Implementing Strategies: Managing Technology Essay

Project Portfolio Management (PPM) is a new discipline that is guiding organizations in setting goals and objectives, incorporating strategies and products, and making sure that business services are being delivered. PPM allows company’s to select, prioritize, optimize, and control all the projects in the organization based on many different parameters. PPM has been used in many IT project settings, but has recently been used by organizations to manage any portfolio of projects. In order to for PPM to be an effective tool, organizations need to define what issues need to be considered when selecting projects to implement strategy and what parameters need to be used to control the actual projects. The main issue that an organization needs to consider when selecting projects is alignment with long-term company goals. Often, projects are prioritized by internal political motivation which can quickly misalign what needs to be done compared to the company long-term goals. It is not to say that that the needs of certain business units should be ignored, but PPM allows a company to â€Å". . . prioritize its resources for the good of the business . . . (Paul, 2006). † Other issues that need to be considered in selecting projects are categorizing projects into those that run the business, those that grow the business, and those that may transform the business (Paul, 2006). Categorizing projects lets senior management change the project mix if revenue growth is a top priority or if a change in the business model is imminent. Having project flexibility is essential when implementing strategy within an organization. Senior managers can also use the categorizing of projects to determine the incoming demands from the business units and determine the capacity of the organization to deliver real value back to the business units or customers. PPM is also concerned with not just the actual project completion, but monitoring the project once it is complete for long-term effectiveness and success. The follow-up provided by PPM will help senior management and future project leaders determine best practices and focuses for the future and long-term strategies. PPM is able to define project parameters to control projects by long-term monitoring of completed projects. Parameters that need to be defined within each project are cost, resource availability, resource allocation and workload, time to market, cost reduction value, revenue generation, scope, and time-line to complete. The parameters need to be tracked in real-time for effective project management and portfolio management. PPM is able to â€Å". . . provide continuous checks and evaluations of a project throughout its lifecycle. . . (Gharehmani, 2006). † This allows PPM to assess projects or products based on real-time information and not outdated spreadsheets. The individual parameters can also be selected based on the particular need of the company with a certain project. For example, if a company is looking for a certain time to market versus the time-line to complete, PPM can use real-time information from previous projects to easily and accurately predict if the product will be released in the time frame desired. Categorizing projects can also be used as an effective means of controlling projects. For example, senior management may request that only projects that align with growing the business and revenue generation are to be worked on for a particular period of time depending on the business need in the specified time. PPM is a growing science that is being increasingly used to manage any portfolio of projects. In order for PPM to be effective, organizations need to define what issues need to be controlled to implement a particular strategy. Organizations also need to define the parameters that are to be used to control the projects. Without defining the issues and parameters related to project or portfolio management, the company will not be effective in managing what projects will ultimately lead to long-term success for the entire organization.