Top 6 PPM Software Trends of 2017

4 minute read

Upland Admin

As we close in to 2017, the project workforce increasingly broadens its footprint on the global economy. In fact, according to a study by the Project Management Institute (PMI), “There is projected to be 15.7 million new project management roles to be added globally across seven project-intensive industries by 2020 reaching an economic impact of over $18 trillion, across seven project-intensive industries including Manufacturing, Finance & Insurance, Information Services, Utilities, Business Services, Oil & Gas and Construction.” With the increase presence of project management domestically and abroad, 2017 ushers in a new era in PPM software where Gen X and Millennials increase their influence in decentralized teams, agile approaches and improved collaboration with a heavy focus on streamlining resource management processes.

As these forces take hold of the project management world in 2017, the following PPM trends can be expected to make their mark on our industry:

  1. Resource centric approach to PPM – with the increased diversity of resources and teams across verticals, project leaders will continue to turn their attention to maximizing their talent pool to deliver stronger results within their portfolios by leveraging their PPM solutions as proactive and preventive vehicles to resource planning.
  2. PPM will attract a broader audience – with the affordability of SaaS PPM and the increased importance more organizations are placing on IT projects and the resources they manage, PPM software will continue its move down market attracting more business of all sizes that heavily depend on the strategic IT projects and people that drive their businesses.
  3. PMOs increased role in decentralized teams – as projects continue to extend beyond borders, the role of a PMO to manage dispersed teams and diverse portfolios will rely heavily on PPM technology to streamline their processes and deliver high value projects with the best talent.
  4. Heavier focus on security in the Cloud – with Cloud technology becoming mainstream across all verticals, the security around PPM Cloud solutions will come to the forefront. Security and vulnerability in the cloud will be a high priority on customers and buyers PPM checklist and PPM vendors will tighten their belts in response.
  5. Mobile is no longer a “Nice to have” – today more that half of the emails sent will be opened via mobile devices. In the PPM world where information workers are increasingly on the move and users have multiple mobile devices at their disposal, delivering mobile capabilities around notifications, status updates and collaboration is a “must have” for PPM vendors to effectively manage their resources.
  6. Optimization of the Self-Service experience – with 90% of consumers expecting self-service capabilities when dealing with businesses, this is an area PPM solutions need to continue to optimize. PPM solutions will be moving beyond their primary strategic need and act as service portals collecting and sharing information (via push and pull capabilities) on resource, project and portfolio health.

In the end, the real game changers for PPM software in 2017 will be the stakeholders who are responsible for managing and delivering successful portfolios and projects. As these key stakeholders continue to broaden their geographical and influential footprint in the organizations’ they serve, PPM solutions will continue to evolve and adapt to a more inclusive audience that will demand improved transparency and access to the critical information that drive their decisions.

About the Author: Mounir Hilal leads the Upland Customer Success organization, which is focused on driving adoption, value realization, retention and loyalty for existing customers. Prior to Upland, Mounir served as Vice President of Client Services for PSA, where he oversaw the global professional services organization and was responsible for growing services revenue. With more than 12 years of professional services experience, Mounir has extensive knowledge in enterprise software design, development and deployment processes, as well as business consulting and project management. In addition, he has a high degree of expertise in operational control, compliance and business process optimization. Mounir holds a bachelor’s degree in software engineering from McGill University and an MBA from Queen’s University, and is also a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

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