May 2009 EMPOWERING PROJECT DRIVEN BUSINESSES Issue 7 Dear Readers, POINT OF VIEW n many instances, I usually get asked if it is true that project Imanagement is only applicable PROJECT MANAGEMENT to construction, oil and gas, IT and other mega projects. My answer is always “no”, because frankly, proj- PROCESSES FOR PUBLICLY ect management is no more than common sense being applied in a TRADED COMPANIES formal and rational way. Human beings have been doing projects as (Part 1 of 2) early as when they rst go to school ® (if not earlier). Projects could vary Bassam Samman, PMP , PSP, EVP | CEO & Founder from having a birthday party, taking a vacation, learning a new language, cooking a meal, having friends over for a movie and many others. Regretfully, the majority of these projects and many other mega projects are being managed by project managers who did not get for- mal project management training thus making them what is known as “accidental project managers”. These are project managers who have been given the responsibility to manage project investments and teams but do not have formal knowledge of what it takes to man- age a project successfully. Of course many might argue and say that many of these who have been called “accidental project managers” have successfully delivered some of the most important projects of the world compared to those who have become formally certied project managers, and my response is, that is true. But is it not also true that this is the case with many common sense activities such as playing an instrument, learning a language, swimming and riding a bicycle, among many others? or organizations that their what they promise. The importance of formal project management training is that we business be project driven, Project management looks can ensure that project managers and team players have common un- Fapplying professional proj- into every project in terms of derstanding of project management terminologies and the particulars ect management practices would ve processes. The rst process of this science. This will help project managers to better manage their enable them to proactively bal- is known as the project initiation projects and increase their chances of success. ance the business requirements where its objective is to dene To help these organizations and individuals whose growth and for delivering a project and at the project and explain why it is success depends on delivering successful projects, CMCS will start the same time the expectations of needed. This requires studying offering new training programs that are designed to offer project stakeholders. Project management the business case that identies managers the exibility to choose the topics that they are interested provides the tools and techniques the need for the project as well in instead of having a single program that covers all. that addresses the project triple as the project feasibility study re- We at CMCS will continue to listen to what the market needs and constraints namely time, cost and port. This will enable the organi- respond positively to those needs. scope. zation to clearly state the project Project management process- objectives, scope, needs dates, Keep tuned to our monthly newsletter. es aim to manage the life cycle of budget, risks, assumptions and a project which details the phases constraints. It will also enable Best regards, that a project will go through to them to identify what will make Bassam Samman convert the needs and ideas that this project a success and how were the reason for creating a to measure this success. These project into tangible products and ndings will be documented in IN THIS ISSUE services. These processes will also a report known as the project Message from CEO ...... 1 address how to identify, analyze charter. When this charter is ap- Primavera Success Story ...... 2 and manage the dynamic stake- proved by senior management, it Project Management Professional Certication...... 4 holder needs. Should these pro- will become a formal document Enterprise Project Portfolio Management ...... 5 cesses get implemented properly that will authorize the project Professional’s Corner ...... 6 by experienced, skilled and quali- manager to proceed with the Service Review ...... 7 ed project team members, then project. CMCS News ...... 8 there will be a greater chance that The second group of pro- Featured Employee ...... 10 projects will be delivered on time, cesses is known as the planning CMCS Wins ...... 11 within budget and in accordance processes. The objective of these CMCS Course News ...... 12 to the set scope of work. Achiev- processes is to delineate the road Tech Talk ...... 14 ing these objectives will enable map that the project life cycle CMCS Events ...... 14 business-driven organizations to must go through to produce the Q&A ...... 15 meet their stakeholder expecta- deliverables that the project has Course Calendar ...... 16 tions and increase condence on Continued on page 3>> ABOUT CMCS SUCCESS STORY: PARSONS AND PRIMAVERA: INTEGRATION OF Our Vision Empowering project driven businesses to enable TECHNOLOGY AND PROCESSES them to get rid of failed project investments FOR COMPETITIVE EDGE Our Mission To help organizations deliver a complete solution to propose, prioritize and select strategic project ecognizing the opportunity for seam- investments and then to plan, manage and control less integration and standardization their entire portfolio through to its successful R of both technology and business pro- completion. Our solutions are custom tailored to cesses, Parsons pulled all programs together ® each organization’s needs. They include developing with Primavera software. policies that are in line with internationally recognized standards and enabling the organization to deploy Optimizing Project Management them by developing their resources’ skills to enable Processes them to take ownership of the solution and providing For most engineering and construction state-of-the-art IT tools to support the solution companies, coordination is not an easy task. operation. This was the case for Parsons Corporation. The organization is a full-service engineering, proj- Products That We Represent ect management, and construction management company that is known for its ability to create innovative solutions and manage complex proj- ects. The company employs 9,500 engineers, designers, scientists, technicians, and support personnel in more than 80 countries. At any giv- en time, the internationally recognized company source, you know that all of the numbers are has more than 2,500 clients and 8,000 projects correct and that everyone has the same infor- worldwide. The largest of the ve operating mation, from the project engineer to the proj- business units—the Parsons Infrastructure & ect manager up through the corporation to Technology Group (I&T)—oversees 4,000 the President of Parsons I&T and the CEO of the organization’s projects while managing of Parsons, Inc.” commented Stultz. 5,000 employees and approximately 1,000 sub- “We believe integration is where project contracted workers. control is headed, and where it has to be,” Professional Education Bodies At any given time, Parsons I&T works Stultz added. “We view this philosophy as a That We Are Certied At on approximately 1,000 projects simultane- way to integrate business processes, not just ously. The group also supplies project con- software solutions. By enforcing an overall trol support to other Parsons companies. The program control cycle, projects are unlikely group wanted to consolidate its projects into to be over budget and/or experience delays, APPROVED EDUCATION PROVIDER programs for use in a multi-user environ- which leads to substantial savings in overall ment where consistent access to project data revenue. is needed to maintain control of the projects We are currently in the process of inte- and the 6,000-member team. The business grating Primavera with human resources and unit was able to accomplish its objectives by accounting systems, as well as our analyti- integrating Primavera with all of its disparate cal tools and cost engines. This strategy has software systems. proved to be more cost effective in terms of time and money than developing our own in- Parsons’ Philosophy house system.” of Integration “It gives us an advantage over our com- Parsons I&T realized that one application petitors when we utilize more advanced ap- does not t all projects–small projects require plications, integrate them to provide progres- Industries That We Serve different project controls systems than large sive operations, and employ talented people Engineering and Construction ones. However, the company wanted integra- to operate those systems,” said Stultz. Oil, Gas and Petrochemical tion between its tools regardless of the project Energy and Utility mix. The Desire for Flexible Data Exchange Government Vernon Stultz, the manager of cost and One of the compelling reasons that led to IT and Telecommunication scheduling at Parsons I&T, explained, “Our the upgrade to the most recent technology was Financial Services philosophy on integration is to create a com- that the 32-byte application could accommo- Media plementary system of software applications date Parsons’ advanced functionality requests. Education that enables project managers to select the Parsons needed consistency and common re- Health Care most appropriate solutions and have the tools source bases across its projects—such as stan- Retail and Marketing integrate with one other. We like to use each dardized resource and activity-coding struc- software product at our discretion and ensure tures—to achieve its overall objectives. Our Ofces the applications seamlessly integrate.” “We have an ambitious desire to inte- UAE, Qatar, Oman, Jordan, Lebanon, To control every project effectively, the grate project management, human resources, Saudi Arabia (2009), Kuwait (2009), business unit’s next step was to integrate accounting software, and any in-house cre- Bahrain (2009) and Egypt (2009) the variety of databases and software solu- ated systems,” explained Stultz. “This solu- tions needed to bring data from every project tion will also integrate with Timberline® ac- Our Corporate Ofce together into one place for analysis. Using counting software on the estimating side and Star Holding Building, Suite 101, Primavera, this information is automatically PWORKS (a global project control system) Dubai Internet City, Dubai, UAE replicated into one report without having to to automatically bring nancial data into the OFC: (+9714) 365-4850 | FAX: (+9714) 369-7518 manually input the information, eliminating system.” Furthermore, Parsons is excited Email: [email protected] | WEB: www.CMCS.ae data-entry errors. that Primavera’s advanced project plan tem- “When we pull information from