Microsoft - Improving Portfolio Management to Deliver Tangible Results To The Bottom Line

OPM Experts LLC partnered with Microsoft Customer Service and Support (CSS) to revolutionize their global portfolio management. By meticulously assessing and optimizing Microsoft's project selection and management processes, OPM Experts delivered a tailored solution that enhanced decision-making, aligned with strategic business goals, and streamlined operations across multiple regions. This strategic overhaul empowered Microsoft CSS to launch a unified division-wide strategy, significantly improving their project management efficiency and setting a new standard for excellence in global technology service provision.

Choosing the right projects impacts your bottom line.

Challenge

Microsoft Customer Service and Support (CSS) is a global organization focused on helping customers and partners maximize the use of their technology investments. Serving millions of customers around the globe, in more than 40 languages and 75 locations, the organization supports all customer segments from consumer, developer, and IT Pros to partners and the enterprise. This global organization has international offices with distributed management to ensure the best customer experience for all customers. There are competing needs for regional planning and strategic activities, as well as for centralized and coordinated planning, which must also be closely coordinated with the ongoing product release cycle of the Microsoft organization. When they engaged OPM Experts, they had overcome many hurdles to implement global change in their decision making and portfolio management processes but sought to take their capabilities to the next level.

Solution

OPM Experts performed an assessment of the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to organizational activities to achieve the aims of the organization through projects. We evaluated process ownership, the identification and selection of portfolio components, categorization of components, portfolio reviews and communications, the organization's ability to monitor business strategy changes, portfolio balancing, portfolio risk management, resource allocation, management systems, sponsorship, competency management, training, success criteria, metrics, and knowledge management, among other things. We produced a comprehensive report with recommendations. 

Results

This large international division at Microsoft successfully launched a new divisionwide strategy for managing their strategic projects across the division. Our analysis was an input to that journey, distinguishing actionable opportunities to improve portfolio management in ways that leveraged their initial solution and industry standards.