PMO or no PMO?
I can’t imagine a company without a PMO however, a PMO with lots of project managers can intervene in achieve annual goals.
What do you mean?
I view PMO as the platform for delivering projects - a company without such a platform (of discussion, planning, budgeting, allocating etc.) is probably less successful.
A company can have a mix of Run, Transform & grow objectives - typically set by Senior Management & Board. For example, a company trying to put itself on acquisition track would try to focus equally on ‘Run’ & ‘Transform’ projects and less on ‘Grow’ projects while a company in a highly competitive market would focus more on ‘Grow’ projects. A company which has acquired company (or companies) would focus more on Transform projects.
The PMO is a platform to take the company objectives of Run-Transform-Grow and helps balance the IT deliverables vs. IT Availabilty.
Bottomline PMO is mandatory department however, should there be lots of PM (Project Manager) in a company? How much is too much?
I do not believe, there should be lots of PM in a company - it has to be right sized to about 6 high risk, low impact or 3 medium risk, high impact projects per PM. Having more PMs in an organization can get the organization culture muddled and can interfere in the execution of the projects.