Microsofts HR Departments Project Server 2010 Case Study

1. Microsoft Project Server 2010
Customer Solution Case Study
Microsoft Human Resources Reduces Project
Portfolio to Improve Effectiveness
Overview “We‟re working on fewer projects, but higher-quality
Country or Region: United States
Industry: Professional services— projects, which saves everybody time and improves the
Software engineering
manager and employee experience.”
Customer Profile Joan Wissmann, Manager of CBPM Project Management, Microsoft Human Resources
Microsoft, based in Redmond,
Washington, is number 35 in the 2009
Fortune 500. Its staff of 93,000 is Microsoft Human Resources, which supports the 93,000
managed by a human resources
department that has more than 1,500
employees of the global software company, wanted to make
employees in 100 countries. better strategic decisions about its portfolio of projects. As
Business Situation
Human Resources developed new portfolio management
Microsoft Human Resources wanted to processes, it worked with a prerelease version of Microsoft
more effectively manage its portfolio of
projects. As it developed new portfolio
Project Server 2010, tailoring the software to fit the business
management processes, it needed a processes of its five Human Resources Centers of Excellence.
software tool to aid in decision making.
Human Resources has used Project Server 2010 to improve the
Solution ways it collects information on projects and how it reports that
Human Resources implemented a
prerelease version of Microsoft Project
information to executives. These improvements have helped
Server 2010, configured for the processes leadership make better decisions and pare the portfolio from
at each of its Centers of Excellence.
200 to 25 projects. The result is higher-quality projects and
Benefits smoother scheduling, with improvements in transparency,
Better information collection
Richer ways to compare projects
accountability, and collaboration.
Fewer, better-scheduled projects
Transparency and accountability
Improved collaboration

2. Situation them really well,” says Wissmann. “For
The Microsoft Human Resources example, we‟d rather do two really good
department seeks to recruit, retain, and projects in performance management, than
effectively deploy a large, talented, and do 15 little ones. Even if the 15 are all
motivated work force. To support 93,000 useful and well designed, the two really
Microsoft employees worldwide, the good ones will bring greater long-term
Human Resources department has more gains to the company.”
than 1,500 human resources professionals
across 100 countries. These employees By cutting down on the number of projects,
include HR generalists who support the department could also improve project
individual businesses on a day-to-day basis timing and coordination. But each Center
as well as five Centers of Excellence (COEs) of Excellence had different processes for
that develop programs for the HR proposing, evaluating, and tracking
generalists to implement. projects. Business Program Owners
presented these projects using a variety of
In early 2007, the Human Resources files generated with Microsoft Office Excel
department decided to improve the way 2007 spreadsheet software. Manipulating
the COEs delivered projects. “We had more those files to report the appropriate
than 200 projects running,” says Bruno information to executives required a great
Lecoq, Director of Business Process in the deal of tedious manual adjustment.
Operation Excellence COE at Microsoft
Human Resources. “To complete all of Furthermore, the process of making
them—and deliver them at the right time— decisions based on those files varied by
was mathematically impossible.” COE, with little collaboration or
coordination among them. Managers had
HR generalists sometimes felt overwhelmed no single repository of all project
by the sheer number of projects, says Joan information across all COEs, which meant
Wissmann, Manager of they had no easy way to compare projects‟
Compensation/Benefits/Performance costs and benefits, or to see how project
Management (CPBM) COE Project schedules might dovetail, or to enforce
Management at Microsoft Human accountability as the projects moved
Resources. “One day an HR generalist forward.
might get a request for help delivering a
training program. The next day, a request Human Resources needed a holistic set of
to explain a new benefits program. Then portfolio management processes that
the day after that, a request to work on provided executives with the information
recruiting.” If HR generalists felt needed to make decisions. Any new
overwhelmed, their participation could lag, solution would have to accommodate the
which meant that programs did not various ways of doing business in the COEs
perform as well as desired. and would have to include a software tool
flexible and scalable enough to support
Departmental leaders needed to manage that effort.
their portfolio of projects more effectively.
“We decided to articulate a strategy, Solution
identify the projects with the greatest link The Microsoft Human Resources
to that strategy, and do those projects— department‟s efforts to improve portfolio
and only those projects—in order to do management involved far more than

