IT Portfolio keeps Washington state agency technology projects on track December 2005
An IT Portfolio documents how an agency intends to invest its technology assets to support its mission and goals. The IT Portfolio is made up of six components:
- An executive overview
- A copy of the agency’s business plan
- An inventory of all hardware, software, and applications as well as a breakdown of how the agency is spending the IT budget
- A status report on projects in progress
- A review of planned but unfunded projects
- Any post project reviews and descriptions of “lessons learned” from completed projects
IT Portfolio keeps Washington state agency technology projects on track
Today's IT managers must constantly prioritize scarce resources and enterprise business solutions. The challenge isn't always to do more with less - it's how to provide innovative technology leadership despite the changes in the enterprise.
In 1999, Washington state's Information Services Board (ISB) adopted IT Portfolio Management to help IT professionals manage their technology assets and projects much like a real estate or financial investment portfolio.
As with a financial portfolio, agencies set targets and periodically analyze where and how they are investing their information technology dollars. For example, an agency may discover they are spending more on application maintenance and less on new application development than they planned. Good IT Portfolio management helps agencies identify where they are missing their targets and helps them identify which technology investments are candidates for enhancement or replacement.
"We use our IT Portfolio and project management processes to avoid surprises," says Jennifer McNamara, the Department of Health's (DOH) Project Resource Center Manager. "Today managers must be much more aware of what it takes to successfully deliver and sustain a technology investment."
Agency decision makers use IT Portfolio standards, policies and guidelines to measure performance, reduce risk and ensure that their IT projects are completed on time and within budget.
"We view the information in our IT Portfolio as an opportunity to educate our management about our technology investments and challenges," says McNamara. "They can take this information into consideration with new projects just as they would human resource or budget assets."
Decision makers also use it as a tool to assess the probable impact of investments on their agency's programs and infrastructure, and on the overall state IT infrastructure. Current and proposed technology investments should tie directly to a key component of the agency's business plan. If it doesn’t, the agency should then restructure their portfolio and investment into technology projects that provide more value.
The ISB delegates authority to acquire technology goods and services via the IT Portfolio Policy and Standards. If an agency doesn’t update its portfolio at least annually, the ISB may reduce or revoke that agency’s delegated authority until they comply.
IT Portfolio allows ISB members and the Department of Information Services (DIS) planning and policy staff to consult with agencies early in the planning process, before they make significant commitments to specific investments. DIS staff support ISB members by streamlining agency reporting requirements and serving as a clearinghouse for project management expertise, project tools, and other resources.
"Here at DOH, our IT Portfolio has served as a springboard to help us develop an IT governance board”, says McNamara. "The board prioritizes and makes key decisions about our technology projects."
The benefits of IT Portfolio are real. Take a look to see what it can do for you - visit
isb.wa.gov and click on the
Policies tab. If you need help with your agency's IT Portfolio, contact your
DIS Technology Management Consultant