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Pensemos SI achieves CMMI Level 3 with eTask-it

eTask Technologies is proud to congratulate PENSEMOS SI for achieving the maturity level 3 certification in the CMMI reference model.

Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) is a process improvement approach designed by the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) to help "integrate traditionally separate organizational functions, set process improvement goals and priorities, provide guidance for quality processes and provide a point of reference for appraising current processes" (SEI, 2008). There are five possible maturity levels, from unrated to Optimizing.

The two main drivers of the certification process at Pensemos SI, Julio Cesar Ochoa de Vega and Sergio Enrique Pardo Forero highlighted the role of eTask-it as a fundamental part of the success of Pensemos SI in increasing the maturity of its processes.

Pensemos SI has used eTask-it as the main repository for the company's knowledge base, allowing efficient project management activity, increased productivity, better resource management and constant quality improvement in each project implementation.

The success of Pensemos SI in achieving the CMML Level 3 certification stands witness to the benefits of using eTask-it to organize internal processes and optimize project management activities.

Discover more about how eTask-it can help your organization on the path to maturity.

Survey of Project Management consultancy use

Cost and lack of accountability remain top barriers to consultancy use

Knowledge transfer to integrate learnings into company considered key to successful consultant engagements

London, UK: August 31, 2011 – A recent survey of 1,000 management professionals has unveiled the top three concerns about consultancy engagement. Over 70% (70.6%) of respondents indicated cost as the primary reason not to use them, deeming them ‘too expensive’. A substantial 51.2% felt that their organisations had all the skills they needed in house and didn’t need to look externally, but tied for third position at 34.3%, were lack of accountability for project success and failure to transfer knowledge to internal staff as part of the engagement.

The survey, conducted by eTask Technologies, the developers of Professional Services Automation (PSA) solution eTask-it showed that when selecting a consultant, an overwhelming 73.7% of survey participants indicated that a proven track record for delivering in their vertical market/sector was a key driver for selection. The second consideration at 56.7% was cost, with strong evidence of follow-up and implementation skills third at 49.9%.

Commenting on the survey results, Juan Manrique, CEO of eTask said: “On average, 30% of information system projects overrun, creating huge budgetary issues for organisations. Additionally, nearly a quarter are cancelled due to reasons including poor processes change, governance issues, insufficient risk management, the lack of metrics, poor vendor management and poor project management capability.” He continued: “This survey has provided e-Task with excellent insight into perceptions around project success and consultancy engagement, allowing us to continue to develop the eTask solution to address the issues of cost management, transparency, repeatability to address the knowledge transfer concerns expressed and improved collaboration with internal and external clients and partners.”

Further results also looked into the biggest users of consultancy services and showed the most frequent users to be the government/public sector (39.4%). On a more pessimistic note, a staggering 41.8% of respondents from retail/distribution backgrounds state that they do not believe in engaging the services of consultants. However, of the all sector respondents who claimed that they did not believe in consultants (30%), 23.8% said that they would use a consultant in the future.

When questioned about what makes third party engagements successful, top of the list was accurate time and budget management (55.2%), closely followed by knowledge transfer to integrate learning into the company, with transparency throughout the engagement (42.1%) ranking as the third highest factor.

The most popular response to “how to improve consultancy engagements” at 55.4% was better collaboration and closer relationships between staff, vendors and consultants. The second most popular answer was clear project transparency and early detections/resolution of any issues (47.9%), with the recurring theme of improved knowledge transfer for future project planning and skills development and application coming third at 44.3%.

On a lighter note, the survey suggested that there is no truth in the old adage ‘men are from Mars and women from Venus’ showing surprising synergy in their responses. Regional stereotypes were also echoed, with two thirds of Scottish respondents describing consultants as “too expensive” to use, the highest regional response.

Designed to improve project success, the eTask-it Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution includes an on-demand platform offering integrated core PSA functionality (Project, Resource, Time, Document Management, etc.).  The core strength of eTask-it is its powerful capability to translate service delivery into rich ‘blueprints’ that provide the ability for organisations to standardise through repetition in the execution of projects. The ability to control how closely blueprints are followed in all service deliveries ensures improved margins and reduced costs, overruns and risk. Additionally they provide a way to capture the knowledge gained during a project to help develop the skills internally of staff.

About eTask

eTask Technologies Ltd was founded in January 2007 to develop eTask-it-- the ideal Professional Services Automation (PSA) integrated solution for the definition, delivery and improvement of services including key project management functionality.  It includes a unique framework to translate your service delivery into rich ‘blueprints’ to  standardise through repetition the execution of projects, resulting in minimised cost overruns and complexity.

www.eTask.it

eTask UK

IQ Farnborough Business Park

The Hub, Regus Floor 1,

Fowler Avenue,

Farnborough

GU14 7JF

+44 1252 302354

Media Contact

For further information, please contact pr@etask.it

eTask is now a Springboard Graduate

eTask Technologies has successfully completed the CONNECT Springboard program. CONNECT has assisted in the formation and development of more than 2,000 companies in the San Diego region and is widely regarded as one of the world's most successful organizations linking inventors and entrepreneurs with the resources they need for commercialization of innovative products in high tech and life sciences. The program has been modeled in more than 50 regions around the world – most recently in New York City, Bogotá, Colombia and Saudi Arabia. Key to our success has been the unique "culture of collaboration" between research organizations, capital sources, professional service providers and the established industries.  CONNECT has been recognized by Time, Inc. and Entrepreneur magazines and last year received the 2010 Innovation in Economic Development Award from the U.S. Department of Commerce for creation of Regional Innovation Clusters. CONNECT manages the San Diego Innovation Hub (iHub) designated by the state of California Governor’s Office of Economic Development in 2010.

For more information, please visit www.connect.org

The Challenge of Mobile Cloud

Mobile cloud faces many infrastructure and compliance issues but enormous benefits are available if these challenges can be solved.

If you are interested in understanding what is happening in the mobile cloud space you can find a lot of useful information on this interesting article from Channelweb.

Needless to say, we at eTask-it are great believers in the potential of the cloud to revolutionize the way we work and interact with each other, and we think mobile cloud is the ultimate opportunity for unshackling productivity and efficiency.

8 mobile cloud watch points for CIOs

eTask-it CEO Juan Manrique discusses transparency within organisations and CIOs alongside 7 other watch points in the mobile cloud space.