Professionally run businesses have a ‘Mission’ or ‘Purpose’ at their foundation. Organizations then agree on ‘Values’ that represent ‘ways’ business is conducted – the way they deal with employees, customers, vendors, regulatory bodies, and other stakeholders. Strategies are then laid out to outline what the company does and what the company does not! Strategies represent the ‘thinking’ part of a business based on which, portfolios and sub-portfolios are created. Portfolios could represent lines of businesses, products, and services that the company wishes to pursue as part of the overall strategy. The success or failure of portfolio management is tightly coupled with the choice of Project & Portfolio Management Software or PPM Software for short!
Why did the need for a PPM Software arise?
Well, if someone had asked this question twenty years ago, the answer may have been – “PPM Software is more like a nice-to-have.” The global economy experienced significant technological advancements as well as shifts in customer preferences in the last couple of decades which opened the world of business opportunities. Global GDP has increased from USD 34 Trillion in 2000 to USD 84 Trillion in 2020!
An important aspect: Growth could be chaotic or managed!
A PPM Software acts as a strong catalyst to manage your organizational performance – consistently!
How does a PPM Software help improve organizational performance?
Before getting into the specifics of a PPM Software and its relevance, let us understand the dimensions of Project & Portfolio Management.
Source: Standard for Portfolio Management – Fourth Edition, PMI (USA)
Project & Portfolio Management Dimension # 1 – Portfolio Life Cycle
Portfolios are envisioned to deliver upon the organization’s strategies and goals and involve the investment of organizational resources. Portfolios go through a life cycle that includes initiation, planning, execution, and optimization. Portfolio Managers must ensure high due diligence while managing the portfolio life cycle – they must balance stability with adaptability to deal with a dynamic business environment.
Project & Portfolio Management Software: Relevance and Value
PPM Software solutions built on latest technologies offer capabilities to manage portfolio management lifecycle in a comprehensive manner. Solutions such as TouchBase Online PPM Software go a step further – they can configure the life cycle and its granular workflows and project management processes as per the specific needs of the industry and organizational practices. Note that there is no such thing as a ‘Best PPM Tool’ – it is always context specific.
By offering a ‘configurable solution,’ an Online PPM Software drives faster end-user adoption with minimal challenges associated with change management. A swift end-user adoption enables quicker value realization!
Project & Portfolio Management Dimension # 2 – Portfolio Strategic Management
Organizations have multiple strategic goals such as increasing the market share, entering a new market, launching a new product or service, etc. Targets and ownership would be set for each strategic goal. It may be pertinent to highlight that portfolio component are aligned to one or more strategic objectives, and the desired impact constantly monitored.
Project & Portfolio Management Software: Relevance and Value
Today’s Online PPM Software can define portfolio component, link it to specific strategic goals and objectives along with portfolio owners and milestone dates. Further, such portfolio components can be automatically tied to the associated programs and/or projects.
When a PPM Software seamlessly interlocks strategic goals with portfolio components and further to projects and programs, leaders can ensure ‘business value traceability’ in just a few clicks. The overall portfolio management efficiency enhances manifold that drives the speed and quality of decision-making – firing up the business value engine.
Project & Portfolio Management Dimension # 3 – Portfolio Governance
Governance is about ensuring that the right decisions are taken in the right way by all concerned. Considering that portfolios involve significant investment, portfolio owners can’t afford to have a laxed attitude. They must constantly scan the business environment and feed relevant insights into their portfolios, programs, and projects – so that immediate modifications or course corrections are recommended. For such a dynamic level of governance, information access, data integrity, and transparency across stakeholders is vital.
Source: Standard for Portfolio Management – Fourth Edition, PMI (USA)
Project & Portfolio Management Software: Relevance and Value
In the absence of a PPM Software, senior business leaders would have sleepless nights to gain accurate market intelligence and fed to the owners of portfolios, programs, and projects. Imagine the chaos that would exist across the organization as discussions, collaborations, decisions, and documentation would be on Spreadsheets, Word Documents, and Emails. Visualize when teams are spread across – hell is here!
