Melbourne, Australia, 5 May 2011. Capability Management’s approach, recently relaunched as TOP – Totally Optimized Projects – has been selected by Gartner as one of only four Cool Vendors globally in Program and Portfolio Management. 

Gartner defines a Cool Vendor as a company that offers solutions that are:

• Innovative, enable users to do things they couldn't do before; 
• Impactful, have, or will have, business impact (not just technology for the sake of technology); and 
• Intriguing, have caught Gartner's interest or curiosity in approximately the past six months.

For Gartner clients click here

Gartner on TOP

TOP™ is one of four companies in the world to have been selected this year for their visible and positive impact in the project delivery and portfolio management arena.

Speaking from Atlanta, Georgia, Mr Daryl Plummer, Managing Vice President and Chief of Research at Gartner Inc., explained that to find Cool Vendors, "We dig into the unknown but innovative, impactful and intriguing vendors.”

"For investors, it is a way of discovering the next great business and investment opportunity. We say - if you are looking for investment opportunities, look here first.”

"For end-user clients, it's a way of getting and making better strategic decisions about technology and services.”

"We dig out the gems," Mr Plummer said.

Gartner Research Vice President Donna Fitzgerald said that TOP™ had filled a niche in the strategy execution field by providing explicit instructions in a series of books and manuals that step clients through the process of optimising projects - delivering more benefits for less cost, and in less time.

Ms Fitzgerald said: "While strategy and change management are long-standing concepts in most organisations, most don't do them well. To refocus the organisation on actually executing against the strategy - rather than continuing to do business as usual - takes a conscious change effort, which most companies would be unable to do without either a framework or outside consulting help."

"Ensuring that projects actually deliver value is an arcane art. What initially brought TOP™ to our attention was that its material seemed to have escaped the trip into the land of the theoretical and that, with a little effort, an average business leader could actually use it."

Ms Fitzgerald further noted: "The current market is dominated by consulting companies that will find it easier to do the work than to train the organisation to do it. Two years later, the organisation has gone back to having no reliable process to work with. TOP's frameworks offer significant long-lasting value."

Mr Jed Simms, Founding Partner of Capability Management and co-creator of TOP™, was delighted that it had been recognised internationally by Gartner. "This accolade acknowledges the groundbreaking product that we have developed and builds on previous recognition of our work by the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) as an Outstanding Australian Product Innovation," Mr Simms said.

"We've seen massive losses, particularly with projects dependent upon information system implementations," he said. "These are just the tip of the iceberg. Projects often rush off without doing the groundwork to determine exactly what ‘success' will look like; action triumphs over thought, and so-called ‘progress' triumphs over thoughtful planning. The opportunity to optimise a project is not only missed but also frustrated by most organisations' standard project approaches."

Mr Simms stressed: "This is not a ‘project problem' but a ‘business problem'. TOP™ equips business executives to consistently reduce the cost of their projects while increasing the returns. And the best thing is - as our clients around the globe confirm - anyone can do it."

Ms Alexandra Chapman, co-creator of TOP™, explained that TOP™ had been designed to be easy for organisations to adopt and for business managers at all levels to use. "We have helped board members with a few simple questions to ask at key points in a project, which have dramatically improved the value delivered and allowed the board to take back control of the project."

Gartner on Gartner

Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT): The world’s leading information technology research and advisory company, Gartner delivers the technology-related insight necessary for clients to make the right decisions, every day. From CIOs and senior IT leaders in corporations and government agencies, to business leaders in high-tech and telecom enterprises and professional services firms, to technology investors, we are the valuable partner to 60,000 clients in 11,000 distinct organisations. Through the resources of Gartner Research, Gartner Executive Programs, Gartner Consulting and Gartner Events, we work with every client to research, analyse and interpret the business of IT within the context of their individual role. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, USA, and has 4400 associates – including 1200 research analysts and consultants – and clients in 85 countries. 

Gartner's Cool Vendors Selection Process: Gartner's listing does not constitute an exhaustive list of vendors in any given technology area, but rather is designed to highlight interesting, new and innovative vendors, products and services. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness of a particular purpose.