One collateral and knowledge that contributes effectively to the programme.