A PPM Software seamlessly interlocks strategic goals and objectives with portfolio components and further to the related programs and projects – information flows smoothly from portfolio to project and vice-versa. A PPM Software drives overall ‘confidence’ across the management so that they can take ‘trust-worthy decisions.’
Project & Portfolio Management Dimension # 4 – Portfolio Capacity & Capability Management
For leaders to deliver on their organizational goals, resources are the building blocks. Resources include people, material, equipment, etc. In a large organization, decision-makers need to know, at any moment, the number of resources needed, capabilities & skills required, and when needed. When resources are more than required, your cost competitiveness is low, and when resources are less than required, you are not able to explore all the business opportunities.
Source: Standard for Portfolio Management – Fourth Edition, PMI (USA)
Project & Portfolio Management Software: Relevance and Value
PPM Software can consolidate business demand (portfolios, programs, and projects) and compare it with the available capacity of resources (including skills, experience, cost, location, domain, etc.). With both demand and capacity, a PPM Software offers a holistic view of business demand to organization capacity so that the right resourcing decisions could be taken.
A PPM Software equips decision-makers with the insights to balance business demand through optimal resources.
Project & Portfolio Management Dimension # 5 – Portfolio Stakeholder Engagement
Portfolio stakeholders require active expectation management. By staying aligned and connected, portfolios improve the probability of delivering value. Active communication is a primary vehicle through which the exchange of information, improved transparency, and stakeholder buy-in are all achieved.
Project & Portfolio Management Software: Relevance and Value
PPM Software come loaded with capabilities for organizational communication and collaboration. With social-media-like UI/UX, stakeholders are never away from business. Information, updates, meetings, discussions, etc. are just at one’s fingertips.
A PPM Software streamlines information creation, access, and consumption through digital means. Further, it eliminates emails, documents, meetings, etc. and replaces it through digitalization. Decisions are faster without person-dependencies – the organization benefits thereof!
Project & Portfolio Management Dimension # 6 – Portfolio Value Management
Portfolio Value Management enables investment in a portfolio to yield the expected return as defined by the organizational strategy. Value contribution and sustainment need to be monitored throughout the component execution as well as after component closure.
Source: Standard for Portfolio Management – Fourth Edition, PMI (USA)
Project & Portfolio Management Software: Relevance and Value
PPM Software are powered by configurable reports, dashboards, analytics, alerts, and push-notifications and eliminate the need and effort of decision-makers to run after data to ensure portfolios continue to deliver as committed.
Powered by digitalization, PPM Software eliminate the need for manual intervention associated with data capture, analysis, and insight generation. Portfolio managers can now focus on strategic decisions and business value!
Project & Portfolio Management Dimension # 7 – Portfolio Risk Management
Portfolio Risk Management evaluates risks (positive/opportunities, negative/threats) at the portfolio level and considers how those risks may impact the achievement of the portfolio strategic plan and objectives. This requires consistent monitoring for uncertainty, within both the internal and external environment of the portfolio.
Project & Portfolio Management Software: Relevance and Value
PPM Software can define a library of risks, risk breakdown structures, risk identification, risk assessment (qualitative and quantitative), risk strategies & response plans, risk prioritization, and risk reporting and predictive analytics.
By standardizing and digitalizing risk management, a PPM Software offers rules-based alerts and notifications to key stakeholders to facilitate timely decisions to avoid business value erosion.
Closing Comments
A top-class PPM Software is no longer a nice-to-have. In today’s VUCA world, if leaders are not just focused on survival, but want to chase profitable growth, a PPM Software is a great investment that starts rewarding you from day one!
TouchBase PPM Software is designed to address the complete cycle of Project & Portfolio Management of your enterprise.
The question is – are you ready?