one plate capabilities will enable the company to 2 PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROCESSES FOR PUBLICLY TRADED COMPANIES Continued from page 1>> promised. This requires having a full under- standing of what the project scope includes and our clients,” noted Stultz. excludes. Decomposing the project scope using PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS: “We have decreased the time it takes to cre- the work breakdown structure technique will • 50% decrease in schedule creation time ate design schedules by 50 percent, from six to translate the project scope into well dened work • Immediate ROI three weeks. The main benets are the ability to packages. These work packages can be further • Integration of accounting, HR, and optimize our processes, maintain project consis- detailed into specic activities that will show the Primavera software tency, and repeat past project successes.” sequence of actions that must be done to execute • 6,000 team members and 4,000 each one of them. These activities will be pre- projects managed in system The Primavera Difference sented in what is known as the project schedule. Project managers like using Primavera Resources including manpower, material, capture best practices and reuse the because accessing data is very easy due to its equipment and others required for accomplish- most successful projects. advanced collaboration technology. ing each activity will be estimated. This will en- “We have ve prime contractors that we able the project team to estimate the cost of those Making Project Management Easier use on a consistent basis, and we are now resources as well as other expenses needed to ac- While improving overall collaboration, able to easily merge their project informa- complish the project schedule activities. This in- the business unit is beginning to utilize Pri- tion into one system,” commented Stultz. formation will be used to produce two important mavera’s methodology management func- “We can view the entire project as well as documents for the project known as the resource tionality. Methodology management helps analyze and report their individual informa- plan and nancial plan. project managers author and store method- tion in real time over the internet.” The project quality plan will detail the project ologies, or project plan templates, in a cen- As technology evolved at Parsons I&T, quality standards and the project communication tral location and allows those methodologies the company has maintained a strong work- plan will be prepared during the planning process. to be shared as a project standard through- ing relationship with Primavera. The project communication plan details the differ- out the group. “Primavera was the rst PC-based prod- ent forms of communication that will take place The methodology function helps project uct with complex schedule analysis function- during the project duration. The plan details the managers to create custom project plans by ality in the market, and it was a giant step requirements of the different project stakeholders selecting, combining, and tailoring a proj- forward,” said Stultz. “Parsons has imple- in terms of what information they need to receive. ect, rather than creating a new plan for each mented Primavera on many projects ranging The planning process will identify the project new project. As a result, methodologies are from research studies to large design-build management team and their responsibilities for de- improved and rened by continuously up- projects during our 19-year relationship.” livering the project. It will identify the authorities dating the methodology library across the As state-of-the-art systems have ad- and responsibilities of each team member to ensure whole unit. Parsons I&T realized immediate vanced, Parsons I&T has kept up with the that there is accountability for performed work. returns after implementing Primavera. “Af- technology. For example, when Parsons Of course, since planning by denition is based on ter two months of evaluating our portfolio I&T was bidding on the $7.4 billion Ever- many assumptions that only time might prove their on a national, multi-year federal govern- glades Project in Jacksonville, Florida, the validity, risk planning is another process that is per- ment program to dene uncoordinated and Jacksonville Corps of Engineers and South formed during the planning. This process will aim disconnected efforts and streamlining the Florida Water Management District man- to identify, assess and select risk treatment actions. entire design process,” Stultz explained, “we dated the use of Primavera software. Risk treatment actions include transferring noticed that our time and effort was repaid “This project has 125 programs sched- some risks to third parties. Thus, this requires by the third time this module was used.” uled during its 15-year lifespan. The leading- identifying the process that will be followed in The long-term benet of using Primave- edge technology of Primavera gives us the procuring goods and services from those parties. ra’s methodology management functionality is ability to handle a project of this scale.” A procurement plan will detail the scope of work the ability to construct templates using generic “Weve remained with Primavera because its to be procured and the method to be followed in logic that outlines the different types of sched- solutions are unmatched and the company pro- procuring the same. ules. This enables schedulers to spend more vides us with outstanding service,” concluded To conclude the planning processes, a single time focusing on resources than on developing Stultz. “It gives us a strategic advantage to say document will be produced known as the project schedules. “With standardization of resource that we use Primavera software, because our management plan wherein the outputs of the dif- and activity codes, it is easier to move resourc- clients trust the Primavera name. It’s a tangible ferent processes will be coordinated, integrated es between projects, identify commonalities, benet to us and to our clients. Equally impor- and balanced. Approval of this document by se- and create schedules, translating into revenue tant is that Primavera listens to their customers.” nior management will permit the implementation for Parsons and increased project delivery for Source: www.primavera.com of the project.
3 PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION ADDRESSING COMPLEXITY OF ARAB PROJECT SECTOR Ed Shehab, PMP ® , CBAP, CSSGB | Professional Services Manager
s the number of projects in by PMI. They must also demon- the Middle East, and espe- strate an ongoing professional Acially in the Gulf region, commitment to the eld of project swells up year after year and as management by satisfying PMI’s more money is invested into the Continued Certication Require- area, many of today’s engineers ments program. are being placed in very stressful A starting point in joining the and challenging roles to manage ranks of successful PMPs world- projects of seismic proportions. wide is to take an exam prepara- Most of these professionals are tion course, now offered through- typically engineers from varied out the globe. CMCS, with disciplines such as civil, mechani- headquarters in Dubai and ofces cal and IT who have no previous throughout the Middle East and or formal project management Gulf region, offers this course. training. This course will go over all the knowledge areas and processes Misconception of PMI’s PMBOK, and also of- The perception is that highly-skilled fer practice quizzes and exams in engineers should be able to easily order to increase your condence manage a project in their respective level in taking the exam. eld. This is a huge and dangerous In addition, CMCS provides misconception, and miscalculations professional association whose “ strategies that you can apply to about an engineer’s abilities could “primary goal is to advance the Formal PMP increase the chances of passing have detrimental and costly conse- practice, science and profession of the PMP exam on the rst try. quences. The project management project management throughout training ensures CMCS is an accredited PMI Reg- world refers to this scenario as the the world in a conscientious and istered Education Provider, and “halo effect”. Just because an engi- proactive manner so that organi- smooth progression all PMP Exam prep courses are neer is technically capable does not zations everywhere will embrace, from concept delivered by certied PMPs with automatically mean that he or she value and utilize project manage- extensive backgrounds and ex- is capable of managing projects as ment, and then attribute their suc- to delivery ” perience in project, program and well. Conversely, just because an cesses to it”. http://www.pmi.org/ portfolio management. CMCS engineer is not technically capable AboutUs/Pages/FactSheet.aspx require a sharp project manager offers the training in both English does not mean that the person is PMI was founded in 1969 by who is well versed in how to and Arabic to accommodate all incapable of efciently managing working project managers. It cur- handle developments from initia- delegate needs. Over the last year projects. rently comprises 400,000 mem- tion all the way to closing a deal alone, CMCS trained several hun- bers and credential holders, with with stakeholders effectively; in dred delegates from many indus- What it takes a 10-15 percent annual member- essence a person who can oversee tries including IT, government, Project management is a disci- ship growth. Among its associ- and ensure successful project de- nance and construction. CMCS pline on its own and involves quite ates, about 250,000 are certied livery. Today’s projects are getting has successfully produced certi- a good deal of training and prac- as Project Management Profes- more complicated and integrated, ed PMPs who are now enjoying tice to develop. There are far too sionals (PMP) and hold globally and stakeholders are increasingly higher status and salaries within many components to managing recognized PMP credentials. Of demanding prompt delivery while their organizations. projects beyond knowing the tech- the total number of PMPs world- creeping in as much additional nical aspects of the eld in which wide, 10 percent come from Eu- scope as they can from contractors Where to Go the project operates. As a matter rope, the Middle East and Africa. and developers. To nd out more about how to of fact, technical subject expertise The gure is steadily growing as PMP certication allows progress your project management hardly plays any role in the suc- more and more organizations seek practitioners to speak with one career, you may contact CMCS and cess of project delivery. Based on to standardize and globalize their common language, regardless