3. “In Project Server 2010, implementing software. As is common in Server 2010, with plans to scale up to 1,600
the discipline of project management, a key users by the end of November and 2,000
every project is success factor was developing the proper users by the end of December. (In addition
processes. Says Lecoq, “We took the time to Human Resources employees, users
organized the same way. to plan and define our process, and we include employees of the IT and Finance
Everyone can see the didn‟t touch the software tool until the departments at Microsoft.) Human
whole team agreed on the plan.” Resources runs Project Server 2010 on two
financials, the virtual servers, each with a 64-bit 2.33-GHz
In April 2007, the department started using processor and 6 GB of RAM. Project Server
justification, what Microsoft Office Project Portfolio Server 2010 works in tandem with Microsoft SQL
success looks like, and 2007 to help plan, prioritize, and track its Server 2008 Enterprise data management
projects. Soon thereafter, the department software, and many of its processes build
how it links to our was invited to become an early adopter of on those of Microsoft SharePoint Server
Microsoft Project Server 2010, the next 2010. For example, many of the Human
overall strategy. So we‟re generation of project management Resources configurations take advantage of
always comparing apples software from Microsoft. Project Server SharePoint Web Parts.
2010 incorporates and improves the
to apples.” functions of Office Project Portfolio Server Although a full client is available, almost all
2007, and it also features enhanced users in Human Resources access Project
Bruno Lecoq, Director of Business
Process, Operation Excellence, reporting and project execution. Server 2010 through its Web client,
Microsoft Human Resources Microsoft Project Web App. “I am able to
Human Resources was the very first do everything I could want to do with
customer to get involved in the Technology Project Web App,” says Lecoq. “It‟s a very
Adoption Program for Project Server 2010. powerful interface, and much faster than
“Before beta, before alpha, we had the client in Office Project Portfolio Server
Milestone 1,” says Sam Chung, a Program 2007.”
Manager in the Project Server 2010 product
group, who served as a liaison. “That‟s Indeed, many users are not even aware that
when Human Resources got involved.” they are using Project Web App, because of
Through calendar year 2008, Human the ways that Human Resources has
Resources ran the alpha version of the adapted Project Server 2010 to the
software, and in 2009 a beta version. traditional processes and workflows at each
COE. Chung and his colleagues in
Human Resources functioned much like an development designed Project Server 2010
external customer in this process. “Within to be highly configurable. “But even we
the product group, we consider Human were amazed by the customizations that
Resources to be our biggest, best, and Human Resources did,” he says.
most important customer,” says Chung.
“This department represents a massive As Human Resources executives seek to
organization and multimillion-dollar project optimize the department‟s project
portfolio, so we could always turn to them portfolio, they take particular advantage of
to ask how things worked in the real world. Project Server 2010 reporting tools. “Project
We have gained a great deal from working Server 2010 reports directly into Office
with them.” Excel 2007 or Office Word 2007,” says
Lecoq. The reporting function automates
As of November 2009, Human Resources production of an executive summary for
had 400 users on a beta version of Project each project that includes “who-what-

