The evolution of HERMES

The HERMES project management method is a successful product that successively adapts to the spirit of the times and reflects each evolutionary stage of the understanding of the project.

The most substantial aspect of the project's evolution has been revision of its agile approach. Projects can still be handled in a traditional manner, however, as is familiar from HERMES 5; the goal was to safeguard the previous success of HERMES while incorporating new features.

Revising the method helped us to gain new insights such as decoupling of project and development management. Other improvements included incorporating the long overdue needs of our users, such as more prominent placement of the procurement process, but also the question of when a project should start and who should fill which role when.

To place a greater focus on business aspects, we have adapted certain roles and emphasized the importance of stakeholders and of specialist responsibility.

We have recognized that it is becoming increasingly important for the core organization to know what it wants and to make those needs known. After all, it is the core organization's project, it is the core organization's solution that is being developed, and it is the core organization's finances that make everything possible. The new HERMES is intended to help the specialist areas to determine for themselves how their own product should be handled.

To remain flexible and stay up-to-date with respect to development, we have integrated it into the overall project management in such a way that both traditional and agile development can be selected for solution development and can be handled side by side without any problems.

We strive to continuously adapt the project management method to current needs, and we take the concerns of our users very seriously.

We are happy to support you with any questions about the structure of the project organization or about project realization by phone or via email (see Imprint).

I would like to thank everyone who has helped and is still helping us to keep this method up-to-date, simple, and clear, and I wish you much success in using it.

André Bürki

HERMES Method Officer,
Federal Chancellery FCh

Digital Transformation and ICT Steering

www.bk.admin.ch