{"id":69147,"date":"2024-01-03T14:00:08","date_gmt":"2024-01-03T20:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.projectmanager.com\/?p=69147"},"modified":"2026-04-27T12:03:56","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T17:03:56","slug":"enterprise-project-management-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.projectmanager.com\/blog\/enterprise-project-management-office","title":{"rendered":"Enterprise Project Management: Benefits, Challenges & Tools"},"content":{"rendered":"

Managing more than one project at a time creates a lot of problems. How can you allocate resources wisely across all those projects? How can you keep the projects aligned with the strategic goals of the organization? That and more is what enterprise project management does.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s define the term enterprise project management and then identify its unique challenges before going into what an enterprise project manager is and what an enterprise project management office is. We\u2019ll also explain the benefits and share some free templates to help you out.<\/p>\n

What Is Enterprise Project Management?<\/h2>\n

Enterprise project management (EPM) is an umbrella term that covers the professional practices, processes and tools that are used when managing multiple projects, such as a program or portfolio, at the same time. Unlike project management, which focuses on one project at a time with narrowly defined goals, enterprise project management works towards uniform strategies and processes with the goals of efficiency and alignment of all the projects to work collectively towards the organization\u2019s business goals.<\/p>\n

You can think of enterprise project management as a way to organize and track multiple projects. Instead of managing one project with teams dedicated only to that one project and other resources allotted to only that one project, enterprise project management works to share these resources across multiple projects in a project portfolio<\/a>. It seeks to avoid duplication of effort and foster better communication between projects so there are fewer mistakes. As a result, you’ll have a holistic decision-making process that doesn\u2019t overlook opportunities and keeps all projects serving a common purpose.<\/p>\n

To do this and avoid potential pitfalls of individual project management while focusing on the strategic goals of the larger organization you\u2019ll want to use project management software. ProjectManager<\/a> is award-winning project management software that can manage multiple projects and resources in real time. Use our roadmap tool to see all your projects on a visual timeline to help you better allocate resources and manage all your projects more efficiently. Roadmaps are Gantt charts that manage multiple projects and can link dependencies to avoid delays and set a baseline to track progress and costs in real time. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.<\/p>\n

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ProjectManager\u2019s roadmap helps with enterprise project management. Learn more<\/strong><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Unique Challenges of Enterprise Project Management<\/h2>\n

While the benefits of enterprise project management include more efficient projects and being able to reach strategic goals<\/a> through collective projects, that doesn\u2019t mean there aren\u2019t challenges to managing multiple projects. These challenges can be faced and controlled, but only if an enterprise project manager is aware of them. Here are some of the more challenging aspects of enterprise project management.<\/p>\n

Ensuring Project Strategic Alignment<\/h3>\n

One of the main goals of enterprise project management is project strategic alignment, which is when all the plans and executions of the projects being managed fit into the organization\u2019s strategic goals. Therefore, all projects must provide business results to help the organization achieve its full potential and long-term plans.<\/p>\n

Approving, Selecting and Prioritizing Projects<\/h3>\n

Part of enterprise project management is determining which of the existing as well as new projects are most urgent. The approval and selection of these prioritized projects<\/a> is one way to gain efficiency and deliver on the strategic goals of the organization and is one of the duties that an enterprise project manager is responsible for.<\/p>\n

Managing Multiple Projects Simultaneously<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s hard enough to manage one project, but managing multiple projects<\/a> at the same time is exponentially more difficult. Setting priorities and budgets across projects can be overwhelming and lead to mistakes, which can negatively impact quality and outcomes. It\u2019s imperative to not only look at the larger picture but not forget the important details, too.<\/p>\n

Allocating Organizational Resources Across Projects<\/h3>\n

Being able to share resources across multiple projects is one way to work more efficiently and save on costs, but this is hard to achieve. But teams, tools and materials aren’t unlimited and multiple projects can be vying for the same resources at the same time. Being able to schedule resources<\/a> and understand resource requirements will improve resource allocation.<\/p>\n

Tracking Project Performance<\/h3>\n

You\u2019ll need to track progress and performance across multiple projects, all of which will be demanding your attention. It\u2019s important to not neglect any data and to have that data delivered in real time to make informed decisions promptly. This can be accomplished with dashboards and reporting tools.<\/a><\/p>\n

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Get your free<\/p>\n

Strategic Roadmap Template<\/h3>\n

\n\tUse this free Strategic Roadmap Template for Excel to manage your projects better.<\/p>\n\t\t