Apr 16, 2009

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Merchants Insurance Group Teams With PM Solutions to Boost Project Performance and Business Growth

GLEN MILLS, Pa. (April 16, 2009) – PM Solutions, the leader in applying project and portfolio management processes and practices to drive operational efficiency, announces that it teamed with the Buffalo, NY-based Merchants Insurance Group to increase project management efficiency and success across the organization. Together, the organizations have been able improve Merchants Insurance Group’s on-time project delivery to 80 percent, resulting in one program booking $100,000 of business in the first three days, and another program realizing 758 percent revenue growth in the first two months of introduction.

With a growing number of significant corporate initiatives underway involving technology and business resources that possessed differing levels of project management acumen, Merchants Insurance Group partnered with PM Solutions as a means to apply consistent project and portfolio management practices across the organization. Scope management, issues handling, and determining true project and portfolio status were particular areas of focus.

In order to help Merchants Insurance Group improve its business processes and better serve its agents and customers, PM Solutions provided the following services:

  • Mentoring and coaching on how to apply consistent project management practices within the confines of their actual projects.
  • Training via a series of targeted workshops focused on PM Basics and Executive Sponsorship.
  • Portfolio Management Process Development, which used Merchants Insurance Group’s existing project and portfolio processes, procedures, and templates and incorporated PM Solutions’ methodology to fill in gaps and enable overall enhancement.
  • PMO Development, which leveraged PM Solutions’ experience designing, developing, and deploying different types of Project Management Offices (PMOs) to help Merchants Insurance Group implement a PMO structure that centralized project and portfolio operations.

“Merchants has benefited in several ways from its relationship with PM Solutions,” said Bob Zak, CEO of Merchants Insurance. “Most importantly, we have gained an understanding of and appreciation for the project management discipline at all levels in the company. We’ve already seen positive impacts to our bottom line as a result.”

To view the complete case study on this initiative, click here.

About Merchants Insurance Group
Merchants Insurance Group, with its headquarters in Buffalo, New York, is comprised of Merchants Mutual Insurance Company and Merchants Preferred Insurance Company. Our companies provide a variety of property and casualty insurance products for commercial and personal lines. Merchants provides high-quality and affordable insurance for home owners, automobile owners, and many businesses, such as contractors and business owners. Merchants operates in Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.

About PM Solutions
PM Solutions is a project management firm helping organizations execute, govern, and measure their portfolios to improve business performance. We are the leader in applying project and portfolio management processes and practices to drive operational efficiency for our clients. Our comprehensive offerings  address organizational improvement, project execution, and learning and development delivered through our training arm, the PM College® (www.pmcollege.com). PM Solutions serves a diverse client base that includes some of the world’s leading organizations. For more information, visit www.pmsolutions.com.