IT Portfolio Management Step-by-Step: Unlocking the Business Value of Technology

6.2. IT PORTFOLIO SOFTWARE MARKET

The portfolio management software market is eclectic, dynamic, and complex, and has recently seen enormous movement. A host of new entrants have emerged from enterprise resource planning (ERP) vendors (leveraging their existing base in HR and financial management), application life cycle management vendors, and other vendors with significant capital to capture market share, as well as new releases from existing vendors with roots in enterprise project management, stand-alone portfolio management, and other niche areas. The IT portfolio market is converging into suites of capabilities that include not just portfolio creation for decision support but also related functional areas of project and resource management. In addition, the IT portfolio market is integrating with operational support solutions.

Figure 6.1. IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS IN EVALUATING IT PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE PROVIDERS

The market is divided into three areas: niche portfolio management—targeted solutions (typically with stand-alone portfolio analysis capabilities), project portfolio management tools (with suite capabilities), and asset portfolio management tools. We have not seen any IT portfolio management software solutions specifically targeting the discovery portfolio but believe that many of the features and functionality contained in niche and project portfolio management ...