Modernizing Enterprise Project and Capital Portfolio Management

Business Context

The City of Calgary manages a complex portfolio of capital investments and enterprise projects across multiple business units. With different operating requirements, project management processes, and reporting needs, the City required a more consistent approach to portfolio governance while preserving the flexibility needed by individual departments. The initiative encompassed both IT project management and corporate capital planning, with different operational requirements and governance structures.

The Challenge

The City needed to modernize its project and portfolio management environment, improve visibility across capital initiatives, and standardize planning and reporting. The IT PMO supported more than 100 active projects across 11 IT groups, while the capital planning organization required stronger processes for project intake, business case evaluation, prioritization, and funding decisions. Existing technology and processes required modernization, including legacy Microsoft Project Server environments, financial integrations, and department-specific workflows. The challenge was to balance enterprise-wide standardization with the operational flexibility required by individual business units.

Our Approach and Solution

A phased modernization program was developed, beginning with business process assessments, requirements validation, and solution architecture.

• Project and Portfolio Management Modernization: modernizing the IT PMO's Project Server environment and subsequently moving toward Project Online.
• Capital Planning and Portfolio Governance: implementing portfolio management capabilities for capital planning, including project intake, prioritization, and governance workflows.
• Process Standardization: establishing common project and portfolio management processes while accommodating departmental requirements.
• Resource and Schedule Management: developing resource management, scheduling, and project planning capabilities to support portfolio and project execution.
• Financial Integration and Reporting: supporting financial reporting, custom reporting, and integration between project management processes and financial systems.
• OnePlan Capital Planning Capabilities: supporting OnePlan capabilities within the broader capital planning modernization program.

Execution Highlights

Key elements of the phased program included:

• Phased requirements gathering and solution architecture
• Modernization of legacy Microsoft PPM environments
• Support for project intake and portfolio selection processes
• Development of governance workflows
• Project and resource management capabilities
• Custom reporting and financial integration
• Department-specific rollout and adoption planning
• Support for OnePlan-related capital planning capabilities

The Outcome

The initiative established a stronger foundation for enterprise project and portfolio management, with improved governance, standardized processes, and greater visibility into project and capital investment information. The phased approach supported different departmental requirements while moving the City toward more consistent portfolio management practices.

Implementation Context

The City of Calgary engagement involved multiple implementation phases and technologies, including Project Server, Project Online, and OnePlan. It is presented as part of the broader OnePlan implementation and partner ecosystem experience, not as a OnePlan-only implementation.