Traditional Project Management Software is Wasteful." -- Realization Technologies

Traditional project management software has proven itself to be wasteful. Realization Technologies project management software plans for uncertainties in advance allowing time to solve the problem without delaying the project

SILICON VALLEY -- February 11, 2003 -- According to Realization Technologies (formerly Speed to Market), whose multi-project management software is used by over 65 leading organizations, such as Pharmacia, LSI Logic, Medtronic and others, most project management software does not work as promised. Though more than $1 billion per year is spent on older packages, most projects still end up being late, over budget or under scope. Not only do organizations squander money on the software itself, the recurring costs of failure are immense.

Older, traditional project management software has proven itself to be wasteful," emphasizes Realization Technologies CEO Sanjeev Gupta. It has an inherent flaw. Traditional approaches assume a perfect world, one that doesnt exist. In reality, as soon as a plan is created, uncertainties hit, making the plan obsolete. You cant wish uncertainties away. You cant ignore them. But, you can make project management software useful by providing a way to manage uncertainties."

To clarify, Gupta explains, traditional approaches suggest that one should understand and lock in requirements up front. Realities are, as requirements evolve and technology choices become clearer, the organization needs to be able to change program scope. Locking in becomes counter-productive. Likewise, project managers have been trained to create detailed work plans and optimize available resources to fulfill their plans. Yet, there is no way to precisely plan creative work and its impossible to truly gauge resource availability. For those that suggest individual time tracking and cost management will solve project hiccups, theyre foiled by people hiding safeties in their plans, negating any opportunities for early finishes since such results will be requested for the next project, a scary proposition for most managers.   

Since there will unquestionably be uncertainties in any major multi-project program, they must be managed, Gupta argues. Realizations Reality Engine, he stresses, does that by inserting blocks of unscheduled time, called buffers, into the plan. These buffers absorb and lessen the shocks of uncertainties. As uncertainties create delays in execution, the buffer gets used. The Reality Engine then calculates how much of the unscheduled time is still available for future uncertainties and sets forward-looking priorities for everyone, including managers.

As a result of using this approach, Realizations customers are completing more than 80 percent of their projects on time, accomplishing more projects with more scope in each project and providing managers with increased control.

At LSI Logic, over 90 percent of projects in the library development group are finished within two weeks of planned dates. Within three months of starting implementation, the U.S. Marine Corps Materiel Command reduced cycle times 50 percent. SheaHomes, a general contractor that builds homes, cut cycle time from 90 to 56 days at its first site and consistently achieves a 20 to 30 percent reduction in cycle time as the Reality Engine approach expands to other sites.

Organizations can no longer afford to compound the inherent waste of traditional project management," Gupta avows. They do not have to. Thats now a reality."

About Realization Technologies, Inc.
Realization Technologies, Inc. (formerly Speed to Market) provides premium project management software, specifically designed to manage uncertainties in projects. Its 65-plus customers around the world include leading organizations such as LSI Logic, Medtronic, NASA, Pharmacia, the U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. Navy, who now deliver over 80 percent of their projects on time without compromising scope, budgets or lead times. Realization is headquartered at 2 North First Street, San Jose, CA 95113. Website is www.realization.com.

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For more information, contact:
Shailesh Sood         
REALIZATION TECHNOLOGIES   
408-271-1711
ssood@realization.com

or

Tom Brigham
BRIGHAM SCULLY
818-716-9021
tbrigham@brighamscully.com