May 2009 Issue 7EMPOWERING PROJECT DRIVEN BUSINESSES

POINT OF VIEWPROJECT MANAGEMENT

PROCESSES FOR PUBLICLY TRADED COMPANIES

(Part 1 of 2)Bassam Samman, PMP®, PSP, EVP | CEO & Founder

For organizations that their business be project driven, applying professional proj-

ect management practices would enable them to proactively bal-ance the business requirements for delivering a project and at the same time the expectations of stakeholders. Project management provides the tools and techniques that addresses the project triple constraints namely time, cost and scope.

Project management process-es aim to manage the life cycle of a project which details the phases that a project will go through to convert the needs and ideas that were the reason for creating a project into tangible products and services. These processes will also address how to identify, analyze and manage the dynamic stake-holder needs. Should these pro-cesses get implemented properly by experienced, skilled and quali-fied project team members, then there will be a greater chance that projects will be delivered on time, within budget and in accordance to the set scope of work. Achiev-ing these objectives will enable business-driven organizations to meet their stakeholder expecta-tions and increase confidence on

what they promise.Project management looks

into every project in terms of five processes. The first process is known as the project initiation where its objective is to define the project and explain why it is needed. This requires studying the business case that identifies the need for the project as well as the project feasibility study re-port. This will enable the organi-zation to clearly state the project objectives, scope, needs dates, budget, risks, assumptions and constraints. It will also enable them to identify what will make this project a success and how to measure this success. These findings will be documented in a report known as the project charter. When this charter is ap-proved by senior management, it will become a formal document that will authorize the project manager to proceed with the project.

The second group of pro-cesses is known as the planning processes. The objective of these processes is to delineate the road map that the project life cycle must go through to produce the deliverables that the project has

Continued on page 3>>

Dear Readers,

In many instances, I usually get asked if it is true that project management is only applicable

to construction, oil and gas, IT and other mega projects. My answer is always “no”, because frankly, proj-ect management is no more than common sense being applied in a formal and rational way. Human beings have been doing projects as early as when they first go to school (if not earlier). Projects could vary from having a birthday party, taking a vacation, learning a new language, cooking a meal, having friends over for a movie and many others.

Regretfully, the majority of these projects and many other mega projects are being managed by project managers who did not get for-mal project management training thus making them what is known as “accidental project managers”. These are project managers who have been given the responsibility to manage project investments and teams but do not have formal knowledge of what it takes to man-age a project successfully. Of course many might argue and say that many of these who have been called “accidental project managers” have successfully delivered some of the most important projects of the world compared to those who have become formally certified project managers, and my response is, that is true. But is it not also true that this is the case with many common sense activities such as playing an instrument, learning a language, swimming and riding a bicycle, among many others?

The importance of formal project management training is that we can ensure that project managers and team players have common un-derstanding of project management terminologies and the particulars of this science. This will help project managers to better manage their projects and increase their chances of success.

To help these organizations and individuals whose growth and success depends on delivering successful projects, CMCS will start offering new training programs that are designed to offer project managers the flexibility to choose the topics that they are interested in instead of having a single program that covers all.

We at CMCS will continue to listen to what the market needs and respond positively to those needs.

Keep tuned to our monthly newsletter.

Best regards,Bassam Samman

IN THIS ISSUEMessage from CEO .................................................................................. Primavera Success Story ......................................................................... Project Management Professional Certification......................................... Enterprise Project Portfolio Management .................................................Professional’s Corner .............................................................................. Service Review ........................................................................................ CMCS News ........................................................................................... Featured Employee ................................................................................ CMCS Wins ........................................................................................... CMCS Course News .............................................................................. Tech Talk ............................................................................................... CMCS Events ........................................................................................ Q&A ...................................................................................................... Course Calendar ...................................................................................

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SUCCESS STORY: PARSONS AND PRIMAVERA: INTEGRATION OF TECHNOLOGY AND PROCESSES FOR COMPETITIVE EDGE

Recognizing the opportunity for seam-less integration and standardization of both technology and business pro-

cesses, Parsons pulled all programs together with Primavera® software.

Optimizing Project Management Processes

For most engineering and construction companies, coordination is not an easy task. This was the case for Parsons Corporation. The organization is a full-service engineering, proj-ect management, and construction management company that is known for its ability to create innovative solutions and manage complex proj-ects. The company employs 9,500 engineers, designers, scientists, technicians, and support personnel in more than 80 countries. At any giv-en time, the internationally recognized company has more than 2,500 clients and 8,000 projects worldwide. The largest of the five operating business units—the Parsons Infrastructure & Technology Group (I&T)—oversees 4,000 of the organization’s projects while managing 5,000 employees and approximately 1,000 sub-contracted workers.

At any given time, Parsons I&T works on approximately 1,000 projects simultane-ously. The group also supplies project con-trol support to other Parsons companies. The group wanted to consolidate its projects into programs for use in a multi-user environ-ment where consistent access to project data is needed to maintain control of the projects and the 6,000-member team. The business unit was able to accomplish its objectives by integrating Primavera with all of its disparate software systems.

Parsons’ Philosophy of Integration

Parsons I&T realized that one application does not fit all projects–small projects require different project controls systems than large ones. However, the company wanted integra-tion between its tools regardless of the project mix.

Vernon Stultz, the manager of cost and scheduling at Parsons I&T, explained, “Our philosophy on integration is to create a com-plementary system of software applications that enables project managers to select the most appropriate solutions and have the tools integrate with one other. We like to use each software product at our discretion and ensure the applications seamlessly integrate.”

To control every project effectively, the business unit’s next step was to integrate the variety of databases and software solu-tions needed to bring data from every project together into one place for analysis. Using Primavera, this information is automatically replicated into one report without having to manually input the information, eliminating data-entry errors.

“When we pull information from one

source, you know that all of the numbers are correct and that everyone has the same infor-mation, from the project engineer to the proj-ect manager up through the corporation to the President of Parsons I&T and the CEO of Parsons, Inc.” commented Stultz.

“We believe integration is where project control is headed, and where it has to be,” Stultz added. “We view this philosophy as a way to integrate business processes, not just software solutions. By enforcing an overall program control cycle, projects are unlikely to be over budget and/or experience delays, which leads to substantial savings in overall revenue.

We are currently in the process of inte-grating Primavera with human resources and accounting systems, as well as our analyti-cal tools and cost engines. This strategy has proved to be more cost effective in terms of time and money than developing our own in-house system.”

“It gives us an advantage over our com-petitors when we utilize more advanced ap-plications, integrate them to provide progres-sive operations, and employ talented people to operate those systems,” said Stultz.

The Desire for Flexible Data ExchangeOne of the compelling reasons that led to

the upgrade to the most recent technology was that the 32-byte application could accommo-date Parsons’ advanced functionality requests. Parsons needed consistency and common re-source bases across its projects—such as stan-dardized resource and activity-coding struc-tures—to achieve its overall objectives.

“We have an ambitious desire to inte-grate project management, human resources, accounting software, and any in-house cre-ated systems,” explained Stultz. “This solu-tion will also integrate with Timberline® ac-counting software on the estimating side and PWORKS (a global project control system) to automatically bring financial data into the system.” Furthermore, Parsons is excited that Primavera’s advanced project plan tem-plate capabilities will enable the company to

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Our VisionEmpowering project driven businesses to enable them to get rid of failed project investments

Our MissionTo help organizations deliver a complete solution to propose, prioritize and select strategic project investments and then to plan, manage and control their entire portfolio through to its successful completion. Our solutions are custom tailored to each organization’s needs. They include developing policies that are in line with internationally recognized standards and enabling the organization to deploy them by developing their resources’ skills to enable them to take ownership of the solution and providing state-of-the-art IT tools to support the solution operation.

Products That We Represent

Professional Education Bodies That We Are Certified At

Industries That We ServeEngineering and ConstructionOil, Gas and PetrochemicalEnergy and UtilityGovernmentIT and TelecommunicationFinancial ServicesMediaEducationHealth CareRetail and Marketing

Our OfficesUAE, Qatar, Oman, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia (2009), Kuwait (2009), Bahrain (2009) and Egypt (2009)

Our Corporate OfficeStar Holding Building, Suite 101, Dubai Internet City, Dubai, UAEOFC: (+9714) 365-4850 | FAX: (+9714) 369-7518 Email: Info@CMCS.ae | WEB: www.CMCS.ae

ABOUT CMCS

APPROVEDEDUCATION PROVIDER

PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS:• 50% decrease in schedule creation time• Immediate ROI• Integration of accounting, HR, and Primavera software• 6,000 team members and 4,000 projects managed in system

capture best practices and reuse the most successful projects.

