Choosing the right project management systems starts with understanding what an organisation needs at different levels. Scheduling and monitoring an individual project may require different capabilities from those needed to manage the organisation’s project portfolio, resources and costs. Once these requirements are understood, the strengths of different systems can be combined into a solution that works effectively for the organisation.
In Proha’s solutions, Camako and Safran can work together to provide an effective, integrated approach. Camako supports the management of projects and other organisational activities, while Safran can be used for scheduling and managing complex individual projects. Integration between the systems enables information to flow between them, allowing each to fulfil the role for which it is best suited.
Camako: Finnish Solution for Organisation-Wide Management
Camako provides an organisation-wide view of projects, costs, resources and capacity. When an organisation is running numerous projects and other activities simultaneously, it needs an overall picture of what work is being carried out, when it is scheduled, what it costs, which resources are required and whether available capacity is sufficient to meet planned demand.
Through integration, information from individual projects managed in Safran can become part of the organisation’s broader project management view. In a large organisation, the focus is not limited to the resource situation of a single project. It is also important to understand whether the organisation has sufficient capacity to meet the demands of different projects and activities.
Camako can be used to maintain resource availability and skills information. This information can be transferred to Safran, where it supports the planning of individual projects. This makes it possible to consider in advance whether the required resources are available and whether their capacity is sufficient for the planned work.
Figure 1. Camako makes resource workloads, capacity overruns and hidden work visible across project boundaries.
Safran for Scheduling Complex Projects
Safran focuses on managing complex individual projects, particularly their schedules. Large delivery and investment projects can involve vast numbers of tasks, interdependencies and data points. These environments require a project-specific tool that supports detailed schedule planning and progress monitoring.
Camako provides the higher-level system for managing the organisation’s projects and resources, while Safran focuses on detailed scheduling and schedule risk management at the individual project level. Information about project progress can, in turn, be transferred from Safran to provide a broader organisational view. This division of responsibilities brings detailed project planning and organisation-wide management together without requiring every function to be handled by a single tool.
Resource Information Flows Between Systems
Consider an organisation carrying out several large projects at the same time. Camako manages resource availability, capacity and skills across the organisation, while Safran is used to plan the delivery of individual projects. When the systems are integrated, Safran can access information about which resources are available.
Project planners can then take actual resource availability into account. If a plan requires more resources than the organization has available, this can be identified during the planning stage. The need for external resources can also be assessed where necessary.
The same principle works in the other direction. Information generated through project-specific planning in Safran can be used in Camako as part of the wider organisational view. Individual project resource requirements can therefore be considered in relation to the organisation’s other activities rather than remaining isolated from them.
A Solution Built Around Customer Needs
Combining Camako and Safran does not mean offering a standard package that is identical for every organisation. The starting point is the customer’s operating environment and project management requirements. Proha works with the customer to establish what the systems need to support and what requirements the solution must meet. This helps determine which functions belong in Camako, which are best handled by Safran and how the systems should connect.
Camako and Safran can be integrated with each other, but the solution is not limited to these two systems. Proha has also implemented integrations with systems such as SAP. Where a customer’s operations require connections to other systems, these can be incorporated into the solution. Camako’s open APIs support this approach, allowing project data to be connected to other systems and analytics tools. For example, in the Espoo City Rail project, Camako data is used for Power BI reporting.
An important advantage is that customers do not need to rely on several separate providers to build their solution. Proha can deliver the systems, the integrations between them, and the associated support and development services through a single partner.
Proha supports, trains, and develops
Implementing a system is only the first step. Once a solution has been tailored to the customer’s needs, users must also be able to incorporate it into their daily work. Proha trains and coaches users in the new solution and can help staff adopt agreed ways of working. Development can continue after implementation, with ongoing services providing support and further development as part of a long-term partnership.
Customer needs and operating environments evolve over time. Systems, integrations and working practices can therefore be developed further as requirements change. Support, system development, integrations and user coaching all form part of Proha’s ongoing collaboration with the customer.
The Seamless Collaboration Between Camako and Safran
An effective project management solution starts with identifying an organisation’s needs and building a practical way to manage projects, resources and information around them. Camako and Safran complement each other when their roles are defined appropriately and the necessary integrations are put in place.
Proha’s experts help organisations define their requirements, design a suitable solution, and implement the necessary systems and integrations. During implementation, Proha trains and coaches users and supports the adoption of agreed working practices. The collaboration continues after implementation through ongoing support and development.
If your organisation is looking to improve project, resource and cost management, or to bring Camako and Safran together in an integrated solution, contact Proha’s experts to discuss your needs.