Should a PMO (project management office) report to IT or the business?

The natural, reflexive answer is the Business, since business success is (or should be) the objective of the programs being managed. The challenge occurs when the project execution resources (and sometimes expertise) are owned primarily by IT.

The dotted line to IT (suggested above) can overcome many of these challenges. Another successful response we have seen is in the makeup of the project team, specifically IT leadership at the PM role of programs with IT driven objectives and requirements (for example an upgrade of a well understood system) and business project management of more business driven programs (for example growth or change driven initiatives).

Our most successful IT clients strive to overcome the issues posed by this question by explicitly striving to become the "go-to" center of excellence for program execution of all kinds for their enterprise. Achieving this role in the organization is a stretch goal for many IT organizations and necessarily includes building the skills and processes for business leadership and involvement in all programs. They are the customers of these programs, after all.

"There's no difference between theory and practice. In theory." The theoretical view holds that the business process has the most to gain/lose from successful projects (and thus should shepherd the PMO). And so I agree that optimally, the business should own how projects are initiated, managed, and evaluated for success.

My quandary is in the PRACTICE I (and others) have observed, where when it comes to the nuts and bolts of running projects, the folks on the business side of things simply have no time even to gear up, much less devote to, a long-range project, little inclination (often) to weigh the cross-disciplinary governance issues involved, and often very little patience with delving into the gory details and juggling the picayune decisions that need to be made. Good intentions and abilities aside. How many of us have seen a non-IT business person tapped with project ownership, only to have, um, attendance problems when it comes to actually shepherding the project?

Anyway, although it's certainly not a foregone conclusion that this has to be the case, I've still frequently seen non-IT business folks quite eagerly pass all that off to an IT-run PMO, where being detail-oriented comes with the territory. Of course, either approach could fail, depending on the individuals involved and the level of communication/management that is exercised all around.

So, yes, it depends. Let me agree with what Steve Romero notes up above: the PMO "should reside in the part of the enterprise most capable of meeting the defined business objectives". And, in practice at least, and in many organizations, that is often IT. Either way, it should be obvious (does it even need to be stated?) that the end result of projects needs to be for the benefit of the business overall. In the end, everyone doing or managing a project actually does "report to the business" in the grand scheme of things, in other words.

Regardless of the "best" answer, this question reflects real concerns that some organizations have. The main point is exposing the issues that drive successful PMO outcomes.

business. Is this a real question? PMOs should be chartered to have a specific mission or business outcome. Reporting to IT enables the continuation of absurd technology driven stupidity that plagues most CIO shops. Including the one I work for.

In rereading earlier post, perhaps the Malbec made concerned commentary become condescending (not original intent). I think though one of the major issues is the lack of accountability to the ultimate mission outcome of IT PMOs. Projects often have poorly defined business outcomes, which results in poorly performed implementations. Driving successful IT implementations requires a concrete definition of the purpose of a new acquisition and a serious business driven stakeholder that doesn't accept IT related excuses for implementation issues. Ultimately, business is purchasing IT capabilities, either from you or from someone else!

On Twitter, @vijayasankarv said he usually sees the PMO report to the business with a dotted line to IT. That makes much sense to me.

PMO's typically reside where the project delivery critical mass is located. In most organizations this is within IT (though in some organizations, it may be in a product or business operations organization). As Peter describes, most non-IT (or non-project delivery) organizations are not motivated/do not desire to take on this responsibility.

Project success is ultimately defined by business outcomes. PMO's should provide a critical governance role, serving those responsible for corporate project governance - i.e., those making and monitoring project investment decisions. So while PMO responsibilities may reside within an IT organization, the PMO (and those responsible for project delivery and sponsorship) should be held accountable by the business leadership engaged in IT governance.

Not IT. Why?
Projects are temporary in nature; have definite start and end dates; produce a unique product, service or results; and are completed when their goals and objectives have been met and signed off by the stakeholder.

PMO belongs to the organization as centralized office to meet business objectives through various programs or projects. “PMO” can be called Project Management Office or Program Management Office, depends on organization needs. Program Management involves centrally managing and coordinating groups of related Projects to meet the objectives of a program. Project Management brings together a set of tool & techniques to describe, organize and monitor the work of project activities and it’s done by Project Managers. Project Management involves identifying project requirements, establishing project objectives, balancing constraints and taking consideration stakeholder/ customer expectations. PMO assists and mentors project managers in the sense of integration management, scope management, time management, cost management, quality management, risk management, human resource management, communication management and procurement management.

Many companies start PMO to establish and maintain procedures and standards for project management. It’s a centralized office for project templates, processes, Subject Matter Experts, tools & techniques, documentation and archiving project documents in enterprise level. PMO is a place where experts are available to assists project managers in planning, estimating and business assumption verification tasks. They serve as mentors to junior-level project managers and act as consultants to the senior project mangers.

Having said all that, PMO should belong to organization level which carries business acumen and sense of customer satisfaction throughout the enterprise and not just IT.

I agree with the comments suggesting the PMO 'belongs' in the business, more specifically I think the PMO should reside in the Finance operation within the business. There are challenges, especially political and cultural, to placing the PMO in the business (this refers to the area utilizing the technology) or IT communities along the lines of ownership and accountability.

The Finance area within the business is the logical place for maintaining and controlling the PMO. This allows accountability and benefits measurement to be implemented in the area that is ultimately responsible for the financial well-being of a company and also allows all measurements to be implemented and monitored by a third party without undue influences.

The discussion of placing the PMO in IT I believe is started by the logical progression that IT, in general, is a project based organization that supports all areas of the business. This is a good place to start but as the concept matures in an organization it must be moved to an unbiased area and to me the most logical place is where the funding comes from.

This discussion has raised excellent points. PMO isn't a temporary requirement of a company. So if someone from business has been tapped to run a project and their attendence is lacking....that company doesn't have a PMO. I really like Tom's idea about putting the PMO into Finance. Give it independence and financial adjudication. Regardless of where PMO resides; don't tap someone on the shoulder and say you are Project Manager. That person already needs to be a professional with that skill set. The first project that I was tapped on the shoulder to run...let's just say the management side of the project didn't go as well as the execution