Making Project Management EasierWhile improving overall collaboration,

the business unit is beginning to utilize Pri-mavera’s methodology management func-tionality. Methodology management helps project managers author and store method-ologies, or project plan templates, in a cen-tral location and allows those methodologies to be shared as a project standard through-out the group.

The methodology function helps project managers to create custom project plans by selecting, combining, and tailoring a proj-ect, rather than creating a new plan for each new project. As a result, methodologies are improved and refined by continuously up-dating the methodology library across the whole unit. Parsons I&T realized immediate returns after implementing Primavera. “Af-ter two months of evaluating our portfolio on a national, multi-year federal govern-ment program to define uncoordinated and disconnected efforts and streamlining the entire design process,” Stultz explained, “we noticed that our time and effort was repaid by the third time this module was used.”

The long-term benefit of using Primave-ra’s methodology management functionality is the ability to construct templates using generic logic that outlines the different types of sched-ules. This enables schedulers to spend more time focusing on resources than on developing schedules. “With standardization of resource and activity codes, it is easier to move resourc-es between projects, identify commonalities, and create schedules, translating into revenue for Parsons and increased project delivery for

our clients,” noted Stultz.“We have decreased the time it takes to cre-

ate design schedules by 50 percent, from six to three weeks. The main benefits are the ability to optimize our processes, maintain project consis-tency, and repeat past project successes.”

The Primavera DifferenceProject managers like using Primavera

because accessing data is very easy due to its advanced collaboration technology.

“We have five prime contractors that we use on a consistent basis, and we are now able to easily merge their project informa-tion into one system,” commented Stultz. “We can view the entire project as well as analyze and report their individual informa-tion in real time over the internet.”

As technology evolved at Parsons I&T, the company has maintained a strong work-ing relationship with Primavera.

“Primavera was the first PC-based prod-uct with complex schedule analysis function-ality in the market, and it was a giant step forward,” said Stultz. “Parsons has imple-mented Primavera on many projects ranging from research studies to large design-build projects during our 19-year relationship.”

As state-of-the-art systems have ad-vanced, Parsons I&T has kept up with the technology. For example, when Parsons I&T was bidding on the $7.4 billion Ever-glades Project in Jacksonville, Florida, the Jacksonville Corps of Engineers and South Florida Water Management District man-dated the use of Primavera software.

“This project has 125 programs sched-uled during its 15-year lifespan. The leading-edge technology of Primavera gives us the ability to handle a project of this scale.”

“Weve remained with Primavera because its solutions are unmatched and the company pro-vides us with outstanding service,” concluded Stultz. “It gives us a strategic advantage to say that we use Primavera software, because our clients trust the Primavera name. It’s a tangible benefit to us and to our clients. Equally impor-tant is that Primavera listens to their customers.”Source: www.primavera.com

promised. This requires having a full under-standing of what the project scope includes and excludes. Decomposing the project scope using the work breakdown structure technique will translate the project scope into well defined work packages. These work packages can be further detailed into specific activities that will show the sequence of actions that must be done to execute each one of them. These activities will be pre-sented in what is known as the project schedule.

Resources including manpower, material, equipment and others required for accomplish-ing each activity will be estimated. This will en-able the project team to estimate the cost of those resources as well as other expenses needed to ac-complish the project schedule activities. This in-formation will be used to produce two important documents for the project known as the resource plan and financial plan.

The project quality plan will detail the project quality standards and the project communication plan will be prepared during the planning process. The project communication plan details the differ-ent forms of communication that will take place during the project duration. The plan details the requirements of the different project stakeholders in terms of what information they need to receive.

The planning process will identify the project management team and their responsibilities for de-livering the project. It will identify the authorities and responsibilities of each team member to ensure that there is accountability for performed work. Of course, since planning by definition is based on many assumptions that only time might prove their validity, risk planning is another process that is per-formed during the planning. This process will aim to identify, assess and select risk treatment actions.

Risk treatment actions include transferring some risks to third parties. Thus, this requires identifying the process that will be followed in procuring goods and services from those parties. A procurement plan will detail the scope of work to be procured and the method to be followed in procuring the same.

To conclude the planning processes, a single document will be produced known as the project management plan wherein the outputs of the dif-ferent processes will be coordinated, integrated and balanced. Approval of this document by se-nior management will permit the implementation of the project.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROCESSES FOR PUBLICLY

TRADED COMPANIESContinued from page 1>>

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PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION ADDRESSING COMPLEXITY OF ARAB PROJECT SECTOREd Shehab, PMP®, CBAP, CSSGB | Professional Services Manager

As the number of projects in the Middle East, and espe-cially in the Gulf region,

swells up year after year and as more money is invested into the area, many of today’s engineers are being placed in very stressful and challenging roles to manage projects of seismic proportions. Most of these professionals are typically engineers from varied disciplines such as civil, mechani-cal and IT who have no previous or formal project management training.

MisconceptionThe perception is that highly-skilled engineers should be able to easily manage a project in their respective field. This is a huge and dangerous misconception, and miscalculations about an engineer’s abilities could have detrimental and costly conse-quences. The project management world refers to this scenario as the “halo effect”. Just because an engi-neer is technically capable does not automatically mean that he or she is capable of managing projects as well. Conversely, just because an engineer is not technically capable does not mean that the person is incapable of efficiently managing projects.

What it takesProject management is a disci-pline on its own and involves quite a good deal of training and prac-tice to develop. There are far too many components to managing projects beyond knowing the tech-nical aspects of the field in which the project operates. As a matter of fact, technical subject expertise hardly plays any role in the suc-cess of project delivery. Based on a survey done in 2001 by KPMG:

“Of 256 companies, only 14 percent of all failures can be chalked up to a company’s inability to cope with technology. The other 86 per-cent owe to some common man-agement woes: improperly defined objectives (17 percent), unfamiliar scope (17 percent), lack of effective communication (20 percent) and poor project management skills (32 percent)”.http://www.billingworld.com/articles/archives/Project-Failures-Spur-Man-agement-Back-to.html

This survey speaks volumes in favor of developing a proper proj-ect management culture within ev-ery organization seeking to mini-mize failure. Here is where PMI comes in; PMI is a not-for-profit

professional association whose “primary goal is to advance the practice, science and profession of project management throughout the world in a conscientious and proactive manner so that organi-zations everywhere will embrace, value and utilize project manage-ment, and then attribute their suc-cesses to it”. http://www.pmi.org/AboutUs/Pages/FactSheet.aspx

PMI was founded in 1969 by working project managers. It cur-rently comprises 400,000 mem-bers and credential holders, with a 10-15 percent annual member-ship growth. Among its associ-ates, about 250,000 are certified as Project Management Profes-sionals (PMP) and hold globally recognized PMP credentials. Of the total number of PMPs world-wide, 10 percent come from Eu-rope, the Middle East and Africa. The figure is steadily growing as more and more organizations seek to standardize and globalize their project management procedures.

As a matter of fact, “a shortage of 6 million skilled project profes-sionals is expected by 2013. Add to that the fact that, of the 20 mil-lion people participating in proj-ects worldwide, just one million [or 5 percent] have professionally recognized formal training on how to best execute those projects. One thing becomes clear: The demand for skilled project managers is at a critically urgent level.” http://www.pmi.org/AboutUs/Pages/About-PMI.aspx

Why PMP?You may ask: “Why PMP?

Why can’t we continue doing what we are doing now?” The answer is current developments

require a sharp project manager who is well versed in how to handle developments from initia-tion all the way to closing a deal with stakeholders effectively; in essence a person who can oversee and ensure successful project de-livery. Today’s projects are getting more complicated and integrated, and stakeholders are increasingly demanding prompt delivery while creeping in as much additional scope as they can from contractors and developers.

PMP certification allows practitioners to speak with one common language, regardless of industry or geography or whether they manage projects, programs or portfolios. This commonal-ity steers organizations toward achieving repeatable, predictable results – a critical goal when con-sidering that USD 12 trillion is be-ing invested in infrastructure and capital projects worldwide over the next 12 months.

CertificationYour next question may be “How do I attain the PMP certification?” You will need to pass an exam based on PMI’s Project Manage-ment Body of Knowledge (PM-BOK Guide). To qualify for the PMP exam, candidates must first satisfy all educational and experi-ence requirements as established

by PMI. They must also demon-strate an ongoing professional commitment to the field of project management by satisfying PMI’s Continued Certification Require-ments program.

