In an Uncertain Economy, Strategic Portfolio Management Is a Critical Responsibility for IT Leaders: New Resource From Info-Tech Research Group

According to the global IT research and advisory firm, strategic portfolio management has evolved from various other capabilities and vendor solutions but is often misunderstood, which can make efficient adoption of the right portfolio management approach challenging.

TORONTO, July 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Streamlining business processes and aligning organizational goals have become increasingly critical amid unstable economic times. IT leaders are being relied upon to steer the realization of business strategy through wise investments in strategic portfolio management (SPM). SPM can span different business units, work styles, and roles, which makes obtaining stakeholder buy-in as well as achieving alignment and adoption more precarious than when implementing other types of solutions. To help IT leaders unpack what strategic portfolio management is and what makes it distinct from similar capabilities, such as project portfolio management (PPM), Info-Tech Research Group has released its new data-driven blueprint, Make Sense of Strategic Portfolio Management.

"While the market is eager to get users into what they're calling 'strategic portfolio management,' there's a lot of uncertainty out there about what this market is and how it's different from other, more established portfolio disciplines – most significantly, project portfolio management," says Travis Duncan, research director of PPM and CIO Strategy at Info-Tech Research Group.

In the blueprint, the firm highlights that organizations that have identified the need to step away from PPM and move toward SPM may require a strategic portfolio management tool.

"For organizations curious about these types of applications, it is important that they first engage key stakeholders and clarify the portfolio KPIs and outcomes those individuals are after," adds Duncan. "This will go a long way in helping to determine whether the organization requires a unique tool specific to strategic portfolio management, or whether they simply need to practice traditional approaches to project portfolio management more strategically."

A list of standard features to seek in SPM tools is included in the resource, as outlined below:

1. Analytics and reporting: SPM should provide access to real-time dashboards and data interpretation, which can be exported as reports in a range of formats.
   
   
2. Strategy mapping and road mapping: The right tool will support access to up-to-date timeline views of strategies and initiatives, including the ability to map such things as dependencies, market needs, funding, priorities, governance, and accountabilities.
   
   
3. Value tracking and measurement: The adoption of an SPM tool should lead to the ability to forecast, track, and measure return on investment for strategic investments. This includes accommodations for various paradigms of value delivery, such as traditional value delivery and measurement, value mapping, and value streams.
   
   
4. Ideation and innovation: SPM should offer the ability to facilitate innovation management processes across the organization. This includes the ability to support stage gates from ideation through to approval; articulate, socialize, and test ideas; perform impact assessments; create value canvas and maps; and prioritize.
   
   
5. Multi-portfolio management: When an SPM tool is implemented, it should provide the ability to perform various modalities of portfolio management and portfolio optimization, including project portfolio management, applications portfolio management, and asset portfolio management.
   
   
6. Interoperability: An SPM tool that is a good organizational fit will enable seamless integration with other applications for data interoperability.

Info-Tech Research Group has also included a list of advanced features for SPM in the new resource that IT leaders can use in their decision-making process. The firm further advises that the distinction between PPM and SPM is not necessarily as black and white as it may seem, but that it can be helpful to think in binaries when trying to distinguish the two capabilities. SPM broadens its scope to target more executive and business users and functions best when it's speaking at a higher level to a business audience.

To access the full resource, including an assessment tool for organizations to determine their unique SPM needs, download Make Sense of Strategic Portfolio Management.

For more information about Info-Tech Research Group or to view the latest research, visit infotech.com and connect via LinkedIn and Twitter.

Info-Tech Research Group is one of the world's leading information technology research and advisory firms, proudly serving over 30,000 professionals. The company produces unbiased and highly relevant research to help CIOs and IT leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. For more than 25 years, Info-Tech has partnered closely with IT teams to provide them with everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.

Media professionals can register for unrestricted access to research across IT, HR, and software and over 200 IT and industry analysts through the firm's Media Insiders program. To gain access, contact [email protected].

SOURCE Info-Tech Research Group