Throughout the United Arab Emirates (UAE), DU Telecom provides mobile and fixed telephony, broadband connectivity and IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) services to people, homes, and businesses. When it opened for business in 2006, the company boldly entered what was already a saturated market with 100% penetration. Although DU Telecom recognized that the telecom industry in the Arabian Gulf is fast growing and that the company would face ever increasing competition, it approached the market as an opportunity rather than an obstacle. Within four years, DU had acquired almost 40% of the region's mobile market share and was maintaining an annual growth rate of more than 32% in a saturated market Established in 1987, Huawei is a global leader of ICT solutions and the largest telecommunications equipment maker in the world.2 Their telecom network equipment, IT products and solutions, and smart devices are used in 170 countries and regions.In 2013, DU signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., a Chinese multinational networking and telecommunications equipment and services company. With this understanding, DU and Huawei are working together to better define the best practices in portfolio and project management concepts, processes and techniques for their industry, including knowledge transfer and research.

DU and Huawei are operating what they term a "distributed PMO" in two countries. This requires that both understand how a PMO functions in that type of environment. The two companies decided to work together to exchange best practice industry methodologies, concepts, tools and techniques, while also better defining best practice portfolio management concepts, processes, and techniques. Both companies recognize that, although every project is unique in its own way, there exist certain basic values that should be consistent and that define project work. These basic values include objectives, constraints, and the project life cycle.

DU knows that every project takes place in a specific context, be it a stand-alone project or part of a greater program, or one among a portfolio of projects. A project may also involve a team whose members have never worked together before, and it may require assigning responsibilities and roles to people who are new to them. All of these factors are identified and considered as part of a project. With all of these considerations in mind, DU was looking for partners who could help them overcome these challenges. This provided the trigger to initiate an engagement with Huawei.

In a region marked by fierce competition, telecom operators contend with constant change and long-term uncertainty. One key shortcoming that DU explored for surmounting these challenges was the role of project leadershipa capability that delegates and facilitates faster decision making and improves time to market.

Project leadership is a skill that requires time to developin a person or an organization. Achieving success requires an analysis of setbacks and failures as a roadmap for improvement. Focusing on each project's challenges and learning from them helps build a more successful project management capability.PMI's in-depth report "Capturing the Value of Project Management through Knowledge Transfer" reveals that while capturing lessons learned is critical, what an organization does with that knowledge once it is captured is equally important.

As part of the MoU, Huawei and DU work together to improve project management practices between the two companies through knowledge sharing, exchange visits, and other forms of collaboration.Having robust project management capabilities gives decision makers real-time visibility on project health, trends on investment returns, and the appropriate control to enable decision making that reduces uncertainty and opens up opportunities. As part of the process, DU and Huawei use the OPM3 model to accomplish management and control. Organizations turn to OPM3 because it helps them bridge the gap between strategy and individual projects. It provides a way to advance strategic interests through the application of project management principles and practices. This generates consistently successful, high-quality projects that achieve their goals in a timely manner. As a result of their collaboration, both companies report a reduction in project failure, an appropriate level of quality, and results that meet requirements and customer expectations. Both were also able to free up staff for other assignments and increase efficiency both on the project and within the business, making things simpler and easier for staff.

DU and Huawei instituted a single point of contact responsible for the management of an overall project. This produces consistent communications among staff and suppliers and also keeps costs, timeframes, and resources within budget.

Finally, robust project management practices are all about managing customer expectations with a customer-centric vision. Within the DU Telecom-Huawei collaboration, project management practices touched upon the DNA of the telecom business, which is customer experience. Project management became the enabler for that customer experience.

DU knows that every project takes place in a specific context, be it a stand-alone project or part of a greater program, or one among a portfolio of projects. A project may also involve a team whose members have never worked together before, and it may require assigning responsibilities and roles to people who are new to them. All of these factors are identified and considered as part of a project. With all of these considerations in mind, DU was looking for partners who could help them overcome these challenges. This provided the trigger to initiate an engagement with Huawei.In a region marked by fierce competition, telecom operators contend with constant change and long-term uncertainty. One key shortcoming that DU explored for surmounting these challenges was the role of project leadershipa capability that delegates and facilitates faster decision making and improves time to market.

Q: Based on the challenges, predict the different ways by which the DU Telecom can overcome them.