Strategies for Effective

Program Management
CONVERGEONE WHITE PAPER
Large, complex initiatives are the norm in todays
global world. Management of virtual teams, interlaced
projects, strategic programs, and the enterprise port-
folio are all critical success factors for high-performing
organizations and executives requiring a compre-
hensive view and deep management expertise.
Program Management defines the principles, strat-
egies, and desirable results for managing large-scale
initiatives that involve multiple and/or parallel projects.
This paper provides an overview of the process uti-
lized by Program Management professionals.
IDENTIFYING THE NEED
Unlike the more familiar projects or project man-
agement, programs have a larger scale and greater
impact, requiring specialized capabilities and resourc-
es that correlate directly with the programs success.
The outcome(s) of a program can have a significant
impact on business viability. These efforts can also
consume significant funding which can translate to
hard choices for executives.
In determining the need for Program Management
support, an organization should consider the
following:
What strategic or enterprise-wide initiatives are on
the horizon for the organization?
How does the organization manage initiatives that
span multiple departments, or are comprised of
multiple related projects?
How does the organization ensure that the pro-
cesses governing its initiatives are effective and
efficient?
How does the organization gain transparency into
its portfolio of projects and programs?
How does the organization ensure the portfolio is
delivering the benefits and expected value to the
business?
Once the need is established, a Program
Management process can be implemented to provide
visibility and transparency to help ensure that strate-
gic initiatives deliver the expected business benefits.
A critical success factor to program success is ensur-
ing that its components delivered on time, within bud-
get, and to the levels of quality that clients, sponsors,
and stakeholders expect.
COMPONENTS OF PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
For mission-critical enterprise initiatives such as
Mergers and Acquisitions, Business Process
Outsourcing (BPO), Regulatory/Compliance, and
VoIP/UC implementations, the major components of
effective Program Management are:
Governance leadership, accountability, and
oversight
Planning a structured approach with
integrated scheduling and tracking
Stakeholder Management clear, continuous,
consistent, and open lines of communication
Risk Management proactive and
comprehensive
Performance Management measured
and improved delivery/execution
Benefits Management realization of both
tangible and intangible
Based on these components, properly designed
Program Management addresses challenges and
pain points including:
Lack of formal program identification and initiation
procedures
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Lack of a clearly defined, communicated, and
governed management processes
Late or ineffective issue detection and resolution,
or risk identification and mitigation
Immature status reporting and change
management processes
Lack of transparency and accountability around
financials and deliverables
Lack of adoption of initiatives due to poor
communication and executive sponsorship
The professionals in ConvergeOne Program
Management provide a comprehensive range of
services in support of vital corporate, technology,
and operational initiatives guiding businesses and
providing end-to-end support to help them improve
organizational performance by providing expertise in
the following competencies:
Portfolio Management Selecting and pri-
oritizing initiatives aligned to strategic objectives,
goals, and priorities
Program Management Designing effective
and efficient delivery models that deliver expected
benefits, maximize resources and capabilities,
optimize communication and integration, and
minimize cost and risk
Project Management Leading teams through
the execution and delivery lifecycle
METHODOLOGIES
Integrating industry best practice methodologies and
frameworks within existing environments,
ConvergeOne Program Management designs flex-
ible delivery models to scale and tailor its services to
meet the needs of clients through:
Governance to ensure the organizational struc-
ture unites all program components to optimize
performance across the program value chain, to
monitor and respond to changes in goals and
objectives, control delivery and operations, and
resolve scope/cost/schedule/quality interdepen-
dencies and impacts
Planning to ensure the program management
plan is developed and maintained with key stake-
holders and project managers, collecting and
compiling comprehensive information on projects,
resources, timescales, interdependencies, con-
straints, etc.
Stakeholder Management to ensure regular
program reviews with appropriate parties take
place, and accountability and responsibility is
agreed upon, documented, communicated, and
available to all necessary resources
Risk Management to ensure all interdependen-
cies are identified and managed as risks, and to
serve as an escalation point for risk response and
issue resolution
Performance Management to ensure execution
efficiencies are realized and result in effective pro-
gram delivery
Benefits Management and fiscal controls to
ensure component and program level costs are
tracked and monitored to attain the overall cost
of the initiative, against which benefits can be
measured
Employing functional knowledge and technical exper-
tise, ConvergeOne Program Management helps cli-
ents transform their organizations into more effective,
efficient, and secure businesses.
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AREAS OF CONVERGEONE PROGRAM
MANAGEMENT FOCUS
Enterprise Portfolio, Program, and Project
Lifecycle Managed Services offer effective and
efficient structure, management, and delivery of key
global projects and programs, yielding positive busi-
ness results for:
PMO Assessment, Implementation, and Operation
Mergers and Acquisitions
Integration and Divestiture
Business Process Outsourcing
Regulatory/Compliance
Organization Development
Process Reengineering
Business Services support various phases of busi-
ness management, translating requirements into an
actionable plan of record with clear roles and respon-
sibilities including:
Business Requirements Management
Budget Planning
Audit Citing and Remediation
Cost Control Initiatives
Risk Identification and Mitigation
Staff Augmentation
Application Services provide a rigorously man-
aged and effective environment for the development
of enterprise-level applications, applying disciplined,
proven methodologies for success in:
Systems Integration
Application Development and Deployment
Platform Transition and Implementation
Operational Support and Stability
Infrastructure Services provide planning and
implementation of critical infrastructure management
objectives, delivering business value through complex
cross-functional infrastructure projects such as:
VoIP/UC Implementation
Server and Desktop Virtualization
ITIL Service Management
Windows Migration and Deployment
Information Security and ILM
Server Refresh and Upgrade
DR/BCP Planning and Testing
Facility and Real Estate Move
Architecture Change Management
Platform Transformation
Data Center Services offer a structured and
comprehensive approach to individual data center
requirements, creating a facility that lowers costs,
realizes efficiencies, and enables new solutions for
business change and growth through:
Evaluation, Planning, Implementation, and
Oversight
Relocation, Consolidation, and/or Integration
Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery
Virtualization and Optimization Assessment
Enterprise Cloud, Managed Hosting, and
Co-location Strategies
Business and IT Alignment
Risk and Compliance Analysis
CONCLUSION
Applying sound processes and methodologies to
Program Management can enhance an initiatives
chances of success and reduce risk. For enterprise-
wide endeavors, these practices can enable an orga-
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nization to pursue its business strategy and remain
competitive.
The support of experienced Program Management
professionals such as those at ConvergeOne pro-
vides a single centralized point of contact for access
to numerous avenues of specialization and expertise,
delivering:
Improved ability to select and prioritize projects
and programs for inclusion in the portfolio

Improved ability to initiate and plan projects and
programs, set stakeholder expectations, and
identify and manage issues and risks
Improved transparency, visibility, accountability,
communication, and performance
Improved ability to deliver projects on time, within
budget, to quality expectations
Improved efficiency and effectiveness in service
delivery
Improved and increased customer satisfaction
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