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Gothenburg University selects Antura Projects to support change management process focused on portfolio management

High ambitions require powerful systems and as the University of Gothenburg invests in improving its portfolio management, getting the right IT support is crucial to the results. After a thorough evaluation process, it chose the Antura Projects PPM Tool.

With 1,400 courses, 190 degree programmes and high-quality multidisciplinary research, the University of Gothenburg is one of the most popular universities in Sweden and one of the largest in the Nordic countries. A growing project operation coupled with a need for greater uniformity hailed the beginning of a new change management process with the aim being to improve the management of objects, projects and related activities. A new management model for IT systems, projects, processes and administration was one of the steps in the process, but translating the management model into practical application required further input:

–We soon realized that the new management model required IT support to ensure that project management, portfolio management, capacity planning and time reporting could be handled satisfactorily, says Sofie Hyllborn, IT Services Manager at the University of Gothenburg, along with her colleague Katrin Skepp, Head of Section for IT. 

Consequently, the university decided to evaluate the Project Portfolio Management (PPM) systems available on the market, which brought it into contact with Antura and its Antura Projects PPM Tool. Sofie Hyllborn and Katrin Skepp were both part of the university’s IT project group, which had access to a test environment in Antura Projects. The environment was configured to the university’s project models, PPS and portfolio management, and then filled with some sample project data.

Functions related to object and project management, capacity planning and cost management were thoroughly assessed throughout the test period. The university’s requirements included a better overall picture of the organization’s administration work, so that it could efficiently decide on the right actions and thus make the most of limited resources. It also tested the ability to cooperate both within the organization and also with external stakeholders, as well as practical document management including permission control. 

A thorough evaluation showed that Antura Projects met the requirements

Ongoing dialogue between Antura and the project group throughout the test period included, for example, weekly meetings to resolve any issues that arose along the way. At the end of the test period, the project group could see that Antura Projects met the university’s various stringent requirements. 

–One of the key reasons we chose Antura Projects was that it can be used as a planning tool in projects and administration, in combination with following up results and forecasts. Functions such as performance reports with risks and portfolio aggregation offer a good ability to steer our portfolio, say Hyllborn and Skepp.

Antura Projects was later implemented gradually, and all university-wide IT projects are now in the system. 

–In the first stage, we want to use Antura Projects to better steer our portfolio and check that we’re working on the right areas. We currently work with risk management, performance reporting and issue management with Kanban, says Sören Ehrnberg, CIO at the University of Gothenburg. 

The initial change management process with its high ambitions is now nearing its end-point; the new management model is established, and IT support for improved management of portfolio, projects and administration is in place. The next step is to work on prioritization, benefit management and simulation, and to review integrations with Agresso and Jira. As part of the process of further broadening the system’s use, Antura Projects is now also being implemented in the university’s Services unit.

”One of the key reasons we chose Antura Projects was that it can be used as a planning tool in projects and administration, in combination with following up results and forecasts. Functions such as performance reports with risks and portfolio aggregation offer a good ability to steer our portfolio.”

Sofie Hyllborn, IT Services Manager and Katrin Skepp, Head of Section for IT at the University of Gothenburg

The University of Gothenburg is one of the most popular universities in Sweden with 47,538 students, 6,198 degrees awarded and 1,710 active research students in 2018. The core operation is organized into and managed by eight faculties, divided into 39 institutes. There is also shared administration to support the operation, as well as a university library.

www.gu.se