Moving emergency services beyond spreadsheets and disconnected systems

Emergency services are being asked to deliver increasingly complex programmes while working with tighter budgets, limited resources and growing demands for accountability. For programme management teams, having a clear picture of projects, resources, risks and costs is becoming increasingly important, particularly when information is spread across spreadsheets and disconnected systems.

Ahead of The Emergency Tech Show, Emergency Services Times spoke to Gero Renker, Director & Co-Founder at Power Framework, about the programme management challenges facing emergency services, how Microsoft Cloud can help organisations bring their data together and the role AI can play in supporting better decision-making.

What are the biggest programme management challenges facing emergency services?

Emergency services are being asked to deliver more change with fewer resources and tighter budgets. One of the biggest challenges is getting a clear view across the whole portfolio, including priorities, resources, costs, risks and delivery.

When that information sits across spreadsheets and different systems, it becomes difficult to see what’s really happening. Reporting can also take a huge amount of time and effort, leaving programme teams focused on pulling information together rather than using it to make decisions. Traditional approaches aren’t necessarily keeping pace with the complexity of the programmes emergency services are now being asked to deliver.

How can Microsoft Cloud help project management offices?

The starting point is technology that organisations already have. Power Framework brings together Microsoft tools including Power Apps, Dataverse, Power BI, Teams, SharePoint and automation to create a more connected approach to portfolio management.

That can bring projects, resources, finances, risks and strategic priorities together in one environment. A key part of that is Dataverse, which provides a single source of truth for the data sitting underneath the different applications and processes. The aim isn’t to introduce another standalone system. It’s about making better use of the Microsoft environment organisations already have.

What are the risks of relying on spreadsheets?

The biggest issue is that there is rarely a single version of the truth. Information gets duplicated, different versions of spreadsheets start circulating and data can quickly become out of date. By the time a report has been pulled together, the information it is based on may have already changed.

That creates a challenge for governance as well as decision-making. Leaders need to be able to trust the information they’re using, particularly when they’re making decisions about resources, finances, risks and strategic priorities. Bringing that information together gives decision-makers a much more current view of what’s happening across the portfolio, while reducing the manual work involved in producing reports.

What role can AI play in programme management?

AI has the potential to take away a lot of the administrative work that currently sits with PMOs. That could mean summarising information, identifying emerging risks, assessing project requests or highlighting where attention is needed. Instead of spending time producing reports and gathering information, PMOs can spend more time understanding what that information is telling them.

That’s an important shift. The role of the PMO can move from being primarily focused on reporting what has happened to providing insight into what’s happening now and where intervention might be needed next.

How can Microsoft support collaboration between organisations?

Emergency services rarely work in isolation, major programmes often involve different departments, organisations and external partners, so being able to collaborate securely is essential.

Microsoft provides a strong combination of collaboration and governance. Teams and SharePoint support day-to-day collaboration, while Power Platform and Dataverse provide structured data, security and role-based access.

The ability to bring external stakeholders into the right areas of a project can also make collaboration much easier, without losing control over information or access.

What can visitors expect to see at The Emergency Tech Show?

We’ll demonstrate how Power Framework connects strategy with delivery, taking visitors through areas including project requests, portfolio management, resources, finances, risks, reporting, automation and AI.

For organisations starting their own journey, our advice is to begin with the decisions and visibility you need rather than the technology itself. You don’t need to transform everything at once. Starting with a few high-value processes and creating a reliable digital foundation can deliver benefits quickly, while giving the organisation a platform it can build on over time.

The important thing is to create a foundation that can grow with the organisation, rather than trying to solve every challenge on day one.

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Visitors can meet the Power Framework team at the Microsoft Partner Pavilion throughout The Emergency Tech Show on 16-17 September at the NEC, Birmingham. Register for your free ticket here.