Using IT portfolio management software will improve resource allocation

Home appliance company Electrolux expects to save more than €1.1m (£700,000) per year by improving the way it manages IT resources.

The firm is using IT portfolio management software to help evaluate technology and human resources so that projects ­such as building a new factory ­ will finish on time and on budget.

Previously, allocating resources was difficult, said Roger Taylor, head of IT demand management at Electrolux.

“Like any organisation, we have had some bad projects and some good ones ­ this will help us to deliver better projects for less money,” he said.

Electrolux has between 70 and 100 projects running at any time. Each project needs its own separate hardware and IT staff and could be in any one of 100 countries in which the company operates.

The firm is using the Changepoint system to gain earlier visibility of the resources that projects will need before they happen, so they can be given the go-ahead faster.

“This means that before we commit to delivering a project we make sure we can deliver it on cost and on time and if we can’t we can give the business an earlier warning,” said Taylor.

While the viability of projects is evaluated the system keeps all relevant stakeholders updated on progress, so when a project has been assessed it can be approved more quickly.

The system was originally used to provide structure to an ongoing project ­ recording staff time and expenses, project resources and invoices.

At the start of each initiative the tool creates a set of templates which provide a structure.

These templates include risk analysis, key tasks and project charters ­ a statement of the participants and scope of a project.