UMT first to achieve Gold in Project and Portfolio Management

Johannesburg, 23 Aug 2011

Local enterprise project management (EPM) solution provider, UMT Consulting SA, is the first company to achieve a Microsoft Gold Competency for Project and Portfolio management in the Microsoft Partner Network in South Africa, the rest of Africa and the Middle East. This is the highest competency level obtainable through Microsoft.

UMT Consulting SA managing director Dries van der Colff says to earn a Microsoft Gold Competency, organisations must complete a rigorous set of tests to prove their level of expertise. “They must also have the right number of Microsoft certified professionals, submit references approved by customers, and demonstrate their commitment to customer satisfaction by participating in an annual survey.”

Microsoft launched its new partner network system in 2010, a revised system with much higher standards for achieving Gold status. One of the results of the significantly increased depth and breadth of requirements needed to achieve a Gold competency, is that achieving a Microsoft Gold competency has become a key differentiator among Microsoft partners.

There are nearly 1 000 companies worldwide offering products and services based on Microsoft Project and Microsoft Project Server, and only about 20 have achieved a Gold competency in Project and Portfolio Management.

“We achieved Microsoft Gold Partner status in 2003, and have maintained that status since then. During the transition period, since the launch of the new competency-based partner dispensation, Microsoft has allowed companies that had previously qualified for Gold Partner status to continue using the associated logo and designation until October 2011. From November, only the new competency-based logos and titles may be used by partners that have earned the relevant competencies,” he explains.

Van der Colff stresses that UMT Consulting SA is the first company to achieve this in South Africa, the rest of Africa, and the Middle East. “This achievement underpins our continued commitment to Microsoft technologies, and our technical ability to successfully deliver project, programme and portfolio management solutions - based on Microsoft technologies.”

For more information, contact UMT Consulting on (012) 345-3518 or visit www.umtsa.co.za.

UMT Consulting SA

UMT Consulting SA is the largest project, program and portfolio management solutions implementation partner in South Africa, and has serviced more than a 100 of the country's leading organisations with its offerings. UMT Consulting SA recently concluded a BEE transaction whereby the Notsi Group owns a 25% shareholding in the ordinary share capital of the company. The company is equipped with sound staff values, capacity to deliver on its promise, practical knowledge and it has a BEE partner that actively participates and contributes to the company's success.

UMT Project and Portfolio Management Services South Africa (UMT Consulting SA) was formed through the merger of Fulcrum Business Solutions, South Africa's leading provider of Enterprise Project Management solutions, and UMT Portfolio Management SA, the leading Portfolio Management organisation.

Since 1989, both UMT and Fulcrum Business Solutions have pioneered the field of project and portfolio management and devised unique methodologies that, when combined with effective project management, enable an integrated link between strategy formulation and execution. UMT Consulting SA contributes to its clients' success by linking business and IT strategies to execution through day-to-day activities leading to improved performance and tangible projects delivery results.

UMT Consulting SA methodology, training, mentorship and coaching approach assist organisations successfully to deploy practical and essential project, program and portfolio management processes, templates, systems and governance solutions across their multi-disciplinary divisions or departments.

UMT Consulting SA solutions that consistently help its clients build capabilities that support effective business decision-making and enhance business delivery performance. Its objective is to assist its clients in ensuring the operational delivery of their strategy through effective project, program and portfolio management.

UMT Consulting SA has achieved a Microsoft Gold Competency for Project and Portfolio management in the Microsoft Partner Network, the highest competency level obtainable through Microsoft.

According to UMT Consulting SA CEO Pieter Meyer, the time has passed to just improve on your delivery processes but to introduce a new way of collaborating between team members, program and project managers, senior managers and executives. “Organisations need to enable and revive their processes by introducing a responsibility, accountability, consult and inputs (RACI) formal governance framework to their projects environments and to use workflow that will manage the governance outputs. Role-based delivery management methods will become very important in any organisation to ensure return on investments in their project delivery space.”

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