The A to Z of IT Project/Portfolio Management Platform must-haves

Organisations adopt portfolio management for many reasons, chiefly, it offers a structured and strategic approach to managing a collection of projects, programmes, and initiatives.

Platforms can range from the over-simplistic to the super-complex, finding the sweet spot, the platform that exactly suits your need takes some thought but is worth it!

In the development of Stoneseed’s project management P3MO platform , we did a lot of this “thought-work|” for you and we worked closely with clients to identify and address several key needs.

And … Thanks to all this work we can present …

THE A to Z OF IT PROJECT/PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT PLATFORM MUST-HAVES.

(Can’t wait to see how you deal with X, Y and Z! – Ed)

Analytics: Successful teams are increasingly prioritising data-driven decision-making, your platform should facilitate this by incorporating robust analytics tools enabling you to extract meaningful insights from project-related data, leading to informed and strategic choices.

Automation: When streamlining processes is at the core of your approach you reduce manual effort, enhance efficiency, and minimise the risk of errors in routine tasks. Automation features should be baked into your platform allowing successful implementation of automation.

Business Case Identification and Delivery: Rigorous business case development is integral to project selection and justification, your platform should easily facilitate the creation and evaluation of business cases, providing a structured framework for assessing the feasibility, benefits, and risks associated with each project.

Benefits Management: Identifying, tracking, and realising project benefits are vital to a successful IT Project team’s approach. Your platform should allow you to focus on the systematic evaluation and optimisation of project outcomes, ensuring alignment with organisational goals and objectives.

Collaboration: Teamwork and communication are key to successful IT Project outcomes, your platform should integrate advanced collaboration features to ensure that project teams can collaborate seamlessly, creating a culture of shared knowledge and collective achievement.

Dependency Management: Recognising and managing dependencies among project tasks is crucial for maintaining coherence and efficiency, your platform should include features that allow the identification, tracking, and resolution of interdependencies to avoid disruptions.

Engagement (Training and Guidance): Recognising the importance of user adoption and skill development, your portfolio management framework should include comprehensive training and guidance resources. This will ensure that users will hit the ground running, equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to effectively navigate and utilise the platform.

Financial Management: With increased pressure on ROI (return on investment), efficient financial management is more important than ever and must be at the forefront of your project management strategy. This involves budget planning, tracking expenditures, and ensuring financial accountability throughout the project lifecycle – your platform should support this.

Governance: To maintain control and alignment with organisational objectives, governance is a major aspect of any portfolio management strategy. Governance structures that define decision-making processes, roles, and responsibilities, should be at the heart of your platform ensuring transparency and accountability.

Holistic View: Your platform should contribute to a holistic portfolio management approach. By addressing essential aspects such as onboarding, benefits realisation, task management, risk mitigation, dependency handling, financial oversight, and resource allocation, your platform can, and should, create a holistic and streamlined project management process.

Innovation (Project Ideas and Pipeline): Your platform should lean into creating a culture of innovation and idea generation. Platforms can facilitate a seamless submission and management of project ideas, creating a robust pipeline that serves as a repository for potential initiatives.

Jargon Free: When you invest in an IT Project portfolio platform you don’t want to need to learn a whole new language to run it, that’s the beauty of the Microsoft Office 365 technology, if you’ve used Word and Excel, you can easily pick up Project for the Web, PowerApps, Teams, Forms, Automate, and Power BI. Developing collaboration and communication across different areas of an organisation can be tricky enough without needing an interpreter to translate between your users and your platform!

Keep-it-Simple: This follows on from J for Jargon Free, I suppose. Beyond the ‘language’ of the platform though, you need to make it as simple as possible to use: Integrating portfolio management software with existing applications and “the way we do things” across your organisation can be difficult … capturing, interpreting and actioning diverse data types, across various locations. with varied access levels can be complex … costs can run away with themselves if after launch you realise that functionality you need isn’t there and has to be added – choose a platform that makes life as simple as possible.

Lifecycle: Your project should allow a comprehensive, end-to-end perspective on project lifecycles, from initiation, planning, execution, monitoring, through to closure. That holistic view of project progression must be part of your platform’s DNA from start to finish, from green light to lessons learned!

Microsoft Project Tool Compatibility: The chances are you have already invested in some Microsoft 365 project tools, even if it is just Teams! Your platform should leverage the power of these tools and maximise your investment in them. Stoneseed’s P3MO, for instance, is built upon them allowing you to successfully implement a project portfolio that works for your organisation by better utilising your existing Microsoft platform.

Stoneseed’s P3MO can improve efficiency and quality of delivery across your portfolio by: Optimising cutting-edge technologies for unprecedented efficiency and innovation; Providing a dynamic and intuitive platform for project planning and execution; Enabling seamless collaboration within Teams; Taking project management a step further with robust data analytics capabilities, Transforming project-related data into actionable insights; Gaining a deeper understanding of project performance and facilitating informed decision-making; Using Project for the Web and Power BI an evolving a culture of teamwork and shared knowledge; Contributing to a holistic portfolio management approach; Allowing you to oversee multiple projects with greater visibility and strategic alignment.

Numbers – Lots of the RIGHT Numbers: This could easily have come under D for Data Capture! A crucial aspect of your next platform is efficient data capture, you need mechanisms to ensure seamless collection and organisation of project data, accelerating accurate reporting and analysis and transforming project-related data into actionable insights.

Project success is a numbers game, your platform should help you harness the power of your project’s numbers. Great examples of this would be a benefits tracker calculator, where you can view the ROI against spend on a project, or a benefits spillage report that can instantly flag up when project progress and benefits realisation are misaligned, or a milestone slippage dashboard that allows “at a glance” access to missed milestones.

