Managing the Next Wave

  Portfolio Management  

For the last several years, the focus has been on downsizing and cost cutting with most IT initiatives focused on "doing more with less." Most IT development and tactical plans were built around how to achieve the corporate cost goals. Many were successful in getting down to bare bones operations and eliminating unnecessary programs, projects and systems. Now, however, it looks as if we are poised for a round of growth (not the crazy 1990s era growth), but this time it needs to be focused on high (business) value programs with clear returns to the business and tightly tied to the business revenue plan.

But how do we position our departments and build effective programs to achieve high value IT investment? Remember my Checkmate? article? Well, the recovery has started…are you prepared?

Step 1: Know the Business Plan as it Relates to Growth
As technology leaders of our organizations, one of the things that it is essential to understand is plan for growth from the business perspective. In order to build an accurate project portfolio, part of the strategy should be to understand the business plan with respect to growth. If there is no formal plan, work with the business leaders within the company to understand how each plans to grow the business and build a mutual (documented) understanding of what is required by IT to help facilitate or enable it.

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