The role of project management in the modern organization has grown significantly. The effective management of project portfolios that include numerous short-term projects, large multi-project programs or both has become a growing challenge for the industry. Many organizations have identified a need to formalize the practice of project management and develop centres of coordination and excellence for project management. Organizations have therefore implemented an organizational entity, the Project Management Office (PMO) to help steer projects to completion, while ensuring the overall success. This paper defines the PMO concept, its structures, functions, and outlines its lifecycle. It describes the five stages of PMO capabilities along a competency continuum. The paper also discusses the major processes that are essential to make Project Management Offices work and key success factors to improve the performance of the PMO. It also gives insight into the measurement approaches for getting value out of a PMO and the challenges to sustain the PMO.

Arul Nambi is currently working as a Transition Manager. He is responsible for ensuring seamless offshoring of work from Tesco UK to India by managing the expectations of the stakeholders and ensuring that the offshoring related activities are completed on time and within agreed ways of working. He has worked with HCL Technologies, Cisco Offshore Development Centre as a Program Manager and as a Specialist - Program Management at Verizon Data Services. He has done his Masters from the IIM, Ahmedabad and his under graduation in Chemical Engineering from the IIT, Chennai