Portfolio management software users tout a la carte functionality

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September 23, 2005 (Computerworld) -- Customers of enterprise portfolio management systems are benefiting from an a la carte approach offered by vendors that allows clients to add more sophisticated functions as they become more proficient in portfolio management techniques, according to IT executives.
When IT departments first begin applying IT portfolio management techniques, they typically start with basic processes such as developing an inventory of projects and prioritizing which ones to tackle first, said David Hurwitz, vice president of marketing at Computer Associates International Inc.'s Clarity division in Redwood City, Calif.
But as IT professionals mature in their portfolio management capabilities, they're able to apply more sophisticated techniques, like tracking how much money is being spent on various projects and creating chargeback calculations for business units on different initiatives. As they do so, some software packages allow them to turn on new functions as needed.
"That's the key reason we selected portfolio management software from Pacific Edge," said Ernie Nielsen, managing director of enterprise project management at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. BYU, which has been using Pacific Edge software for the past three years, has a broad set of software applications to monitor between the university's administration, students and faculty. As a result, BYU is tracking 17 sets of application portfolios, "and those areas are almost never at the same level of maturity," said Nielsen.
The Pacific Edge software gives BYU the flexibility to adjust its use of the software on two levels, said Nielsen. For instance, more advanced portfolio management practitioners in the school's IT department can turn on more sophisticated software modules to publish their IT project plans for business users or create dashboards that reflect progress on various projects. In addition, software customers can adjust their use of a single module, said Nielsen.
"We can have all or nothing or something in between all or nothing in each of the modules," he said.
Next month, Pacific Edge is planning to introduce portfolio management/IT governance software that includes easy-to-adopt software modules.
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has similar start/stop functionality with enterprise portfolio management software from Artemis International Solutions Corp., based in Newport Beach, Calif. It has been using the software since mid-2002.

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