The evolution of a Project Management Office in a State Agency
 

Wednesday, April 18, 2001
 

Presented by:
 

Marianna Stout, HESC
 

The Project Management Office at HESC is now an integral part of IT strategic planning. Though HESC has had a formal IT steering committee for over 10 years, within the last 3 years, HESC has realized the value to the corporation of applying true project management discipline to all aspects of the project life cycle, from initiation to closing. Over the past 3 years the HESC PMO has instituted formal, PMI-recognized, system development life cycle techniques, recruited and trained dedicated project managers, and influenced a culture change at HESC with respect to project selection, planning, execution, control and closing. There have been many successes and there are many areas of opportunity for continued growth in HESC's process of continuous improvement.

Marianna Stout has been in the IT field for 20 years beginning as a programmer/analyst, then specializing in database administration. Marianna has worked for the Department of Correctional Services, GE Consulting and Higher Education Services Corporation (HESC). She began her PM career leading small projects and eventually large, mission-critical projects involving redesign/ conversion of major systems. Three years ago, Marianna was appointed to the position of director of the newly created Project Management Office at HESC. In that capacity, Marianna was charged with the responsibility of developing all aspects of project management at HESC. The HESC PMO initially reported within IRM and has now been elevated to report directly to the Chief Operations Officer/Executive Vice President. Marianna holds a BS from Syracuse University, an MS from SUNY and a Certificate in IT Project Management from George Washington University.