Two students using tech

Digital Services Programme Management Office (PMO)

Welcome to the PMO Hub

A home for all project support and documentation, here you'll find information about our current projects and previous projects as well as how we can support your digital project at the University. Our friendly team is experienced and knowledgeable in delivering change projects, and here to help with project support and implementation. Use our resources or get in touch with us to find out more about the Digital Services PMO and how we can support your next project. 

Who we are

The University is embarking on an ambitious and transformational Digital Strategy Programme. The Programme Management Office is coordinating and supporting the programmes and their related projects. We also provide advice around general project management queries.

What is a Programme Management Office?

The Programme Management Office (commonly known as the ‘PMO’) is a team which provides a variety of best practice advice and support around managing projects, including administration, reporting and monitoring.  It is the hub for programme and project management information.

What's the difference between programme management and project management?

The key difference is that where project management ensures that projects are done correctly and that the project objectives are being met, programme management focus is at a strategic level, enabling an organisation to deliver its strategic objectives through related projects working towards common organisational benefits.  The projects being delivered as part of the Digital Strategy, for example, fall within three programmes (Enterprise, Foundations and University), each having projects of related activity.  These programmes are working to support the University’s ambitions for excellence in higher education, transforming the digital services to help the University meet its objectives.

Who's in the PMO? 

The Digital Services PMO is made up of project managers, business analysts, testing lead, communication lead, and programme coordinators. To find out more about our team and what we all do, Meet The Team.

Project Lifecycle

 

The PMO can provide support at every stage of a projects' lifecycle. Documentation and more information about each stage is available on request - get in touch with us if you'd like to find out more. 

 

The icon for the pipeline aspect of a project lifecycle

Scoping

The icon for the pre-project aspect of a project lifecycle

Business Case

The icon for the project initiation aspect of a project lifecycle

Project Initiation

The icon for the project delivery aspect of a project lifecycle

Project Delivery

The icon for the project closure aspect of a project lifecycle

Project Closure

This stage is about understanding the project size and scope, as well as where it sits within the business portfolio. 

Documentation can include;

- Scoping Document

- Change Impact Assessment

- High level requirements

This stage is all about planning the project, identifying the benefits and objectives of the project, and allocating roles. 

Documentation can include;

- Business Case

- Data Protection Impact Assessment

This stage is about getting the project off the ground, and understanding the key stakeholders of the project.

Documentation can include;

- Project Initiation Document

- Project Plan

- Stakeholder Analysis

This stage is all about realising the objectives of the project, working with key stakeholders as well as the business as a whole. 

Documentation can include;

- Risks and Issues Log 

- Project Update Report

This stage makes sure that the objectives have been met and hands over to the business to continue, as well as confirming how benefits will be measured and reported once the project has closed.

Documentation can include;

- Lessons Learned Report

- Transition to BAU

If you're new to projects...

If you are new to projects and don’t know where to start, there are a number of areas the PMO can help you with

We can provide you with the following support for managing your project:

  • Where to start on a new project
  • Who to speak to for advice and information on managing a project
  • A step-by-step guide for you to manage your project 
  • Project roles and responsibilities 
  • Guidance around how to monitor project finances (including templates and key Agresso reports)
  • Sharing best practice
  • How to track project progress and different methods for doing this

Project governance is the framework used to make project decisions and help ensure projects run smoothly using a consistent approach. This will include roles and responsibilities, and processes for managing projects and reporting.  Some of the governance aspects which we can provide guidance on are listed below - you can find out more information by contacting the PMO.

 

  • The framework for managing a project
  • Guidance on different project management approaches
  • Support with pre-project analysis, business requirements, process engineering and mapping alongside other ad-hoc tactical and strategic analysis work
  • How to identify risks and issues
  • How identify and manage benefits
  • How to create a project board, selecting a project sponsor and project manager
  • Advice around how to manage stakeholder expectations
  • Guidance around policy approval

 

 

We are happy to answer your questions about what we do and about managing projects. If you have a general enquiry, please feel free to get in touch with us at ds.pmo@wlv.ac.uk

Meet the Team

Gareth is the Assistant Director and Head of PMO within Digital Services. He provides the overall leadership of the PMO and the programmes/projects that come through it. Outside of work he enjoys walking his dog, watching sport and occasionally a bit of DIY!

