What is the value of a PMO in portfolio management?

Your organization manages a large number of projects, using an equally large number of resources. The project managers are competent, the teams mobilized... So why add a PMO (or Project Management Office)?

Contents : 

What is business portfolio management?

As a quick reminder, the aim of managing a portfolio of activities is to :

These objectives may seem simple to achieve, but in reality the conditions for success are difficult to meet. Controlling delivery times, solution quality and budget is the challenge of every project. But this requirement must be extended to the entire portfolio of activities.
This means putting in place mechanisms to manage the sharing of resources. The most critical variables are skills, people's availability periods, and budgets allocated to activities.
Even with the best project managers, many structural obstacles stand in the way of successful projects:

Added to this are methodological difficulties, which are less serious, but which must be resolved and assimilated by all project managers. Here are just a few examples:

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Who is responsible for resolving these problems?

The PMO, of course! - The PMO (Project Management Office) is the activity portfolio management office. This PMO function will promote standardization and the deployment of common practices. For this, a specific function needs to be created and attached to the hierarchical level ensuring a good audience.
The important question is the limit of the PMO's scope of responsibilities:

Several of the PMO's missions justify a maximum perimeter for its sphere of influence

Finally, even if the above conditions are met, the business portfolio management processes still need to be put into operation. These processes are demanding, and require someone to be responsible for their proper execution. The PMO's cross-functional position within the organization, its role as a catalyst between the business divisions and CIO, and its expertise in steering mechanisms, give the activity portfolio management the best chances of success.
Of course, this does not include advanced analysis, arbitration, etc., which are the responsibility ofad hoc bodies.