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

2.7. REFINING IT PORTFOLIO OBJECTIVES

With IT portfolio management capabilities known, scope and objectives must be documented for the current iteration of the IT portfolio management process. These objectives are generally developed with the IT portfolio manager and CIO. If business sponsors have been identified at this juncture, they most certainly should be included in these tasks. Refining IT portfolio objectives consists of two steps: identifying the scope and applying the scope, along with the capabilities, to the initial objectives.

Scope

When determining the scope, pain points within IT and the business, coupled with IT portfolio management capabilities, should suffice to provide appropriated bounding. In general, the scope of IT portfolio management covers the areas within IT listed in Exhibit 2.5.

Embarking on IT portfolio management is a journey. Those who successfully complete it do so by understanding the terrain. There are some dependencies between the subportfolios that become critical as the use of IT portfolio management within the organization matures. However, when an organization is early in its journey toward embracing IT portfolio management as a common governing discipline, it is advantageous to have early successes to build upon. In Exhibit 2.6, the most common subportfolios are listed, showing their relative degree of value and complexity. For this purpose, complexity includes not just the creation of the portfolio but also the ability to act upon it. ...