The IT project portfolio allows the company to establish resource application management in order to contribute to a more strategic and assertive decision-making process. This portfolio will provide consolidated information about the services that are offered according to the value for a business , allowing the company to develop an efficient strategy to meet market demands and deliver the best tools to its consumers. IT governance and IT project portfolio management are fundamental in this process.
IT project portfolio management refers to a consolidated set of all services managed by the company. This document can establish a broad view of the entire business life cycle , including the service funnel, catalog and withdrawn services.
IT portfolio management has a strategic nature, allowing a global view of everything that is carried out and ensuring connection with the company's strategy. This is because projects need to be aligned with the strategic goals and demands of a business.
What is IT governance?
IT governance is a strategy that encompasses all fundamental practices for aligning IT resources , that is, it allows the alignment of hardware, software and available technical labor. In this way, managers can invest to increase the company's competitiveness in the market and guarantee a process of constant improvement of the tasks and services that are offered.
Understand how IT governance can contribute to your company’s growth:
The IT governance strategy is based on five pillars:
- Strategic alignment;
- Value generation;
- Risk management;
- Resource management;
- Measurement of results.
When well implemented, IT governance can bring numerous advantages to the company , the main ones being:
Process automation
IT governance ensures that managers are able to more intelligently manage the resources and assets available within a company . Based on this management and constant improvement of processes, it is possible to automate the routine and add even more productivity to the business.
An example of this is the use of chatbots to ensure a more consistent and comprehensive dynamic within the system. According to the research Global Chatbot Market: Growth, Trends, Impact of Covid 19 and Forecasts (2023-2028), the use of this tool is expanding widely, with a forecast growth of 34.75%.
In addition to reducing the need for labor to contact the company, this tool also allows resources to be optimized and focused on even more important activities.
Cost reduction
By adding more quality and efficiency within the company, IT project portfolio management enables cost reduction in a more optimized way . The available workforce can focus on solutions that can add more returns and results and focus more productively on other tasks.
In this sense, this strategy allows managers to have a more complete view of all demands within the business and favors the search for even more optimized services. This means that the company can work with more intelligence and direction during its routine.
Increased digital security
Digital security is one of the most important aspects in a market where threats are increasingly threatening . Along with the technological resources that advance every day, cybercriminals also develop strategies and methodologies to penetrate systems and cause numerous problems for the company.
There is a growing concern about information security and the confidentiality of data that is stored within the business. Considering that there is no company that is completely prepared to deal with these threats, it is essential that there is risk management within the organization linked to IT project portfolio management.
Development of strategic solutions
Adding more proximity to the IT sector and other sectors within a business contributes to a search for more strategic and assertive solutions within the company. Mapping opportunities and possible challenges to be faced will help in proposing more efficient strategies with greater financial return.
By maintaining focus on the strategy and demands of the operation, it is possible to guarantee the implementation of more complete solutions.
Importance of IT project portfolio management
IT portfolio management includes the selection of services and items that will be part of the company, considering the planning of each one and its potential to add value. This way, managers will be able to count on a complete strategy that covers everything that happens within the company, as well as what is offered to consumers.
Relating this factor to IT governance, we can understand that this management process contributes to a more efficient use of the resources available by the sector . Therefore, using transparency and an informed decision-making process, it is possible to contribute to the success of the items available in the portfolio.
We need to remember that even if the portfolio items are in line with budgets and demands and are able to deliver results according to planning, it does not necessarily mean that this portfolio is adequate. IT governance contributes to a strategic alignment of all tasks related to the sector and contributes to more complete management.
|IT governance in practice: 5 essential tips
How are IT portfolios managed?
Based on the strategies developed over the years, specialists would be able to establish different management modalities. In this sense, IT portfolio management can be carried out based on two main management schools, namely:
Traditional model
The traditional portfolio management model takes into account, for example, guide models from the Project Management Institute , an international organization focused on valuing project management. This entity establishes guides and foundations of good practices that help add more quality and efficiency, based on five main processes:
1- Portfolio definition: the definition of the portfolio must take into account the corporate strategy, as well as its objectives. At this stage, managers must carry out a complete analysis of the company, in order to understand the business processes and goals.
2- Selection of components: also considering the strategic objectives of the business, the selection of portfolio components must focus on the potential for adding value. The selected items must be compatible with the strategic moment and its execution capacity.
3- Management: to ensure that this portfolio is in accordance with the goals and objectives, a management process must be established with a focus on planning, control and monitoring. The objective of this task is to ensure that everything planned is carried out as expected.
4- Communication and reports: the progress of each of the components present in the portfolio must be monitored based on performance indicators and results obtained. All participants in this process must maintain an effective communication routine, so that all those responsible have access to relevant data.
5- Review and governance: aiming for an intelligent use of resources, this portfolio must go through a process of constant review and governance. Compliance, planning and progress of items must comply with all current regulations in order to maintain the company's compliance
Lean Model
Based on models such as SAFE , this strategy focuses on the adoption of agile methods and a culture focused on efficiency. In this case, the vision of the process is focused on products, not projects. For this model to be effective, it is necessary to adopt a leaner approach, focusing on some pillars:
- Increased efficiency through standardization of processes within the organization.
- Adoption of a continuous flow in activity processes, adding efficiency and high performance.
- Alignment of activities with a focus on generating value, considering the goals and objectives established by the company.
- Adoption of production focused on reducing waste, using available resources with more focus and intelligence.
In this sense, this methodology contributes to the optimization of resources and allows the delivery of the service according to the customer's request. The focus of this methodology is to achieve a solution that delivers the greatest possible value to the customer with minimal use of available resources.
Determining the best methodology for IT project portfolio management will help your company achieve success and establish the best solutions to add value and quality to your services . It is extremely necessary that your business's IT governance is prepared to implement more complete and effective management.
This way, all technological processes within the business can be established in a standardized way, helping the organization to achieve a difference compared to the competition. To meet the demands of such a competitive market, it is necessary to work more intelligently and in an optimized way , and this is possible through efficient IT project portfolio management.
