Management of a portfolio of projects financed with MRR funds

The emergence of the European Funds from the European Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (MRR) has substantially changed the playing field in which we have been operating in recent times in the field of public procurement. 

Indeed, on 21 July 2020, the European Council agreed on a temporary exceptional recovery instrument known as Next Generation EU for an amount of EUR 750 billion. Subsequently, Regulation (EU) No 2021/241 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 February 2021 established the so-called Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (MRR), which calls on member states to draw up national recovery and resilience plans, tailored to their circumstances, to achieve the four objectives of the MRR: promoting the economic, social and territorial cohesion of the EU; strengthening the resilience and adjustment capacity of member states; mitigating the social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 crisis; and supporting the ecological and digital transitions. 

In Spain, the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan foresees the mobilisation of more than 140 billion euros of public investment until 2026, with a strong concentration of investments and reforms in the first phase of the Next Generation EU plan, which covers the period 2021-2023, in order to boost recovery as soon as possible and achieve a maximum impact of investments to reverse the negative cycle in which the economies are in. 

Royal Decree-Law 36/2020, of 30 December, approving urgent measures for the modernisation of the Public Administration and for the execution of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, established formulas for the correct execution of the European Funds, the specification of the projects, the milestones and objectives to be achieved, the time frame, the specific amount to be received... 

We are therefore faced with an unprecedented scenario, with great time pressure, in which for many entities from all sectors and fields of action (as the MRR Funds cover very diverse areas), it is necessary to implement many projects simultaneously, to monitor the indicators agreed for each of them, which make it possible to control and demonstrate the achievement of the established objectives and therefore the effectiveness of the financing of the action with European funds. 

Izertis has been helping organisations in their Digital Metamorphosis process for more than 25 years. We help our clients by offering a management office specialised in digital solutions and project management, working in a coordinated way to execute a programme or provide a specific service for a certain period of time in the organisation. 

Izertis has been helping organisations in their Digital Metamorphosis process for more than 25 years

Through a Programme/Project Management Office (PMO) we are providing support services for the coordination, implementation, evolution, validation and specialised technical support of technology projects and systems. 

Izertis' clients have a unique team of technical specialists tailored to their needs and a project management team to deal with the volume of projects that need to be managed on an ad hoc basis, pursuing standardisation and efficiency, in order to ensure the correct execution of projects and to meet budget, time, quality and value requirements. 

Our consultants have the training and certification, experience and technical solvency for project planning and management, for service management or the development of agile and progressive practices that allow maximum use to be made of investments in technology, but in the context described above this is not enough. A correct definition and strategic planning with the client is necessary that leads to the achievement of business objectives with a budget and specific time constraints. It is in this sense that we propose incorporating SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) for making agile and proactive decisions on the project portfolio. 

The SAFe agile management model provides a general method of integral governance of portfolios, programmes and projects, regardless of the production mode, and is a very powerful tool to ensure the co-responsibility of business and technology in the definition and execution of technological projects and information systems. 

SAFe works at the level of teams, programmes, portfolios and even at the value chain level. Thus, SAFe uses the concept of ART (Agile Release Train), which consists of teams or trains of teams that produce deliverables in an agile way, in which the focus is on the synchronised work of the teams of different projects and on delivering value in a synchronised way and every so often. This, in organisations that have to manage a large number of projects at the same time, with relationships and integrations between them, with a very high time pressure in which everything has to be ready in a timely manner, is an element that we consider key to apply. 

Working more effectively, the work cycles of different projects need to be synchronised, playing with the concepts of cadence and synchronisation. 

By applying SAFe, Izertis customers are achieving significant benefits: 

• Reducing risks, 
• With detailed monitoring and control of projects, 
• Controlling the progress of projects and the integration of results, 
• Producing significant cost savings, 
• Optimising investments, 
• Improving return on investment, 
• Increasing the quality of the services resulting from the projects, 
• With the full support of Izertis in the correct and real transformation of the company. 

The service offered by our PMO guarantees strategic and technical specialised advice to the entities for the implementation of dynamisation, coordination, management, monitoring and control services that ensure the achievement of the planned objectives and the correct execution of the projects financed by MRR funds.