IT Leadership: Portfolio Management

When too many projects compete for scarce resources, organizations need predictable and transparent IT investment oversight and control. Without it, a project's position and importance within the business strategy is lost. Management at the portfolio level, however, allows organizations to prioritize new projects, allocate financial and people resources across projects, and manage interdependencies between projects. The greater oversight afforded by a portfolio management framework can help businesses meet expectations, deliver results, and communicate reliable and timely information.

Effective portfolio management enables unbiased project and investment prioritization, ensuring that businesses undertake the right initiatives at the right time. SOMOS helps our clients develop this valuable executive control mechanism, equipping them with the necessary processes to 

• Capture requests for projects
• Prioritize and initiate projects 
• Allocate financial and human resources 
• Monitor performance
• Evaluate results 

The Benefits of Working with SOMOS

By working with SOMOS to develop a portfolio management framework, our customers achieve better return on investment, improved risk management, better resource utilization, and greater alignment with corporate objectives. Our consultants draw upon best practices and proven models bringing this experience to your business.

SOMOS consultants will help develop a framework that is appropriate to each client's unique business needs, culture, and management style. In addition, our executive presentations and workshops can help IT and business executives understand the importance and influence of portfolio management as a critical component of governance. By communicating investment status to stakeholders, portfolio management frameworks add a new dimension of relationship management within the business.

SOMOS Portfolio Management services include:

• Facilitated workshops
• Coaching for IT executives
• Consulting engagements to establish Portfolio Management Offices
• Executive presentations
• Training courses
• Assessments

Success Stories

Portfolio Management Training
Government Department
Our client needed to get their executive project oversight committee aligned with the approval and gating processes of the organization. SOMOS developed and delivered a one day course on project governance, which gave senior managers the essentials they needed to make portfolio decisions and provide effective oversight to support their projects. The course used a mix of lecture, case studies, and exercises to draw from the attendees' experiences.

CIO Project Portfolio
Government Department
The client was centralizing its IT infrastructure and simultaneously moving towards a shared services model. A senior SOMOS project manager assisted the CIO with portfolio management decisions, including recommending project selection and evaluation with respect to on-going programs.

Project Management Support Office
Government Department
SOMOS' client wanted to ensure its existing project management framework could be consistently applied to all project. A portfolio management office was set up to support the executive committees in their selection of projects and maintain alignment with the client's strategic business plan. SOMOS consultants helped identify project management best practices, tools, and templates, and promoted their consistent use within the agency.

Enterprise Project and Portfolio Management System
Government Department
The client was introducing a new enterprise level program, portfolio, and project management (EPM) system to support strategic decision-making as well as monitoring and reporting on portfolios and programs. The system also facilitates oversight and management of resources, risks, activities, and project status. SOMOS consultants managed and executed the project from the planning phase through to completion. Our EPM systems specialists assisted with the configuration of the new tool and configured the environment. Management consultants recommended and developed a transition plan, trained agency staff, and developed business processes to support the new system.