Seattle, Washington, 30 Jan 2014
Daptiv, the on-demand leader in project portfolio management (PPM) software, today announced its top predictions for project portfolio management (PPM) in 2014. Organisations that thrive in the current economic environment are those that are on top of the latest trends. Daptiv predictions focus on enterprises spearheading the creation of strategic PMOs, influenced by the reliability of benefits forecasting.
Daptiv's top five predictions for 2014 include:
1. Increased adoption of PPM for integrated portfolio management
The evolution and rapid uptake of SaaS PPM has increased co-ordination with ancillary IT management applications. Application lifecycle management (ALM), Agile and ITSM vendors have been leveraging PPM through alliances, integration and/or acquisitions. This trend began to have an impact in 2011 and Daptiv sees this to continue to play a key role in PPM's market growth through 2014 as it becomes more closely tied into other key business systems.
2. More PMO heads will measure effectiveness on business results
While introducing tools, using methodologies, mapping project management practices, sending project managers to training, and increasing the number of professional PMs in the organisation are important metrics for a PMO head to collect and report on, they do not speak to the effectiveness of the PMO from a business perspective. To judge business effectiveness, PMO heads will determine if their work has had a positive, quantifiable effect on the business in terms of troubled project reduction, correlation to achievement of key business results, lower project manager attrition, and faster time to market. In 2014, the practice of measuring the outputs, not the inputs, of project management will gain further traction.
3. Getting started with PPM benefits realisation
2014 will see a much-needed shift of PMOs from being highly tactical to more strategic. More formalised strategies will align departmental goals with the business objectives of the organisation, consequently delivering end-to-end benefit. Gartner estimates that less than 15% of enterprises systematically measure the business outcomes of their project initiatives. Most IT and PMO organisations focus their measures on price and performance, not value. This year will move the needle by shifting the language and the focus from on time and on budget, to speaking about the resulting business benefits.
4. Portfolio management encourages project entrepreneurship
Daptiv sees more companies directing tight budgets towards IT and process improvement via portfolio management to get a handle on enterprise project investments. Project entrepreneurship means project managers must develop an "entrepreneurial" mindset. In 2014, this mindset will enable project and portfolio leaders to take on risks, foster innovation and focus on business value, rather than just looking at the traditional triple constraints of time, budget and quality.
5. Rolling-Wave Planning (Agile)
Rolling-Wave Planning is the process of planning a project in phases as it proceeds, rather than completing a detailed plan for the entire project before it begins. Planning is dependent on speculation and the further out the plan, the more quickly the strategy will become obsolete as conditions change. In Rolling-Wave Planning, one will plan over time as the details in the project become clearer. While this methodology has become standard in software development, Daptiv forecasts Rolling-Wave Planning will continue to garner even broader adoption in 2014.
"In 2014, PPM will drive stronger engagement models between the business and the benefits it delivers," said John Baldwin, chief executive officer at Daptiv. "Enterprises are getting more comfortable giving up control while providing an end-to-end service delivery model, tying in all the required elements and technologies to gain deeper visibility across multiple projects. With benefit forecasting, PMOs will move more strongly into the role of a trusted advisor in the long-term planning process of organisations."
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