The Company: An internationally active IT service provider, part of a global technology group, with operations across more than 50 countries. The regional organization in the Middle East & Africa has a long-standing track record of delivering high-quality IT services and digital solutions to internal and external clients. With complex projects running across multiple geographies, business units, and partners, the company depends on stable, secure, and flexible systems to manage its project and portfolio landscape efficiently. Over the years, the organization has built close working relationships with trusted technology partners to ensure operational continuity in a highly dynamic environment.
The Challenge: ThWith Microsoft Project Server 2013 reaching end-of-life status, the organization faced increasing risks due to lack of vendor support, security patches, and upgrade paths. At the same time, internal project managers strongly relied on Microsoft Project Desktop for their daily scheduling work, and existing integrations – especially with SAP – were mission-critical. An attempted group-wide move to a different PPM platform had failed, freezing progress at the regional level for several years. When the initiative was finally reversed, the organization urgently needed a solution that could ensure operational continuity while creating a foundation for future transformation, without overwhelming users or disrupting day-to-day business.
The Solution: The company chose TPG ProjectPowerPack (PPP), a modern PPM solution built on Microsoft’s Power Platform. The transition followed a pragmatic approach: Microsoft Project Desktop remained the central scheduling tool, with schedules still stored in Project Online, and existing SAP integrations continued via an enhanced middleware layer using Azure API Management. SharePoint-based workflows were migrated to Power Automate, and key project data was moved to Microsoft Dataverse. The PPP front end now serves as the unified user interface, embedded in Microsoft Teams, combining structured data access, modern UI elements, and workflow automation tailored to the company’s needs.
The Benefits: The new solution strikes a rare balance between continuity and innovation. Project managers continue to use familiar tools with minimal disruption, while benefiting from a modern front end, better data quality, and integration with Teams. The low-code capabilities of the Power Platform allows the internal IT team to configure independently, reducing reliance on external support. The flexible architecture also prepares the ground for future enhancements: proof-of-concepts for TPG Timesheets and TPG Scheduler are already happening. Moving to these alternatives may yield significant licensing cost savings. Altogether, the system aligns with the organization’s strategic vision and provides the agility required in a fast-moving digital landscape.
