Why On-Demand Project Management Is a Viable Business
Long-time project managers working in a traditional environment might view on-demand project management with skepticism. They only know one way of doing things. And from where they stand, what they do is hard to quantify in an on-demand environment. And yet, on-demand project management has proved to be a viable business.
Georgia-based Janiko Group is just one example of a firm offering on-demand project management. The firm’s services include full project management, project coordination, budget analysis, vendor management, and more. Some of their services can even be accessed on a standalone basis.
The question is this: why would companies embrace the on-demand model? Answer that question and you will understand why on-demand project management is a viable business.
Projects Move at a Faster Pace
For starters, modern projects are moving at an ever-faster pace. Companies ill-equipped to keep up can find themselves lagging behind. This isn’t good. If you are a vendor and you cannot keep up with client demands, plan on losing their business. If your company cannot keep up with the pace of its own projects, serving clients is that much harder.
On-demand project management frees a company to do what it does best. Meanwhile, expert project managers and their staff keep things on track from start to finish. They manage time constraints along with budgets, vendors, and everything else.
As Much Help as Needed
A big benefit of on-demand project management is being able to choose the level of service. In many cases, service providers offer virtual teams that come alongside clients to provide as little or as much assistance as necessary. And because the teams are virtual, they come and go commensurate with demand. This gives companies access to teams of employees more than capable of working alongside their own staff. When their services are not needed, no worries. There are other projects they can work on.
On-Demand Is Better for Budgets
Another reason on-demand project management works is the fact that it is better on the company budget. Let’s say you run a company that only tackles a limited number of new projects each year. Paying a full-time project manager and their staff equates to budget overkill. On the other hand, you only pay for what you need with the on-demand model.
Going one step further, on-demand project management tends to be more efficient. The goal is to get in, get the project done, and get out so that the vendor can move on to the next project. This is good in the sense that efficiency saves time and money. And anybody who knows how easily budget creep can derail a project also knows how important it is to protect budgets by maintaining peak efficiency.
More Highly Specialized Projects
Finally, on-demand project management is a viable business because projects are becoming increasingly more specialized. It is getting harder and harder for companies to find industry specialists who also have project management skills. In the absence of such skills, the best solution may be to combine the in-house skills a company does posses with the expertise professional project managers bring to the table.
Shared management moves projects forward without requiring additional hiring. It guarantees that everyone involved is contributing according to their specialty. That way, no stone is left unturned. Projects are completed on time, on budget, and according to established specs.
It might be difficult for a seasoned project manager to accept the on-demand model. Nonetheless, on-demand project management has proved to be a viable business model. More companies are offering it as the need for service grows.