Efficiently manage your project portfolio with BCS
User report from Freiburg University Medical Centre
The high flexibility of Projektron BCS allows us to easily map our internal PPM requirements, which contributes to the acceptance of the tool.
Freiburg University Hospital rethinks medicine
With more than 15,000 employees, Freiburg University Hospital (UKF) is one of the largest university hospitals in Germany. Around 2,000 doctors and more than 4,600 nurses treat around 90,000 inpatients and carry out around 980,000 outpatient visits every year.
The University Medical Centre combines its original tasks of research, teaching and patient care, always with the aim of offering patients treatment based on the latest scientific findings, both today and in the future.
The University Medical Centre Freiburg attaches great importance to the central role of patient care by pooling knowledge from clinical practice, research and teaching. Through close cooperation, all professional groups consistently gear their actions to the needs of patients. The hospital strives for top positions among German university hospitals in treatment, research and teaching, and integrates creative ideas and the unique talents of its employees.
As part of the digital transformation in university medicine, the hospital focuses specifically on the use of extensive data: it identifies treatment risks in real time, continuously improves patient care, optimises processes and strengthens data-based research.
Goal: Uniform project portfolio, greater overview
Project management software Projektron BCS in the SaaS model. This enables us to record and manage all major IT and organisational projects at our hospital in a shared project portfolio. Teams such as the Centre for Digitalisation and Information Technology, various staff units and a wide range of business areas are involved.
We wanted to clearly present and reliably manage the large number of projects – between 50 and 200. In addition, portfolio managers should be able to easily maintain their projects and provide information for controlling. To do this, we needed a tool that would support us in making decisions about starting and managing projects while also creating transparency about overall progress.
Previously, project data was often scattered and difficult to compare. This made it difficult to evaluate and prioritise projects in a consistent manner. There was also no centralised solution for reporting to management and escalation management. With Projektron BCS, we can now map different types of projects, such as construction, IT or organisational projects, in a common structure. We use the software to create reports for top management and prepare well-founded decisions.
It was also important to us to have a lean and easy-to-use solution. BCS meets this requirement: it is mainly used by project portfolio management and project managers. This enables us to manage our projects more efficiently and coordinate them better.
From web search to project management software
Our first contact with Projektron BCS came about through a simple internet search for the term ‘portfolio management’. This is how we became aware of the system and subsequently took a closer look at the functions and possible applications it offered. The decisive factors in our decision were above all the convincing references, the good usability, customisation and the range of functions that suited the requirements of our hospital. BCS can clearly map different types of projects – from IT to construction projects – in a central portfolio and at the same time support management with clear decision-making criteria.
The specific implementation strategy was developed jointly in a requirements workshop and implemented through further workshops, consultations and training sessions.
Initially, functions for project and portfolio management, reporting and project preparation were implemented. The focus is primarily on multi-project management, and projects are created with a high-level perspective, where the focus is on a rough schedule, project goals, strategic importance and responsibilities. The actual project implementation and work organisation were carried out using other tools. The user groups included portfolio managers, steering committees and administrators.
During the introduction phase, the software was set up and customised in collaboration with a consultant from Projektron GmbH. In addition, training courses were held for the portfolio managers with an agenda tailored to the requirements of the UKF.
BCS for effective multi-project management
We currently use Projektron BCS in several key areas. The focus is on project and portfolio management (PPM), reporting, report generation and project controlling at the multi-project level. For these purposes, the software is used for project description, such as defining objectives, assessing strategic importance, analysing the environment, creating milestone plans and team planning with placeholders. Project risks are also recorded and rough cost planning is carried out directly in BCS.
We are currently in the process of expanding our use of the software. The focus is currently on project portfolio management. We are currently deepening our portfolio analyses, systematically mapping the dependencies between projects and using this information to create meaningful reports that enable effective management of the entire project portfolio. BCS serves as our central tool in this process: it creates transparency about the status of all projects and helps us make informed decisions about priorities and the use of resources with the help of placeholders.
In reporting, we currently use both individual reports and dashboards, which provide a quick overview of project statuses, milestones and risks. These reports are an important basis for regularly informing management and steering committees. We are continuing to expand and standardise our reporting so that it can be incorporated even more effectively into decision-making processes at management level.
Project management is based on the classic waterfall model.
In further developing portfolio management, we are adapting our internal processes to the logic and capabilities of BCS on the one hand, and configuring the software to optimally support our specific requirements on the other.
Examples of projects we manage with BCS include the migration of the infotainment system, the introduction of the telematics infrastructure, the patient call and guidance system, and the development of a patient app. These projects vary in nature and complexity, but are all mapped in BCS according to a uniform pattern. This enables us to make comparisons, identify resource bottlenecks and respond to problems at an early stage.
The next steps in the further development of our use of BCS mainly concern the areas of reporting, resource planning and project controlling. In future, we will analyse specifically which data we need at which point so that we can manage our projects even more effectively. To this end, we will further refine both our internal processes and the configurations in BCS. The goal is to create an integrated, transparent and reliable project landscape that optimally supports management in their decisions and facilitates collaboration across all project types.
Next steps
We are satisfied with Projektron BCS. We particularly appreciate the individual support provided by Projektron and the flexibility of the software, which enables us to map our internal project portfolio management requirements. This allows us to design our processes in a practical manner and adapt them as needed. It is a great advantage to have important portfolio management data in one place. As a result, the tool has been well accepted in-house and is actively used by various user groups. BCS provides us with reliable support in managing, prioritising and evaluating our projects. The tool has established itself as an important instrument for greater transparency and better decision-making.
The next steps in the further development of our use of BCS mainly concern the areas of reporting, resource planning and project controlling. In future, we want to understand more precisely what data we need and where we need it in order to make the management of our projects even more effective. To this end, we will further refine both our internal processes and the configurations in BCS. The aim is to create a transparent project landscape that supports management in their decisions and facilitates collaboration across all project types.
