IT Management Solutions

PPM - Project Porfolio Management

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Project Porfolio Management

Project Portfolio Management (PPM) is a management process designed to help an organization acquire and view information about all of its projects, then sort and prioritize each project according to certain criteria, such as strategic value, impact on resources, cost, etc. Without this process and the tools to support this process, many companies are trying to do more projects than they have capacity for, without visibility bad projects can squeeze out good projects. Investment in technology projects must deliver value which has created a demand for a more methodical and transparent decision making process. Gaining oversight into project portfolios and eliminating non-repeatable, chaotic planning processes is the first step towards gaining control of your IT projects and delivering meaningful value to the business.

Overview

Portfolio management takes a holistic view of a company’s overall IT strategy.
The objectives of PPM are similar to the objectives of managing a financial portfolio:

  1. To become conscious of all the individual listings in the portfolio
  2. To develop a “big picture” view and a deeper understanding of the collection as a whole.
  3. To allow sensible sorting, adding, and removing of items from the collection based on their costs, benefits, and alignment with long-term strategies or goals.
  4.  To allow the portfolio owner to get the “best bang for the buck” from resources invested.

A strong portfolio management program can do the following:

  • Maximize value of IT investments while minimizing the risk
  • Improve communication and alignment between IS and business leaders
  • Encourage business leaders to think "team," not "me," and to take responsibility for projects
  • Allow planners to schedule resources more efficiently
  • Reduce the number of redundant projects and make it easier to kill projects
  • Save several percentage points off your annual IT budget

Empowered can help by:

  • Developing a plan for your Project and Process Management initiatives
  • Working with your team to implement your PPM plan
  • Helping you install and optimize use of the leading PPM tools
  • Develop metrics for measuring success


Tools

Empowered recommends Clarity PPM from CA Technologies as a tool to help you manage your ever-changing portfolio of IT projects,  a systematic, structured and best-practices approach to IT portfolio management.

It eliminates the time-consuming manual processes and reporting, offers extended PPM capabilities, including: real-time planning and analysis, comprehensive financial planning, requirements capture and release road mapping, and IT management integrations. This functionality gives you critical data, along with repeatable best practices, to empower your team to execute projects with control and predictability while minimizing waste.

The bottom line is that Clarity supports your PPM processes by taking the myriad details associated with tracking each project and organizes them in an easily digestible form. It helps executives see where money is spent, why projects are or aren't necessary and what resources are needed.

E4 Methodology

Our E4 methodology is a straightforward, customer-centric framework that will bring you from ground zero to a completely installed and supported E4 Methodologysolution, or it can be used to solve any part of the process. We use E4 to customize a solution to meet your individual needs.

The four components of E4 are:

Explore – and assess your current environment
Envision – the solution to your problem
Execute – the recommended solution
Enhance – your environment


Explore: Take your first step to improvement by understanding where you are. Our assessments include a professional and unbiased review of your operations, processes and people, to serve as a solid foundation upon which to build recommendations for change. Get a clear sense of where you are today, learn what changes will have the most impact.

Envision: See your way clear to a solution. We make recommendations for hardware, software, processes and skills -- all with one aim -- to ensure you meet your goals. Our recommendations are pragmatic, because we’ve been in your shoes. We understand they must fit within your budget, meet your timing, leverage your team’s strengths, and deliver a positive return on your investment.

Execute: Make the solution real. We know that a major deployment is one of the largest, most expensive and most complex challenges a company can face. We can reduce your risks and maximize your returns. We don’t stop until you say you’re happy. We’ll sell you the right product, install and configure it for maximum application in your environment, train your team on its use, and then support you 24/7 from our Technical Assistance Centre.

Enhance: People make the difference between good and great. We have talent in so many areas and it is available to you. Whether it’s providing EmpoweredCare support on a system we’ve installed for you, or joining your team to solve a particularly challenging problem, or bringing in a specialized skill, we are here for you 24/7. Employ us to eliminate any worry about hiring, firing or dealing with sick leave. We are accountable to you and we’ll make sure there’s never a gap.