Case Study: Arm achieves scalable project portfolio management and major productivity gains with Microsoft Project Online

Leading tech company improves productivity and introduces scalability to match its growing project portfolio management needs

Arm, the leading chip developer with more than 7,000 employees across 50+ locations, faced capacity and performance problems from a heavily customized on‑prem Microsoft Project Server that slowed uploads, reduced productivity, and couldn’t scale as the company expanded into new markets and doubled in size. To modernize its project portfolio management and improve visibility across 700+ annual projects, Arm adopted Microsoft Project Online (from Microsoft Project) to address scalability, resilience, supportability, and usability gaps.

Microsoft Project deployed Project Online via agile rollout sprints and internal change champions, then integrated project data with Power BI for real‑time, actionable reporting. The move eliminated long upload locks, restored lost productivity, delivered over 50 updates to Arm’s environment, and supported better resource prioritization; Arm reports a 300% increase in use of reviews and assessments and improved R&D cost reporting that strengthens tax-credit claims — demonstrating Microsoft Project’s scalability and measurable business impact.

Arm

Simon Scott-Priestley

Senior Director of the Project Management Office