The bubble has burst: Why PMOs must evolve or risk obsolescence

Bruce Moepye, Managing Director of Gen2 Enterprise Services. (Image: Supplied)

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For years, project management offices (PMOs) across the financial sector have been seen as necessary – but not always effective – structures within enterprise environments. Now, says Bruce Moepye, Managing Director of Gen2 Enterprise Services, the tide has turned.

“The bubble has burst,” says Moepye. “Organisations can no longer afford to pour money into projects that don’t deliver. The days of unchecked spending and misaligned initiatives are over.”

Historically, many PMOs operated as process-heavy bureaucracies, more focused on ticking boxes than driving strategic value. Projects were initiated with weak business cases, leading to cost overruns, scope creep and lack of measurable returns. In some cases, PMOs were relegated to compliance functions, losing sight of their potential as strategic enablers.

Moepye notes that without a structured, value-oriented approach, organisations fall into a cycle of wasteful investment. “We’ve seen it time and again – projects that start with promise but end up as white elephants. Think of incomplete shopping malls, roads, schools and clinics across the country. Many of these could have been successful had there been proper governance and a value-driven framework in place.”

To counter these failures, Moepye advocates for the adoption of a value-driven PMO framework – a model designed to ensure that every project is treated as a strategic investment with measurable outcomes. This modern approach to project governance includes four core pillars:

1. Strategic alignment guardrails

• Project investment committees to assess strategic fit and return on investment.
• Stage-gate processes that introduce go/no-go checkpoints at critical milestones.
• Mandatory business cases linking every initiative to corporate objectives.

2. Proactive portfolio governance

• Quarterly portfolio reviews to reassess relevance and progress.
• Real-time dashboards for visibility into performance and benefit realisation.
• "No value, no continuation" policies to terminate non-performing projects.

3. Agile and adaptive execution

• Embrace agile frameworks for quicker delivery and feedback loops.
• Promote a fail-fast culture that identifies missteps early.
• Assign value ownership to ensure benefits are tracked and realised.

4. Financial discipline and cost controls

• Implement zero-based budgeting to eliminate waste.
• Use red flag triggers to identify budget risks early.
• Apply benchmarking to compare project outcomes with industry standards.

“Too many opportunities have been lost simply because a proper framework wasn’t followed,” says Moepye. “With the right tools and discipline, we can prevent history from repeating itself.”

The shift from traditional, process-heavy PMOs to agile, value-driven structures is no longer optional – it's a business imperative. Organisations must rethink their project portfolios through the lens of strategic impact, ensuring that every rand spent contributes to long-term success.

“The PMO of the future is not about process – it’s about performance,” concludes Moepye. “It must evolve into a strategic investment enabler, not just a cost centre. The question is, will your PMO adapt, or will it be left behind?”