Dubai (UAE): The IT Department of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has recently celebrated the first anniversary of the Program Management Office (PMO).
The PMO started in January 2006 under a tremendous pressure to manage multiple projects and add value immediately due the migration of applications from Dubai Municipality that yielded many projects concurrently. Added to that, was the pressure of performing in a new environment, with aggressive deadlines. Ms. Laila Fraidoon, Performance Excellence Manager at the time, was selected to manage the PMO, due to her extensive expertise in IT and Project Management. IBM was selected as a partner to establish the first government PMO at RTA.
The PMO has over the past year managed an impressive 39 projects successfully, developed policies and procedures for project governance for RTA and Agency IT Projects.
Mr. Ahmed Bahrozyan, Director of the IT department, who initiated the PMO at RTA, said, "Since its establishment, the PMO has contributed greatly to the successful implementation of many important IT projects. The introduction of very structured project management methodologies, standards and policies by the PMO, have helped the project managers overcome the complexity of IT projects and manage project risks in a proactive manner; leading to the completion of projects in accordance with the IT department's and RTA's quality standards."
The effort and creativity of the PMO reached the Chairman and Executive Director of RTA, Mr. Mattar Al Tayer, who endorsed the work done by the PMO and ordered the project management policies to be distributed company wide.
A new PMO is being established in another department, Projects and Logistics Support with a view to add the same level of value to the department that builds bus stations and buildings, among other responsibilities. The PMO was also selected to apply for the Dubai Excellence Award in the "Best Administrative Project" category. Ms. Laila's efforts did not go unnoticed, with her being selected to apply for the same award in the "Best Female Employee" category.
With good news abound, Mr. Ahmed Bahrozyan has recently been ranked third in the top ten IT managers in the GCC region, first in Dubai and the only IT manager nominated in the government sector. Ms. Laila has now been promoted to Director in the RTA Chairman's Office. The IT PMO is currently headed by Mr. Ali Al Qassab, a prominent manager with the IT departments in RTA.
RTA was established in November 2005 and needed to quickly establish its corporate identity and achieve technical independence from Dubai Municipality and Dubai Police. RTA had to also establish the foundation of an effective IT department as a world class support organization that would act as an enable to other business functions within RTA. The first step was to migrate legacy systems, establish common IT systems (80 identified) and infrastructure as quickly as possible with an initial target of achieving a good level of independence from Dubai Municipality and Dubai Police within six months.
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© Press Release 2007
