Published:
December 30 2009, 07:23 PM
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by
Elizabeth Kelly
As the year quickly draws to an end, I wanted to reflect on a few thoughts around Project & Portfolio Management over the last year.
The economy had an impact on almost every organization worldwide. Departmental budgets were cut, projects were delayed and resources were downsized. The down economy, however, had less impact on PPM adoption than what many predicted early in the year. Many industry analyst firms indicated that there was a strong increase in inquiries regarding PPM tools, more than they'd ever seen before. This was further demonstrated at the inaugural Gartner PPM Summit held in Orlando in early June. It was an absolute success, drawing more IT and business executives along with PPM professionals than expected! So, what's the explanation for the resiliency in continued interest in PPM? The need to not only make informed decisions, but to make the right decisions is permeating through every organization today more than ever before. Accountability is key. Organizations see the value in project & portfolio management and the positive impact it can have on their business, thus they're willing to invest in technology that helps automate the decision-making process.
To manage and mitigate the risk when implementing a PPM solution, we've seen many organizations shift their interest toward a SaaS solution. Today, every notable PPM solution is available on demand. In fact, a good portion of our new Clarity customers are investing in CA Clarity PPM On Demand. This allows customers to implement in as little as a week, without the need to purchase, manage and support software or hardware within their organization. With SaaS becoming mainstream, we're even seeing many on premise customers move to our on demand offering.
The need for PPM beyond IT also became more main stream in 2009. With organizations operating in an environment of reduced revenues and razor thin profit margins many had no choice but to extend accountability and visibility across a broader span across the organization sparking the growth in enterprise PMO's and the need for more discipline with corporate portfolio management. The traditional PPM for IT analyst community also acknowledged the expansion of the PPM market. For example, Forrester Research in their 2009 publication of the Forrester Wave for Project & Portfolio Management Tools, segmented their analysis for the first time ever into two distinct areas: IT-driven and business-driven PPM. Another example of the expanding application for PPM solutions emerged as a result of the newly enacted American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Organizations began reaching out to PPM vendors for a solution to meet the entire grants management lifecycle process. CA responded by providing a solution, built on a core PPM foundation, that can fully integrate and control grants selection, acquisition, implementation, and performance tracking and reporting.
As you take a moment to reflect on 2009, how did your organization adjust to face the challenges of the economic environment? What impact did project & portfolio management have in addressing those challenges? How do you see your role and your use of PPM evolving as we enter 2010?
Tags: ITG PPM Clarity Project Portfolio Management governance, IT Governance ITG SPM Service Manangement CA Clarity PPM, PMO PMI, Gartner PPM Clarity, pmo, ppm, Clarity On Demand, SaaS, Portfolio, PPM On Demand, Project Portfolio