of an experienced consultant will walk a survey done in 2001 by KPMG: project management procedures. industry or geography or whether you through the steps to certica- “Of 256 companies, only 14 As a matter of fact, “a shortage they manage projects, programs tion. CMCS offers public courses percent of all failures can be chalked of 6 million skilled project profes- or portfolios. This commonal- where everyone can register and up to a company’s inability to cope sionals is expected by 2013. Add ity steers organizations toward attend, as well as in-house sessions with technology. The other 86 per- to that the fact that, of the 20 mil- achieving repeatable, predictable for organizations that have many cent owe to some common man- lion people participating in proj- results – a critical goal when con- staff members looking to grow their agement woes: improperly dened ects worldwide, just one million sidering that USD 12 trillion is be- knowledge or get certied. CMCS objectives (17 percent), unfamiliar [or 5 percent] have professionally ing invested in infrastructure and can also design career development scope (17 percent), lack of effective recognized formal training on how capital projects worldwide over plans for organizations and help set communication (20 percent) and to best execute those projects. One the next 12 months. up their Project Management Of- poor project management skills (32 thing becomes clear: The demand ce (PMO) and write up project percent)”. for skilled project managers is at Certication management procedures and meth- http://www.billingworld.com/articles/ a critically urgent level.” http:// Your next question may be “How odologies. archives/Project-Failures-Spur-Man- ww w.pm i.or g/Ab ou tU s/Pa ges/ do I attain the PMP certication?” The project sector is evolving agement-Back-to.html About-PMI.aspx You will need to pass an exam and requiring more efcient ap- This survey speaks volumes in based on PMI’s Project Manage- proaches that sustain viability and favor of developing a proper proj- Why PMP? ment Body of Knowledge (PM- ensure success. PMP certication ect management culture within ev- You may ask: “Why PMP? BOK Guide). To qualify for the provides the tools and techniques ery organization seeking to mini- Why can’t we continue doing PMP exam, candidates must rst to enable managers to steer their mize failure. Here is where PMI what we are doing now?” The satisfy all educational and experi- projects skilfully and efciently, comes in; PMI is a not-for-prot answer is current developments ence requirements as established from concept to delivery. 4 ENTERPRISE PROJECT PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT IN THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY (Part 2) Bassam Samman, PMP ® , PSP, EVP | CEO and Founder
he Project Management types of projects and programs Institute (PMI®) standards from plant expansion to mainte- Tfor project portfolio man- nance work. This also applies to agement identify a number of pro- project management contractors, cesses that need to be implement- EPCs, general contractors and en- ed. These processes are grouped gineers who work for those orga- into two phases: Aligning, and nizations. This means that the data Monitoring and Controlling (See that project portfolio management Figure 1). Under Aligning, there requires for generating the dash- are processes for project identi- board content is readily available cation, categorization, evaluation, in a format that does not require selection, prioritization, portfolio recreation. The second reason is balancing and authorization. The the exibility in designing multiple second phase, which becomes ac- dashboards with different graphi- tive when a project is sanctioned, cal and tabular portfolio analysis contains portfolio reporting and reports depending on the unique review, and strategic change. needs of the user. And all of this is The alignment phase allows a fully web-enabled solution that executives within organizations to provides access anywhere at any take an active role in identifying all The Benets of PPM These dashboards provide execu- time for those who have the right possible project investments that It is imperative that when tives with “a single version of the access rights—whether in the an organization needs to take to project execution commences, ex- truth” about the status of their boardroom or in the eld. achieve its strategic goals. These ecutives focus on two important project investments by consolidat- projects are then categorized ac- aspects: the performance of their ing project information in differ- Conclusion cording to which strategic objec- portfolios and the ability to visualize ent forms and in a real time en- As the pressure to successfully tive it fullls, the business unit it the impact of any strategic changes vironment. With project portfolio plan, select and execute projects belongs to, risk levels, etc. (See to their portfolio. This cannot be management applications such as grows, leaders with a strategic Figure 2 for an example of categories). left to just project teams or depart- Primavera PPM Solutions, execu- portfolio will be best positioned This categorization provides ments for the simple reason they tives as well as project leaders can to succeed. Project portfolio man- the information needed for evalu- most likely will not have an enter- collect and analyze the necessary agement solutions, such as Prima- ating investments and rating them, prise view. Monitoring and con- information to proactively manage vera solutions from Oracle, enable which would lead to determining trolling the portfolio performance project portfolios. In the oil and executives and project leaders what projects the organization requires adopting performance gas industry, Primavera solutions alike to successfully identify the will select. Priorities need to be management systems that can ag- have broad adoption for a number best strategies and opportunities assigned based upon project in- gregate projects’ schedule and cost of reasons. First the majority of for existing and future projects. terdependencies (some projects performance results. For example, oil and gas organizations globally With this understanding, oil and could depend on other projects), the earned value process provides (and in the region) have standard- gas leaders in the GCC countries constraints on funding, resource a number of performance indicators ized on Primavera’s PPM solu- can thrive during challenging eco- availability and other factors. A that can indicate whether a portfolio tions for managing their different nomic times. key challenge that faces organiza- of projects is on schedule and/or on tions before selecting the nal list budget. Executives have the ability Strategic Objective Increase Revenue, Improve Customer of approved capital projects is to to aggregate key milestone dates in Service, Reduce Cost, Improve ensure that project portfolios have order to have a clear picture of their Productivity, etc. been balanced for risk exposure, projects and portfolios. Business Unit Enterprise, HL&IS, BFS, etc. return on investment, and line of The growing interest in project Geography By Region or Country, etc. business goals, among others. Ap- portfolio management has created Functional Area Network, Telecom, Customer Service, Client plied against these criteria a nal great interest in what is known as Contact list of projects will be created. Portfolio Analysis Dashboards. Project Type New Development Enhancement, Infrastructure, Process Improvement, Monitoring & Package Implementation, Production Support Aligning Business Process Attract Customer, Manage Customer Controlling Relations, Plan Capacity, Develop and Test Product, Launch Product Identication Portfolio Reporting Budgetary Unit Human Resources, Accounting, Operations, & Review Development, Disabled Budgetary, Budgetary Unit 1, Budgetary Unit Categorization 2, etc. Monitoring & Controlling Processes Application Type CRM & CFA, Business Intelligence, Evaluation Planning Processes E-business, Financials, Help Desk, Procurement Supply Chain, Project Initiating Closing Management, Business Continuity, etc. Selection Processes Processes Contribution to Strategy For each strategic imperative: Direct, Indirect or Absent Prioritization Executing Processes Contractor Performance* 1 Contractor Performed Poorly, 2 Contractor Portfolio Mostly Performed Adequately, Balancing 3 Contractor Performed Adequately and 4 Strategic Contractor Performed Well. Authorization Change *This can be further broken down to show Contractor’s Performance as it relates to Schedule, Submittal, Correspondence, Safety, Quality, Change Orders/Claims, others Figure 1: PMI and PMBOK 3rd Edition Standard Processes Figure 2: Possible Project Categories 5 PROFESSIONAL’S CORNER: MEASURING ENGINEERING DESIGN TO PROPERLY CONTROL EARLY STAGES OF YOUR PROJECT Ignacio Manzanera | Projects Director - MZ & Partners Architects & Engineers Consultancy
ne of the most impor- ing process and effectively moni- tant functions of project tor the accomplishment of the Ocontrols is to accurately above-mentioned milestones, a evaluate the physical progress of drawing control log should be engineering design. maintained to record the accom- Physical progress is the primary plishment of each milestone and factor in: identify the location of each pro- • Determining progress payments cessed drawing. due to the consultant; • Evaluating the impact of chang- Progress by Discipline es, interferences and delays; Now that the estimated number of • Measuring the consultant’s con- drawings for each engineering dis- formance to his plan; and cipline has been established and • Forecasting completion, nal the drawing milestones have been costs and turnover dates. dened and assigned a weighted The following guidelines offer value from Table 1, the physical an objective method of determining progress for each discipline can be physical progress for each phase of evaluated. the engineering design and conse- For example, assume the work quently a form to evaluate interim of typical drawing milestones and Final draft (90%) All engi- status shown in Table 2 for the payments to consultants. their related values to the complet- neering and owner comments 50 piping drawings referenced in Physical progress for the engi- ed drawing. have been incorporated and draw- Table 1. neering phase of a project consists of Drawing Milestones Start ing and specication have been is- three levels of indenture as follows: draft (20%) Layout and design sued to owner for approval. Total Engineering Progress • Progress by drawing completed and actual line work Approval with holds (95%) As each drawing milestone repre- • Progress by discipline visible. Rough draft of specica- Drawing and specication have sents a portion of the total draw- • Total engineering