Guide to Capital Program Management Software

Capital program management software helps construction companies prioritize, plan, and deliver capital projects more effectively—ever more important given rising competitive pressures and the considerable capital spending across the public and private sectors.

To help improve project decision-making, control, and accuracy, construction organizations need to standardize and coordinate their capital program management processes, moving away from their error-prone manual processes, siloed spreadsheets, and disconnected applications.

This article charts a course for organizations to help improve capital project and program performance by connecting processes, systems, and teams and by unifying data. It describes the benefits of enterprise-class capital program management software and how to choose the right platform for your needs.

What Is Capital Program Management Software (CPMS)?

Capital program management software suites provide a cohesive solution for connecting and managing capital project- and portfolio-level processes. The best cloud-based suites also integrate with related ERP and other enterprise applications, giving all relevant participants instant access to the same consistent data.

Most owner organizations have staff who analyze their entire capital program, asking questions such as: How do we make best use of that budget? What do we need to build? What do we need to maintain? What do we need to retrofit?

A corporate finance team typically uses an ERP application. But if there’s no automated system to consistently manage project controls, including costs, forecasts, contracts, changes, and schedule—at the project and cross-project levels—the ERP application might not reflect the latest project data. Integrating a project and portfolio solution with your ERP application can help keep the ERP up to date.

Key Takeaways

• Capital program management software can help standardize and automate processes and centralize information so that organizations can keep projects on track and make fast, consistent, and informed decisions.
• Implementing CPMS can help improve project visibility and control, as well as cross-team collaboration.
• The software supports project-to-project comparisons and lessons learned.
• Make sure that the CPMS solution your organization selects has the flexibility to change and scale for the long haul.

Capital Program Management Software Explained

A corporatewide capital project and program management software system can standardize processes and information to help improve control and decision-making and align prioritized projects and organizational goals. It also helps organizations allocate their materials, equipment, and personnel. For example, once a change request is approved in an automated workflow, any associated cost impact immediately appears in the cost sheet and associated contract, tied to the pay application, so that it can say, Yes, this additional cost has been approved and this pay application can be approved.

Why You Need Capital Program Management Software

Every construction and engineering project is different, consisting of different team members, regulations tied to specific locations, and varying scopes, making standardization one of the industry’s biggest challenges. For project owners, this challenge often manifests in the form of disparate data sources and formats, inconsistent processes, and disconnected systems.

Organizations need the ability to control all projects and programs, from prioritization and approval through execution and ongoing operations and maintenance. Capital project and program management software can bring that control, helping increase efficiency and accuracy and improve outcomes.

Benefits of Capital Program Management Software

Today’s capital programs are inherently complex, involving multiple stakeholders, detailed processes, and substantial financial investments. Cloud-based program management software can help construction teams execute multiple complex projects, boost project efficiency, and improve overall project outcomes. What follows are the major potential benefits.

• Improved Project Visibility and Control
  For effective program management, it’s essential to understand and share each project’s status, progress, and potential hurdles. Capital program management software gives all stakeholders that visibility across projects while helping teams communicate and control resources.
• Enhanced Collaboration Among Stakeholders
  Keeping all parties informed and engaged, with immediate access to the same information, can help prevent miscommunication and create a sense of shared responsibility for project success. It’s also mutually beneficial for long-term relationships and builds repeat work between owners and their delivery teams.
• Streamlined Workflows and Automated Processes
  Time is of the essence in fast-paced, complex construction project environments. Emails and siloed spreadsheets hinder progress by limiting communications and information sharing. A cloud-based program management solution can help streamline workflows and information for all stakeholders to access wherever they are and whenever they want.
• Better Risk Management and Mitigation
  Construction projects can go off track because of adverse weather conditions, supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, and other factors. Effective risk management helps project teams predict and plan for such challenges and reallocate resources as needed. Capital program management software can help analyze past project documentation to identify risks and provide predictive intelligence that can help improve risk management at all levels of an organization.
• Real-Time Access to Project Data and Analytics
  The best capital program management applications build in advanced data reporting and analytics that provide insights into project progress and performance while helping teams quickly identify areas for improvement. Access to real-time information also means teams in the field can be more informed than ever before.
• Increased Accuracy in Budgeting and Forecasting
  The ability to constantly track project progress provides the data to make more accurate, informed budget decisions and predict project timelines. Historical data archived in a construction management solution also can help improve forecasting accuracy.
• Efficient Document Management and Control
  The construction industry is awash in documents: blueprints, project approvals, change orders, you name it. Centralized management of digital documents gives project teams visibility into the entire history of their work—what changes were made along the way, who made them, and when—with all artifacts accessible in the same system to show the entire decision tree and work progress from start to finish.
• Optimized Resource Allocation and Workforce Management
  A project’s success often depends on efficient allocation of capital, materials, and other resources. Construction management software solutions can identify project requirements, consider resource availability, manage workforce deployment, and then help allocate those resources.
• Simplified Regulatory Compliance Tasks
  Construction laws and regulations at the local, state, and federal levels change constantly. A cloud-based program management solution can help teams monitor the latest developments and simplify compliance tasks.
• Reduced Project Delays and Cost Overruns
  Because construction projects span months or years, dramatic shifts in weather or spikes in the cost of labor, equipment, and materials can lead to expensive project delays. Cost overruns also are an indicator of inept project management, as well as plans and budgets inaccurately set from the project’s start. Proactively identifying, quantifying, and assessing potential risks across projects with program management software can help organizations make more informed decisions and keep projects on time and out of the red.
• Scalability to Accommodate Growth and Increased Complexity
  Cloud-based, comprehensive capital program management software suites let organizations roll out additional capabilities, including business processes, reports, and dashboards, when they need them, with features easily accessible for new users as well as veterans. Cloud-based suites are also updated regularly with new functionality and better, easier integrations. The best solutions accommodate projects of all sizes.

