1 1 Taking portfolio management further July 2010 PCG/10/33

2 2 At the recent ISGs we sought feedback on the proposed model Business needs (defined in strategies) What systems do we have v need to enhance v need to develop/buy to support these needs? What needs do we address now v later The ISG is the where IT and its customers interface. It has a strategic and an operational role Review proposals and PIDS (Is it fit for purpose?) Discussions (Proving input to help colleagues shape up ideas) Review our current portfolio of live projects (Are there any in trouble that need our help) For those project we want to do now Some builds: September is not a good time to review the landscape: Jan/Feb a better time and would link with financial planning Start of academic year might not be best time for college facing systems. Prioritisation of projects needs to be fluid Need to include ongoing developments of major systems Business needs should be both operational and strategic – information being both bottom up and top down Part of the systems landscape is a review of the previous year ie lessons learnt, user groups etc

3 3 Checklist criteria ProposalPID/DID Is the business need for this clear? Is the scope clear? Are there defined deliverables? Does the budget look sensible and complete (ie whole life cost)? Are there resources nominated and do they look appropriate (right people/right quantity)? Is the timetable for delivering the work realistic? Will it deliver in time to be useful? Have the potential overlaps/connections with other activities within the University been articulated. Everyone agreed in principle to the idea of a checklist to review PIDs, DIDs and proposals There was a comment that we need separate checklists. To keep things simple, we could have a common checklist but use it with different emphasis NB if a project goes straight to PID stage then give a close review across all criteria JISC bids would go through this process Close review Check is covered at a high level and looks reasonable Key You review a proposal to see if it is a good idea You review a PID/DID to check that it has been set up appropriately for delivery

4 4 Looking forward, our September ISGs should be establishing what our portfolio of projects for the coming year should look like No matter how you do this, by the end of the meeting we need to be able to look in detail at the next year and out 2-3 years (if we have the information) to answer the following questions:  What are the key business issues in our respective areas?  What systems do we have v need to enhance v need to develop/buy to support these needs?  What live projects do we currently have that may address those needs?  What enhancements /developments /purchases do we need to make and what is their priority?  Who can take these proposed projects forward next year? At the PCG we can then pull together our initiatives to build the overall system landscape TIG RSG LTG CSG Live project Project to be launched

5 5 For the rest of the year we manage our portfolio of projects from proposal into live We will need to develop some tools to support our portfolio management. Some suggestions are: Portfolio issueTool to support decision makingStatus If we have resource constraints, which project should be initiated first? Portfolio Prioritisation matrixIn progress Where on the development path are our projects A projects/proposals in flight reportTo be created What other similar/dependent projects are currently going on in our landscape? High level portfolio planTo be created The Projects Team will take a lead in improving the quality of Proposals/PIDs/DIDs:  Redesigning the templates to make them more user friendly  Offering a coaching service for those who are not familiar with the templates