Castellan Systems

A “Monarch”, as the name implies, is a sovereign head of state. A monarch may exercise the highest authority and power in the state. Typically, a monarch either personally inherits the lawful right to exercise the state's sovereign rights (often referred to as the throne or the crown) or is selected by an established process from a group of eligible to provide the nation's monarch. A monarch usually reigns for life or until abdication. A monarch can reign in multiple monarchies simultaneously.

Monarch is an application that helps programme manager or portfolio managers manage programmes or portfolios. As per the above description, the programme manager or portfolio manager is selected from a group eligible to provide this type of management and hold this position for the duration of the programme or life of the portfolio. They may even perform this role on multiple programmes or portfolios. They exercise final responsibility of decisions and results.

So firstly, we need to establish the differences between a programme and are portfolio as they are misunderstood in some quarters:

• A programme is a temporary, flexible organisation created to coordinate, direct and oversee the implementation of a set of related projects and activities in order to deliver outcomes and benefits related to the organisation’s strategic objectives. A programme is likely to have a life that spans several years.
• A portfolio is a grouping of projects, and programmes. It can also include other project related activities and responsibilities. The purpose of a portfolio is to establish centralised management and oversight for many projects and/or programmes. A portfolio also helps establish standardised governance across the organisation. The purpose of creating and managing a portfolio is to ensure the business is taking on the right projects, and making sure they align with the company’s values, strategies, and goals.

You partner Monarch with Condotiero and/or Almogavar (our project management suites) and ClockKeeper (our timesheeting system), you have an unbeatable combination.

So what does Monarch do?

Monarch is has been built using the proven Condotiero functionality to allow programme and portfolio managers not only to monitor and manage their own team's effort but to also monitor the projects within these programmes and/or porfolios. You need to remember that while a programme or portfolio coordinates the progress of projects, they are indeed a project in themselves with specific tasks, activities, risks, decisions and issues. As they have tasks covering the activities of the programme/portfolio office, they have budgets, schedules and a scope; these need to be determined and monitored in the same way as a project manager does in a project. They may generate documents that are at the programme/portfolio level that also need to be controlled and managed.

It can be used by the programme/portfolio manager and their assistant(s).

Monarch provides a programme/portfolio health view summary.

Here you can view the status of not only the programme/portfolio specific effort, but that of all of the projects within the programme/portfolio.

You can view the progress to the approved budget as well as a comparison with the overall available budget for the whole programme/portfolio.

Monarch records actual labour spent on each programme/portfolio task and calculates cost. It also tracks actual programme/portfolioexpenses charges. Monarch can print an invoice detail report to which a cover letter/invoice can be attached and then sent to the client(s).

You can enquire on each individual project to view their status, status of open risks, issues and decisions.

Monarch calculates % complete of a programme/portfolio task.

It sends out notifications to team members whenever any of the programme/portfolio risks, actions, issues or decisions which they've been assigned are overdue.

Monarch can be used for programmes and portfolios.

The individual projects can be defined and then linked to projects managed through Condotiero and/or Almogavar to access their status details.

Monarch can be used for internal or external (i.e. client) funded programmes/portfolios.

Monarch can define tasks and their estimate for the effort associated with the programme/portfolio office.

Monarch imports estimates from Ms Excel using the Estimating Workbook template provided in the package.

Monarch can also export estimates to Ms Excel by populating the Estimating Workbook template provided in the package.

Monarch can generate programme/portfolio schedules right there in the application. This facility can:

• Create a programme/portfolio office schedule using the tasks and assignments estimated;
• Update a programme/portfolio office schedule;
• Update planned and forecast dates as well as task duration and milestone status;
• Update the programme/portfolio office's planned and forecast S-Curve;
• Forecast resource requirements based on the programme/portfolio office schedule;
• Determines and highlights the critical path;
• It now displays and schedules any milestones that have been defined for the project; and
• It now has a simpler but improved scheduling facility which also displays percentage completed and planned resources.

Monarch can also built overall programme/portfolio schedules by:

• Including the programme/portfolio office schedule mentioned earlier;
• Scheduling upcoming projects which are yet to be initiated;
• Including the project schedules, with their tasks, that have already been initiated and scheduled by Condotero and/or Almogavar;
• It now displays any milestones that have been defined for the programme/portfolio and projects; and
• It now also displays percentage completed and planned resources.

Monarch prepares and tracks forecasts to complete the programme/portfolio office tasks.

Monarch builds this forecast by "reading" a programme/portfolio office schedule generated by the application. The forecast can be exported to Microsoft Excel.

Monarch supports the execution of a risk review/analysis workshop.

Monarch assists in generating risk action plans.

Monarch generates a Risk Management Workbook; template are provided in the package.

Monarch allows you to record programme/portfolio office variations and generates and prints Change Control Forms which can then be used to obtain approvals for the variation budget.

Monarch imports estimates from Ms Excel using the Estimating Workbook template provided in the package.

Monarch can also export estimates to Ms Excel by populating the Estimating Workbook template provided in the package.

Monarch records & tracks Risks; it assists generating risk action plans.

Monarch records & tracks issues and actions; these are then used when generating a status reports.

Monarch records & tracks project decisions; these are then used when generating a status reports.

Monarch generates an Issues & Actions Log; templates are provided in the package.

Monarch will notify a team member when they've been assign to resolve a risk, action or issue.

Monarch generates document identities and tracks details of documents.

Monarch provides a built-in Document Management facility where these documents can be stored within the database and provides version control. Documents can be checked out and checked in and while there are checked out no one other the person who checked it out can check-in an updated version, as well as, document distribution details.

If a hardcopy is stored within a project file, Monarch can record this location can also. If the document pertains to correspondence, the details of who sent it and who received it can also be recorded. Additionally, search key words can be added.

It’s linked to the various other parts of the system where document ids are required for easy allocation of ids.

• Provides Programme Status Reporting and overall forecasts. This PSR can either report on the programme/portfolio office activities or the whole programme/portfolio, including all projects.
  
  
• Track project milestones.
  
  
• Generate and print a Programme Status Report; template are provided in the package.
  
  

Monarch can generate programme/portfolio invoices; these invoices can include just the programme/portfolio office activities or the whole programme/portfolio, including all projects.

Project managers would prepare invoices through Condotiero or Almogavar; the programme/portfolio manager can then select which invoices to include in the overall invoice.

• View a health summary of the project, including budget and schedule progress.
  
  
• View open project risks, actions and issues.
  
  

Monarch provides inbuilt Emailing facilities. Emails can be imported from your Email Server without the need for an Email client like Microsoft Outlook. These Emails can be linked to current open projects, portfolios or programmes (depending on the application) which are then stored within the database along with al of the project data and documents loaded.

Emails can now be printed.

Monarch can also send Emails through your Email Server without the need for an Email client like Microsoft Outlook. These Emails can be also be linked to current open projects, portfolios or programmes (depending on the application) which are then stored within the database along with all of the project data and documents loaded.

Monarch provides inbuilt Instant Messaging facilities. Conversations can be maintained with other team members. Messages can include attached files. Team members need only have access to the SQL Server instance where the database is held in order to be available for conversation. These conversations are also stored within the database.

Messenger now features a more graphical interface.

We even provide the Messenger as a standalone tool that team members that don't regularly used them, you can load this standalone tool at startup and maintain contact with your teammates.

As well as all of these tasks, Monarch assists the Programme/Portfolio Manager in other ways. Please check it out; it's available for download on a 30-day trial.

Monarch is available in 5, 10 and 20 user licenses; but we're happy to negotiate any other arrangement. Just contact us.