Chris Laker

 

CEO Artios System Solutions, Stellenbosch

 

Chris was Program Manager for Sunspace (see right) from 2000 to 2008.

 

Chris also writes about his philosophy in life in his private time.

We were personally responsible for implementing and using PSNext in a real Project Office since 2003. This was done at SunSpace and Information Systems, the only spacecraft manufacturer in South Africa and the oldest user of PSNext in the country.

As Program Manager heading up the Projects Office at SunSpace I was ultimately responsible for all projects and thus have extensive experience of implementing PSNext in a challenging project environment. This includes many concurrently running complex and less complex projects, many specialist teams contributing resources only when required to a project, keeping track of schedules, costs and timesheets and providing quotes and forecasts to marketing, finance, the executive and the board. Even HR, line management and team members used the services of the Projects Office to track, for example, resource utilization, attendance and over time. We, therefore, have real-life experience in setting up a project office and project support office with the associated procedures to manage projects, rolling out and supporting PSNext, a distributed project and portfolio management system, and managing real projects using this infrastructure.

The decision to adopt PSNext as the company standard in 2003 was based on the many advantages it offered. Until then planning, which was done by more than one person who was responsible for his own part of the project, had to be integrated to form the complete planning for a project. This was very tedious and error-prone. Also, we had no clear and up to date picture of who was doing what on our projects. With PSNext all data (including resources) was in one database and could be reported across projects in the same format and in standardized reports. We could provide standardized cash flow projections for projects and do what-if scenarios when considering new or updated projects. Any combination of any projects across any periods using any combination of resources or cost-items could easily be selected to provide custom reports on-the-fly. And the best of it all—PSNext was cheaper than other competitive solutions!

We are here to allow you to focus on your primary job —whether you are the CEO, program manager, project manager, line manager or any other position. You want the answers to your project questions with the press of a button. No uncontrolled spreadsheets, project plans that need to be merged, guessing the actual hours or costs spent or hoping the new project that marketing has found can actually be done on top of all the other projects the company already has to do. With PSNext properly implemented in your project environment, you can focus on your primary function.

We can provide you with a turn-key project management solution: Installation, supporting IT and users, implementation and training. We also provide customization and integration with other in-house systems (e.g. your financial, HR or ERP system) where required.

Artios System Solutions, based in Stellenbosch near Cape Town, works in close collaboration with Management Planning Systems based in Johannesburg to provide reliable and professional support of PSNext across Southern Africa.