progress tion is completed ready for draft been approved by owner and are ing, so does each engineering dis- typing. ready to be issued for construc- cipline represent a portion of the Estimate Draft complete (65%) Draw- tion with the exception that some total engineering effort. Prior to implementing a system for ing has been completed by draft- portion(s) of the drawing has Because certain disciplines progress evaluation, an estimate ing, checked by chief draftsman, “holds” waiting for nal resolu- may require more man-hours per must be developed for both man- and issued to engineering for tion. drawing than others, depending hours and quantities of drawings checking. Specication is ready Final owner Approval (100%) on the nature and complexity of for each engineering discipline. For for checking. Drawing and specication have the project, the weighted value of these guidelines we will assume the Ofce check (80%) Engineer- been approved by the owner and each discipline is determined by estimate shown in Table 1. ing has reviewed the drawing and they are ready to be issued as ap- the engineering man-hours bud- pertinent corrections have been proved for construction with no geted for the project Progress Evaluation incorporated by draftsmen and “holds.” To calculate total engineer- Actual physical progress in these engineers. Users should notice that these ing physical progress, the per- guidelines is measured against the Owner review (85%) Draw- milestones can be modied at will centage of drawing completion drawings only, but it can easily be ing and specication have been re- to t different projects and differ- for each discipline, would be modied to include design speci- viewed by the owner and returned ent levels of detail. multiplied by that discipline’s cations development. with comments. In order to control the draw- weighted value. The progress measurement for The product of this calculation each engineering discipline and Table 1 would be the discipline’s contribu- for the total engineering effort is DISCIPLINE ESTIMATED BUDGETED DISCIPLINE tion to total engineering progress. always a function of the progress DRAWINGS MANHOURS WEIGHTED (%) For example: against each individual drawing. Civil 20 1,250 8.3 Piping discipline was calculated In order to objectively determine Architectural 35 2,500 16.7 to be 65.5% completed (Table 2). the physical progress against each Structural 20 1,250 8.3 Let us assume the percentages of drawing, a series of milestones Mechanical 20 1,500 10.0 completion for the remaining dis- should be established to give Piping 50 4,000 26.7 ciplines in similar fashion and then credit for incremental work ac- Electrical 40 3,000 20.0 total engineering physical prog- Instruments complished. 15 1,500 10.0 ress can be calculated as shown on Total Engineering 200 15,000 100 The following is an example Table 3. Table 3 Table 2 DISCIPLINE PERCENT WEIGHTED PROJECT MILESTONE DRAWS IN PIPE MILESTONE DISCIPLINE % COMPLETE VALUE CONTRIBUTION MILESTONE DRAWINGS VALUE COMPLETE Civil 90 8.3 7.5 Start Draft 10 50 20 4.0 Architectural 70 16.7 11.7 Draft Complete 5 50 65 6.5 Structural 80 8.3 6.6 Ofce Check 5 50 80 8.0 Mechanical 75 10.0 7.5 Owner Review 5 50 85 8.5 Piping 65.5 26.7 17.4 Final Draft 5 50 90 9.0 APPR.W/H 5 50 95 9.5 Electrical 60 20.0 12.0 Final Approval 10 50 100 20.0 Instruments 50 10 5.0 Piping Progress 65.5 Engr. Progress 67.7 6 SERVICE REVIEW: IT PROJECT MANAGEMENT Ed Shehab, PMP ® , CBAP, CSSGB | Professional Services Managert
t the heart of every orga- pack. Any organization that is se- by that is they should be trained nization, there is an IT de- rious about growth and expansion as project managers. It is the job A partment that constantly must consider also how their IT of the project manager to com- works to support the company’s can help support that growth. municate to both upper level and business needs. The IT depart- lower level management. If we ment is the technical engine that Stats about IT projects and are too technical, we tend to talk solves all technical complexities why they fail the lower level dialect. We also and is always expected to deliver So, with all these IT projects need to tone the skills of our en- miracle solutions to every problem initiated, how many actually suc- gineers who are being tasked with that the organization faces. These ceed and make it safely to the nish project management so they can solutions are typically packaged line? Well, the results are not im- deliver on time and within budget. in the form of small projects that pressive. Based on a study done by For that, CMCS offers a 3-day IT IT takes upon itself to plan and the Standish Group in 2004, 15% Project Management course, or execute, while the rest of the orga- of all IT projects failed, 51% were the engineers can simply attend nization eagerly awaits the results challenged (over time and/or over the PMP prep course and shoot they are supposed to deliver. budget), and only 34% succeeded. for certication as Project Man- Additionally, “The 2004 agement Professionals (PMP). Types of IT projects CHAOS report, entitled This will assure better chances at What types of projects is IT “CHAOS Chronicles,” found total successful project delivery. usually involved in? Well, that de- US project waste to be $55 billion, Second, we need to develop pends on what industry we are in. made up of $38 billion in lost good business cases when propos- Banks and nancial institutions dollar value and $17 billion in cost ing our IT projects. Senior manage- are on board when it comes to IT. overruns. Total project spending focus more on sales and revenue ment needs to see the value in num- Many banks in the GCC have un- was found to be $255 billion in the generation. Since most IT proj- bers before they can get on board. dertaken extensive projects to ad- 2004 report.” ects can be related to infrastruc- For that, an upcoming training at vance their online services, from These are numbers that prob- ture needs, there is usually no im- CMCS in “Developing a Good developing an account manage- ably have not changed much since mediate return on investment that Business Case” will do. Alternately, ment portal where their clients can then. IT projects are still a huge management can see. As such, another course CMCS will soon be perform e-banking, to organizing part of every organization’s in- they tend to think that IT projects offering is the “Certied Business their websites so that customers vestments. are unnecessary and a waste of Analysis Professional” certication can nd the nancial information company resources and money. course. This course will demon- they need with ease. Some banks How different are IT projects strate how project managers can are also working hard to develop from other projects? How can we address those properly obtain the client’s require- smart ATMs and credit cards with In reality, all projects are proj- challenges? ments, whether it is an internal or built-in microchips that allow their ects, whether they are an IT project The best way to address the external client. credit cards to stand out amongst or in another eld. The only differ- challenges of our culture towards Last, but not least, we need the rest. But banks are not the ence is that IT projects deal with a IT projects is to build the perfect to have the proper tools to man- only IT innovators. We are now lot more unknowns sometimes. Un- business case and back it up with age our projects. We are, after all, seeing IT being incorporated into like construction, where every step proven success in delivering IT IT professionals, and what good construction and buildings. With has been repeated on several previ- projects. This will sway top man- are we if we have no tools? That the advance of technology, there ous projects many times before, IT agement in our favor. would be unheard of. For that, is now a need to plan for Internet, projects tend to deal with new tech- Senior managers speak in dol- there are several good project telephone, satellite television, se- nology, new interfaces, upgraded lars, and we speak in milestones, management softwares out there. curity and more when we build. platforms and an ever-demanding technical accomplishments and CMCS recommends Primavera More and more developers are customer base that wants the latest deliverables. There is a huge Project Manager due to its ex- building technology-smart prop- and greatest. As a matter of fact, a gap in between that needs to be cellent compatibility with PMI’s erties. What about roads and lot of IT projects are of an extreme bridged. That bridge is commonly processes and its superb project smart street lights? How about nature, where the next phase is only referred to as “aligning IT with performance reporting features. universities and schools? How dened after the rst phase has the business goals”. How do we Additionally, Primavera P6 has about e-services that are being been completed. do that? I have the following rec- a project prioritization tool built provided on government web- There is also the culture in ommendations: within the web dashboard mod- sites? All of these industries are which IT projects must run. Busi- First and foremost, we need ule that can be key in making our taking up IT projects in order to ness managers typically do not our project managers to be true business case and project selection stand out amongst the rest of the value IT and IT projects. They project managers. What I mean decisions.
7 CMCS NEWS CMCS AND HARD DOLLAR PARTNER WITH C.A.T. GROUP, LEBANON CMCS and Hard Dollar signed tools and techniques. contract agreements with C.A.T. A signing ceremony took place Group for providing Hard Dollar with the participation of CMCS Cost Estimation, Control and Man- CEO and Founder Bassam Sam- agement, in addition to Primavera man, Hard Dollar CEO Doug Project Portfolio Management and Nicholas, and C.A.T. Group Primavera Contract Management CEO and President Nasser Issa. that include licenses, training and During the event, Hard Dol- implementation services. lar presented a trophy to CMCS C.A.T. Group has been investi- for becoming the rst Hard Dollar gating several solutions and decided Authorized Relationship partner to select Primavera and Hard Dol- (HARP) and for successfully clos- lar as solutions that sufce their ex- ing the rst HARP customer sale tensive needs for their large projects with C.A.T. Group in Lebanon. in the Pipeline, Infrastructure and Hard Dollar also presented a tro- SIGNING OF CONTRACT between Hard Dollar and CMCS held in Lebanon other projects, while partnering phy to C.A.T. Group for opening last May 4, 2009. with CMCS as a professional pro- a multi-hundred-thousand-dollar vider for project driven discipline project in the Middle East.
A MEETING OF THE MINDS: C.A.T. Group, Hard Dollar and CMCS top ofcials meet for business.