Stoneseed’s P3MO allows you to produce reports and dashboards, as required by your organisation, in Power BI.

Onboarding: Ensuring a smooth transition from project initiation to active execution, the project onboarding process sets the groundwork for effective project management and should be aided by your platform. Your platform should allow for assembly of the necessary resources, help define objectives, and establish clear communication channels.

PMO Solutions: Does your project management platform incorporate dedicated Project Management Office (PMO) solutions? These should be tailored to meet the specific needs of overseeing multiple projects, ensuring standardised practices and optimal resource allocation. Your platform should ideally have PMO solutions as part of the package.

Project Prioritisation: Prioritising projects based on strategic alignment, resource availability, and overall organisational goals is fundamental to a successful portfolio approach, your platform should include tools to systematically evaluate and rank projects, ensuring that resources are allocated to initiatives with the greatest impact.

Quality (Real-Time On Demand Quality Assurance): BI and Reporting: Leveraging Business Intelligence (BI) and reporting tools, your platform should enable real-time tracking and analysis of portfolio performance. This allows stakeholders to make informed decisions based on up-to-date data and visualisations, ensuring standardised practices.

Risk and Issues Management: A proactive stance towards risk and issues is fundamental to project success. You should incorporate comprehensive risk and issues management solutions to identify, assess, and mitigate potential challenges throughout the project lifecycle.

Resource and Demand Management: Your platform should provide tools for effective resource allocation and demand management, including optimisation of resource utilisation, forecasting future resource needs, and ensuring that the right skills are available when needed.

Status Reports: Regular reporting mechanisms are in place to keep stakeholders informed of project status and progress. Status reports provide a snapshot of key metrics, milestones achieved, and any deviations from the original plan.

Transparency: We’ve already touched upon this in H for Holistic View and L for Lifecycle, but I cannot emphasise too much how important it is that you should be able to lift the lid on any part of your projects, portfolio, processes and progress and get instant data on where you’re at! It should be as simple as lifting your car bonnet and taking a look at the engine!

User Friendly: Stoneseed’s integrated P3MO Microsoft platform seamlessly combines a suite of powerful tools to create a cohesive and efficient project management ecosystem that is really user friendly as it is built on the familiarity of Microsoft project products.

At its core is Project for the Web, providing a user-friendly interface for project planning and tracking, PowerApps extends the functionality by enabling the creation of custom applications tailored to specific project needs, Forms facilitates streamlined data collection and feedback processes, enhancing project communication and engagement, and Teams serves as the collaboration hub, fostering teamwork and communication among project management teams.

Value: We touched on this with Financial Management but the value you want from your portfolio platform extends way beyond pounds and pence. Building and refining a portfolio management system can be a time-consuming process, integrating portfolio management software with existing applications across the organisation can be difficult, capturing diverse data types across various locations with varied access levels can be complex, developing collaboration and communication across different areas of an organisation can be tricky – all of these leak value. Stoneseed’s P3MO , using Microsoft tools that you’re familiar with, eliminates all these concerns and adds rather than reduces value.

Work Management (Activity and Tasks): The best platforms are designed to facilitate efficient work management. It should provide tools to organise tasks, allocate resources, and monitor progress effectively, ensuring that projects stay on track and meet their milestones.

Stoneseed’s P3MO platform , for example, provides robust tools for the organisation and tracking of project activities and tasks. This includes defining timelines, assigning responsibilities, and monitoring progress to ensure timely project completion.

X … er

Y … hmmm

Z … OK … your IT Project portfolio management platform doesn’t need xylophones, yurts and zebras (and you did get two As, Ps and Rs!!!). This is a valuable point to consider though, many IT project platforms do come with things that you don’t need BUT that you have to pay for! You should avoid platforms with things you don’t need and will never use. (Well played – Ed)

But how do you know what you’ll need in the future?

That’s another benefit of Stoneseed’s P3MO , constructed on Microsoft Office 365 technology, you can build it from the ground up, block by block to be exactly what you need it to be and, if your needs change, so can your platform.

CONCLUSION

In summary, your portfolio management framework should encompass the entire project lifecycle, from idea generation and project prioritisation to governance, business case development, BI and reporting, and ongoing training and guidance – in other words, your next IT portfolio platform should be Stoneseed’s P3MO.

Look back at the A-Z: Power Automate automates workflows, reducing manual tasks and enhancing overall efficiency; Power BI delivers robust business intelligence and reporting capabilities; allowing stakeholders to gain valuable insights from project data; The integration with Dataverse ensures a unified and secure data storage environment, promoting consistency and reliability across the entire platform.

Used together, these interconnected tools empower you to streamline project management, enhance collaboration, and make informed decisions, ultimately contributing to the overall success of your projects.

As with all things though, it’s how you implement where the real value is.

All these are readily available, the fact that most organisations are not leveraging the power of these tools suggests that many just don’t know how to. At Stoneseed we have put a lot of hours into our P3MO platform, we’ve got under the bonnet of Microsoft’s suite of tools to understand how they work, both independently and interdependently, allowing us to tailor each deployment for our clients’ unique project needs – and we can even be with you to help with the roll out.

Adopting a holistic approach, Stoneseed’s P3MO aims to maximise the value derived from the project portfolio while maintaining transparency, strategic alignment, and effective decision-making

Click here to find out more or call 01623 723910 to discuss your project and portfolio platform needs.

Find out more about Stoneseed’s PMO Services and P3MO Platform