Simply ForteS.Fortes Solutions BV - Capitool 50-3 7521 PL Enschede Tel: +31 (0)534317450 Fax: +31 (0)534345 578 info@fortes.nl www.fortes.nl

Challenges for policy makers and policy implementers

The preparation and implementation of policies, whether it happens at the central or local level, is not a simple task. Citizens and media hold government bodies accountable for what they do with public money. Accountability, governance, transparency and efficiency are demanded for every project and program nowadays.

Align projects with policy

Doing things right is important, doing the right things is even more important. This means that a clear insight in ongoing projects and policy programs is essential. By showing the contribution of each program and project to the underlying strategic policy, new policy initiatives can easily be assessed and given the right priority.

Efficiency in project execution

Government projects sometimes end up in the media when delivered too late or over budget. Some projects are even

cancelled after years of investments, because the original goals did not prove to be feasible. These are awkward situations for the responsible authorities.

By mapping important milestones and performance indicators for each project and program, right from the start, and report accordingly, it will be possible for program managers to keep grip on their projects and timely make adjustments whenever necessary.

Transparency and responsibility

Governments work with public money. In today’s society, people demand accountability about how their tax money is spent. Openness about realized benefits contributes to public confidence in government. By communicating transparently about current projects, possible risks and expected results, policy makers and policy implementers keep the necessary support from all stakeholders.

The Principal Toolbox for professional project management

The complex environment in which municipalities, government and autonomous administrative authorities operate requires a professional approach how programs are being carried out. Project management based on proven best practices is then an important asset to manage project portfolios and policy programs effectively.

Municipalities, government and autonomous administrative authorities face many challenges. A compact government, decentralization of tasks, more civic engagement and extensive cuts on public budgets are issues that affect everyone working in the public sector.

Project portfolio management,for the government.

Simply ForteS.

• Supports best practices such as PRINCE2, MSP, Stage Gate, Six Sigma,P3O,MoP, MoV and other;

• Can easily be customized, making it seamlessly fit with your organization, business unit or team;

• Fully web-based solution that can be implemented within a few weeks in any organization.

Government

Simply ForteS.Fortes Solutions BV - Capitool 50-3 7521 PL Enschede Tel: +31 (0)534317450 Fax: +31 (0)534345 578 info@fortes.nl www.fortes.nl

Proper software tools to improve uniformity across projects and to simultaneously view and monitor portfolios and programs are essential, too. The Principal Toolbox of Fortes Solutions has been delivering this kind of functionality for over 15 years. Several ministries, municipalities and autonomous administrative authorities have been using the Principal Toolbox for many years already, to manage their projects and programs efficiently and effectively.

Supporting best practices

The Principal Toolbox is a web-based solution which enables a more effective collaboration in projects, programs and portfolios. Thanks to built-in support for PRINCE2, Stage Gate, Six Sigma, AgilePM, MSP, P3O, MoV, MoP and other best practices, the software actively contributes to setting-up and managing projects, programs and portfolios professionally. Every methodology can be fully tailored and customized, making it seamlessly fit with the size and approach of your organization, department or team.

In addition, certain workflows can be automated, such as the approval workflow for project documentation or approving timesheets of project members. This saves valuable time and prevents unnecessary errors.

Simple resource management for projects

The Principal Toolbox supports the entire process of planning, requesting and assigning resources. This gives your organization insight in the allocation of employees, including any over-allocations and remaining capacity. The Principal Toolbox supports resource planning on project and product level, and takes into account specific knowledge and skills per resource. This will ensure an optimum allocation of employees across various projects. In addition, employees are able to register their spent hours in the Principal Toolbox, so you have an overview of spent versus budgeted hours per person at any given moment.

Clear overviews and reports

By using the advanced graphical reports, you are able to see the project progress, possible risks, costs and hours spent so far, consistency between projects and the status of your project portfolio. You are able to create these reports with just a few mouse clicks, and can export the data to Excel or Word for further analysis. In addition, dozens of commonly used reports and graphs are out-of-the-box available in the Principal Toolbox. By using the graphical projects dashboard you have insight in the status of your project portfolio at any given moment!

Dutch product

By default, the software and support is delivered in Dutch, English, German and French. The Principal Toolbox is a Dutch initiative and is being developed at our headquarters in Enschede. Training, support and consultancy is handled from one our offices across Europe, North-America and Australia. This means you can always count on a quick response to your questions!

“We now have insight in all bottlenecks and reponsibilities. And we are now able to easily communicate towards the council.” - Municipality of Wijk bij Duurstede

Our software is being used by:

Case: municipality of the HagueBack in 2008, there was a political need to see which projects were running and how much money and time they cost. After an extensive selection, the municipality selected the Principal Toolbox by Fortes Solutions, because it offers excellent support for PRINCE2 and provides a clear view on the portfolio. The software was also flexible and quickly implemented.

Realized benefits: - More overview and guidance on the project portfolio;- Uniformity in project approach and project reports;- Improving effectiveness through strengtened portfolioo.