-- Prioritize the IT portfolio of projects and applications according to
business objectives and expected benefits
-- Respond to changing conditions and new opportunities by being able to
rapidly reallocate resources with a full understanding of the impact
-- Know exactly what projects people are working on, enabling them to
make clear business decisions on what the priorities are and how well
resources are utilized
-- Ensure that projects are delivered on time, on budget, and on quality
"Companies can get lost trying to implement overly complex IT governance
strategies, and unfortunately, in the process, end up creating large
bureaucracies and complex metrics that contribute little value to the
organization," said Keith Carlson, President and CEO of on-demand (Software
as a Service) vendor Innotas. "We're finding that many companies have made
rapid progress in their IT governance initiatives by starting with a PPM
implementation focused on a simple and pragmatic approach. These companies
have been able to make measurable impact on the business while implementing
reasonable controls, adding layers of further sophistication only when and
where they were really needed," said Carlson.
"When we implemented our IT Governance process, we were actively working on
20 projects, and we identified 60 additional projects that our three
business units wanted us to accomplish. So we needed to establish an
effective prioritization process," said Jerry Hodge, Sr. Director of
Information Services, Hamilton Beach Brands. "With the Innotas on-demand
PPM solution as a core of our IT Governance process, we have complete
visibility into all of our active and potential projects, and we can easily
prioritize them and focus on the projects that add the most value to the
business."
If you're thinking about leveraging PPM to help drive your IT governance
strategy, first evaluate four key areas:
-- Alignment -- assess whether you're focusing on projects that provide
the best value for the organization
-- Value -- prioritizing the IT portfolio is an on-going process --
standardized approval and review processes can provide baselines so you can
adjust to shifting priorities
-- Resource Optimization -- keeping the right resources focused on the
projects that have the biggest impact is paramount; PPM provides visibility
into how time is actually spent vs. ROI
-- Risk Mitigation -- risks and unknowns associated with each project may
be very different and should be factored in the prioritization process for
better planning
Alignment -- create single IT system of record
Are we doing the right things? Is what we are doing going to produce the
best value for the organization?
These are fairly basic questions, but answering them with confidence
requires IT to take several steps toward creating a single IT system of
record.
First, take an inventory of all current projects and applications. After
taking a project inventory, companies often discover they are working on
twice the number of projects they thought were in their project inventory.
Then, create a standardized business case for project requests --
developing consistent metrics for expected value, cost, and risk allows an
apples-to-apples comparison.
Finally, understand business objectives: know the organization's
priorities, how they are measured and how those projects contribute to
those objectives.
Value
Is enabling a new proposed service more important than any of the projects
we are already doing? What would be the impact of merging with Company Y --
what do we have to put on the back burner to get that done?
Effective IT governance requires that IT leaders look for great ideas and
quickly assess how these ideas score against what is already on the plate
and on the waiting list. This needs to be done in partnership with the
business.
A simple stage-gate approach supported by a PPM solution is critical to
implementing a standard process with established review and approval steps
to filter out ideas that may be good, but do not match the objectives of
the business.
Then the fun begins -- sorting out where in the stack of priorities a new
proposal belongs based on priority, budget, and resource availability.
Resource Optimization
Do we have the resources with the right skills to get this project done?
When will they be available? What kind of people do we need to hire based
on future plans? Should we outsource part of a project?
In the end it all boils down to people -- getting and keeping the right
people, and focusing them on the projects that allow them to make the best
use of their time and have the biggest impact on the business.
PPM provides a clear understanding of where time is actually spent. Think
of the typical scenario in which somebody from a business unit complains
that IT is not doing enough for that particular business unit.
That conversation will take a dramatically different tone when IT is able
to show a PPM dashboard based on real-time data illustrating what
percentage of allotted IT resources are spent on repair/fix projects,
versus projects that actually drive value to the organization.
Risk Mitigation
Great idea, but do we have the infrastructure to pull it off? We can build
it, but will they come? How reliable is the new vendor we need for this
project?
Two projects may have the same potential value and both may be well-aligned
with business objectives, but the risks and unknowns associated with each
may be very different and should be factored in the prioritization process
and made clearly visible to the stakeholders. It is also important to plan
for the potential risks involved in a project and have a mitigation plan
ready.
Then there are the operational risks: monitoring the execution of the
project to ensure that it is on schedule, making sure that all planned
resources are still available and not impacted by delays in other projects;
tracking spending against budget; and closely managing requests for scope
change.
Finally, the part nobody wants to talk about: did the project actually
produce the value to the business that was expected? This is the ultimate
risk from a business perspective, and tracking it results in much better
future business cases and planning.
IT Governance for business value and compliance
Many companies have successfully implemented IT governance strategies
without overwhelming the people involved or bringing IT to a standstill.
It is possible to both ensure that IT produces the best value for the
business AND that IT meets internal and regulatory compliance requirements.
By making Project Portfolio Management a key element of your IT governance
strategy you will provide the right level of visibility and processes for
managing the IT portfolio, its resources, and risks.
About Innotas
Innotas provides the only on-demand Project Portfolio Management (PPM)
solution specifically designed to meet the needs of IT and IT Services
organizations. With Innotas, managers and team members improve
collaboration and can more effectively and efficiently manage IT
initiatives, projects, and resources. For CIOs and executives, Innotas
delivers deep visibility, automation, and analysis of the project
portfolio, and resource planning and utilization. Our customers, including
Crayola, Forbes, Hamilton Beach, Jo-Ann Stores, WorldVision and many
others, span a wide range of industries including financial services,
healthcare, retail, technology, telecommunications and energy. For more
information please visit www.innotas.com or contact us at +1 415.814.7700.
Contact Information: Contact: Martin Levy Martin Levy Public Relations 206.851.7256