Chris is the (Interim) Assistant Director and Head of PMO within Digital Services. He provides the overall leadership of the PMO and the programmes/projects that come through it. Chris also looks after the other project managers in our PMO. Project managers are responsible for all aspects of project planning and delivery across the project lifecycle, managing their teams, and delivering effective change and benefits to the University. When he isn’t managing projects, Chris is a big football fan, and also enjoys getting out into the Shropshire countryside with his family.

Megan is a Project Manager within the PMO, her responsibility is to lead on the delivery of Digital Services projects, working within Project and Programme Board environments. When she isn't working, Megan enjoys reading, watching Disney movies, and hanging out with her cat, Alan.

Hardeep joined the University in 2015, where he has previously held roles relating to risk management and compliance. His role within the PMO is that of Project Manager, where he has the responsibility to lead on delivery of Digital Services projects, working within Project and Programme Board environments. Outside of work, Hardeep enjoys watching sports and trash TV. He also has a young family, which keeps him on his toes.

Catherine's role involves overseeing the programme administration and supporting the planning of the Digital Strategy Programme. She monitors programme and project budgets, and tracks expenditure. She also develops project guidance and templates to support effective project and programme management. In her spare time, she loves to read about history and enjoy watching history programmes.

Luke is the Project Support Coordinator for the PMO, which means he works across most of the PMO projects. He mainly provides support to the Project Managers by organising and attending project team meetings and project boards to capture Actions, Decisions, Issues and Risks in order to keep project documentation / governance up-to-date. When he isn't working, Luke enjoys the cinema, the gym, and travelling.

Amie is the Project Support Coordinator for the PMO, which means she offers support to projects helping them to stay on track. She works closely with the Project Managers making sure all project documentation is complete, organising and attending project boards and meetings, tracking actions, risks and issues as well as general administrative support. Outside of work Amie enjoys all things Disney related, watching horror movies, gaming and hanging out with her two cats Willow and Deya.

Luke is the Head of Testing, Quality and Transition within Digital Services. He provides the overall Testing & Quality Strategy and the testing processes that projects/BAU follow to ensure the highest quality deliverables. Outside of work he enjoys playing Guitar, going to the gym & eating cake!

Leo is the Test Analyst within Digital Services. He provides support with the testing processes that projects/BAU follow to ensure the highest quality deliverables.

Alan is one of the Business Analysts (BAs) within the PMO, which means he tries to understand why we are doing something and what we need to do. To support this he works on helping to understand and define existing processes/problems, requirements and then help design the future process. When Alan isn't working, he enjoys walking, nature, travel, music and spending too much money on craft beer.

Current Projects

We're currently working on... 

The Hybrid Meeting Room project aims to improve the hybrid meeting room facilities available for staff at the University. Hybrid meetings are defined as a meeting with both physical (multiple people attending in the same room together) and virtual attendees, using a digital platform such as Microsoft Teams.

Since the pandemic, the number of staff working from home on a regular basis has increased. Due to staff now returning to campus, as well as continuing to work remotely, there is a pressing need to facilitate effective hybrid meetings.

As part of the project, we will also be providing training and support to ensure effective hybrid meetings, including a guide to updated Microsoft Teams functionality, and hybrid meeting etiquette.

Cyber Essentials (CE) is a government-backed initiative that is specifically designed to help organisations defend themselves against common online threats, as well as demonstrate a commitment to continually improving their cyber / information security practices and policies. It is generally a requirement for organisations, who wish to engage and be awarded government contracts, to be hold certification.

This project has been mobilised to achieve re-certification of this standard.

The Digital Platform is the core component of the University's digital infrastructure and provides infrastructure as a utility to all key line of business services. The Digital Platform was reaching it's end of life deadline and needed replacing. With approved investment the 2 phased project embarked on procuring, designing, configuring and installing a new solution (Phase 1) along with an upgrade to the existing networking equipment.

Backup is a vital component to any organisation to both protect its data from accidental or deliberate loss and to recover from a disaster event. The threats to many organisations have escalated in recent years as Cyber-criminals have identified and exposed weaknesses.

The Identity and Access Management (IAM) project is a multi-phased project, with this initial phase focusing on the analysis of the current student identity and understanding the role-based access provision.

To support this piece of work, Digital Services will work in collaboration with Registry, External Engagement and Faculties. This collaborative approach will ensure that all IAM requirements are considered and facilitate a holistic approach that supports new ways of working.

IAM is used by organisations and institutions globally; essentially, it is a framework of business process and technologies that enable creation, maintenance and use of digital identity. IAM is responsible for the management of faculty, admin and student information and their access to applications and information. In essence, IAM is the ability to enable the right people to access the right resources at the right time for the right purpose.