A starting point in joining the ranks of successful PMPs world-wide is to take an exam prepara-tion course, now offered through-out the globe. CMCS, with headquarters in Dubai and offices throughout the Middle East and Gulf region, offers this course. This course will go over all the knowledge areas and processes of PMI’s PMBOK, and also of-fer practice quizzes and exams in order to increase your confidence level in taking the exam.

In addition, CMCS provides strategies that you can apply to increase the chances of passing the PMP exam on the first try. CMCS is an accredited PMI Reg-istered Education Provider, and all PMP Exam prep courses are delivered by certified PMPs with extensive backgrounds and ex-perience in project, program and portfolio management. CMCS offers the training in both English and Arabic to accommodate all delegate needs. Over the last year alone, CMCS trained several hun-dred delegates from many indus-tries including IT, government, finance and construction. CMCS has successfully produced certi-fied PMPs who are now enjoying higher status and salaries within their organizations.

Where to GoTo find out more about how to progress your project management career, you may contact CMCS and an experienced consultant will walk you through the steps to certifica-tion. CMCS offers public courses where everyone can register and attend, as well as in-house sessions for organizations that have many staff members looking to grow their knowledge or get certified. CMCS can also design career development plans for organizations and help set up their Project Management Of-fice (PMO) and write up project management procedures and meth-odologies.

The project sector is evolving and requiring more efficient ap-proaches that sustain viability and ensure success. PMP certification provides the tools and techniques to enable managers to steer their projects skilfully and efficiently, from concept to delivery.

Formal PMP training ensures smooth progression from conceptto delivery

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ENTERPRISE PROJECT PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT IN THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY (Part 2)Bassam Samman, PMP®, PSP, EVP | CEO and Founder

The Project Management Institute (PMI®) standards for project portfolio man-

agement identify a number of pro-cesses that need to be implement-ed. These processes are grouped into two phases: Aligning, and Monitoring and Controlling (See Figure 1). Under Aligning, there are processes for project identifi-cation, categorization, evaluation, selection, prioritization, portfolio balancing and authorization. The second phase, which becomes ac-tive when a project is sanctioned, contains portfolio reporting and review, and strategic change.

The alignment phase allows executives within organizations to take an active role in identifying all possible project investments that an organization needs to take to achieve its strategic goals. These projects are then categorized ac-cording to which strategic objec-tive it fulfills, the business unit it belongs to, risk levels, etc. (See Figure 2 for an example of categories).

This categorization provides the information needed for evalu-ating investments and rating them, which would lead to determining what projects the organization will select. Priorities need to be assigned based upon project in-terdependencies (some projects could depend on other projects), constraints on funding, resource availability and other factors. A key challenge that faces organiza-tions before selecting the final list of approved capital projects is to ensure that project portfolios have been balanced for risk exposure, return on investment, and line of business goals, among others. Ap-plied against these criteria a final list of projects will be created.

The Benefits of PPMIt is imperative that when

project execution commences, ex-ecutives focus on two important aspects: the performance of their portfolios and the ability to visualize the impact of any strategic changes to their portfolio. This cannot be left to just project teams or depart-ments for the simple reason they most likely will not have an enter-prise view. Monitoring and con-trolling the portfolio performance requires adopting performance management systems that can ag-gregate projects’ schedule and cost performance results. For example, the earned value process provides a number of performance indicators that can indicate whether a portfolio of projects is on schedule and/or on budget. Executives have the ability to aggregate key milestone dates in order to have a clear picture of their projects and portfolios.

The growing interest in project portfolio management has created great interest in what is known as Portfolio Analysis Dashboards.

These dashboards provide execu-tives with “a single version of the truth” about the status of their project investments by consolidat-ing project information in differ-ent forms and in a real time en-vironment. With project portfolio management applications such as Primavera PPM Solutions, execu-tives as well as project leaders can collect and analyze the necessary information to proactively manage project portfolios. In the oil and gas industry, Primavera solutions have broad adoption for a number of reasons. First the majority of oil and gas organizations globally (and in the region) have standard-ized on Primavera’s PPM solu-tions for managing their different

AligningMonitoring & Controlling

Identification

Categorization

Evaluation

Selection

Prioritization

Portfolio Balancing

Authorization

Portfolio Reporting & Review

Strategic Change

Closing Processes

Initiating Processes

Planning Processes

Executing Processes

Monitoring & Controlling Processes

Figure 1: PMI and PMBOK 3rd Edition Standard Processes

types of projects and programs from plant expansion to mainte-nance work. This also applies to project management contractors, EPCs, general contractors and en-gineers who work for those orga-nizations. This means that the data that project portfolio management requires for generating the dash-board content is readily available in a format that does not require recreation. The second reason is the flexibility in designing multiple dashboards with different graphi-cal and tabular portfolio analysis reports depending on the unique needs of the user. And all of this is a fully web-enabled solution that provides access anywhere at any time for those who have the right access rights—whether in the boardroom or in the field.

ConclusionAs the pressure to successfully

plan, select and execute projects grows, leaders with a strategic portfolio will be best positioned to succeed. Project portfolio man-agement solutions, such as Prima-vera solutions from Oracle, enable executives and project leaders alike to successfully identify the best strategies and opportunities for existing and future projects. With this understanding, oil and gas leaders in the GCC countries can thrive during challenging eco-nomic times.

5Figure 2: Possible Project Categories

Strategic Objective Increase Revenue, Improve Customer Service, Reduce Cost, Improve Productivity, etc.

Business Unit Enterprise, HL&IS, BFS, etc.

Geography By Region or Country, etc.

Functional Area Network, Telecom, Customer Service, Client Contact

Project Type New Development Enhancement, Infrastructure, Process Improvement, Package Implementation, Production Support

Business Process Attract Customer, Manage Customer Relations, Plan Capacity, Develop and Test Product, Launch Product

Budgetary Unit Human Resources, Accounting, Operations, Development, Disabled Budgetary, Budgetary Unit 1, Budgetary Unit 2, etc.

Application Type CRM & CFA, Business Intelligence, E-business, Financials, Help Desk, Procurement Supply Chain, Project Management, Business Continuity, etc.

Contribution to Strategy For each strategic imperative: Direct, Indirect or Absent

Contractor Performance* 1 Contractor Performed Poorly, 2 Contractor Mostly Performed Adequately, 3 Contractor Performed Adequately and 4 Contractor Performed Well.

*This can be further broken down to show Contractor’s Performance as it relates to Schedule, Submittal, Correspondence, Safety, Quality, Change Orders/Claims, others

PROFESSIONAL’S CORNER:MEASURING ENGINEERING DESIGN TO PROPERLY CONTROL EARLY STAGES OF YOUR PROJECTIgnacio Manzanera | Projects Director - MZ & Partners Architects & Engineers Consultancy

One of the most impor-tant functions of project controls is to accurately

evaluate the physical progress of engineering design.Physical progress is the primary factor in:• Determining progress payments due to the consultant;• Evaluating the impact of chang-es, interferences and delays;• Measuring the consultant’s con-formance to his plan; and• Forecasting completion, final costs and turnover dates.

The following guidelines offer an objective method of determining physical progress for each phase of the engineering design and conse-quently a form to evaluate interim payments to consultants.

Physical progress for the engi-neering phase of a project consists of three levels of indenture as follows:• Progress by drawing• Progress by discipline• Total engineering progress EstimatePrior to implementing a system for progress evaluation, an estimate must be developed for both man-hours and quantities of drawings for each engineering discipline. For these guidelines we will assume the estimate shown in Table 1.

Progress EvaluationActual physical progress in these guidelines is measured against the drawings only, but it can easily be modified to include design specifi-cations development.

The progress measurement for each engineering discipline and for the total engineering effort is always a function of the progress against each individual drawing.In order to objectively determine the physical progress against each drawing, a series of milestones should be established to give credit for incremental work ac-complished.

The following is an example

of typical drawing milestones and their related values to the complet-ed drawing.

Drawing Milestones Start draft (20%) Layout and design completed and actual line work visible. Rough draft of specifica-tion is completed ready for draft typing.

Draft complete (65%) Draw-ing has been completed by draft-ing, checked by chief draftsman, and issued to engineering for checking. Specification is ready for checking.

Office check (80%) Engineer-ing has reviewed the drawing and pertinent corrections have been incorporated by draftsmen and engineers.

Owner review (85%) Draw-ing and specification have been re-viewed by the owner and returned with comments.

Final draft (90%) All engi-neering and owner comments have been incorporated and draw-ing and specification have been is-sued to owner for approval.

