Embed Project Managers into Business Units

Posted by on Jan 10, 2022 in PMChat Bloggers | Comments Off

Not only was it an honor to be included in the Project Management Institute’s magazine, PMNetwork, but it was a topic that I am very passionate about…moving Project Managers out from the dungeons of IT and getting them embedded into business units.  While there is tremendous value in the basic blocking and tackling tasks of project

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Effective Organizational Communication

Posted by on Dec 29, 2021 in PMChat Bloggers | Comments Off

More: Effective Organizational Communication

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Implementing A Demand Waterfall

Posted by on Dec 29, 2021 in PMChat Bloggers | Comments Off

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Vendor Selection and RFI, RFP, RFQ

Posted by on Dec 29, 2021 in PMChat Bloggers | Comments Off

  Throughout my career, I have been on both the bidding side of RF x exercises and also led such activity in the efforts to select a vendor or portfolio of vendors.  In the past year, I also took on an initiative as an Implementation Manager with an e-procurement software provider.  These efforts have provided me with extensive exposure to every aspect of the RFx (I will get into the X of RFx in just a moment) process.    To provide context, some initiatives that I have been a part of include… Submitting dozens of RFPs at a managed services provider for large, multinational IT services opportunities Leading an RFI-RFP exercise in the efforts to establish a core portfolio of delivery partners around the world; for one of the largest global PC manufacturer. Leading an RFI-RFP exercise to select a global telemarketing agency for one of the global leaders in open source software. Assisting half a dozen firms in defining & optimizing their procurement process, in efforts to implement a SaaS-based e-procurement platform. Needless to say, I have seen a lot of approaches and best practices in the vendor selection space.   What amazes me is the consistent lack of standards within companies, the absence of a selection methodology/criteria by which to measure RFx participants, and even a lack of knowledge on basic terminology.  I am talking about procurement directors, buyers of 20 years, etc. Enter the RF x cycle. In this post, we are going to cover some of the basic steps/stages of vendor selection process.  For more detailed information on common issues in this space and how to overcome them, download our brief whitepaper “Vendor Selection: Get Your House In Order First”.  So let’s cover the X… RF I or Request for Information – An RFI can be used by a firm when they are moving into a new space and either do not know a lot about the specific discipline/industry or have not worked with vendors in this space before.  Typically, the buyer will do some initial homework to identify potential vendors…competitive analysis, asking around, internet research, etc.  The buyer (company looking to hire the vendor) will create a document that explains who they are as a company, what they are looking to accomplish with the partnership, and what they understand to be some key requirements from the vendor.  This is a learning opportunity for the buyer to learn more about the industry/service they are looking to move into.  Participating vendors use this as an opportunity to share their capabilities, awards, etc.  At this point, specific volumes/quantities/dollars are not shared.  The buyer may send this RFI document to 12 potential vendors in hopes of finding 2…2 vendors may respond they are not interested and another 3 may not have the coverage or capabilities to make the cut for the next X

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Procurement Alphabet…RFI, RFP, RFQ

Posted by on Dec 29, 2021 in PMChat Bloggers | Comments Off

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