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Submitted by Bill on Wed, 04/29/2009 - 1:45am

In a past posting I said that, for 999 out of 1000 companies, Project Portfolio Management (PPM) would simply end up sequencing future project failures.  I want to explain what I meant by that, and at the same time share a quote from Craig Symons, vice president, principal analyst and lead author of a recent study by Forrester Research, who seems to corroborate my position, whether intentionally or not.

Mr. Symons’ statement, quoted in an article by ProjectsatWork.com:

“A lot of people view tools as a solution and so they have a problem and the tool is the solution,” Symons says. “Nothing could be further from the truth. Portfolio management is a process... If you do not have a mature portfolio process in place, the tool is going to distract you.” (Emphasis added)
First of all, I totally agree with what Mr. Symons says. However, I might have changed the last sentence to, “… the tool is going to leave you scratching your head, wondering why you’re not getting better results after paying a lot of money for this hoity-toity (or, if you prefer, fancy-schmancy) software system.”
How many companies do you know of that have a “mature portfolio process in place?” My estimate would be about 1 in 1000. That means that the other 999 are better off concentrating on meeting that standard before even considering Project Portfolio Management software.  And if your company is in that 999 you should concern yourself with choosing a model for the next stage in the improvement of your project management capabilities.

Two models that you might consider are Project Portfolio Management and Project Portfolio Excellence.

Project Portfolio Management assumes an institutionalized project management methodology (meaning that you already know what you’re doing when it comes to managing projects and that you're getting fairly consistent results, even if those results aren't as successful as you'd like.)

On the other hand, Project Portfolio Excellence assumes that you’re not necessarily at that level of maturity (meaning that, to some extent your process is more mess than methodology.)
So the question to answer in deciding which model is best for your company, given your current state is, “Is the way we do projects a Methodology, or a Mess?”  Be honest.  Lying to yourself costs you more in the long run.