Approval with holds (95%) Drawing and specification have been approved by owner and are ready to be issued for construc-tion with the exception that some portion(s) of the drawing has “holds” waiting for final resolu-tion.

Final owner Approval (100%) Drawing and specification have been approved by the owner and they are ready to be issued as ap-proved for construction with no “holds.”

Users should notice that these milestones can be modified at will to fit different projects and differ-ent levels of detail.

In order to control the draw-

ing process and effectively moni-tor the accomplishment of the above-mentioned milestones, a drawing control log should be maintained to record the accom-plishment of each milestone and identify the location of each pro-cessed drawing.

Progress by DisciplineNow that the estimated number of drawings for each engineering dis-cipline has been established and the drawing milestones have been defined and assigned a weighted value from Table 1, the physical progress for each discipline can be evaluated.

For example, assume the work status shown in Table 2 for the 50 piping drawings referenced in Table 1.

Total Engineering Progress As each drawing milestone repre-sents a portion of the total draw-ing, so does each engineering dis-cipline represent a portion of the total engineering effort.

Because certain disciplines may require more man-hours per drawing than others, depending on the nature and complexity of the project, the weighted value of each discipline is determined by the engineering man-hours bud-geted for the project

To calculate total engineer-ing physical progress, the per-centage of drawing completion for each discipline, would be multiplied by that discipline’s weighted value.

The product of this calculation would be the discipline’s contribu-tion to total engineering progress.For example:Piping discipline was calculated to be 65.5% completed (Table 2). Let us assume the percentages of completion for the remaining dis-ciplines in similar fashion and then total engineering physical prog-ress can be calculated as shown on Table 3.

DISCIPLINE ESTIMATEDDRAWINGS

BUDGETED MANHOURS

DISCIPLINE WEIGHTED (%)

CivilArchitecturalStructuralMechanicalPipingElectricalInstrumentsTotal Engineering

20352020504015

200

1,2502,5001,2501,5004,0003,0001,500

15,000

8.316.78.3

10.026.720.010.0100

Table 1

MILESTONE DRAWS IN MILESTONE

PIPE DRAWINGS

MILESTONE VALUE

Start DraftDraft CompleteOffice CheckOwner ReviewFinal DraftAPPR.W/HFinal ApprovalPiping Progress

10 55555

10

50505050505050

206580859095

100

DISCIPLINE % COMPLETE

4.06.58.08.59.09.5

20.065.5

Table 2 DISCIPLINE PERCENT COMPLETE

WEIGHTED VALUE

PROJECT CONTRIBUTION

CivilArchitecturalStructuralMechanicalPipingElectricalInstrumentsEngr. Progress

90708075

65.56050

8.316.78.3

10.026.720.0

10

7.511.76.67.5

17.412.05.0

67.7

Table 3

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SERVICE REVIEW: IT PROJECT MANAGEMENTEd Shehab, PMP®, CBAP, CSSGB | Professional Services Managert

At the heart of every orga-nization, there is an IT de-partment that constantly

works to support the company’s business needs. The IT depart-ment is the technical engine that solves all technical complexities and is always expected to deliver miracle solutions to every problem that the organization faces. These solutions are typically packaged in the form of small projects that IT takes upon itself to plan and execute, while the rest of the orga-nization eagerly awaits the results they are supposed to deliver.

Types of IT projectsWhat types of projects is IT

usually involved in? Well, that de-pends on what industry we are in. Banks and financial institutions are on board when it comes to IT. Many banks in the GCC have un-dertaken extensive projects to ad-vance their online services, from developing an account manage-ment portal where their clients can perform e-banking, to organizing their websites so that customers can find the financial information they need with ease. Some banks are also working hard to develop smart ATMs and credit cards with built-in microchips that allow their credit cards to stand out amongst the rest. But banks are not the only IT innovators. We are now seeing IT being incorporated into construction and buildings. With the advance of technology, there is now a need to plan for Internet, telephone, satellite television, se-curity and more when we build. More and more developers are building technology-smart prop-erties. What about roads and smart street lights? How about universities and schools? How about e-services that are being provided on government web-sites? All of these industries are taking up IT projects in order to stand out amongst the rest of the

pack. Any organization that is se-rious about growth and expansion must consider also how their IT can help support that growth.

Stats about IT projects and why they fail

So, with all these IT projects initiated, how many actually suc-ceed and make it safely to the finish line? Well, the results are not im-pressive. Based on a study done by the Standish Group in 2004, 15% of all IT projects failed, 51% were challenged (over time and/or over budget), and only 34% succeeded.

Additionally, “The 2004 CHAOS report, entitled “CHAOS Chronicles,” found total US project waste to be $55 billion, made up of $38 billion in lost dollar value and $17 billion in cost overruns. Total project spending was found to be $255 billion in the 2004 report.”

These are numbers that prob-ably have not changed much since then. IT projects are still a huge part of every organization’s in-vestments.

How different are IT projects from other projects?

In reality, all projects are proj-ects, whether they are an IT project or in another field. The only differ-ence is that IT projects deal with a lot more unknowns sometimes. Un-like construction, where every step has been repeated on several previ-ous projects many times before, IT projects tend to deal with new tech-nology, new interfaces, upgraded platforms and an ever-demanding customer base that wants the latest and greatest. As a matter of fact, a lot of IT projects are of an extreme nature, where the next phase is only defined after the first phase has been completed.

There is also the culture in which IT projects must run. Busi-ness managers typically do not value IT and IT projects. They

focus more on sales and revenue generation. Since most IT proj-ects can be related to infrastruc-ture needs, there is usually no im-mediate return on investment that management can see. As such, they tend to think that IT projects are unnecessary and a waste of company resources and money.

How can we address those challenges?

The best way to address the challenges of our culture towards IT projects is to build the perfect business case and back it up with proven success in delivering IT projects. This will sway top man-agement in our favor.

Senior managers speak in dol-lars, and we speak in milestones, technical accomplishments and deliverables. There is a huge gap in between that needs to be bridged. That bridge is commonly referred to as “aligning IT with the business goals”. How do we do that? I have the following rec-ommendations:

First and foremost, we need our project managers to be true project managers. What I mean

by that is they should be trained as project managers. It is the job of the project manager to com-municate to both upper level and lower level management. If we are too technical, we tend to talk the lower level dialect. We also need to tone the skills of our en-gineers who are being tasked with project management so they can deliver on time and within budget. For that, CMCS offers a 3-day IT Project Management course, or the engineers can simply attend the PMP prep course and shoot for certification as Project Man-agement Professionals (PMP). This will assure better chances at successful project delivery.

Second, we need to develop good business cases when propos-ing our IT projects. Senior manage-ment needs to see the value in num-bers before they can get on board. For that, an upcoming training at CMCS in “Developing a Good Business Case” will do. Alternately, another course CMCS will soon be offering is the “Certified Business Analysis Professional” certification course. This course will demon-strate how project managers can properly obtain the client’s require-ments, whether it is an internal or external client.

Last, but not least, we need to have the proper tools to man-age our projects. We are, after all, IT professionals, and what good are we if we have no tools? That would be unheard of. For that, there are several good project management softwares out there. CMCS recommends Primavera Project Manager due to its ex-cellent compatibility with PMI’s processes and its superb project performance reporting features. Additionally, Primavera P6 has a project prioritization tool built within the web dashboard mod-ule that can be key in making our business case and project selection decisions.

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CMCS NEWSCMCS AND HARD DOLLAR PARTNER WITH C.A.T. GROUP, LEBANON

CMCS and Hard Dollar signed contract agreements with C.A.T. Group for providing Hard Dollar Cost Estimation, Control and Man-agement, in addition to Primavera Project Portfolio Management and Primavera Contract Management that include licenses, training and implementation services.

C.A.T. Group has been investi-gating several solutions and decided to select Primavera and Hard Dol-lar as solutions that suffice their ex-tensive needs for their large projects in the Pipeline, Infrastructure and other projects, while partnering with CMCS as a professional pro-vider for project driven discipline

tools and techniques.A signing ceremony took place

with the participation of CMCS CEO and Founder Bassam Sam-man, Hard Dollar CEO Doug Nicholas, and C.A.T. Group CEO and President Nasser Issa.

During the event, Hard Dol-lar presented a trophy to CMCS for becoming the first Hard Dollar Authorized Relationship partner (HARP) and for successfully clos-ing the first HARP customer sale with C.A.T. Group in Lebanon. Hard Dollar also presented a tro-phy to C.A.T. Group for opening a multi-hundred-thousand-dollar project in the Middle East.

