Net Present Value

I have to tell you, this is a topic that I am no expert in. I rarely actually put togther NPV calculations. Usually where I work a finance person will do them rather than a pm.

But I need to be able to explain it to people.

I can explain this; NPV is a way of assessing differet projects over different time periods. It helps pick and choose what goes into your project portfolio. It helps understand whether the project meets the opportunity cost thresholds your organisation has set.

And the calculations themselevs are easy enough once you know how to use the excel NPV feature.

But explaining it still stumps me. This is me having a go.

Someone - Help me out and do a better job.

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Project Management
Business Analyst

Requirements Re-use - Myth or reality?

Years ago, back when RM tools were in their infancy, (are they mature yet?) I advocated to my employer that a database of requirements would be a great idea.

It would save time in eliciting requirements, socialising them across management and stakeholder team and constructing requirements documents

The database, if implemented, would create a more consistent approach to requirements which would in turn make solution design faster and cheaper and provide a platform for better solution architecture and better requirements (through review and continual improvement activities.)

I understand they have now implemented such a database, but it doesn’t look what I had in mind, and it doesn’t come with the management processes (above) that I had wrapped around the database.

That experience and my other experiences in large enterprises lead me to conclude that capacity for requirements re-use is a rare talent, and that, for most businesses there are a lot of other investment priorities ahead in the queue.

The development of the BA and Enterprise Architecture professions are steps towards capability for re-use of requirements, but really, it’s not effectively happening anywhere I have worked.

It’s coming, but… it’s a rare enterprise that has it organised at this stage.

Have a look at this model I put together and think about the issues involved in requirements re-use. Are your requirements re-useable for other projects for the same system? Will they be useable on other system developments within your existing programme? Will they be re-useable on totally new projects?

Overlay the ideas against the People, Process and Technology lenses and have a think about the issues you could face.

What’s re-useable on your project?

Project Management
Business Analyst

Net Present Value in Excel

If you are like me, doing financial calculations is one of the less fun parts of the job. NPV often trips me up, even though I know what it is and how to calculate it.

Luckily I usually have a finance person double check my spreadsheets before I do anything silly with them (and they always find errors.)

Possibly it isn't me; it's Microsoft who are the culprits.

See this article on NPV calculations in Excel for a breakdown of the way to do it right.

(More on NPV soon.)

Project Management
Business Analyst

Photocare of K8 and

Creative Commons at Flickr

Michael Porter's theory on Competitive Advantage

From: shuwesley.

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SlideShare Link

Project Management
Business Analyst

OPM3, Project, Programme and Portfolio Management

This presentation is on Project Management and how to get the most out of it, including a look at programme and project portfolio management. I particularly liked the visuals on the differences between leadership styles and roles across the three disciplines.

Thanks to Elmar Roberg for making this presentation available to the world via Slideshare.

If you have questions or comments leave them below. We'll respond as best we can.

(View this in full screen mode to see and read everything clearly.)

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Project Management
Business Analyst