Odysseus
The Journey from Reporting the Past to Roadmapping the Future

Nostalgia is at its peak at Odysseus Group, a portfolio management consulting company. When Odysseus started its journey in 1999, large companies had a stash of ideas and projects but not enough money and resources to execute the most promising plans. The reason: most companies were too busy with an overload of mandatory IT projects averting the impending losses due to Y2K. At the same time, to stay ahead of the competition, these companies had to invest in the most promising projects to achieve maximum business value. Failure was not an option. Odysseus stepped up to the occasion to help companies not only survive but thrive in the market through its unique business strategy. As opposed to being limited to the introduction of supporting software for project management, Odysseus took a business-centric client engagement approach that focused on developing and deploying a solution by combining people, processes, and technology. 21 years later, Odysseus witnesses the same scene being played out in front of its eyes. In the grip of COVID-19, large enterprises are struggling to prioritize their investments due to the lack of resources and cash flow even as the pressure to adopt digital transformation soars exponentially. In this critical situation, Odysseus has all hands on deck, guiding its customers to prioritize products and services that promise high value and helping them execute projects in an optimized way. Over the years, the company has aced strategic planning and the portfolio management discipline, aiding customers delivering enterprise agility across the business by planning, prioritizing and tracking work aligned to business objectives.

A platform-agnostic boutique shop, Odysseus implemented Project and Portfolio management point solutions extensively until ServiceNow made its presence felt in 2015 by introducing an automated portfolio management solution as part of its comprehensive IT platform. Marketed under the company’s IT Business Management (ITBM) segment, the solution became an instant hit because of its ease in combining strategic investments and operational workload. Impressed with Odysseus’ track record, ServiceNow onboarded Odysseus as its go-to partner and Design Partner for its ITBM business. This collaboration bore fruit as the duo has been able to turn the corner for many companies in the last few years. “Odysseus creates greater value for your initiatives by enabling change faster, across the enterprise. The ability to plan, prioritize, and track whether the progress is aligned to business objectives goes a long way in ensuring implementation excellence,” says Sander Treur, Cofounder and Owner of the company.

We aid companies in strategic planning and portfolio management through implementation excellence guided by the industry best practices, domain expertise, eye for change, and focus on end-user and senior leadership adoption

At the outset of client engagement, Odysseus understands their unique business challenges and goals before implementing the solution as a minimum viable product using its proven best practices. As a trusted roadmap partner, the company applies Crawl Walk Run principle for sustainable business outcomes along the journey.

In an implementation highlight, a global pharma company engaged Odysseus to implement the ServiceNow ITBM solution for its multilingual business units and user groups. With its specialized team having expert skills and knowledge, Odysseus provided the client with a foundation upon which it could implement and leverage the platform’s commitment on the journey to roadmap their future. For another global oil and gas client, Odysseus supported the platform users with specific capabilities. It was a strategic decision from Global HR and the leadership of the client to facilitate the process of finding the best suitable and motivated people for the job and promoting the essence for personal and career development. As COVID-19 forced governments to impose multiple lockdowns worldwide, several large companies faced challenges in collaborating with their global offices for efficient planning and decision-making. Odysseus helped them with this, as well.

Odysseus takes pride in its name, which stands for a Greek hero who, with his ingenuity, perseverance, and leadership, helped one and all. Driven by such principles, the firm continues to be a symbol of trust in the ServiceNow ITBM expanse.