Portfolio management

Next-generation project portfolio management

With customary clarity and simplicity, project and portfolio managers can use Can Do project intelligence to create and manage their product portfolios and simulate various scenarios with a click of the mouse. Can Do gives them a tool that enables them to select the right project – that is, the projects that are in line with their company strategy or can be implemented in terms of financial feasibility and capacity.

A portfolio is thus a compilation of current and future projects. Portfolios are “living” entities that change daily. Ongoing projects are modified or completed, while new projects are added. New projects are selected with a view toward ongoing projects.
Overview of the PPM functions of Can Do project intelligence:

• Support for project and portfolio managers from the project idea to the specific implementation of a project
• Selection of the content for the right projects, based on user-defined evaluation principles
• The capacity situation and financial circumstances are taken into account when simulating a project’s feasibility
• Full graphically user interface and compilation of the project portfolio at the click of the mouse (drag & drop)
• Bubble charts: real-time monitoring and controlling of a project portfolio; a bubble represents the cost//time expenditure, benefits and risks of a project
  From Version 4.2 onwards, other attributes for the x- and y-axes can be used in addition to project use and average risk. The diameter and percentage fill of the bubbles can also be determined freely
• Dashboard as an analytical tool for project portfolios, projects and project ideas
• Live calculation of the risks of a given portfolio, taking into account all current and planned projects
• Inclusion of the hours actually reported in the resource management function within the project portfolio
• Simulation of project portfolios with live consideration of data from all current and planned projects
• Consideration of roughly planned projects and project ideas (important, for example, in preparing offers)
• All information are presented in real time
   

Portfolio managers set their own evaluation criteria
Instead of giving portfolio managers a fixed procedure for evaluating project content, Can Do provides them with the option of setting their own priorities. For example, managers can use the balanced scorecard method or assess the portfolio based on the profitability of the individual projects. Can Do’s PPM software allows users to store any number of values in user-definable fields and thus customize the evaluation criteria.

First-rate project simulation
In addition to content evaluation, the Can Do planning tool also simulates the feasibility of projects within portfolios. Feasibility depends primarily on the company’s existing resources and financial capabilities. Right when a project idea is created, Can Do Project Intelligence 4.0 takes into account the resource utilization of all projects within the portfolio as well as their actual times (reported working times) and all other capacity requirements within the portfolio. The PPM software is also able to record and process roughly planned deadlines, durations and expenditures. After all, project ideas or offers usually cannot be precisely planned during their generation phase.

Bubble charts – portfolio analysis in real time
Bubble charts for analyzing or monitoring project portfolios are displayed in the graphical client parallel with the chronological portfolio display. The project risk is represented on the x axis and value or benefit is shown on the y axis, while the size of the bubble reflects the total time expenditure or cost. The bubble chart is continuously updated in real time on the basis of all data changes. This applies not only to changes that the portfolio manager makes to his/her portfolio, but also to all data in the current project.

Calculating risk in portfolios
Can Do project intelligence calculates the anticipated risk in portfolios automatically and in real time. The dashboard displays an overview of the risks at the top level. Each project is also summarized on the x axis of the bubble chart. Clicking on the project also produces a detailed analysis, along with the causes of the anticipated risks. This gives the portfolio manager a drill-down information policy.

Resource management in project portfolios
Can Do’s PPM software takes into account all current projects in the portfolios for resources and departments, that is, the entire actual resource pool, regardless of whether or not the projects are contained in the portfolio. All time recording confirmations are also taken into account. New portfolio entries (ideas) and their capacities are used only within the portfolio. This gives the portfolio manager the option of free simulation. Only after a project has been approved and implemented can overload situations be generated in other current projects as well.

Probability of the occurrence of project idea risks
To simulate the real situation that can likely be expected, a probability of occurrence can be assigned to each future project. Can Do project intelligence subsequently allows this probability of occurrence to flow into the risk calculation, for example for calculating resource and financial burdens.