Mater, grappling with inefficiencies from rapid expansion and outdated project management tools, faced significant challenges in tracking and reporting across its growing team. Partnering with Microsoft and Sensei, Mater adopted the Altus platform, a comprehensive solution for project, portfolio and resource management. This transformation streamlined processes, cut reporting times from days to minutes, and improved executive visibility.

The integration with Microsoft’s cloud suite not only enhanced data accuracy and reporting but also supported remote work and organisational growth. Altus equipped Mater with actionable insights, enabling proactive management across all projects while minimising risks.

Key Findings with Altus

The case study highlights several critical improvements resulting from Mater’s adoption of the Altus platform. By transitioning to this advanced solution, Mater achieved significant gains in efficiency and management. Key findings include dramatically reduced reporting times, enhanced executive visibility, improved data accuracy, better support for remote work, and a more proactive approach to project management. These changes collectively transformed Mater’s project management capabilities, positioning the organisation for continued success and growth.

Key outcomes with Altus

Outgrowing spreadsheets

Like many organisations, Mater had no issues with effective project management when it was a smaller operation. Basic tools like spreadsheets were quite capable of meeting the needs of a handful of initiatives underway at any given time. But as the organisation digital transformation requirements grew, the limits of those tools were quickly reached and passed. “We found ourselves with a disparate set of tools including spreadsheets and a benefits management tool we had customised over several years to include standard project reporting,” explains Jayson Hawke, Mater Program Director, Digital Delivery. “As we grew, the setup became unwieldy and inflexible; we also had individual project managers using various scheduling tools and project registers. The net effect was considerable difficulty in rolling up crucial information like costs and resource utilisation, and that meant a lot of manual work for those project managers.”

“The move to scale for Mater was quite staggering, as Hawke relates. “Digital Delivery went from 40 people to 180, and in a four-year period went from 5 to 10 then 20 and now 34 project managers.”

His colleague Tim Mullins, Director Digital Infrastructure (and a project sponsor), notes that the volume of delivery in this circumstance was becoming unsustainable. “Even what seemed like a minor issue – a project name differing in one tool or another – meant confusion, so if something updated in one place, it wouldn’t in another. And with the growth we were experiencing, approaches and methodologies for project management were changing too, so for example, if we were to update investment planning, it was disconnected from project plans and targets in the reporting tool.” The upshot of disparate tools, methods and processes was that accurate aggregated information was hard to come by. “If an exec asked what seemed like a simple question, it might take two arduous weeks before we could provide an answer. And the answer required an unbelievable amount of effort and manual work from all involved.”
Moreover, Mullins highlighted that the challenge in obtaining accurate information sometimes led to surprises for executives, with projects transitioning from ‘green’ to ‘red’ with limited warning—a situation undesirable for any organisation.

“Good, accurate and trustworthy information means we’re able to manage every project better and act early should anything start going awry. And that’s the way you want it.”

Tim Mullins
Director Digital Infrastructure, Mater Group

The Altus solution for Mater Group

Recognising the need for enhanced project management tools and leveraging a strategic relationship with Microsoft for its technology requirements, Mater sought guidance from Microsoft for a project management solution. After evaluation, Mater chose to work with Sensei and its recommended solution, Altus, as the preferred partner and platform. Jayson Hawke, Mater Program Director, Digital Delivery, highlighted, “We noted Sensei’s methodology went deep on training with a clear focus on change and embedding the Altus tool from the beginning. Sensei provided good services around the Altus product, and their assigned project manager offered a client-centric focus where nothing was too much trouble. We could also see that he was executing a ‘repeat methodology,’ which is what you’d expect from an organisation specialising in project management solutions.

The tool implemented, Altus, designed to take control of projects of all sizes, is a full-featured platform providing visibility into all work for teams and individuals in the organisation, across other project tools and enterprise systems. It encompasses collaborative work management, Portfolio, Program, and Project Leadership for prioritising organisational objectives, Business Insights and Decision Support, Enterprise Resource Management, Strategic Planning & Benefits Realisation, and more, all built on the Microsoft cloud platform. However, Mater’s team recognised that the success of a project depends on accurately demonstrating its needs. To address this, Mater implemented a client-side master scheduler with Microsoft Power BI reporting skills. Tim Mullins, Director Digital Infrastructure, commented, “This meant we could communicate our requirements clearly. We also made our project managers available for training by Sensei, and, quite frankly, we were surprised at how rigorous this was.”

The intensity of the training was appreciated, as Hawke added, “We also quickly realised that Altus as a tool included several best practice processes that have accelerated our maturity. Our own Power BI expert made sure we weren’t trying to over-customise, while demonstrating the ability to leverage the centralisation of information and Power BI capabilities.”

“We also quickly realised that Altus as a tool included several best practice processes that have accelerated our maturity.”

Tim Mullins
Director Digital Infrastructure, Mater Group

A partnership model quickly developed. “Sensei provided great access to the Altus product and R&D teams, so we are effectively participating in how to improve the tool. This has been key to the success of the project – we listen to one another, we take advice on how to integrate and embed Altus, and Sensei is happy to take suggestions back to Altus on making the tool better.” With Altus, Mater has been able to leverage its full investment in the Microsoft suite of products including Project Online, Power Apps, Power BI, Azure and DevOps which allows for a seamless integration and flexibility with scheduling tools and reporting.

The results for Mater Group

As a project sponsor, Mullins experiences firsthand the benefits of Altus. He emphasises, “The bottom line is, we’re seeing the data we want to see. Things like forecast versus investment plan value, allocations, progress, status, resource utilisation. Where once it would take days, now it’s a few clicks, a screenshot, and I can bring executives up to speed on progress.”

With the Altus solution fully implemented, Hawke says all aspects are being used with ‘some way to go yet’ on resource and strategic management. “Already, we are seeing the benefits. We have 34 project managers reporting consistently, with the ability to rapidly aggregate this information and report accurately without delays, sponsors and project managers are using the tool on a daily basis, and we have made great progress integrating scheduling and task management tools (Microsoft Project and DevOps).” Notably, Mullins says Sensei’s focus on change management and training around the Altus implementation has proven invaluable. “That was an investment. We’re seeing real gains for the project managers and there have been no issues with adoption; the past had them hungry for something, and with Sensei’s partnership, they’re making a meal of Altus. It’s rare that anyone pulls any data out of it, to manually manipulate, to get answers – and that means they’re doing everything within the software, which is as we want it.”

In fact, Mullins estimates significant time savings, personally claiming up to 20 percent saved with Altus. He anticipates a similar improvement for project managers companywide, stating, “That’s significant. It means less ‘busywork’ tracking down facts and figures, and more time to actually manage projects. This improves morale. It also means when an executive asks a question, we can answer it straight away.”

As an online tool, Mater further benefited from the ease of remote work during Covid-19 disruptions. Mullins notes, “It really made the transition seamless, along with our other online systems. Today, post pandemic, we’ve made a permanent shift and our project managers can work from wherever they are. As we’re growing as an organisation, the need for Project Managers is increasing, and with an online solution such as Microsoft 365 and Altus, we’re no longer restricted to having resources in specific locations; we can hire people that can work from practically anywhere, and that’s a big advantage for us.”

Finally, improved project and portfolio management leads to fewer surprises for sponsors or executives. Mullins concludes, “Good, accurate and trustworthy information means we’re able to manage every project better and act early should anything start going awry. And that’s the way you want it.”