Portfolio, Program & Project (P3)Management
As IT's role in business changed over the years, the traditional criteria of project success (time.cost,quality) fell short of what businesses expected from their IT.
In response, the traditional project management discipline evolved to meet the growing business challenges and expectations and today, we have the 3 Ps to manage.
1. Portfoliio Management - this function is focused on aligning IT to the business goals and direction and ensuring IT remains ready to deliver on the emerging business expectations from each "portfolio" (marketing, finance, M & A, product design could each be considered to be one).
2. Program Management - this function is focused on understanding a specific benefit the business needs (such as faster time-to-market or more agile logistics) and puts together a group of programs, projects and even operational tasks (traditionally, an anathema to projects), sequence, manage and deliver them till the business benefit is achieved in real-life environment.
3. Project Management - this function is focused on a building / modifying a specific capability for the organization. A set of time, cost and quality objectives are agreed up-front and the project manager has to deliver on those. A project manager is not accountable for the business relevence, accuracy or implications of the implementing the project's outcome.
We consider this hieararchy the key to achieving success in the PMO as well as in projects environment and deliver exceptional services in this area.