Example of Client Implementation of Best Practice Portfolio (PowerPoint PPTX)

Project portfolio management (PPM) is the ongoing analysis and optimization of the numerous project "investments" and organization makes. In this example, the best practices of PPM are applied to a banking client, PPM covering dimensions of the costs, resources, technologies and processes for all the projects and programs within the banks project portfolio.

The primary objective of PPM is to make sure alignment of project investments with the strategic goals and business objectives of the organization. The portfolio manager or PMO does this through business analysis, reviewing budgets and forecasting while minimizing risk and managing stakeholder expectations. Often this is done via dedicated PPM tools or via a set of bespoke desktop tools.

To understand where project portfolio management and project management differ, we must first define each and explore the areas where they diverge.

Project management is, quite simply, the management of a project. A project is a temporary endeavor that results in a product or service. It has a beginning and an end. Project goals are defined, and tasks are broken down into a schedule. Cost and budgets are set; resources are assigned, and stakeholders are reported to.

Project portfolio management, on the other hand, is a higher level approach that orchestrates, prioritizes and analyzes the potential value of many projects and programs in a portfolio to manage them simultaneously and optimize resource management. The goal of the portfolio management process is to manage and leverage the life cycle of investments, initiatives, programs, projects and outcomes to best reach the overall goals and objectives of an organization. Therefore, project management is a subset of project portfolio management. It leads to the ultimate objective, which is meeting the strategic goals of the organization.

Although this example does not advocate any particular portfolio management software, it does provide a view of the requirements of such as system from a best practice process perspective that should be provided by leading packages.
Typical PPM software offerings are also used for portfolio optimization to better achieve the financial goals of the organization.