Organizations in this spectrum might execute projects with little assessment or measurement, prioritizing them on the basis of first-come, first-served - or, perhaps more commonly, based on the power or audibility of the project requestor. At the most immature, PPM might simply include centrally tracking the organization's projects, with not much "portfolio management" actually occurring. 7Īn organization's PPM processes can exist within a spectrum of maturity. A lack of executive support or commitmentĬonversely, mature PPM processes can result in maximization of IT investments, minimization of risk, improved alignment between the business and IT at both strategic and tactical levels, and efficient resource allocation.Groups of projects that are unbalanced or uncoordinated.A proliferation of projects that are either outside the strategic objectives or that fail to add significant measurable value.When organizations lack formal PPM processes, many problems can arise: PPM is often performed from a centrally managed project management office. maintaining a centralized view of projects and.assessing the finances, risks, and project interdependencies.defining the portfolio's overall goals and objectives.Whereas project management is concerned with "doing projects right," PPM is concerned with "doing the right projects." Elements and objectives of mature PPM include At a high level, this model includes a tool for scoring and comparing individual projects, and it discusses considerations for a governance framework. Here, I target a focused aspect of PPM - project selection and prioritization - and present a model for public nonprofit higher education colleges and universities to get started. Getting started, however, can seem daunting because of the breadth of components comprising PPM and the prerequisites for success. 5Ĭolleges and universities hoping to move their PPM processes to more mature models have access to a wealth of research and information. This is a recurring theme in many research streams, including IT PPM, 2 IT portfolio management, 3 IT governance, 4 and IT-business alignment.
Research literature consistently indicates that higher levels of IT PPM maturity are correlated with higher-performing organizations that enjoy tighter alignment between IT and the business of the institution. Project portfolio management (PPM) focuses on managing the entire project portfolio.
#It project priority matrix series
Project management can be broadly considered an interconnected series of hierarchical elements (see figure 1). The tool gives institutions a framework for scoring a project's expected effort and impact, setting the stage for informed discussions among stakeholders and governing bodies.Īndy Miller is senior director of Enterprise Applications and Data Services, California State University, Chico.A new tool can help higher education institutions move toward greater maturity levels by helping them select and prioritize projects.Organizations that achieve higher maturity in IT project portfolio management consistently show both increased performance and tighter alignment between IT and business goals.