This paper presents a case of a project management office (PMO) implementation in a medium sized medical industry that started to develop e spatial-related products. The article describes how the entry in a new market have driven the adoption of project management best practices, and solving problems emerged from these practices led to the consolidation of a PMO. The developers were asked whether or not project management (PM) practices were effective for project results. The answers confirm the literature information about the tension due to the introduction of management techniques in technology-based SMEs and added two insights: describe how solving the tensions of the PMO can contribute to its consolidation and demonstrate that the introduction of more operational activities can improve the way the teams involved in projects evaluate the PMO performance.
High-technology industries; Product development; Project management office