Fourth row from left are Abdallah Saadeh-C.A.T. Chief Estimation Manager, Shafik Mouchantaf-C.A.T. Group Contracts Manager, Joe Mansour-C.A.T. Group Controls Manager, Saadi Adra-General Manager of CMCS Lebanon, Antoine Papadopoulo-C.A.T. Group Chief Accountant, Scott Hyman-Channel Manager of Hard Dollar, Peter Wodtke-Board Member of C.A.T. Holding, Bassam Samman-CEO & Founder of CMCS, Georges Daher-C.A.T. Chief Adminstration Officer, Doug Nicholas-Chief Executive Officer of Hard Dollar, Davis Sambar-C.A.T. Board Member and Assaad El Hage-C.A.T. Legal Advisor.

SIGNING OF CONTRACT between Hard Dollar and CMCS held in Lebanon last May 4, 2009.

A MEETING OF THE MINDS: C.A.T. Group, Hard Dollar and CMCS top officials meet for business.

HARD DOLLAR awards C.A.T. Group for opening a multi-hundred-thousand-dollar project. From left are Bassam Samman, Georges Daher, C.A.T. Group CEO Nasser Issa and Doug Nicholas.

HARD DOLLAR CEO Doug Nicholas awards a trophy to CMCS CEO and Founder Bassam Samman in recognition for being the first “HARP” -Hard Dollar Authorized Relationship Partner.

8

CITYSCAPE ABU DHABICMCS participated in the most popular real estate exhibition, the Cityscape Abu Dhabi, where property developers, investors, archi-tects, designers, government authorities and other related industries showcased their products and services for prospective clients. The event which was held in the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center (ADNEC) and ran from April 19 to 22, was inaugurated by Gener-al H.H. Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. More than 300 companies from over 30 countries partici-pated.

The companies who visited the CMCS stand were: Cansult Maunsell, CPM - Consolidated Project Management, Department of Municipal Affairs, Desert Landscape, EC Harris, EllisDon Con-struction, Hill International, Kling consult and Mott MacDonald among others.

PROJECT QATARCMCS took part in Project Qatar, believed to be the single larg-est exhibition ever held at the New Doha International Exhibi-tion Center. Despite the global economic slump, visitors gath-ered at the venue during the 4-day event where a record of more than 900 companies from the construction industry from about 39 countries participated. The Prime Minister and Foreign Min-ister, Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabor Al-Thani, inaugu-rated the exhibition, which ran from April 27-30, in the presence of local, regional and international entrepreneurs. He said the exhibition is part of the initiatives being taken by Qatar to pro-mote trade at a time when the world is experiencing an economic meltdown. CMCS held its own in the event with an unprecedent-ed number of enquiries.

SAADI ADRA, PMP,RMP,PMI Certified OPM3 Assessor/Consultant, General Manager for PMAG S.A.L. has conducted an EVP Earned Value Management for Professionals lecture in the presence of around 90 attend-ees and members of the PMI Lebanon Chapter. The Lecture was followed by a Cocktail sponsored by CMCS/PMAG in the Holiday Inn Dunes on Tuesday 14th of April, 2009.

CMCS IN THE NEWS:Eqtisadiat, Saudi Arabia: CMCS intensifies its presence in the Middle East after a 50% growth revenue, March 2009, Page 46

Vision, Pan Arab: Partnership agreement, March 2009, Page 195

Arab Construction World, Pan Arab: Estimated US$21 billion worth of construction investments to increase demand for project man-agement services in Jordan, April 2009, Page 41

Al Bank Wal Mustathmer, Pan Arab: Agreement between CMCS and ADePT, April 2009, Page 26

Emirates Business 24/7, UAE: CMCS Systems eyes Europe and Iran, April 5, Page 22

Emirates Business 24/7, UAE: Management company CMCS in Middle East expansion, April 28, Page 28

Gulf Daily News, Bahrain: Management firm plans new offices, April 28, Page 29

Al Bayan, UAE: CMCS opens its branches in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt, April 28, Page 6

Al Wasat, Bahrain: CMCS promotes their opening of a branch in Bahrain, April 28, Page 2

Al Watan, Qatar: CMCS promotes a new branch in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt during the current year, April 28, Page 15

Al Alam Al Youm, Egypt: Egypt is our portal to enter Libyan and North African market, April 29, Page 3

Al Jazirah, Saudi Arabia: CMCS intends to extend to the Saudi market, April 30, Page 18

Oil Review Middle East, UAE: Management model aligns work with organisational strength, written by CMCS CEO and Founder Bassam Samman, Issue 3 2009, Page 138

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Featured EmployeeDALIA AZHARI is the Webmaster of CMCS. She is responsible for checking inquiries from the website, updating the website with the latest information about courses and products and also takes care of marketing seminars held in the Middle East. She has been working with the company since March 2002. Born in Dubai, Dalia is now married for almost 2 years to Ziyad, whom she competes with in solving Sudoku on her free time. They have been blessed with handsome Bashar, whom she spends quality time with away from the office. Apart from that she also loves to read novels and of course, every girl’s pastime, go shopping!

What she likes about working in CMCS is that there’s a sense of team spirit, a practice of respect, a drive to work hard, cooperation among colleagues and proper assessment. She practices her philosophy which is doing one thing every day that scares her, and by doing this, she learns and this empowers her to do her job more effectively. Dalia earned her degree in Computer Science from the American University in Asia, Sharjah Campus.

CERTIFICATIONSPROJECT MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONAL (PMP)

RANIA KHAWAJA, the General Manager of CMCS Jordan, has suc-cessfully completed her Project Man-agement Professional (PMP) certifica-tion on April 8, 2009. PMP holders are fully aware of project life cycle, project management processes and knowledge areas “Integration, scope, time, cost, resource, quality, risk, communica-tion and procurement”. This deep un-derstanding enrich their capacities in being responsible for all aspects of the project during the life cycle of the proj-ect as well as leading and directing a project team and/or cross functional teams to complete projects success-fully.

Project Management Institute was founded in 1969 by work-ing project managers. Now PMI has 250 chapters in over 70 countries with more than 420,000 members. PMI’s primary goal is to advance the practice, science and profession of project man-agement throughout the world in a conscientious and proactive manner so that organizations everywhere will embrace, value and utilize project management and then attribute their successes to it. PMI-Jordan Chapter was founded in 2007 and now includes 119 of which about 90 are PMP certified.

To receive our Collaborate monthly newsletter, send an empty email to info@cmcs.ae

CMCS new team members WELCOME!

Houda AglagalTraining Manager, UAE

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PMI-SP® CERTIFICATIONFull Name:Project Role:Eligibility Requirements:

Steps to obtaining credential:Exam information:Fees:

Credential Maintenance Cycles and Requirements:How CMCS can help you:

Duration of course:Schedule of next PMI-SP course:

PMI Scheduling ProfessionalDevelops and maintains project scheduleHighschool diploma/global equivalent, 5,000 hours project scheduling expe-rience, 40 hours project scheduling educationORBachelor’s degree/global equivalent3,500 hours project scheduling expe-rience, 30 hours project scheduling educationapplication process + multiple-choice exam3.5 hours; 170 questionsUS$520 PMI member(US$670 non-member)3 years; 30 PDUs in project schedulingWe offer P912 Planning and Scheduling Professional (PSP) Certification Exam Preparation which will provide participants with a thorough background in the concepts of Planning and Scheduling Engineering and Construction projects. 3 days

21 June to 23 June, 2009

Dina AtefConsultant, UAE

BY THE NUMBERSCMCS CLIENTS

For this period Total this yearSector

Engineering and ConstructionUtilities, Oil and GasIT and TelecommunicationGovernmentDiscrete Manufacturing & ResearchEducationOverall New ClientsOverall Returning Clients

6282221

2352

1,2271007433232577

236

CMCS WOULD LIKE TO THANK:NEW CLIENTS: RETURNING CLIENTS:

CMCS WINSAMANA – CMCS is awarded a contract for Implementation of Pri-mavera P6 for Amana Abu Dhabi. The duration of the implementa-tion is 20 days. The implementation would include development of data structure, finalizing the project life cycle, developing reports and lay-outs and finally carrying out prototype testing and assessing the full implementation. Amana team has already undergone P6 client and P6 web training from CMCS.Jordan Engineers Association (JEA), Jordan - JEA has recently signed a cooperation agreement with CMCS to implement a new range of management and development programs to be adopted by the En-gineers Training Centre. The agreement further bolsters the efforts of JEA in producing the highest quality and excellence standards in vari-ous engineering sectors in the Kingdom and the rest of the Arab region. Jordanian Engineers Association is considered one of the largest among the region with 77,000 members and offices all round the kingdom. En-gineers Training Centre the training provider arm of JEA is the only certified training center by the Federation of Arab Engineers and the International Federation of Consulting Engineers.C.A.T., Lebanon- CMCS is awarded a contract to provide C.A.T. Group with Hard Dollar Cost Estimation, Control and Management, Primavera Portfolio Management and Primavera Contract Manage-ment. This agreement includes licenses, training and implementation services. C.A.T. has been looking for methods and tools to enhance their widespread monitor and control for their projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars in several continents. Through interaction with CMCS and Hard Dollar Consultants, CAT decided that the method-