Fourth row from left are Abdallah Saadeh-C.A.T. Chief Estimation Manager, Shak Mouchantaf-C.A.T. Group Contracts Manager, Joe Mansour-C.A.T. Group Controls Manager, Saadi Adra- General Manager of CMCS Lebanon, Antoine Papadopoulo-C.A.T. Group Chief Accountant, Scott Hyman-Channel Manager of Hard Dollar, Peter Wodtke-Board Member of C.A.T. Holding, Bassam Samman-CEO & Founder of CMCS, Georges Daher-C.A.T. Chief Adminstration Ofcer, Doug Nicholas-Chief Executive Ofcer of HARD DOLLAR awards C.A.T. Group for opening a multi-hundred- Hard Dollar, Davis Sambar-C.A.T. Board Member and Assaad El thousand-dollar project. From left are Bassam Samman, Georges Daher, Hage-C.A.T. Legal Advisor. C.A.T. Group CEO Nasser Issa and Doug Nicholas.
HARD DOLLAR CEO Doug Nicholas awards a trophy to CMCS CEO and Founder Bassam Samman in recognition for being the rst “HARP”-Hard Dollar Authorized Relationship Partner. 8 CMCS IN THE NEWS: Eqtisadiat, Saudi Arabia: CMCS intensies its presence in the Middle East after a 50% growth revenue, March 2009, Page 46 Vision, Pan Arab: Partnership agreement, March 2009, Page 195 Arab Construction World, Pan Arab: Estimated US$21 billion worth of construction investments to increase demand for project man- agement services in Jordan, April 2009, Page 41 Al Bank Wal Mustathmer, Pan Arab: Agreement between CMCS and ADePT, April 2009, Page 26 Emirates Business 24/7, UAE: CMCS Systems eyes Europe and CITYSCAPE ABU DHABI Iran, April 5, Page 22 CMCS participated in the most popular real estate exhibition, the Emirates Business 24/7, UAE: Management company CMCS in Cityscape Abu Dhabi, where property developers, investors, archi- Middle East expansion, April 28, Page 28 tects, designers, government authorities and other related industries Gulf Daily News, Bahrain: Management rm plans new ofces, showcased their products and services for prospective clients. The April 28, Page 29 event which was held in the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center (ADNEC) and ran from April 19 to 22, was inaugurated by Gener- Al Bayan, UAE: CMCS opens its branches in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain al H.H. Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of and Egypt, April 28, Page 6 Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Al Wasat, Bahrain: CMCS promotes their opening of a branch in Forces. More than 300 companies from over 30 countries partici- Bahrain, April 28, Page 2 pated. The companies who visited the CMCS stand were: Cansult Al Watan, Qatar: CMCS promotes a new branch in Saudi Arabia, Maunsell, CPM - Consolidated Project Management, Department Bahrain and Egypt during the current year, April 28, Page 15 of Municipal Affairs, Desert Landscape, EC Harris, EllisDon Con - Al Alam Al Youm, Egypt: Egypt is our portal to enter Libyan and struction, Hill International, Kling consult and Mott MacDonald North African market, April 29, Page 3 among others. Al Jazirah, Saudi Arabia: CMCS intends to extend to the Saudi market, April 30, Page 18 Oil Review Middle East, UAE: Management model aligns work with organisational strength, written by CMCS CEO and Founder Bassam Samman, Issue 3 2009, Page 138
PROJECT QATAR CMCS took part in Project Qatar, believed to be the single larg- est exhibition ever held at the New Doha International Exhibi- tion Center. Despite the global economic slump, visitors gath- ered at the venue during the 4-day event where a record of more than 900 companies from the construction industry from about 39 countries participated. The Prime Minister and Foreign Min- ister, Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabor Al-Thani, inaugu- rated the exhibition, which ran from April 27-30, in the presence of local, regional and international entrepreneurs. He said the SAADI ADRA, PMP,RMP,PMI Certied OPM3 Assessor/Consultant, exhibition is part of the initiatives being taken by Qatar to pro- General Manager for PMAG S.A.L. has conducted an EVP Earned Value mote trade at a time when the world is experiencing an economic Management for Professionals lecture in the presence of around 90 attend- meltdown. CMCS held its own in the event with an unprecedent- ees and members of the PMI Lebanon Chapter. The Lecture was followed ed number of enquiries. by a Cocktail sponsored by CMCS/PMAG in the Holiday Inn Dunes on Tuesday 14th of April, 2009.
9 Featured Employee PMI-SP® CERTIFICATION Full Name: PMI Scheduling Professional DALIA AZHARI is the Webmaster of CMCS. She is responsible Project Role: Develops and maintains project schedule for checking inquiries from the website, updating the website with the Eligibility Requirements: Highschool diploma/global equivalent, latest information about courses and products and also takes care of 5,000 hours project scheduling expe- marketing seminars held in the Middle East. She has been working with rience, 40 hours project scheduling the company since March 2002. Born in Dubai, Dalia is now married education for almost 2 years to Ziyad, whom she competes with in solving Sudoku OR on her free time. They have been blessed with handsome Bashar, whom she spends quality time with away from Bachelor’s degree/global equivalent the ofce. Apart from that she also loves 3,500 hours project scheduling expe- to read novels and of course, every girl’s rience, 30 hours project scheduling pastime, go shopping! education What she likes about working in Steps to obtaining application process + multiple-choice CMCS is that there’s a sense of team credential: exam spirit, a practice of respect, a drive to Exam information: 3.5 hours; 170 questions work hard, cooperation among colleagues Fees: US$520 PMI member and proper assessment. She practices (US$670 non-member) her philosophy which is doing one thing Credential Maintenance 3 years; 30 PDUs in project every day that scares her, and by doing Cycles and Requirements: scheduling this, she learns and this empowers her to do her job more effectively. Dalia earned How CMCS can help you: We offer P912 Planning and her degree in Computer Science from the Scheduling Professional (PSP) American University in Asia, Sharjah Certication Exam Preparation Campus. which will provide participants with a thorough background in the concepts of Planning and Scheduling CERTIFICATIONS Engineering and Construction PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONAL (PMP) projects. RANIA KHAWAJA, the General Duration of course: 3 days Manager of CMCS Jordan, has suc- Schedule of next PMI-SP cessfully completed her Project Man- course: 21 June to 23 June, 2009 agement Professional (PMP) certica- tion on April 8, 2009. PMP holders are fully aware of project life cycle, project CMCS new team members WELCOME! management processes and knowledge areas “Integration, scope, time, cost, resource, quality, risk, communica- tion and procurement”. This deep un- derstanding enrich their capacities in being responsible for all aspects of the project during the life cycle of the proj- ect as well as leading and directing a project team and/or cross functional teams to complete projects success- fully. Project Management Institute was founded in 1969 by work- ing project managers. Now PMI has 250 chapters in over 70 countries with more than 420,000 members. PMI’s primary goal Dina Atef Houda Aglagal is to advance the practice, science and profession of project man- Consultant, UAE Training Manager, UAE agement throughout the world in a conscientious and proactive manner so that organizations everywhere will embrace, value and utilize project management and then attribute their successes to it. PMI-Jordan Chapter was founded in 2007 and now includes To receive our Collaborate monthly newsletter, send an empty 119 of which about 90 are PMP certified. email to [email protected]
10 CMCS WINS
