If you’ve been around the programme and project management space long enough you are probably familiar with the project management office (PMO), but what about the Enterprise PMO (EPMO)? In this article Ade Quinney takes a high-level look at the ‘what’, ‘why’ and ‘how’ of the EPMO.

1. THE ENTERPRISE PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT OFFICE
Ade Quinney - Senior PMO manager and programme management professional with 20+ years leading PMO teams in
business change and transformation programmes within Banking, Healthcare, and the Public Sector. He has set up and led
18+ programme PMOs in the UK, Middle East, and USA, including the Enterprise PMO (EPMO) for the world’s largest e-
health programme. You can reach Ade at Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/adequinney
If you’ve been around the programme and project management space long enough you are probably
familiar with the project management office (PMO), but what about the Enterprise PMO (EPMO)? In
this article Ade Quinney takes a high-level look at the ‘what’, ‘why’ and ‘how’ of the EPMO.
What is an EPMO?
An Enterprise PMO is a centralised strategic function of an organisation that operates with C-suite
executives and key decision makers to provide enterprise-wide visibility and support across all
programme, project and portfolio management activities. More often, EPMOs report directly to the
C-suite executives (e.g., the CEO, COO or CFO), although there is a growing trend for the EPMO to
report into the Chief Transformation Officer as this role becomes more prevalent throughout the
2020’s.
The difference between EPMO and PMO
The key take-away here is that although their activities may seem to overlap, traditional PMOs
operate on tactical and operational levels, mainly focusing on delivery and doing things right, whilst
EPMOs operate at the strategic level focusing on alignment and ensuring that the right things are
being done.
The 9 responsibilities of the EPMO
• Enterprise Strategy Alignment - EPMO can maintain the company's short and long-term
vision and strategies, collaborating with the C-suite and deciding which programs and
projects should be undertaken based on alignment to strategy.
• Value Analysis & Management - EPMO can evaluates and monitors the value of outcomes
derived from the delivery of multiple programmes and projects. Financial formulas such as
ROI, NPV, and IRR etc., can be used to arrive at tangible and intangible benefits.
• Demand Management - EPMO forecasts the programme and project demand from different
business initiatives Reduces risk as priority is determined centrally instead of individual
departments.
• Resource Management – EPMO maintains a single source of truth about programme and
project resource / skill set availability across the organisation, resulting in better utilization
of resource and improved efficiency.
• PMO Coordination – EPMO provides oversight and guidance to the departmental /
programme and project PMOs to improve communication, consistency, and standardisation
across the organisation.
• Tracking, and Reporting - Having a centralized view, EPMO has the responsibility to track all
the organisation’s programs, and projects and prepare reports and dashboards for the C-
suite and the departmental, programme and project leadership.
• Assurance – with its centralized view, EPMO has the responsibility to co-ordinate Gateway
reviews and audits the PMOs and aspects of a programme or project to check for
compliance with standard practices and identify corrective action plans.
• Standardization – EPMO optimizes methods and applies the organisation’s delivery
framework. EPMO defines, maintains, and standardizes metrics, tools, procedures, and
techniques ensures that all projects, programs, and portfolios are aligned.
• Coaching and Mentoring – EPMO, with its programme and project management expertise,
provides training, mentoring, and coaching to the project managers, program managers, and
staff of the PMOs.