Pentia utilize the recognized project management method, PRINCE2™, as the foundation for all project work. All project managers in Pentia are PRINCE2™ certified at either Foundation or Practitioner level.
The name PRINCE2™ comes from PRojects IN Controlled Environments and the number 2 denotes that the project method is currently in its second generation. It is based on experience from more than 1000 projects through the last 20 years. It was developed in Great Britain and was originally utilized in private sector projects, but today it is used more and more within the public sector.
PRINCE2™is the de facto standard that is also being used more widely here in Denmark, both within the public and private sector.
All project managers in Pentia are PRINCE2™ certified at either Foundation or Practitioner level.
What is PRINCE2™?
PRINCE2™ is a structured project control method that can ensure there are precise goals and procedures for a project and a clear assignment of responsibility and rolls in a customer and supplier relationship. The method ensures, among other things, that the information that decision makers (those responsible for the project, Management etc) require is drawn up and/or obtained as a basis for decision making, as well as anchoring the project within the organisation. PRINCE2™ is rooted by a Business Case and this is a prerequisite for the start of a projects completion.
There should be clear descriptions of:
- Which result the project should provide.
- How the project will be completed.
- How quality in the project is ensured.
- How quality should be measured.
PRINCE2™ has been developed to work together with part or all elements of other methods that may already be in use and will be continued to be used. Among other things Pentia utilize their own Best Practices together with PRINCE2™.
One of the advantages with PRINCE2™ is that it is scalable. The method gives directions in how the separate processes and components in the method can be customized and modified for each individual project, ensuring that projects do not get consumed by administrative work.
What isn’t PRINCE2™?
It is important to understand that PRINCE2™ does not perform the work for you and that the utilization of PRINCE2™ is no guarantee for successful projects. However as mentioned earlier, PRINCE2™ provides a set of processes, that should be followed and describes what information should be collected during the process to give the best foundation for a successful project.
PRINCE2™ is therefore not:
- A new tool for planning projects.
- A program package.
- A step-by-step guide that can just be followed.
- A rigid method.
Advantages and benefits with PRINCE2™
Naturally there are a wide range of benefits with using PRINCE2™ as a project control method. Below some of these are listed.
Keywords for PRINCE2™:
- Common terminology
- A method that can be repeated and a method that can be taught.
- Control towards goal realization.
- Built on many years of experience and Best Practice.
- Deviation and status reporting
- Early warning about potential problems and challenges.
- Controlled change management.
PRINCE2™ in Pentia – project quality and maturity!
In the autumn of 2006, Pentia made a business plan where the hub of the company should be based on PRINCE2™ as a project method. The goal was to become CMMI level 2 (hopefully level 3) certified within a 3-4 year period. The first step was to educate our project managers, together with all other project relevant personnel in PRINCE2™, which was completed in the autumn of 2007, (a single project manager is also ITIL certified).
The PRINCE2™ framework was also used to introduce the control of processes in separate sub-projects, so that PRINCE2™’s handling of quality requirements was used over all projects in Pentia, despite their size. In reality this means that contract/project is broken down to measurable sub-units (quality criteria), that can be set up as independent quality goals for the project. These are directly reflected our time registration system thereby managing projects on a 1:1 basis, with time consumption for each individual sub-unit. Furthermore Pentia has its own web based support system that standardizes the quality in communication between the customer and Pentia. This enables us to focus on a problem by escalating it in a set pattern internally, for the customer and Pentia.
To ensure quality in a project there terms are used, such as stopreview in single fases (PRINCE2™), code reviews, test scenarios and user involvement in all facets of start, development, test etc. In this way there is a stringent test process, that increases focus on ensuring the customers required quality criteria in the final product.
A separate Core department created in connection with our certification goals, has the responsibility of ensuring focus on “usable architecture”, knowledge sharing and quality across Pentia. This is used actively in all projects, as well as monitoring the full project process with specific focus on ensuring that quality criteria are well thought through and already detailed in the start phase (PRINCE2™ initiation phase). To ensure full utilization of the PRINCE2™ model, there are assigned specific roles in all our projects (Developer, Senior Developer, Project Manager, System Architect etc), so that neither the customer or Pentia are in doubt of the distribution of responsibility throughout the entire project.
Throughout the years, Pentia has proved that a well thought out and prepared process defined by the customer and Pentia leads to exact quality and content results. It is always Pentia’s task to set quality in a fixed system, so that the best possible result is achieved. By conducting a project review at the end of a project, knowledge gained can be utilized in new projects.