AMANA – CMCS is awarded a contract for Implementation of Pri- ologies, services and solutions presented are able to meet their highly mavera P6 for Amana Abu Dhabi. The duration of the implementa- demanding nature of complex infrastructure and oil & gas projects that tion is 20 days. The implementation would include development of data utilizes heavy machinery, spans over a rather long period of time and structure, nalizing the project life cycle, developing reports and lay - utilizes diverse multiple resources. outs and nally carrying out prototype testing and assessing the full Taisei- a Japan-based Company, has awarded a contract to CMCS to implementation. Amana team has already undergone P6 client and P6 provide HardDollar Project cost estimation software, implementation & web training from CMCS. Training. The scope includes installation of the software in Abu Dhabi Jordan Engineers Association (JEA), Jordan - JEA has recently as well as implementation of the same for their Middle East operations. signed a cooperation agreement with CMCS to implement a new range Taisei is planning initially to use HardDollar for their Middle East o per- of management and development programs to be adopted by the En- ations with the goal to role out the same to their headquarters in Japan. gineers Training Centre. The agreement further bolsters the efforts of JEA in producing the highest quality and excellence standards in vari- ous engineering sectors in the Kingdom and the rest of the Arab region. Jordanian Engineers Association is considered one of the largest among BY THE NUMBERS the region with 77,000 members and ofces all round the kingdom. En- CMCS CLIENTS gineers Training Centre the training provider arm of JEA is the only certied training center by the Federation of Arab Engineers and the Sector For this period Total this year International Federation of Consulting Engineers. Engineering and Construction 62 1,227 C.A.T., Lebanon- CMCS is awarded a contract to provide C.A.T. Utilities, Oil and Gas 8 100 Group with Hard Dollar Cost Estimation, Control and Management, IT and Telecommunication 2 74 Primavera Portfolio Management and Primavera Contract Manage- Government 2 33 ment. This agreement includes licenses, training and implementation Discrete Manufacturing & Research 2 23 services. C.A.T. has been looking for methods and tools to enhance Education 1 25 their widespread monitor and control for their projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars in several continents. Through interaction with Overall New Clients 23 77 CMCS and Hard Dollar Consultants, CAT decided that the method- Overall Returning Clients 52 236 CMCS WOULD LIKE TO THANK: NEW CLIENTS: RETURNING CLIENTS: • Al Garhoud Engineering • 5 Pioneers Property Dev’t • Khansaheb • Taisei Corporation • Al Salmiya (Gulf Franchising Co) • Airport International Group • Khatib & Alami • Target Engineering • Al Waab City • Al Habtoor-Murray&Roberts • Margham Dubai Est. • Technip • Alamiah Building Co • Al Jaber Engineering • Mubadala • Technital S.p.A Qatar • Arabian Advanced Systems • ALDAR Laing O’Rourke • Nael & Bin Harmal Hydroexport • Thompson Cole • Areef Computer Institute • Amana Contracting • National Marine Dredging Co. • Transco • Arnaout Establishment • Archirodon • National United Eng. Co • ASCON Road Construction • Blair-Anderson • NDIA • British Gas • Brewer Consulting • Oger Dubai • Butec SAL • Bunya Enterprise LLC • Orascom/Contrack • ENTIRETEC Middle East • C.A.T. Group • Oryx • ECCI • CCC • Petrofac • Imperial Trading & Contracting • CH2MHILL • Qatar Kentz • King Fahad Armed Forces Hospital • Costain • Qatar Petroleum • Madina Group • Det Norske Veritas • QatarGas • Neopharma • Dubai Pearl • Qatar Eng’g & Construction (Qcon) • Order of Engineers & Architects (Beirut) • EC Harris • Road & Trasport Authority • Penspen International • Elenco General Contracting • RW Armstrong • RAMCO • Equate Petrochemical • Saudi Aramco • SEG, Qatar • Exterran • S.D. Concept • Stanley Consultants • Hochtief • SDC Group • Tashyeed Properties • John Buck International • Strabag • Wamar • JT Metro JV • Systra/Parsons JV
11 CMCS COURSE NEWS
P102 Project Man- agement in P6 Cli- ent-Server was held in Beirut, Lebanon during the period of March 31, April 2, 7, 9, 14 and 16. The course was attended P201 Primavera Contract by Ahmad Najjar, Falah Manager 12.0 was held in the Wakim of Relk & P, Rana period of April 5 to 8 in Abu Salika of Target Engineer- P102 Project Management Dhabi. Attending the course in P6 Client-Server was held ing, Norma Youness Zahwa, Hussein Mousbah Moussa and Jameil were Mohammed Al-Abbasi of in Doha in the period of April 5 to Hani Termos of waad, Rima Sassine of Debbas Enterprise, Hai- Bunya, Sardar Saur Rahman 8. The course was attended by Al- them Jamil Darwich of BAU, Samer Baaklini of Ets. Nassim Abou of Mubadala, Tauk Ridani berto Amerio of Technital S.p.A. Habib pour L’industrie et L’enterprise, Louis El Nawar and Charbel of Blair-Anderson and Lionel Qatar, Nisha Pradeep of Penspen Tawk of ELNTC, Wajdi Jamil Maatouk of BTD, Charbel Rizkal - George Locksley of 5 Pioneers International, Naheem Pasha, lah, Nicolas Al Hajj, Nidal Haddad of Ste Scale Contracting s.a.r.l Property. The course instructor Mohamed Nissar Andikkan Ku- and Abbas Mohammad Ismail of Maher for Trading and Construc- was Venkataramana K. zhiyil, Senthilkumar Balasunda- tion. The course was conducted by Omar Sidani. ram, Sumanrabi Charles of Qcon- 816, Prajeesh Kuniyil, Imtiaz P850 Extension of Hussain Naz and Arun Johnson Time Request was Samuel of Qcon-829, Osama Zo- held in the period of April hdi of Qcon-841, Pradeep Kumar 12-16 in Dubai. Attend- Somanathan of Qcon-816, Ahmad ing the course were Al- Barghothi of Al Jaber Engineer- exander Lyakhov and ing and Ishfaq Deen of Al Waab Robert Aldea of Exter- City. The course was conducted ran, Eiman Al-Enazi of Qatar Petroleum, Anahita Sada and Abdel by Kaveh Boromand. Rehim Duqeh of ASCON, Wafa Salem Elfar of Airport Interna- P108 Migrating from Prima- tional Group, Hafez Barakat of Nael & bin Harmal Hydroexport vera Project Planner (P3) and Georges Baaklini or Arnaout Establishment. The course was to P6 was held in Qatar for conducted by Rania Khawaja and Gaganpreet Kaur. Hochtief Construction in the pe- riod of March 2 to 4. The course P501 Introduction was attended by Armin Krimp- to Project Risk mann, Steindl Ulrich, Sarah Management with Szewzenko, Torsten Henssler, Primavera Risk Mohammad Yasin, N. Karthik, Analysis was held in Michayl Rysniak, M. Hisham the period of April 14- Zakaria, Alexander Meisner, P905 The Project Manage- 16 in Dubai. Attend- Kathrin Brunn and Jan Steueri. ment Professional was held ing the course were The course was conducted by in the period of April 12 to 16 in Andrew Thompson of Kaveh Boromand. Amman. The course was attended QatarGas, Moustafa Ramzy, Rima Issam El-Ayoubi and Izaldein by Hiba Darwish of Especialized Al-Zyoud of CH2M Hill, Naief Subaey of Saudi Aramco, Elhaum Wood Establishment and Darin Modarres, Ed Shehab, Dina Atef and Venkataramana K. of CMCS. Makki of CMCS-Jordan. The The course was conducted by Laila Rojail. course was conducted by Ayman Jarwan. P202 Primavera Contract Manager (PCM) was held in Beirut in the period of March 30 to April 2 for Khatib and Alami (K&A). The course was at- tended by Elie Khoury, Toni P905 Project Management Farah, Yeghia Torrosian, Reef Professional (PMP) was Tuffaha, Ahid Mubada and held in Dubai in the period of Nabil Al Bidawi. The course April 26 to 30. The course was P102 Project Management was conducted by Taha Naji. attended by Marcos Ricaplaza in P6 Client-Server was held of Environmental Chemical in the period of April 19-22 in P106P Advanced Project Corporation Inc., Ayman Al- Abu Dhabi. Attending the course Management in P6 Client- hubaishi of King Fahad Armed were Mohamed Nazaruddin of Server and P106R Resource Forces Hospital, Hady Rmeily John Buck International, Tan Management in P6 Client- of RAMCO, Jayant Naraindas Kok Wah of Taisei Corporation, Server was held in Beirut in of ENTIRETEC Middle East, Stephen Thomas of Costain Abu the period of April 27 to 30. The Salem Nael Salamah of Arabian Dhabi, Muhammad Khaleeq An- course was attended by Nas- Advanced Systems and Elhaum war of RW Armstrong and David reen Al Mutawa of Equate Pet- Modarres, Walstan D’Souza and Thatcher of Murray & Roberts. rochemical, Antoinette Cherfan of Butec SAL and Jean Pierre Abi Kaveh Boromand of CMCS. The The course was delivered by Ven- Karam. The course was delivered by Omar Sidani. course was conducted by Ed kataramana K. Shehab. 12 CMCS COURSE TESTIMONIALS: “ The Course was all perfect. - Alberto Amerio, Architect, Technital Spa
INSTRUCTOR’S PROFILE I am impressed with this course and strongly believe that it will help me in the future.- Pradeep Kumar, Planning Engr., Qcon OMAR SIDANI is a Consultant at CMCS- Lebanon Professional Services Department, The course will denitely improve my knowledge. - Ishfaq who holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Ahmed Deen, System Administrator, Al Wa’ab City Science/Information Technology. He is a mem- ber of the Project Management Institute (PMI) The instructor (Kaveh) has a charming personality and his overall and a Primavera Authorized Trainer delivering performance was nice. - Imtiyaz Hussain, Sr. Engineer, Qcon P6 Beginner and Advanced courses across the Middle East. Omar provided training to profes- Kaveh is excellent and the course is very valuable and will help sionals from leading organizations like: CH2M- me in my career growth.- Naheem Pasha, DY. Manager HILL, Khatib & Alami (K&A), Petro Canada, Planning & Cost, Qcon KBR, VECO, RW Armstrong, Borouge, Emirates Electromechanical & Industrial LLC., Fluor Mideast Ltd., BUTEC, Order of Engineers (Beirut Good job, Laila. When I am creating my schedule I should and Tripoli, Lebanon), and many others. He has participated in develop - be able to consider the risk dimension. - Izaldein Al-Zyoud, ing Project Management methodology manuals for holding companies and Scheduler, CH2MHILL various Primavera implementations. Omar is adept in Primavera applica- tions, computer security, networking and designing of database systems. Venkat is excellent and holds a very good knowledge on both theory He is a CAPM-Certied Associate in Project Management, a CEH-Certi- and practical works. The course is very good as currently I am using ed Ethical Hacker from the EC-Council USA and a CCNA-Cisco Certi- P6 6.2. - Mohamed Nazaruddin.M, Planning Engr., John Buck ed Network Associate. Int’l
