Portfolio Management at City

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Portfolio Management at City University

A brief history….

•The Project Office has been in place just over 6 years•Managing IS (IT) projects•On average we’ve had 4 or 5 dedicated Project Managers•Re-active to which projects are run

Issues….

•Projects were run in isolation•Not always strategic•Resourcing always an issue



So what do we need to change?

•We reviewed how we manage projects from inception to delivery•Time and effort was wasted writing Business Cases that went nowhere•Were the right people making the decisions?•Were we giving priority to the right projects?



Strategic v non-Strategic

•Strategic projects – improving the University/one-offs etc•Non-Strategic (Business As Usual) - cyclical/eg upgrades•BAU projects keep the lights on – must run when required•Strategic projects need to be scheduled



Our plan…

•We developed a framework with several ‘decision points’ •The framework is best represented as a ‘funnel’…



PROPOSALS ASSESSMENT

BUSINESS CASE APPRAISAL

VALUE ASSESSMENT

PORTFOLIOTRACKING

BENEFITSREALISATION



PROPOSALS ASSESSMENT

BUSINESS CASE APPRAISAL

VALUE ASSESSMENT

PORTFOLIOTRACKING

BENEFITSREALISATION

PROPOSALS ASSESSMENTProposals need to be captured for a forum to make a decision to progress for an investigation into the strength of the business case.

BUSINESS CASE APPRAISALA consultation with stakeholders produces an Outline Business Case which enables a forum to consider whether to pass on for a comprehensive Value Assessment.

VALUE ASSESSMENTA team comprising of business stakeholders and tech specialists carry out a rigorous Value Assessment exercise to issue a fully validated Business Case. A forum approves the proposal and releases the specified resources .

PORTFOLIO TRACKINGOnce the project is scheduled, progress of technology implementation and business change are reported to the relevant forum(s) for tracking.

BENEFITS REALISATIONThe relevant forum(s) authorise project closure and track benefits through to realisation as projected in the validated business cases.

DECISION POINT

DECISION POINT

DECISION POINT



BENEFITSREALISATION



BENEFITSREALISATION



BENEFITSREALISATION





Supporting the Framework

•Project Office monitoring progress every step of the way•Evaluated 3 potential solutions to provide support…•…narrowed it down to 2

1. A ‘best of breed’ solution 2. A product already being used for incident and change

management at City, with a PM function



Staffing the Framework

•Project Manager and Business Analyst roles merged…•…now Project Office Consultants•Taking on a more consultative role (business as customers) •Currently looking into accredited IS Consultancy training



In Conclusion

•Early days – still trying to ‘influence’ a solid governance structure•In the meantime, pushing ahead with;

BAU projects Support product evaluation Developing Consultancy skills

•Seeking feedback as we progress•Happy to update this group on progress at a later stage•And finally…