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.