New Tools of the Trade
Next-generation management tools simplify project and program management tasks and support decision making.
 It’s been said that in business, the people who are the most successful have the best information. The good news is that in today’s information age, managers have access to more data than ever before. The bad news is that, depending upon the size of the project, the amount of available data can be overwhelming and—when multiple agencies share project responsibility—not necessarily compatible or easily consolidated.
So how do you get through all of this data to find meaningful information that helps you stay ahead of the curve in project/program management? Help is on the way.
Program Management “Dashboards”
For projects in the public domain, the ability to meet schedule and budget and to limit risk is of prime importance, and transportation ventures are no different. Whether the schedule duration is five weeks or 500 days, integrated information management systems are now being used throughout the industry to simplify the project management process. Based on relational databases, these systems serve as intelligence management tools that make it possible to maintain centralized, secure information control and capture all project communications, such as correspondence, schedules, estimates, and change orders, as well as other data.
“Once all of the project information resides in the database, we can do wonders with it,” says Prasad Chittaluru, Ph.D., P.E., project director for PBS&J’s Information Solutions Division. “Depending upon the client’s needs, we can create a series of prepackaged or custom reports that can be used to analyze nearly every facet of an individual project or an entire work program.”
Commonly referred to as a management “dashboard,” the tool summarizes complex information—like project summary, cash flow, metrics, and earned-value tracking data—in an easy-to-visualize, graphical format. A specialized component bundles highly relevant trend, risk, issue, and progress (TRIP) data, and packages it clearly for ease of use.
Since cost and schedule issues are so critical to the successful completion of projects, the reporting functions inherent in management dashboards equip managers to work efficiently and proactively by making it possible for them to identify and address issues before they become problems.
Dynamic Decision-Support Systems
Providing an adequate water supply for constituents is high on the list of every public water system manager and policymaker across the United States. And planning is just half the job; these days, water managers may also have to build consensus and jump through fiscal hoops before formalizing a long-term capital improvement program that can respond to the needs of a given system over a 20-year planning period.
Today that task has just gotten easier with the creation of the Dynamic Decision Support System (D2S2 , for short), a new tool being developed by PBS&J in collaboration with the University of Florida (UF), the UF Water Institute, and Palm Beach County Water Utilities.
 “Models today lack the ability to provide rapid scenario testing in a visual platform that links dynamic hydrologic flows and resource impacts with demand and capital investments. There has been a trade-off between the level of detail and utility in modeling,” explains PBS&J Project Manager Kathleen O’Neil, P.G. D2S2 provides a balanced approach that also gives uncertainty envelopes for risk analysis, something that hydrologic models alone do not include.”
According to O’Neil, whose 20 years of experience in water program management includes researching systems dynamics and innovative technologies, D2S2 makes it possible for water managers to do scenario testing and return on investment analysis with one all-encompassing tool—no matter how the variables are changed. The system blends the latest in hydroinfomatics techniques and dynamic optimization models to compare and contrast a variety of “what-if” scenarios using real data.
For example, where a typical model relies on a “fixed” estimate of water supply, D2S2 looks at the real dynamics of regional systems data to determine the volume of water available over time, and connects this with demand drivers and water supply alternatives. All of this information can be used to determine relative costs and environmental risks, without ever having to leave the D2S2 framework.
And, since the system makes it possible to demonstrate scenarios visually, D2S2 becomes a powerful support tool during consensus building and stakeholder mediation, helping to ease what might otherwise become a contentious process.
From What If? to What’s Next?
 Tools like the management dashboard and D2S2 make it possible for managers to reach new heights of efficiency and cost control. And by having to expend less energy on routine project monitoring and planning activities, more can be devoted to the creation of progressive and dynamic projects—the end result being more satisfied constituents and project owners.
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