A-24 PMO Roles in IT Industries

Abstract

Project (or Program) Management Office (PMO) is taking the root in the information technology (IT) industries in Japan, as the nation becomes aware of methodologies of modern project management. However, the author sees that what PMO means in the Japanese IT industries is often different from those in the rest of the world. Based on learning from realities in consulting scenes, this report is to discuss what is misunderstanding of PMO roles peculiar to the Japanese IT industries, and why. Japanese IT firms misunderstand PMO roles as they operate in different environments from those for other industries. IT users should be wary of white lies by IT vendors.