PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT TRAINING

A description of the what the University of Utah’s portfolio management is and how the portfolio teams score and rank project requests within U PlanIT.

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© 2009 IT Project & Portfolio Office I The University of Utah

Portfolio Management

PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT Effective IT governance delivers the structured processes you need to meet business goals while defining the rules of your IT game. However, governance is only the first step towards improved IT decision making. The University of Utah Portfolio Management Teams:

• Properly align and commit IT financial and human resources based on strategic business objectives

• Optimize strategic, program, service and project investments to maximize financial return and business impact

• Relate strategic plans to work execution through a flexible link that ties strategic and project planning together

• Accurately allocates funding and staffing capacities when planning new strategies and initiatives

• Provides business users with visibility into performance according to strategic objectives

• Balance innovative initiatives with sustaining work

• Add structure to your strategic planning process by defining your strategic planning continuum in terms of missions, objectives, strategies, and tactics

Click on the menu selection to the right to begin learning more.

Portfolio Teams

Portfolio Process

Scoring Projects

Ranking Projects

PORTFOLIO MANAGMENT

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Portfolio ManagementA business process by which a business unit decides on the mix of active projects, staffing and dollar budget allocated to each project currently being undertaken is called Portfolio Management.

Portfolio Management organizes a series of projects into a single portfolio consisting of reports that capture project objectives, costs, timelines, accomplishments, resources, risks and other critical factors. Executives can then regularly review entire portfolios, spread resources appropriately and adjust projects to produce the highest departmental returns.

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Portfolio ManagementThe University of Utah’s IT Project & Portfolio Office has adopted the following process for Portfolio Management:

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PORTFOLIO TEAMS

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Portfolio TeamsUsing Enterprise Portfolio Management, The University of Utah can analyze and manage risks, prioritize strategies, and use scenario planning to prepare for economic and business uncertainty.

There are currently 11 Portfolio Teams:

Auxiliary/Other

Cyberinfrastructure

Employee

Faculty

Finance

Information Management

Infrastructure

Student

UUHC Clinical

UUHC Finance

UUHC Construction

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Portfolio TeamsThese Portfolio Teams are to complete the following:

Project Scoring & Prioritization

Portfolio Alignment

Portfolio Balancing

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PORTFOLIO PROCESS

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Portfolio ProcessThese Portfolio Teams are to complete the following:

Project Scoring & Prioritization

Portfolio Alignment

Portfolio Balancing

Click on the tabs to the right to learn about each one.

To view the overall Portfolio Process click on the green button above.

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Project Scoring & Prioritization

Portfolio Alignment

Portfolio Balancing

Scoring Rank Projects

Accept/Analyze/Refuse project requests

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Project Scoring & PrioritizationA. Scoring –

1. Review project request/self-score - Prior to each team meeting, review each project and score provided by requestor. This is necessary in order to understand the request and thereby provide an accurate score.

2. Score project request (PMT Score) - Be prepared to discuss and score project based on your interpretation of the project relative to the scoring criteria of the portfolio team. Scores may be subjective to each individual team member, reflective of their advocacy.

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Scoring

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B. Ranking –

1. Prioritize projects based on PMT score – The PMT score is the baseline for the introduction of the prioritization discussion. Project prioritization should reflect individual opinions and priorities and may not be in alignment with PMT scores.

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Project Scoring & PrioritizationC. Accept/Analyze/Refuse project requests –

1. Accept request as project – Determine if the request has merit to become a project. Several items should be considered while making this determination. These items should include but not limited to, the University mission, portfolio objectives, work capacity and individual department needs.

2. Leave project request on Hold/Analyze – If it is determined that the request does not merit “Acceptance,” it should remain in Investment Analysis.

3. Refuse request – If it is determined that the project request does not meet project specifications, the request may be refused and sent back to the requestor for further review or clarification

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Portfolio AlignmentD. Align portfolio with University direction and objectives –

1. Provide direction to project managers and requestors – It may be necessary to provide direction to project managers regarding the direction of the project and its relationship to the priorities of the portfolio. In addition, communication with the project requestor may be necessary to provide insight and guidance.

2. Provide insight and advice to ITEC regarding risk and resources – It may be necessary to provide insight and advice regarding project risks to the IT Executive Council (ITEC). ITEC may need to be notified of competing resources so as to receive direction and guidance.

3. Align portfolio with the University direction and objectives – The purpose of the portfolio team is to align projects with the University mission and objectives. This is done through consistent project review, prioritization and guidance.

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Align portfolio with University direction and objectives

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Portfolio BalancingE. Balance portfolio with assigned resource capacity –

1. Review total effort and resource capacity – Total effort is the total number of hours necessary to complete the project. Resource capacity is the total number of hours within each resource department.

2. Rank projects based on team discussion and analysis – Portfolio balancing includes determining which projects best meet the portfolio criteria and objectives.

3. Accept projects based on available resource capacity - The portfolio team is responsible for accepting projects that fall under the available capacity. Failure to do so will result in over burdened resources and possible project breakdown.

4. Notify resource manager of project approval – Once the project has been completed the project manager should be notified and given authorization for the project to begin.

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Balance portfolio with assigned resource capacity

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Viewing the Scored Projects in U PlanIT

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As described within the Portfolio Process, the portfolio management team has the responsibility to Score a project. To view the Scores of projects complete the following:

1. Click on the primary tab Strategy2. Click on the Analysis sub-tab3. Change Scenario on the left hand action

link to the current scenario date4. Under Analysis click the default portlet

titled, “Rank Investments”

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View Ranked Projects in U PlanIT

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As part of an Enterprise Portfolio Management system, projects are ranked in priority within each Portfolio Management Team. These rankings are based on resource capacity, institutional schedules and institutional priorities. To view the Rank of projects complete the following:

1. Click on the primary tab Strategy2. Click on the Analysis sub-tab3. Change Scenario on the left hand action

link to the current scenario date4. Under Analysis click the default portlet

titled, Rank Investments

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Great Job!This completes our Module on Portfolio Management. In this module you learned:

The definition of Portfolio Management The process of managing project requests The University of Utah’s current Portfolio Management Teams The Portfolio Process How to view Scoring of Projects How to view the Ranking of Projects

Continue to visit www.acs.utah.edu/pp0 for more U PlanIT and Project Management online modules!