• Al Garhoud Engineering• Al Salmiya (Gulf Franchising Co)• Al Waab City• Alamiah Building Co• Arabian Advanced Systems• Areef Computer Institute• Arnaout Establishment• ASCON Road Construction • British Gas• Butec SAL• ENTIRETEC Middle East• ECCI• Imperial Trading & Contracting• King Fahad Armed Forces Hospital• Madina Group• Neopharma• Order of Engineers & Architects (Beirut) • Penspen International• RAMCO• SEG, Qatar• Stanley Consultants• Tashyeed Properties• Wamar

• 5 Pioneers Property Dev’t • Airport International Group• Al Habtoor-Murray&Roberts• Al Jaber Engineering• ALDAR Laing O’Rourke• Amana Contracting• Archirodon• Blair-Anderson• Brewer Consulting• Bunya Enterprise LLC• C.A.T. Group• CCC• CH2MHILL• Costain• Det Norske Veritas• Dubai Pearl• EC Harris• Elenco General Contracting• Equate Petrochemical• Exterran• Hochtief• John Buck International• JT Metro JV

• Khansaheb• Khatib & Alami• Margham Dubai Est.• Mubadala• Nael & Bin Harmal Hydroexport• National Marine Dredging Co.• National United Eng. Co• NDIA• Oger Dubai• Orascom/Contrack• Oryx• Petrofac• Qatar Kentz• Qatar Petroleum• QatarGas• Qatar Eng’g & Construction (Qcon)• Road & Trasport Authority• RW Armstrong• Saudi Aramco• S.D. Concept• SDC Group• Strabag• Systra/Parsons JV

ologies, services and solutions presented are able to meet their highly demanding nature of complex infrastructure and oil & gas projects that utilizes heavy machinery, spans over a rather long period of time and utilizes diverse multiple resources. Taisei- a Japan-based Company, has awarded a contract to CMCS to provide HardDollar Project cost estimation software, implementation & Training. The scope includes installation of the software in Abu Dhabi as well as implementation of the same for their Middle East operations. Taisei is planning initially to use HardDollar for their Middle East oper-ations with the goal to role out the same to their headquarters in Japan.

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• Taisei Corporation• Target Engineering• Technip• Technital S.p.A Qatar• Thompson Cole• Transco

CMCS COURSE NEWSP102 Project Man-agement in P6 Cli-ent-Server was held in Beirut, Lebanon during the period of March 31, April 2, 7, 9, 14 and 16. The course was attended by Ahmad Najjar, Falah Wakim of Relk & P, Rana Salika of Target Engineer-

ing, Norma Youness Zahwa, Hussein Mousbah Moussa and Jameil Hani Termos of waad, Rima Sassine of Debbas Enterprise, Hai-them Jamil Darwich of BAU, Samer Baaklini of Ets. Nassim Abou Habib pour L’industrie et L’enterprise, Louis El Nawar and Charbel Tawk of ELNTC, Wajdi Jamil Maatouk of BTD, Charbel Rizkal-lah, Nicolas Al Hajj, Nidal Haddad of Ste Scale Contracting s.a.r.l and Abbas Mohammad Ismail of Maher for Trading and Construc-tion. The course was conducted by Omar Sidani.

P850 Extension of Time Request was held in the period of April 12-16 in Dubai. Attend-ing the course were Al-exander Lyakhov and Robert Aldea of Exter-ran, Eiman Al-Enazi of Qatar Petroleum, Anahita Sadafi and Abdel Rehim Duqeh of ASCON, Wafa Salem Elfar of Airport Interna-tional Group, Hafez Barakat of Nael & bin Harmal Hydroexport and Georges Baaklini or Arnaout Establishment. The course was conducted by Rania Khawaja and Gaganpreet Kaur.

P501 Introduction to Project Risk Management with Primavera Risk Analysis was held in the period of April 14-16 in Dubai. Attend-ing the course were Andrew Thompson of

QatarGas, Moustafa Ramzy, Rima Issam El-Ayoubi and Izaldein Al-Zyoud of CH2M Hill, Naief Subaey of Saudi Aramco, Elhaum Modarres, Ed Shehab, Dina Atef and Venkataramana K. of CMCS. The course was conducted by Laila Rojail.

P102 Project Management in P6 Client-Server was held in the period of April 19-22 in Abu Dhabi. Attending the course were Mohamed Nazaruddin of John Buck International, Tan Kok Wah of Taisei Corporation, Stephen Thomas of Costain Abu Dhabi, Muhammad Khaleeq An-war of RW Armstrong and David Thatcher of Murray & Roberts. The course was delivered by Ven-kataramana K.

P201 Primavera Contract Manager 12.0 was held in the period of April 5 to 8 in Abu Dhabi. Attending the course were Mohammed Al-Abbasi of Bunya, Sardar Safiur Rahman of Mubadala, Taufik Ridani of Blair-Anderson and Lionel George Locksley of 5 Pioneers Property. The course instructor was Venkataramana K.

P905 The Project Manage-ment Professional was held in the period of April 12 to 16 in Amman. The course was attended by Hiba Darwish of Especialized Wood Establishment and Darin Makki of CMCS-Jordan. The course was conducted by Ayman Jarwan.

P108 Migrating from Prima-vera Project Planner (P3) to P6 was held in Qatar for Hochtief Construction in the pe-riod of March 2 to 4. The course was attended by Armin Krimp-mann, Steindl Ulrich, Sarah Szewzenko, Torsten Henssler, Mohammad Yasin, N. Karthik, Michayl Rysniak, M. Hisham Zakaria, Alexander Meisner, Kathrin Brunn and Jan Steueri. The course was conducted by Kaveh Boromand.

P905 Project Management Professional (PMP) was held in Dubai in the period of April 26 to 30. The course was attended by Marcos Ricaplaza of Environmental Chemical Corporation Inc., Ayman Al-hubaishi of King Fahad Armed Forces Hospital, Hady Rmeily of RAMCO, Jayant Naraindas of ENTIRETEC Middle East, Salem Nael Salamah of Arabian Advanced Systems and Elhaum Modarres, Walstan D’Souza and Kaveh Boromand of CMCS. The course was conducted by Ed Shehab.

P102 Project Management in P6 Client-Server was held in Doha in the period of April 5 to 8. The course was attended by Al-berto Amerio of Technital S.p.A. Qatar, Nisha Pradeep of Penspen International, Naheem Pasha, Mohamed Nissar Andikkan Ku-zhiyil, Senthilkumar Balasunda-ram, Sumanrabi Charles of Qcon-816, Prajeesh Kuniyil, Imtiaz Hussain Naz and Arun Johnson Samuel of Qcon-829, Osama Zo-hdi of Qcon-841, Pradeep Kumar Somanathan of Qcon-816, Ahmad Barghothi of Al Jaber Engineer-ing and Ishfaq Deen of Al Waab City. The course was conducted by Kaveh Boromand.

P202 Primavera Contract Manager (PCM) was held in Beirut in the period of March 30 to April 2 for Khatib and Alami (K&A). The course was at-tended by Elie Khoury, Toni Farah, Yeghia Torrosian, Reef Tuffaha, Ahid Mubada and Nabil Al Bidawi. The course was conducted by Taha Naji.

P106P Advanced Project Management in P6 Client-Server and P106R Resource Management in P6 Client-Server was held in Beirut in the period of April 27 to 30. The course was attended by Nas-reen Al Mutawa of Equate Pet-

rochemical, Antoinette Cherfan of Butec SAL and Jean Pierre Abi Karam. The course was delivered by Omar Sidani.

