Aevi is a leading FinTech company that aims to create a more open world where payments can be made or received anywhere. With a cloud-based, device-agnostic platform, Aevi enables seamless payments and transaction data flow across digital and in-person channels. Operating in Europe, Australia, and the US, Aevi’s mission is to connect payment channels and enhance transaction visibility.

Aevi’s PMO, led by Mark Broome (VP, Professional Services), needed a powerful PPM tool to standardize processes, improve reporting, and drive portfolio visibility. Sukhdeep Rai (Programme QA & Governance Manager) and PMO Manager Chris Bergin were tasked with selecting and implementing this tool. Microsoft Planner Premium, supported by Microsoft Gold Partner Wellingtone, was chosen for its intuitive functionality, cloud-based capabilities, and seamless integration with Aevi’s growth strategy.

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Overview

Customer

Aevi

What did we do?

We implemented Microsoft Planner Premium with Wellingtone Accelerator+, enhanced by Power BI for easier decision making.

Key Benefits

  • Standardized project templates, milestones, phase gates, risks, and issues.
  • Automatic aggregation of RAG statuses against baseline data.
  • One-touch Power BI reporting for instant PPM status visibility.
  • Fast, easy user adoption thanks to Planner Premium’s intuitive interface.
  • Driving powerful change and continuous improvement in PPM working practices.

A Light Touch, Powerful PPM Tool with the Capability to Flex to Growing Requirements

Working across a set of defined strategic headlines, Aevi’s PMO has achieved implementation and rollout within just three months. The PMO, program managers, project management teams, and executive stakeholders are already embracing Planner Premium’s intuitive interface, Power BI’s powerful PPM reporting capabilities, and Wellingtone’s proprietary customization to enhance RAG status management. But, as Sukhdeep explains, the project has been as much about driving behavioral change as the technology itself. It is the start of a PPM transformation Aevi intends to continue, with Wellingtone’s partnership supporting the roadmap.

Sukhdeep ensured that selecting Aevi’s new tool was an impartial process aligned with the business needs. “We needed to accommodate two perspectives,” he says. “We needed to support delivery processes for our project management teams. Additionally, we needed to disseminate consistent data to the wider business. Through a rigorous process of stakeholder requirements gathering, demos from various vendors, and more, it became clear that Planner Premium was the right fit for Aevi. We are a dynamic, rapidly expanding organization. So, Planner Premium’s functionality, cloud-based capabilities, and iterative updates dovetail with our growth and continuous improvement strategy. Further, we found that Wellingtone was the supplier who best understood our needs, had the technical capabilities and PPM expertise to customize the tool, and wanted to work with us as a genuine partner.”

Microsoft Planner Premium is equipping us to drive the changes we need across process and governance quickly–but in a structured way.

Sukhdeep Rai, Program QA & Governance Manager

Driving Robust Risk and Issue Governance, Lifecycle Visibility, and PMO/Sponsor Engagement

During a detailed one-day exploration workshop, Wellingtone worked with Sukhdeep and the team to identify four key focus areas. These included project planning, delivery lifecycle management, status reporting, and risk and issue management. Wellingtone then configured Planner Premium with mandatory fields, templates, milestones, and phase gates for standardized processes, plus meaningful, real-time reporting using Power BI. A particular benefit was Wellingtone’s proprietary Accelerator+ Power App solution. This automates project status reporting against defined baseline data, ensuring that RAG statuses are set objectively and consistently for robust governance across the portfolio. “We are already seeing the benefits, even though we are only in our second full reporting cycle at this stage (July 2022),” Sukhdeep explains.

“From a project manager’s perspective, Planner Premium is easy to adopt–and our teams are doing so enthusiastically. From a PMO perspective, being able to generate real-time, consistent reports across the portfolio is invaluable. Not only is it winning back precious time, but it is also transforming our PMO/Sponsor engagement. Our project teams can see how the outputs of their work are being presented to the business. Thus, this motivates them to embrace Planner Premium’s role in showcasing that work. Our executive sponsors are excited about the Power BI reports they’re seeing, and the insights that data is generating. Fundamentally, the PMO is a change function. Planner Premium allows us to drive the changes we need across process and governance quickly in a structured way.”

A Value-Adding Partnership for the Future Transformation Roadmap

Aevi plans to continue its partnership with Wellingtone to enhance its PPM capabilities and invest in career development for project management professionals. “Phase one was about establishing project management fundamentals and visibility across the project delivery lifecycle, and we have achieved that,” Sukhdeep says. “Wellingtone has been flexible and collaborative in their approach, which has driven our capacity to implement phase one so quickly,” explains Sukhdeep.

“Moving forward, we’re keen to explore further resource management and financial management capabilities that will mature with us as our business grows. Additionally, we want to leverage Wellingtone’s offering as an APM Accredited trainer. Through this, we can invest in our project management community and offer a structured professional development pathway. I only have praise for Wellingtone’s flexible, collaborative approach.”

From the start, we chose Wellingtone because we recognised their capacity to act as an experienced advisory partner – not just a vendor. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them to anyone considering a Planner Premium implementation.

Sukhdeep Rai, Program QA & Governance Manager