Project Portfolio Office April 2014
Information and Communications Technology
PROJECT PORTFOLIO OFFICE
MAY 2014 DRAFT Page 1 Project Portfolio Office April 2014
Project Portfolio Office Purpose of a Project Portfolio Office The creation of a Project Portfolio Office (PPO) is intended to improve project
management processes in ICT and across the campus. ICT senior leadership
commitment to the PPO is central to key support to its success. The PPO leader will be
responsible for the creation and development of a project management discipline.
ICT needs strong project management skills and processes to accomplish its agenda.
There are a large number of projects from a wide variety of clients requiring shared and
limited resources. Clarity of project scheduling and prioritization from the PPO will help
manage the significant project workload.
Specific project management tools and skills from the PPO will ensure consistent
delivery of projects on time, in scope, and within budget. By developing a common
project management framework, the PPO builds a process that can evolve and mature
over time. The basic processes being introduced today become a framework to
continuously improve project management in ICT and throughout the University of
Saskatchewan.
By developing a disciplined project management process and applying it consistently to
all projects, ICT and the University of Saskatchewan will benefits from improvements in
each of the following areas:
 Timeliness of project delivery,
 Accuracy of budget forecasts,
 Implementation of promised scope,
 Meeting client expectations,
 Producing appropriate level of quality, and
 Well‐managed risks.
Action Plan 1.
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1. Implement a Project Portfolio Office (PPO) in ICT
Build a culture of project management discipline in ICT
Develop a project review process
Inform the ICT Stewardship process
Socialize the concept of the PPO
Keep the PPO process clear and streamlined
Implement Project Portfolio Office (PPO) Page 2 Project Portfolio Office April 2014
The Project Portfolio office needs to starts with a vision. Specifically, the PPO will
develop a project management process with the following profile:
 ICT project management is transparent and disciplined
 Consistent methodology across all IT projects
 Projects are directly linked to the stewardship model
 Clients exert decision‐making influence at every key stage of the project
 Project portfolio is selected by fit, utility, and balance
 Projects are measured and compared
 Project best practices are document and applied
 Project management process is continuously improved
With this vision established, ICT needs to execute these steps:
 Define the role of a Project Portfolio Office
 Hire a skilled leader for the office
 Develop a systemic project management process
 Introduce appropriate standards and management discipline to project
management
 Link key checkpoints in the project management process to the stewardship
model
 Manage project scheduling and sequencing according to priorities set by the
stewardship process
 Create transparency by publishing project portfolio information to the entire
University
2. Build a culture of project management discipline Building a PPO is not enough to ensure project management is executed effectively and
broadly across the organization. ICT needs a culture of project management. This
culture considers project management to be a core value of the team and encourages a
disciplined belief in the PPO processes for any project, no matter how large or small.
Promotion of these ideals by senior leadership and continual socialization of the
concepts across the organization will help to establish this new core value. Successful
completion of projects using the PPO methodology and continual improvement of the
PPO process will sustain the cultural change.
3. Develop a project review process Create a project review process within ICT. The ICT Leadership team will assume the
responsibility for ensuring projects follow the stewardship priorities and execute the
project management process appropriately.
Concept Page 3 Project Portfolio Office April 2014
The purpose of the project review process is to provide overall guidance to project
management and to the stewardship. It is expected to directly oversee the project
portfolio within ICT and to continually improve the project management process.
The ICT Leadership team reviews all projects requiring ICT resources (staff, capital
funding, and base funding). They will analyze project requests and suggest the
appropriate steering committee for client review and approval if the project has not
come from a specific committee or working group. The ICT Leadership team is
responsible for evaluating project statuses and challenges, and escalating major issues
to the appropriate stewardship body.
Objectives 
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Review new project charters and project plans to assess fit, utility, and balance
before submitting to stewardship committee
Recommend updates to project documentation to improve the management of
the project and increase its potential for success
Escalate projects to appropriate stewardship processes for approval
Assess project progress, review project status, and identify ways to help
problem projects stay on track
Ensure appropriate ICT resources are supporting projects in meeting their
objectives
Review impact of schedule, budget, and scope changes to ICT resources
Review closeout reports and assess lessons learned for applicability to other
projects
Identify budget impacts of projects on ICT operating funds
Assess ICT resource availability and allocation to projects
4. Inform the ICT Stewardship Process The PPO reports the overall project portfolio information to the ICT stewardship model.
The committee uses this portfolio information to review new projects, approve changes
to existing project statuses, and assess competing demands for the constrained IT
resource pool.
The PPO portfolio report to the stewardship committees provides the information
needed to assess project performance throughout the life of the project via metrics
related to budget, schedule, scope, quality, and risk.
Based on data from the PPO, the stewardship process ensures that benefits promised in
the original project charter are measured and realized after the project ends and the
delivered product or service goes into production.
The Project Portfolio Office tightly couples the project management process with the
stewardship model. To be successful in this model, ICT needs to do the following:
 Be open and transparent about all aspects of project management
Page 4 Project Portfolio Office April 2014
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Train clients in project management
Where skills are available, encourage clients to become the managers of joint
projects
Publish the portfolio of all projects including priorities for everything in the
queue
Publish status reports of project progress
Publish the criteria
Completely embrace the stewardship process recognizing that clients are
central to decision‐making and ICT’s role is to facilitate the process
For all major projects, create project steering committees composed of key
stakeholders from the related functional areas
5. Socialize the concept of the PPO ICT needs to socialize the value project management. We need to develop a formal
communications plan to promote the PPO and the project management methodology.
The purpose of this effort is to:
 Ensure campus understanding of the role of the PPO,
 Socialize the concept of project management discipline and portfolio
management within ICT,
 Increase awareness of how to use the PPO for projects, and
 Increase the university profile of PPO leadership to encourage institution‐wide
access to the services available.
6. Keep the PPO process clear and streamlined The PPO methodology must be kept clear, straightforward, and usable. An
understandable methodology is a functional methodology. To ensure use of the project
management process, ICT should avoid any bureaucracy created by complexity. The
challenge facing the PPO is balancing the need for simplicity with the need for
consistent discipline, repeatable process, and measurable results.
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