The Project Management Office (PMO): A Quest for Understanding (Final Research Report) Illustrated Edition

This the final report of the research performed by Dr. Brian Hobbs and Dr. Monique Aubry that was funded by a grant from PMI. The initia; research project entitled "The Multi;Project PMO: A Global Analysis of the Current State of Practice" began in 2007 with surveys of 502 organizations around the globe to determine the issues affecting PMO's as a relatively new business function.The final report contains six chapters and includes numerous figures and tables to support the survey analysis that is based on the initial 2007 research and subsequent follow-up research projects. This book is very readable and loaded with useful information about the past and current state of PMOs. I have been a fan of Dr. Hobbs and Dr. Aubry ever since i obtained copies of the 2007 research paper and subsequent reports they produced. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is involved in creating or managing a PMO.Building Project-Management Centers of Excellence (With CD-ROM)The PMOSIG Program Management Office Handbook: Strategic and Tactical Insights for Improving ResultsThe Power of Enterprise-Wide Project Management

This is a great resource for those individuals and organizations who are interested in setting up or to benchmark their exisiting PMO. I am using this book and its research findings as a reference for defending my dissertation on adopting project management in organizations. Dr. Hobbs research approach, writing style, and presentation of the materials are easy to read. I have read many of Dr. Hobbs articles and books and I know that I am getting the best research information available. If you need an evidence-based reference to benchmark on what your PMO should be, this book will provide it.

Professors Dr. Brian Hobbs and Dr. Monique Aubry consolidated the results of the most important academic research program related to PMOs. A well-written and seminal research report. Congratulations.

We finally have a scientific, clear, fact and market based foundation to start our "quest for understanding" of PMOs, their structure(s), function(s) and their ongoing evolution. Most (all?) the other books or "white papers" I have read are anecdotal at best, or to borrow a wonderfully crafted statement from the authors "...have not been empirically validated, or their empirical basis is not in the public domain." LOL! Yeah!The book is jam packed with information often thought-provoking, always thought-requiring. Do not read it if you can't stand even some statistical jargon or if you are in love with one of the self-proclaimed, "don't-bother-me-with-the-facts", PMO gurus du-jour (the evidence from this study may not support their lofty claims, "experience" or crystal ball reading).The book tries to answer 2 basic questions: what are the types of functions and structures used to implement PMOs and how have PMOs been evolving and working in organizations. The analysis is based on real life (over 500 PMOs reviewed) and what appears to be solid scientific ground, making an effort to boil it down to the "so what?" and the "open issues" in only 170 pages (thank you!!!). It does not answer all the questions you may have on PMOs (not the goal anyway) and it may generate even more questions, but it provides a great framework and the foundation to build upon our understanding and drive some of our PMO practices. The authors make a good effort across chapters to refer back to findings in other chapters and helping panting the picture that emerges from this study. Nonetheless, it requires some attentive reading and some backtracking to prior chapters from time to time (hint: not always a light read unless you are in academia).I am a Program/Portfolio/Project Management experienced practitioner and just having the collection of this information augmented with some analysis of the statistically significant factors that correlate with PMOs typologies and processes is essential in fine tuning my approach to building or improving PMOs. This book is excellent from a fact-based content perspective and I really recommend it to all serious PM practitioners involved with PMOs and eager to get the picture of what PMOs look like and how they actually work/evolve. Thank you Dr. Hobbs and Dr. Aubry for a great foundational study!It appears that the authors are working on some additional research on PMOs and on Project Portfolio Management. I am looking forward to reading their future material (papers or books).PS:Possible areas of improvement for "mass-appeal":- The language is still a bit too academic (at time is sounds like a PhD thesis dissertation) and jargon filled.- Also the book could benefit from moving some of the details about the research methodology to the appendix along with some of the more obscure stats/concepts/tables.- Any study on causes or factors that contribute to or appears with "early-life" PMO mortality could help practitioners to navigate these risky but ever more required PMO waters.- It would be interesting to know if the research and analysis has been peer-reviewed (again, material for appendices)- eBook?