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BY THE NUMBERSCMCS COURSES

For this period Total this yearCourses offeredTraining daysDelegates trainedTotal PDUs granted

134594

1,526.5

84247688

9,546.5

The Course was all perfect. - Alberto Amerio, Architect, Technital Spa

I am impressed with this course and strongly believe that it will help me in the future.- Pradeep Kumar, Planning Engr., Qcon

The course will definitely improve my knowledge. - Ishfaq Ahmed Deen, System Administrator, Al Wa’ab City

The instructor (Kaveh) has a charming personality and his overall performance was nice. - Imtiyaz Hussain, Sr. Engineer, Qcon

Kaveh is excellent and the course is very valuable and will help me in my career growth.- Naheem Pasha, DY. Manager Planning & Cost, Qcon

Good job, Laila. When I am creating my schedule I should be able to consider the risk dimension. - Izaldein Al-Zyoud, Scheduler, CH2MHILL

Venkat is excellent and holds a very good knowledge on both theory and practical works. The course is very good as currently I am using P6 6.2. - Mohamed Nazaruddin.M, Planning Engr., John Buck Int’l

It’s a good experience to take the course of P6 from CMCS and it will help me a lot. - Mohammad Khaleeq Anwar, Plan-ning Engr., RW Armstrong

The Course was helpful for controlling & reporting. - Stephen Thomas, Lead Planning Engineer, Costain Abu Dhabi

Excellent course, will help me in streamlining our processes. - Jayant Naraindas, Project Director, Entiretec

The instructor (Kaveh) is great! It’s a useful course. - Ahmad Barghothi, Controls Engineer, Al Jaber Engineering

The course is very helpful to better carry out my functions in Project Controls and better understand the Project Manage-ment process. - Marcos Ricaplaza, Project Controls Man-ager, Environmental Chemical Corporation, Inc.

Ed is a great instructor. - name undisclosed

The course is very much applicable to my job. - Kaveh Boro-mand, Sr. Consultant, CMCS It will help me manage all projects in a completely different and professional way. - name undisclosed

My impression on this course was good, clear and informa-tive. This may help me manage and review a claim. - Georges Baaklini, Sr. Project Manager, ARCON

CMCS COURSE TESTIMONIALS:

“

”

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CLIENT CERTIFICATIONS

Abeer Senada, PMP®

IT Advisor, Academy for Education Development

Lubna Al Natour, PMP®

Project Manager,

AMSI

Ammar O. Kahia, PMP®

IT Projects Manager,AMSI

OMAR SIDANI is a Consultant at CMCS-Lebanon Professional Services Department, who holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science/Information Technology. He is a mem-ber of the Project Management Institute (PMI) and a Primavera Authorized Trainer delivering P6 Beginner and Advanced courses across the Middle East. Omar provided training to profes-sionals from leading organizations like: CH2M-HILL, Khatib & Alami (K&A), Petro Canada,

KBR, VECO, RW Armstrong, Borouge, Emirates Electromechanical & Industrial LLC., Fluor Mideast Ltd., BUTEC, Order of Engineers (Beirut and Tripoli, Lebanon), and many others. He has participated in develop-ing Project Management methodology manuals for holding companies and various Primavera implementations. Omar is adept in Primavera applica-tions, computer security, networking and designing of database systems. He is a CAPM-Certified Associate in Project Management, a CEH-Certi-fied Ethical Hacker from the EC-Council USA and a CCNA-Cisco Certi-fied Network Associate.

INSTRUCTOR’S PROFILE

The CMCS Team would like to extend their heartfelt congratulations to the following for attaining their PMP Certification:

TECH TALK: MANAGING SUBMITTALS IN PCMAli Ammar, CAPM® | Professional Services Senior Consultant

During a project, manag-ing submittals can be one of the most time-consum-

ing tasks. Contract Manager helps streamline the submittals process by enabling you to track each stage of the review cycle and up-date submittal dates using activi-ties from a linked schedule.

No matter how many times a submittal is revised, you will al-ways know who received it and when; which submittals were ap-proved and which are pending; which are overdue and by how many days and, most important, who is currently responsible.

The Submittals module in Primavera Contract Manager also provides distribution copies, transmittals, and dunning letters (alerts on overdue items).

Managing submittals is simpli-fied with an easy-to-view schedule of the submittal process. The sub-mittal workflow moves documents to the right party for approval. Even incorporating multiple review cycles allowing you to know where your submittals are at all times.

Managing SubmittalsThe Contractor/Consultant is re-quired to develop drawings and specifications during the project design and construction phases. Each document that is produced during these phases must be re-viewed by the client or the as-signed Project Management Con-

sultant (PMC) for which they will either Approve, Approve with Comments, Approve With Com-ments Resubmit or Rejected. In case the drawing or document is marked rejected or need to resub-mit, the Contractor/Consultant must resubmit for approval. This submittal process will be man-aged by a representative from the Project Management Consultant (PMC) who will be called the Submittal Coordinator.

The following steps provide an overview of the typical process for entering a submittal package and tracking its progress:1. The contractor/consultant de-velops a list of all drawings and documents submittal packages in Primavera Contract Manager. This log of submittals is aligned

with the project deliverables as per the schedule.2. For each submittal package the contractor/consultant needs to identify the drawings and docu-ments included in the package.3. For submittal item, codes and additional information can be add-ed. Primavera Contract Manager allows adding unlimited number of user defined codes.4. The system allows a user to define the workflow for receiving and reviewing submittals, for each submittal package.5. It is highly recommended to cre-ate a Project Schedule in Primave-ra Project Management to identify the milestone dates for approving each submittal package. This is linked to the Primavera Contract Manager Submittals module so

that the required approval finish for each submittal package is cal-culated automatically based on the current project progress schedule.6. This completes the preparation of the Design/Construction Sub-mittal Schedule and a number of reports can be created.7. The contractor/consultant will now upload the drawing (Auto-CAD or other CAD) or docu-ment (Word, PDF, XLS) to be reviewed. Revisions for each sub-mittal can be added as needed.8. To update the Submittal log, the user will use the command “Up-date Package”.9. The user can now select to up-date a specific Submittal Item or a group of Submittal Items.10. Actual dates are recorded for sending/receiving the document. 11. Primavera Contract Manager will automatically create a Trans-mittal Form for the documents submitted.12. The Submittal Coordinator will have those submittals listed in his Action List, which will be populated automatically.13. The Submittal Coordinator will review the same. If accept-able, then he will forward to PMC Review Team by simply entering the date. 14. The PMC Review Team who will receive the same in their Ac-tion list can add their comments directly on each drawing using any redlining software application like Autoview or other Drawing Management tool.15. When all comments are docu-mented, the PMC Review Team will fill the return date and pro-vide the approval status (Ap-proved, Approved As Noted, Re-jected, Others).16. Again the PMC Submittal Co-ordinator will check, if everything is ok. And then forward to the initiator by filling the forwarded date. The initiator will have those submittals reported on his Action list which will be populated automatically. 17. For drawings that were reject-ed, the initiator will resubmit the drawing or document using the same original submittal number with different review cycle (revi-sion) number.18. Each submittal can be distrib-uted to many organizations even if they are not part of the review process.19. Primavera Contract Manager will provide a number of Key Perfor-mance Indicators (KPI) including:• Time Elapsed for Reviewing and Approving Submittal

CMCS EVENTS:EVENT NAMECMCS RoadshowHard Dollar and Primavera Project Portfolio SeminarCMCS RoadshowEmpowering Project Driven BusinessesCMCS RoadshowEmpowering Project Driven BusinessesCMCS RoadshowEmpowering Project Driven Businesses

PLACE

Beirut, Lebanon

Kuwait, Kuwait

Manama, Bahrain

Dubai, UAE

DATE

21 May

28 May

10 June

15 June

VENUE

Holiday Inn

Radisson SAS

Crowne Plaza

Radisson SAS

PDUs OFFERED

2

2

2

2

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Q&AInterview with CMCS team members:

1. Tell us about yourself (your name, your job title, how long you have been working with the company).My name is Ali Ammar. I am a Senior Con-sultant at CMCS, based in Abu Dhabi. I am a Certified Associate in Project Man-agement (CAPM) and Certified trainer for Primavera Project Portfolio Management and Contract Management. I joined CMCS in July 2005.

2. What does your job involve?My job involves delivering professional services which include pre-sales, requirements gather-ing, presenting proof of concept and transform-ing clients’ business needs into requirements for implementation and customization of a Project Portfolio Management solution.

Clients come to us with various concerns in managing their programs / projects. My re-sponsibility is to work with them to understand their business processes and lead implementa-tion effort to identify their technical require-ments and finally, implement a robust solution.

I also deliver customized trainings on the products implemented, to facilitate clients’ team to better manage, monitor and control their projects.

3. What are some of the current proj-ects you are working on?Presently, I am involved in development and rolling out Project Management System for BARWA, Qatar. I am managing a team of consultants in Lebanon, who are implement-ing Design Schedule and monitoring Drawing Submittals for Khatib & Alami on King Abdul-lah Financial District project.