CLIENT CERTIFICATIONS It’s a good experience to take the course of P6 from CMCS and it will help me a lot. - Mohammad Khaleeq Anwar, Plan- The CMCS Team would like to extend their heartfelt congratulations ning Engr., RW Armstrong to the following for attaining their PMP Certication: The Course was helpful for controlling & reporting. - Stephen Thomas, Lead Planning Engineer, Costain Abu Dhabi
Excellent course, will help me in streamlining our processes. - Jayant Naraindas, Project Director, Entiretec
The instructor (Kaveh) is great! It’s a useful course. - Ahmad Barghothi, Controls Engineer, Al Jaber Engineering
The course is very helpful to better carry out my functions in Project Controls and better understand the Project Manage- ® ® ® Lubna Al Natour, PMP Ammar O. Kahia, PMP Abeer Senada, PMP ment process. - Marcos Ricaplaza, Project Controls Man- Project Manager, IT Projects Manager, IT Advisor, ager, Environmental Chemical Corporation, Inc. AMSI AMSI Academy for Education Development Ed is a great instructor. - name undisclosed
The course is very much applicable to my job. - Kaveh Boro- BY THE NUMBERS mand, Sr. Consultant, CMCS CMCS COURSES It will help me manage all projects in a completely different and For this period Total this year professional way. - name undisclosed Courses offered 13 84 Training days 45 247 My impression on this course was good, clear and informa- tive. This may help me manage and review a claim. - Georges Delegates trained 94 688 ” Total PDUs granted 1,526.5 9,546.5 Baaklini, Sr. Project Manager, ARCON
13 TECH TALK : MANAGING SUBMITTALS IN PCM Ali Ammar, CAPM ® | Professional Services Senior Consultant
uring a project, manag- that the required approval nish ing submittals can be one for each submittal package is cal- D of the most time-consum- culated automatically based on the ing tasks. Contract Manager helps current project progress schedule. streamline the submittals process 6. This completes the preparation by enabling you to track each of the Design/Construction Sub- stage of the review cycle and up- mittal Schedule and a number of date submittal dates using activi- reports can be created. ties from a linked schedule. 7. The contractor/consultant will No matter how many times a now upload the drawing (Auto- submittal is revised, you will al- CAD or other CAD) or docu- ways know who received it and ment (Word, PDF, XLS) to be when; which submittals were ap- reviewed. Revisions for each sub- proved and which are pending; mittal can be added as needed. which are overdue and by how 8. To update the Submittal log, the many days and, most important, user will use the command “Up- who is currently responsible. date Package”. The Submittals module in 9. The user can now select to up- Primavera Contract Manager sultant (PMC) for which they will with the project deliverables as date a specic Submittal Item or a also provides distribution copies, either Approve, Approve with per the schedule. group of Submittal Items. transmittals, and dunning letters Comments, Approve With Com- 2. For each submittal package the 10. Actual dates are recorded for (alerts on overdue items). ments Resubmit or Rejected. In contractor/consultant needs to sending/receiving the document. Managing submittals is simpli- case the drawing or document is identify the drawings and docu- 11. Primavera Contract Manager ed with an easy-to-view schedule marked rejected or need to resub- ments included in the package. will automatically create a Trans- of the submittal process. The sub- mit, the Contractor/Consultant 3. For submittal item, codes and mittal Form for the documents mittal workow moves documents must resubmit for approval. This additional information can be add- submitted. to the right party for approval. submittal process will be man- ed. Primavera Contract Manager 12. The Submittal Coordinator Even incorporating multiple review aged by a representative from the allows adding unlimited number will have those submittals listed cycles allowing you to know where Project Management Consultant of user dened codes. in his Action List, which will be your submittals are at all times. (PMC) who will be called the 4. The system allows a user to populated automatically. Submittal Coordinator. dene the workow for receiving 13. The Submittal Coordinator Managing Submittals The following steps provide an and reviewing submittals, for each will review the same. If accept- The Contractor/Consultant is re- overview of the typical process for submittal package. able, then he will forward to PMC quired to develop drawings and entering a submittal package and 5. It is highly recommended to cre- Review Team by simply entering specications during the project tracking its progress: ate a Project Schedule in Primave- the date. design and construction phases. 1. The contractor/consultant de- ra Project Management to identify 14. The PMC Review Team who Each document that is produced velops a list of all drawings and the milestone dates for approving will receive the same in their Ac- during these phases must be re- documents submittal packages each submittal package. This is tion list can add their comments viewed by the client or the as- in Primavera Contract Manager. linked to the Primavera Contract directly on each drawing using signed Project Management Con- This log of submittals is aligned Manager Submittals module so any redlining software application like Autoview or other Drawing Management tool. 15. When all comments are docu- mented, the PMC Review Team will ll the return date and pro- vide the approval status (Ap- proved, Approved As Noted, Re- jected, Others). 16. Again the PMC Submittal Co- ordinator will check, if everything is ok. And then forward to the initiator by lling the forwarded date. The initiator will have those submittals reported on his Action list which will be populated automatically. CMCS EVENTS: 17. For drawings that were reject- ed, the initiator will resubmit the EVENT NAME PLACE DATE VENUE PDUs OFFERED drawing or document using the CMCS Roadshow same original submittal number Hard Dollar and Primavera with different review cycle (revi- Project Portfolio Seminar Beirut, Lebanon 21 May Holiday Inn 2 sion) number. CMCS Roadshow 18. Each submittal can be distrib- Empowering uted to many organizations even Project Driven Businesses Kuwait, Kuwait 28 May Radisson SAS 2 if they are not part of the review CMCS Roadshow process. Empowering 19. Primavera Contract Manager Project Driven Businesses Manama, Bahrain 10 June Crowne Plaza 2 will provide a number of Key Perfor- mance Indicators (KPI) including: CMCS Roadshow • Time Elapsed for Reviewing Empowering and Approving Submittal Project Driven Businesses Dubai, UAE 15 June Radisson SAS 2 14 Q& A Interview with CMCS team members:
1. Tell us about yourself (your name, involved for your job title, how long you have been managing the working with the company). project deliv- My name is Ali Ammar. I am a Senior Con- ery life cycle. sultant at CMCS, based in Abu Dhabi. I My main role is am a Certified Associate in Project Man- to build project ALI AMMAR, CAPM® agement (CAPM) and Certified trainer for management Professional Services Primavera Project Portfolio Management awareness, un- Senior Consultant and Contract Management. I joined CMCS derstand client in July 2005. requirements and implement a complete PPM solution to prioritize, plan and manage their 2. What does your job involve? entire portfolio through to its successful completion. • Time for Submittal Held My job involves delivering professional services This helps them gain visibility, capture best • Outstanding Submittals which include pre-sales, requirements gather- practices and leverage this experience on other proj- • Days a Submittal is Overdue ing, presenting proof of concept and transform- ects. By automating their business processes, I help (Delaying the Project) ing clients’ business needs into requirements my clients to identify project issues / delays early on 20. Primavera Contract Manager can for implementation and customization of a so they can be resolved in a timely manner. produce many other reports and charts Project Portfolio Management solution. including: Clients come to us with various concerns 5. What is the most challenging part of • Reminder Letters/Alerts on in managing their programs / projects. My re- your job? overdue submittals sponsibility is to work with them to understand During our implementation projects, I work • Document Growth/Number their business processes and lead implementa- with a team of consultants to integrate clients’ • Document Turnaround Time tion effort to identify their technical require- business processes to implement and roll-out • Submittals Count By Area/Sta- ments and nally, implement a robust solution. an effective system. This is the easy part. tus/Contract I also deliver customized trainings on the But the benets of our services are realized Next issue in TechTalk, the importance of sub- products implemented, to facilitate clients’ only when people are willing to use the sys- mittal management will be discussed as well as team to better manage, monitor and control tem. Changing people’s attitudes and behaviors the benefits of Primavera Contract Manager. their projects. is the greatest challenge in implementing any software system. 