Introduction
At Applied Materials, I was brought in to help stabilize and rebuild their Project Resource Management (PRM) system, which despite its importance was facing significant resistance from upper management. What began as a single engagement evolved into a multi-year journey supporting cross-divisional infrastructure rebuilds. I worked closely with the CFO and multiple leadership teams to transform PRM from a rejected tool into a widely adopted platform.
Challenges
- PRM had few users and was actively opposed by management
- CFO mandate for adoption without organizational buy-in
- Legacy systems lost with IBM Lotus Notes deprecation
- Fragmented workarounds supporting multi-billion dollar R&D programs
Solutions
- Completely redesigned resource planning interface
- Intuitive team capacity and allocation visualization
- Streamlined user onboarding process
- Cross-functional reporting dashboards
- Integration with financial planning systems
Outcomes
- System now supports 1500+ active users and continues to grow
- New user onboarding reduced to a seamless 30-minute process
- Tool became widely adopted, valued, and relied upon
- Rebuilt confidence and internal cohesion
- Enabled company to move forward on a scalable foundation
Conclusion
By focusing on user experience and clear value delivery, I transformed a rejected system into a mission-critical platform. This project demonstrated that great enterprise products succeed when built with understanding of organizational psychology and operational constraints, not just design or code.