4. “Our people work in 100 when-where” information, success criteria, tedious work that formerly went into
financials, and other key components. preparing for meetings.
countries, and if anybody
Benefits Furthermore, executives can take
wants to know about a The Microsoft Human Resources advantage of that consistency to make
project, up-to-date department has used Project Server 2010 to better decisions. “In Project Server 2010,
collect information more easily and to every project is organized the same way,”
information is always compare and evaluate projects more says Lecoq. “Everyone can see the
effectively. The department has pared its financials, the justification, what success
available in Project project portfolio from 200 to 25, while looks like, and how it links to our overall
Server 2010. We‟ve bringing about greater transparency, strategy. So we‟re always comparing apples
accountability, and collaboration. to apples.”
gained incredible
Better Information Collection Fewer, Better-Scheduled Projects
transparency.” Because the Human Resources The department used Project Server 2010
Bruno Lecoq, Director of Business department‟s tailored version of Project to cut its portfolio to about 25 projects,
Process, Operation Excellence, Server 2010 is so user-friendly, the compared with the 200 it had previously.
Microsoft Human Resources department is better able to collect “We‟re working on fewer projects, but
information about proposed projects. higher-quality projects, which saves
“We‟ve streamlined the process for our HR everybody time and improves the manager
professionals,” says Wissmann. “To collect and employee experience,” Wissmann says.
information about their projects, they go to
a Web site, fill in some fields, click the Save The projects are more clearly tied to the
button, and they‟re done.” organization‟s strategy, and they are
delivered on a predictable schedule. “We
Lecoq says, “If you tell people they‟re going have practically no surprises now, because
to have to use project management everyone knows what‟s coming,” Lecoq
software, they resist. They imagine says. “I recently met with an HR generalist
something way too complicated. But with who said, „I can feel a change in how we
our system—we should almost say it‟s work: now I know what I‟m going to be
„powered by Project Server 2010‟—they just working on, which I didn‟t before.‟”
go to a Web site.” Indeed, within the
department, the software is typically called Transparency and Accountability
not Project Server 2010 but “the HR Because all departmental employees can
Portfolio tool.” see project information through Project
Web App, transparency is greatly improved.
Richer Ways to Compare Projects “We call Project Server 2010 „the source of
The rich reporting functions of Project truth,‟” Lecoq says. “If you want to get your
Server 2010 give executives valuable tools project funded, it has to go through our
to evaluate and compare projects. “We Project Server 2010 process. There‟s no
practically got a standing ovation when we other way around it. When we do the
presented the reports,” says Wissmann. optimization with the entire leadership
Users were thrilled to discover that Project team, everybody leaves the meeting in full
Server 2010 automated production of the agreement on a single portfolio of
one-page executive summary in an Office projects.”
Excel 2007 spreadsheet, eliminating the

5. The single repository of information also
improves accountability. “Six months later,
we can say, „We‟re only talking about these
particular projects, because these are the
ones we approved,‟” Wissmann says.
“Obviously, we do have change
management, but with this „source of truth,‟
the change management process involves
going back to Project Server 2010 and
reevaluating our portfolio.”
Such a unified vision is particularly valuable
in a large, geographically dispersed
organization. “Our people work in 100
countries, and if anybody wants to know
about a project, up-to-date information is
always available in Project Server 2010,”
says Lecoq. “We‟ve gained incredible
transparency.”
Improved Collaboration
With greater transparency for projects
across all COEs, Human Resources
employees have more opportunities to
collaborate. Wissmann says, “Now, with
Project Server 2010, everybody can see
everybody else‟s projects. They can say,
„Maybe our projects have synergy,‟ or ask,
„How is my project dependent on yours?‟”
Of course, some projects are confidential.
“We can lock down certain projects if we
don‟t want other people to see them,”
Wissmann says. “Project Server 2010 gives
us that flexibility.”
Likewise, collaboration and open discussion
have improved when situations change.
Lecoq says, “In our quarterly meetings, if
something new comes up—a new mandate,
say, or a compliance-related project—we‟re
now able realize the implications: Do we
have enough resources? Do we need to
delay some projects, or hire new staff? With
Project Server 2010, we can try to address
issues like that. Before, we couldn‟t even
have that conversation.”

6. For More Information Microsoft Project Server 2010
For more information about Microsoft Microsoft Project Server 2010 brings
products and services, call the Microsoft together the business collaboration
Sales Information Center at (800) 426- platform services of Microsoft SharePoint
9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Server 2010 with structured execution
Canada Information Centre at (877) 568- capabilities to provide flexible work
2495. Customers in the United States and management solutions. Project Server 2010
Canada who are deaf or hard-of-hearing unifies project and portfolio management
can reach Microsoft text telephone to help organizations align resources and
(TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234. investments with business priorities, gain
Outside the 50 United States and control across all types of work, and
Canada, please contact your local visualize performance through powerful
Microsoft subsidiary. To access dashboards.
information using the World Wide Web,
go to:
www.microsoft.com For more information about Microsoft
Project Server 2010, go to:
For more information about Microsoft www.microsoft.com/project/2010
Human Resources, call (800) 426-9400 or
visit the Web site at:
www.microsoft.com
Software and Services Microsoft Office
Microsoft Server Product Portfolio − Microsoft Office Excel 2007
− Microsoft Project Server 2010 − Microsoft Office Word 2007
− Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 Technologies
− Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Enterprise − Microsoft Project Web App
This case study is for informational purposes only.
MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.
Document published May 2010