3. What are some of the current proj- My challenge is to ensure that change is ac- CAREERS ects you are working on? cepted, and to motivate the key users in effec- Presently, I am involved in development and tive utilization of the system. I try to ensure, CMCS rolling out Project Management System for that my clients team have the required skills Business Relationship Support BARWA, Qatar. I am managing a team of and support from our consultants, for success- CMCS-Qatar requires a Business Rela- consultants in Lebanon, who are implement- ful adoption of the system. tionship Support (Administrator Ofcer) ing Design Schedule and monitoring Drawing who will maintain day to day administra- Submittals for Khatib & Alami on King Abdul- 6. Which aspect of your job do you like tive activities related to training, sales, per- lah Financial District project. the most? sonnel and day-to-day ofce issues. I recently delivered Primavera Project The main reward of my job is personal comfort Management trainings for The Roads and and passion to work with a variety of industries Job qualications: Transport Authority (RTA), Dubai and Prima- and experiences. The candidate should be degree educated vera Contract Management trainings for Bun- Nothing motivates me more than a happy with experience in ofce administration. ya / Parsons, working on Reem Island project and satised client. The job can be extremely He/she should have good interpersonal and packages 1 and 2, Abu Dhabi. demanding at times, but the learning curve is communication skills and must be able to I have had the privilege to implement Proj- very steep. I look at the hard work as a worth- deal professionally with personnel from all ect Management solutions and provide trainings while investment. levels. He/she must be able to commit to to some of the Middle East’s most inuential tight deadlines and manage several projects organizations. To name a few: ALDAR, AS- 7. What do you like about working at at any one time with minimum supervision. TECO Development, BARWA, CSC (Credit CMCS? Interest in business and commerce is a plus. Card Services Co.), CAT International, Dar CMCS is a place where if you want to take He/she must be procient in writing letters, Al-Handasah, EC Harris, KNPC, Occidental initiative for something, you’re given the memos, agendas, presentations and reports Petroleum, PARSONS, PDO, QNPM (Qatar space you need. There is a density of high- and must have excellent organization skills. National Project Management), TRANSCO, quality and smart people I have not found Atlantis Construction Management Team - Al anywhere else. The people at CMCS are not For interested parties, send a comprehensive CV Naboodah Laing O’Rourke, UDC (The Pearl only committed professionals, but also fun to [email protected], or call +974 451 Qatar), and many more. and inspiring individuals with whom I have 5737. Visit http://www.cmcs.ae/en/careers for enjoyed working on several projects. more details. 4. How can your job add value to Whatever you do in the future, the chal- your clients? lenges and learning opportunities you experi- Erratum: On Page 11 of This is achieved by professionally developing ence while you’re at CMCS will be huge assets. Collaborate April issue, our clients’ resources to take ownership of the So will the network of excellent people you Moutassem Al Kouatli solution and providing state of the art tools to build. was mentioned as having support the operation. The solution that we cus- CMCS prepares you to do almost anything. It the PMP certification. It tomize for our clients provides a single language made me grow, pushed me harder and faster ® should be PMI-SP and for them and all other stakeholders that are than anything else ever would have. not PMP ®. 15 CMCS COURSE CALENDAR (MAY-JULY) 2009
COURSE # COURSE NAME DATE PLACE PRICE ($) PDUs P102 Project Management in P6 Client-Server 11-13 May Dubai $ 1,295 19.5 P102 Project Management in P6 Client-Server 11-13 May Doha $ 1,295 19.5 P102 Project Management in P6 Client-Server 12-14 May Aqaba $ 1,295 19.5 P106P Advanced Project Management in P6 Client-Server 17-18 May Manama $ 895 13.0 A101 ADePT Awareness Workshop 18-19 May Dubai $ 895 N/A P102 Project Management in P6 Client-Server 18-20 May Amman $ 1,295 19.5 P106R Resource Management in P6 Client-Server 19-20 May Manama $ 895 13.0 P918 IT Project Management 19-21 May Dubai $ 1,500 21.0 A201 ADePT Software Training 20-21 May Dubai $ 895 N/A P106P Advanced Project Management in P6 Client-Server 24-25 May Dubai $ 895 13.0 P106P Advanced Project Management in P6 Client-Server 24-25 May Amman $ 895 13.0 P980 Program Management Professional Certication Exam Preparation 24-26 May Dubai $ 2,100 21.0 P905 PMP Exam Preparation 24-28 May Abu Dhabi $ 1,995 35.0 P106R Resource Management in P6 Client-Server 26-27 May Amman $ 895 13.0 P106R Resource Management in P6 Client-Server 26-27 May Dubai $ 895 13.0 P901 Project Risk Management 31 May-4 Jun Amman $ 1,995 35.0 E101 Essentials of Estimating & Budgeting 01-03 Jun Dubai $ 1,295 N/A P201 Primavera Contract Manager 12.0 01-03 Jun Amman $ 1,295 19.5 P905 PMP Exam Preparation 06-10 Jun Muscat $ 1,995 35.0 E201 Advanced Project Estimating & Budgeting 07-09 Jun Dubai $ 1,295 N/A P102 Project Management in P6 Client-Server 07-09 Jun Muscat $ 1,295 19.5 P102 Project Management in P6 Client-Server 07-09 Jun Amman $ 1,295 19.5 P102 Project Management in P6 Client-Server 08-10 Jun Kuwait $ 1,295 19.5 P916 CAPM Exam Preparation Course 13-16 Jun Syria $ 1,200 24.0 P106P Advanced Management in P6 Client-Server 14-15 Jun Doha $ 895 13.0 P905 PMP Exam Preparation 14-18 Jun Doha $ 1,995 35.0 P106R Resource Management in P6 Client-Server 16-17 Jun Doha $ 895 13.0 P990 Organizational Project Management Maturity Model - OPM3 21-22 Jun Abu Dhabi $ 1,400 11.0 P106P Advanced Management in P6 Client-Server 21-22 Jun Muscat $ 895 13.0 P912 Prep Course for Planning & Scheduling Professional (PSP) Certication 21-23 Jun Amman $ 1,500 21.0 P102 Project Management in P6 Client-Server 21-23 Jun Manama $ 1,295 19.5 P905 PMP Exam Preparation 21-25 Jun Dubai $ 1,995 35.0 P102 Project Management in P6 Client-Server 22-24 Jun Abu Dhabi $ 1,295 19.5 P106R Resource Management in P6 Client-Server 23-24 Jun Muscat $ 895 13.0 P917 Portfolio Management 28-29 Jun Abu Dhabi $ 1,400 12.0 P108 Migrating from Primavera Project Planner P3 to P6 05-06 Jul Dubai $ 895 13.0 P106P Advanced Project Management in P6 Client-Server 06-07 Jul Beirut $ 895 13.0 P980 Program Management Professional Certication Exam Preparation 06-08 Jul Beirut $ 1,500 21.0 P913 Managing Projects Using Earned Value Professional (EVP) Certication 06-08 Jul Amman $ 1,500 21.0 P106R Resource Management in P6 Client-Server 08-09 Jul Beirut $ 895 13.0 P918 IT Project Management 11-13 Jul Muscat $ 1,500 21.0 P912 Prep Course for Planning & Scheduling Professional (PSP) Certication 12-14 Jul Dubai $ 1,500 21.0 P201 Primavera Contract Manager 12.0 12-14 Jul Dubai $ 1,295 19.5 P901 Project Risk Management 12-16 Jul Dubai $ 1,995 35.0 P106P Advanced Project Management in P6 Client-Server 13-14 Jul Kuwait $ 895 13.0 P102 Project Management in P6 Client-Server 13-15 Jul Dubai $ 1,295 19.5 P905 PMP Exam Preparation 13-17 Jul Beirut $ 1,500 35.0 P106R Resource Management in P6 Client-Server 15-16 Jul Kuwait $ 895 13.0 P917 Portfolio Management 20-21 Jul Beirut $ 1,000 12.0 P203 Using Infomaker with Primavera Contract Manager 22 Jul Dubai $ 695 N/A P990 Organizational Project Management Maturity Model - OPM3 22-23 Jul Beirut $ 1,000 11.0 P106P Advanced Project Management in P6 Client-Server 26-27 Jul Abu Dhabi $ 895 13.0 P907 Project Management Leadership Skills 26-28 Jul Amman $ 1,500 21.0 P102 Project Management in P6 Client-Server 27-29 Jul Doha $ 1,295 19.5 P106R Resource Management in P6 Client-Server 28-29 Jul Abu Dhabi $ 895 13.0 For inquiries or registration, send an email to [email protected] or call (+971) 4 3654850