Running Real Project Controls Without Enterprise Software
You don't need a six-figure PMO platform to control cost and schedule on a capital project. Here's a leaner system that works.
Enterprise project controls software is built for portfolios of hundred-million-dollar projects. Most mid-size mining and infrastructure projects don't need that overhead — they need discipline, applied consistently.
The three numbers that matter
Planned value, earned value, and actual cost — tracked weekly against a clear work breakdown structure — will tell you almost everything a full PMO platform would, at a fraction of the setup cost.
Change control is the real discipline
Most cost overruns don't come from bad estimating — they come from scope creep that was never formally logged. A simple, consistently enforced change register does more for cost control than any software license.