I recently delivered Primavera Project Management trainings for The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), Dubai and Prima-vera Contract Management trainings for Bun-ya / Parsons, working on Reem Island project packages 1 and 2, Abu Dhabi.

I have had the privilege to implement Proj-ect Management solutions and provide trainings to some of the Middle East’s most influential organizations. To name a few: ALDAR, AS-TECO Development, BARWA, CSC (Credit Card Services Co.), CAT International, Dar Al-Handasah, EC Harris, KNPC, Occidental Petroleum, PARSONS, PDO, QNPM (Qatar National Project Management), TRANSCO, Atlantis Construction Management Team - Al Naboodah Laing O’Rourke, UDC (The Pearl Qatar), and many more.

4. How can your job add value to your clients?This is achieved by professionally developing our clients’ resources to take ownership of the solution and providing state of the art tools to support the operation. The solution that we cus-tomize for our clients provides a single language for them and all other stakeholders that are

requirements and implement a complete PPM solution to prioritize, plan and manage their entire portfolio through to its successful completion.

This helps them gain visibility, capture best practices and leverage this experience on other proj-ects. By automating their business processes, I help my clients to identify project issues / delays early on so they can be resolved in a timely manner.

5. What is the most challenging part of your job?During our implementation projects, I work with a team of consultants to integrate clients’ business processes to implement and roll-out an effective system. This is the easy part.

But the benefits of our services are realized only when people are willing to use the sys-tem. Changing people’s attitudes and behaviors is the greatest challenge in implementing any software system.

My challenge is to ensure that change is ac-cepted, and to motivate the key users in effec-tive utilization of the system. I try to ensure, that my clients team have the required skills and support from our consultants, for success-ful adoption of the system.

6. Which aspect of your job do you like the most?The main reward of my job is personal comfort and passion to work with a variety of industries and experiences.

Nothing motivates me more than a happy and satisfied client. The job can be extremely demanding at times, but the learning curve is very steep. I look at the hard work as a worth-while investment.

7. What do you like about working at CMCS?CMCS is a place where if you want to take initiative for something, you’re given the space you need. There is a density of high-quality and smart people I have not found anywhere else. The people at CMCS are not only committed professionals, but also fun and inspiring individuals with whom I have enjoyed working on several projects.

Whatever you do in the future, the chal-lenges and learning opportunities you experi-ence while you’re at CMCS will be huge assets. So will the network of excellent people you build. CMCS prepares you to do almost anything. It made me grow, pushed me harder and faster than anything else ever would have.

CAREERS

• Time for Submittal Held• Outstanding Submittals• Days a Submittal is Overdue (Delaying the Project) 20. Primavera Contract Manager can produce many other reports and charts including:• Reminder Letters/Alerts on overdue submittals • Document Growth/Number• Document Turnaround Time• Submittals Count By Area/Sta- tus/ContractNext issue in TechTalk, the importance of sub-mittal management will be discussed as well as the benefits of Primavera Contract Manager.

ALI AMMAR, CAPM® Professional Services

Senior Consultant

Erratum: On Page 11 of Collaborate April issue, Moutassem Al Kouatli was mentioned as having the PMP certification. It should be PMI-SP® and not PMP®.

15

involved for managing the project deliv-ery life cycle.My main role is to build project management awareness, un-derstand client

CMCSBusiness Relationship SupportCMCS-Qatar requires a Business Rela-tionship Support (Administrator Officer) who will maintain day to day administra-tive activities related to training, sales, per-sonnel and day-to-day office issues.

Job qualifications:The candidate should be degree educated with experience in office administration. He/she should have good interpersonal and communication skills and must be able to deal professionally with personnel from all levels. He/she must be able to commit to tight deadlines and manage several projects at any one time with minimum supervision. Interest in business and commerce is a plus. He/she must be proficient in writing letters, memos, agendas, presentations and reports and must have excellent organization skills.

For interested parties, send a comprehensive CV to Paula.Manzanera@cmcs.ae, or call +974 451 5737. Visit http://www.cmcs.ae/en/careers for more details.

CMCS COURSE CALENDAR (MAY-JULY) 2009

COURSE # COURSE NAME DATE PLACE PRICE ($) PDUsP102P102P102P106PA101P102P106RP918A201P106PP106PP980P905P106RP106RP901E101P201P905E201P102P102P102P916P106PP905P106RP990P106PP912P102P905P102P106RP917P108P106PP980P913P106RP918P912P201P901P106PP102P905P106RP917P203P990P106PP907P102P106R

Project Management in P6 Client-ServerProject Management in P6 Client-ServerProject Management in P6 Client-ServerAdvanced Project Management in P6 Client-ServerADePT Awareness WorkshopProject Management in P6 Client-ServerResource Management in P6 Client-ServerIT Project ManagementADePT Software TrainingAdvanced Project Management in P6 Client-ServerAdvanced Project Management in P6 Client-ServerProgram Management Professional Certification Exam PreparationPMP Exam PreparationResource Management in P6 Client-ServerResource Management in P6 Client-ServerProject Risk ManagementEssentials of Estimating & BudgetingPrimavera Contract Manager 12.0PMP Exam PreparationAdvanced Project Estimating & Budgeting Project Management in P6 Client-ServerProject Management in P6 Client-ServerProject Management in P6 Client-ServerCAPM Exam Preparation CourseAdvanced Management in P6 Client-ServerPMP Exam PreparationResource Management in P6 Client-ServerOrganizational Project Management Maturity Model - OPM3Advanced Management in P6 Client-ServerPrep Course for Planning & Scheduling Professional (PSP) CertificationProject Management in P6 Client-ServerPMP Exam PreparationProject Management in P6 Client-ServerResource Management in P6 Client-ServerPortfolio ManagementMigrating from Primavera Project Planner P3 to P6Advanced Project Management in P6 Client-ServerProgram Management Professional Certification Exam PreparationManaging Projects Using Earned Value Professional (EVP) CertificationResource Management in P6 Client-ServerIT Project ManagementPrep Course for Planning & Scheduling Professional (PSP) CertificationPrimavera Contract Manager 12.0Project Risk ManagementAdvanced Project Management in P6 Client-ServerProject Management in P6 Client-ServerPMP Exam PreparationResource Management in P6 Client-ServerPortfolio ManagementUsing Infomaker with Primavera Contract ManagerOrganizational Project Management Maturity Model - OPM3Advanced Project Management in P6 Client-ServerProject Management Leadership SkillsProject Management in P6 Client-ServerResource Management in P6 Client-Server

11-13 May11-13 May12-14 May17-18 May18-19 May18-20 May19-20 May19-21 May20-21 May24-25 May24-25 May24-26 May24-28 May26-27 May26-27 May31 May-4 Jun01-03 Jun01-03 Jun06-10 Jun07-09 Jun07-09 Jun07-09 Jun08-10 Jun13-16 Jun14-15 Jun14-18 Jun16-17 Jun21-22 Jun21-22 Jun21-23 Jun21-23 Jun21-25 Jun22-24 Jun23-24 Jun28-29 Jun05-06 Jul06-07 Jul06-08 Jul06-08 Jul08-09 Jul11-13 Jul12-14 Jul12-14 Jul12-16 Jul13-14 Jul13-15 Jul13-17 Jul15-16 Jul20-21 Jul22 Jul22-23 Jul26-27 Jul26-28 Jul27-29 Jul28-29 Jul

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$ 1,295$ 1,295$ 1,295$ 895$ 895$ 1,295$ 895$ 1,500$ 895$ 895$ 895$ 2,100$ 1,995$ 895$ 895$ 1,995$ 1,295$ 1,295$ 1,995$ 1,295$ 1,295$ 1,295$ 1,295$ 1,200$ 895$ 1,995$ 895$ 1,400$ 895$ 1,500$ 1,295$ 1,995$ 1,295$ 895$ 1,400$ 895$ 895$ 1,500$ 1,500$ 895$ 1,500$ 1,500$ 1,295$ 1,995$ 895$ 1,295$ 1,500$ 895$ 1,000$ 695$ 1,000$ 895$ 1,500$ 1,295$ 895

19.519.519.513.0N/A

19.513.021.0N/A

13.013.021.035.013.013.035.0N/A

19.535.0N/A

19.519.519.524.013.035.013.011.013.021.019.535.019.513.012.013.013.021.021.013.021.021.019.535.013.019.535.013.012.0N/A

11.013.021.019.513.0

For inquiries or registration, send an email to training@cmcs.ae or call (+971) 4 3654850