Deliver Engaging Portfolio Reports Using Power BI

Help executive decision-makers lead from a position of knowledge.

Workshop Overview

Analyst perspective

A well-informed decision maker doesn’t care what software you use.

What were we thinking? Almost half of us who run project portfolios have our official project list in Excel. Some have graduated to a SharePoint List, but by any measure, Excel holds more project lists than any other tool. There are a lot of impressive project portfolio management software products on the market, and we love to share what we know about them. But our research indicates that only 33% of the market bought a commercial tool. But there we are, managing the book of record for projects that consume many millions of dollars, with a list. We design it, maintain the data, fix broken formulas, distribute reports, and manage the file versions. We’re struggling with all of it. Our day job is to get projects done. Use this research to transform from “Do-It-Yourself” to “Citizen Developer." It includes Portfolio Manager 2.0, a vibrant and interactive project portfolio management reporting solution based on Excel and Power BI. You can use the ideas in your own reporting or start with ours. The templates, slide decks, and videos are here to help you grow your own PPM solution, run it like a professional, and understand when it’s time to upgrade to a commercial solution. We’ll help you grow your own, and then we’ll help you outgrow your own. Barry Cousins Distinguished Analyst and Research Fellow Info-Tech Research Group

Executive summary

Info-Tech Insight

If you’re going to have a home-grown portfolio reporting solution, make it an official Book of Record. Then, watch for opportunities to outgrow the home-grown solution by mastering your portfolio data, optimizing your processes, and engaging with a commercial PPM vendor.

Many PMOs have homegrown portfolio solutions

The PPM software space failed to thrive

Source: Info-Tech Research Group, 2016, N=433

1. Only 33% bought a solution, and user adoption is low

• We last polled the market in 2016, but little has changed since then.
• Approximately one in three organizations has a commercial PPM solution.
• Almost half, 46%, have a homegrown solution. Most of these involve Microsoft Excel, with some relying on SharePoint Lists.
• Project portfolio management suites hit the market in 1999, but still struggle to gain market share and get adoption.

2. Many PMOs have no budget for PPM software

• It’s entirely common that PMOs are viewed as project management-focused without formalizing portfolio management practices, resourcing, or software.

3. The market churns

• It usually starts with a list of projects in Excel.
• At some point, many organizations acquire and implement a commercial PPM tool.
• If you fail to adopt your solution and maintain the data, you end up in the 21% who don’t even have a current list of their projects
• What’s your next step? Are your going to start a new list in Excel or SharePoint, or will you invest in a commercial PPM suite?

Homegrown solutions have predictable challenges

Homegrown PPM solutions suffer from a lack of process diligence.

There’s an ongoing pressure to formalize with commercial software because of these common issues:

• Version management, especially when you distribute your reporting in Excel.
• Data currency, when you have multiple project managers and too many projects.
• Broken formulas, when someone hits the wrong key or taps the wrong area of their screen.
• Ineffective reports, when decision makers need to respond to emergent challenges.
• Poorly managed distribution, when multiple copies of your reports are circulating.
• Inability to scale, when the organization grows or merges with another.
• Vulnerability to personnel turnover, when your solution is a weakly document one-off.
• Lack of standardization, when you need consistency in calculation and nomenclature.
• Opacity of method, when your reporting is complex and volatile.

This research will help you:

1. Decide if a homegrown portfolio solution is right for you.
2. Engage the right mix of skills to deliver a professionally and diligently managed solution.
3. Accelerate your path to insight by deploying previously developed report templates.

The optimal team for your citizen developer PMO

Running the PMO with citizen developers

It’s about DIY diligence.

The Citizen Developer PMO implies data discipline, software discipline, and operational discipline all at the same time.

Elevate your game from homegrown project list to citizen developer

Core principles of a well-run PMO

Enabling everyone to succeed in their roles.

1. Executive decisions are sufficiently informed

• Any well-run PMO ensures that the leadership is continually provided with accurate, honest reporting on the status of the entire portfolio. This includes ongoing projects, recently completed projects, new ideas, and those which are approved but not started.

2. The focus is on throughput

• Great PMOs focus on throughput – getting projects done so ROI can commence.
• This mindset is more effective than the common alternative – focusing on getting projects approved without ensuring they can and will be done.

3. The organization is stable, but always ready to be agile

• When new projects cannot be ignored or deferred, the well-run PMO is ready to respond with resourcing options, timing alternatives, and recommendations to cancel other projects.

4. Risk is proactively surfaced and mitigated

• To inform your PMO risk assessments, consider Info-Tech’s Audit Standard for Project and Portfolio Management.
• The project should have a committed sponsor, explicitly forecasted outcomes, and defined expectations on what it will take to deliver those outcomes. Any threat to those outcomes is a risk that deserves diligent consideration.

“The art is to constantly refine your PMO service offerings with regards to what your company perceives as valuable.”

– Dr. Christoph Hirnle, Meisterplan

Making the case for a citizen developer PMO

It’s almost free, but you have to be careful and diligent to generate the value.

The concept behind making the case for a citizen developer PMO:

• Relentlessly updated, vibrant, interactive, professional reporting that your leadership trusts, understands, and relies on
• Seamlessly managed versions of both the data and the software that would satisfy an audit of your process and policy
• Carefully conducted change management to introduce and support the solution through changes to the business, the reporting, and the personnel
• Easily understood communications that are delivered in a timely fashion in the most effective formats and form factors
• The establishment of a formal Book of Record for the history of your project portfolio that facilitates multi-year planning, tracking, and reporting

See Deliver Engaging Portfolio Reports With Power BI – Comprehensive Business Case

If you can satisfy these needs, you are comparing the cost of a well-run Excel-Power BI solution to the cost of an enterprise software solution.

It’s an easy business case:

• Assuming you engage the right skills to build, deploy, and maintain the solution
• If you invest the necessary hours in using the solution
• Until you outgrow the solution

Before you begin: Ensure you have access to the tools and talent needed for a Power BI–based solution