Key Features of Capital Program Management Software

Some capital projects and programs—consider an airport modernization or a new manufacturing plant—can require investments in the billions of dollars, necessitating sophisticated capital program management software to keep the projects moving forward on time and within budget while mitigating risk. Here are some of the key features of the best software packages.

• Project scheduling and timeline management. Every construction project has a schedule, but not every schedule makes key data easily accessible to all team members who need it. Automating construction scheduling with the right software can bring the critical path and task schedules together to help keep office and field teams aligned and reduce data lag, errors, rework, and having idle crews. Parallel access can help speed the scheduling process and scenario planning can provide visibility into the potential impacts of various paths, helping to optimize schedules and related resources.
• Budgeting and financial management. Project managers need the right information to develop reliable, accurate budget forecasts based on past and current project information. It’s critical to have software to access needed information and manage and report on plan against actuals, while keeping a record of that information to inform future project planning and execution. By breaking down budgets into cost codes and disciplines, the software can help track the budget, manage the cash flow, forecast budget changes, and manage contract changes in near real time.
• Document management and control. Key features of this kind of software include document version control, the ability to consistently name documents across projects with access permissions for authorized users, and a full audit trail. Make sure you know who owns the project data within the system.
• Resource allocation and workforce management. Multiple parties often need immediate, simultaneous access to capital program management software to reallocate labor, materials, and equipment. Make sure you use a system that provides timely alerts related to discrepancies between plan and actuals, so that you can take timely action rather than have to wait for weekly or monthly reports.
• Compliance and risk management tools. Organizations need the ability to manage, track, report on, and develop an audit trail of activities supporting compliance with relevant laws and regulations. For example, a high-speed rail project may need to comply with sustainability, labor, engineering, and local, state, and federal requirements, as well as prove that specific allotments of funding went to designated activities. Capital program management systems can help organizations address and report on those requirements. Risk resides at the portfolio, program, and project levels, and adverse weather conditions or supply chain problems can disrupt every phase. While a risk management framework won’t eliminate all risks, it’s an essential component of capital program management software. Grant all relevant cross-organization team members access to a central cross-project risk register to identify, record, and quantify as many risks as possible. Risks identified on one project can be included on similar projects.
• Reporting and analytics capabilities. The best capital program management tools help managers report and analyze a wide variety of financial, scheduling, operational, KPI, and other data, keeping stakeholders up to date and offering granular insights on a project or broad portfolio level. Examples include cash flow against plan, schedule adherence, impact on environmental sustainability, and KPIs on the efficiency of resources allocated to tasks and projects. Look for software with preconfigured reports and dashboards that can be modified or added to meet your needs.
• Integration with other software and systems. To get maximum value from CPMS suites, look for native integrations, mature APIs, embedded adaptors, and a vendor’s own middleware and consulting services. Systems should integrate seamlessly with ERP, supply chain, and other back-office applications as needed. The goal is to unify processes and data to make better, more timely decisions. A vendor may claim that its APIs are sufficient, but what kind of APIs are they and what do they enable? Who’s responsible for making those integrations work? What middleware is supported? Is there an additional cost? What is the vendor’s integration track record? Do-it-yourself integrations can take time, cost money, and introduce risk.

Choosing the Right Capital Project and Program Management Software

When shopping for capital project and program management software, do your homework—and be sure to ask these important questions (among others). Does the vendor have proven expertise in construction and engineering? Will we get all the features we need, including ones enhanced by AI? Is the solution flexible enough to meet our needs today and change as our needs change? Will the product integrate with our ERP and other core applications? Is the system easy to learn and use? Are regulatory compliance and security top priorities for the vendor? Is our investment protected via regular application updates? Will the provider be there for us as we grow? Where and how is the solution hosted?

Read customer success stories and use cases. There are likely similarities between others’ initial challenges and what you’re facing today. And reach out to current customers of the software to get their feedback.

Unify Your Capital Project and Program Data with Oracle Capital Project and Program Management

Oracle Primavera Unifier gives construction and engineering organizations the features they need to manage their capital project program, and portfolio processes and data. It’s an integrated system that ties together costs, contracts, changes, schedule milestones, risks, workflows, and document management, and supports predictive analytics and other AI capabilities. Oracle Primavera Unifier also integrates natively with Oracle Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio Management (EPPM) and Oracle Primavera Cloud scheduling and capital planning applications, part of Oracle Smart Construction Platform.

Capital Program Management Software FAQs

What is a capital program manager?
A capital program manager is typically assigned by owner organizations to assess needs and request budget for the entire program, asking hard questions, such as: How do we best spend the money we have? How are we making sure we’re prioritizing the projects that best align with our organizational goals? How can we more accurately budget approved projects? How are we most efficiently executing those projects so that we’re getting the most bang for the buck? How are we consistently and predictably executing projects to gain optimal outcomes?

What is capital planning software?
Capital planning software aids the process of using data and analytics to consistently prioritize, select, and accurately budget projects to support an organization’s short- and long-term goals.

What is a capital project management system?
A capital project management system is where organizations unify cost, contract, change, risk, schedule, workflow, and document management across a project or multiple projects. It helps ensure that all processes are running smoothly and consistently, giving owners the visibility and control they need to make informed, timely decisions to attain predictable outcomes.

What are examples of capital projects and programs?
Examples of capital projects and programs include renovating an airport terminal, adding a wing to a hospital, retrofitting 100 car dealerships, and building a hotel.