Post on 20-Jul-2015
Prioritization – A Simple Guide to
Getting Started
Margo Visitacion, Vice President/Principal Analyst
© 2013 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 3© 2015 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 3
› 30 minutes of presentation
› 15 minutes of live Q&A
Please enter your questions
in the Q&A box
› All lines are on mute
› Webinar is being recorded
› Slides and recording will be
available after the session
Housekeeping Items
© 2013 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 4© 2015 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 4
Today’s Presenters
› Featured Speaker: Margo Visitacion
› Vice President/Principal Analyst,
Forrester Research
› 25+ years of experience in IT,
developing and implementing QA, and
PMOs
› Moderator: Tushar Patel
› SVP of Marketing, Innotas
› Previously at and Mocana Corp and
National Semiconductor
© 2013 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 5© 2015 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 5
Agenda
› Prioritization or politics?
› Common sense approaches
› Recommendations
“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule,
but to schedule your priorities” – Stephen R. Covey
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The business feels technology is important to their success
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There is a fundamental disconnect
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Business and tech leaders don’t share the same priorities
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…and have different perspectives
16%
7%
49%
35%
31%
53%
Business Decision Makers
Technology Decision Makers
Hinders Neutral Accelerates
Does the IT department hinder/accelerate business success?
Source: Forrester Research BT Priorities & Journey Survey 2014
Planning processes remains broken
$ $ $ $ $
$ $ $ $ $
$ $ $ $ $
$ $ $ $ $
R&D Mfg. Finance
Annual Initiatives
Bottom-up list of wishes / projects
Pass to IT for
“tentative estimates”
Exec Mgt:
Mission statement
Planning processes remains broken
$ $ $ $ $
$ $ $ $ $
$ $ $ $ $
$ $ $ $ $
R&D Mfg. Finance
Annual Initiatives
Bottom-up list of wishes / projects
Pass to IT for
“tentative estimates”
Exec Mgt:
Mission statement
Exec mgt.
chokes on the
total cost
Planning processes remains broken
$ $ $ $ $
$ $ $ $ $
$ $ $ $ $
$ $ $ $ $
R&D Mfg. Finance
Annual Initiatives
Bottom-up list of wishes / projects
Pass to IT for
“tentative estimates”
Exec Mgt:
Mission statement
$$$$$
$$$$$
$$$$$
$$$$$
$$$$$
$$$$$
$$$$$
$$$$$
Exec mgt.
chokes on the
total cost
Budget wars
reach a
“negotiated
settlement”
Planning processes remains broken
$ $ $ $ $
$ $ $ $ $
$ $ $ $ $
$ $ $ $ $
R&D Mfg. Finance
Annual Initiatives
Bottom-up list of wishes / projects
Pass to IT for
“tentative estimates”
Exec Mgt:
Mission statement
$$$$$
$$$$$
$$$$$
$$$$$
$$$$$
$$$$$
$$$$$
$$$$$
Exec mgt.
chokes on the
total cost
Budget wars
reach a
“negotiated
settlement”
We waste resources estimating work that will never get funded …
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Stronger customer focus = better practices and using data more efficiently
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Agenda
› Prioritization or politics?
› Common sense approaches
› Recommendations
© 2015 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 19
Prioritization approaches: many options to choose from
Approach Pros Cons
Departmental budget
allocation
• Quick
• Allows each
department to set
its own priorities
• Big opportunities for misalignment with
corporate goals
• Bogs down when having to share resources
• Local bias
Executive steering
committee – assessing
all presented requests
• Clear direction
from top
• Executives must
negotiate
• Time-intensive
• Without right controls can be political
• Tough for advocates to convince executives
Scorecards • Easy • Lacks consensus
• Can manipulate the numbers without
consistent criteria
Analytic Hierarchy
Process
• Weeds out
undesirables
• Complex to learn
• Scalability issues when faced with large criteria
sets
© 2015 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 20
Prioritization approaches: many options to choose from
Approach Pros Cons
Departmental budget
allocation
• Quick
• Allows each
department to set
its own priorities
• Big opportunities for misalignment with
corporate goals
• Bogs down when having to share resources
• Local bias
Executive steering
committee – assessing
all presented requests
• Clear direction
from top
• Executives must
negotiate
• Time-intensive
• Without right controls can be political
• Tough for advocates to convince executives
Scorecards • Easy • Lacks consensus
• Can manipulate the numbers without
consistent criteria
Analytic Hierarchy
Process
• Weeds out
undesirables
• Complex to learn
• Scalability issues when faced with large criteria
sets
© 2013 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 22© 2015 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 22
Step 1 - Start with value: The One Sentence Business Case
Linking strategy to execution starts here: Identification of outcome
Now, the next blank to fill in:
The MVP is__________________
Target outcomes:Investment
Return
Value
Risk
Type
Availability
Capacity
Ability
Approach
Cadence
Time to Realize
Controls
Measure Impact
Feedback
Context
• Applies to every stakeholder
• Drives communication
• Retains focus
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Step 2: Understand all demand
You cannot prioritize when you lack
visibility
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Step 3: Agree on criteria
Level 1: Category Criteria Description
Business Supports corporate strategy Project outcome furthers
ability to achieve strategic
objectives
Customer/image Enhances customer
experience and/or improves
organizational image
Revenue (ROI, IRR, NPV,
Profit)
Revenue potential over
entire lifecycle of project
Cost Project cost over entire
lifecycle of project
Technology Architecture Fit with current/future state
Innovation Possess environment, skills
to implement/differentiate
Risk Image risk Impact to market perception
Project risk Risk of execution
Compliance risk GRC impact
© 2015 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 26
Step 3: Agree on criteria
Level 2: Category Criteria Description
Organizational Culture Ability to enact change,
manage organizational
cultural change
Team Sourcing impact (insourced
vs. outsourced, co-located
vs virtual
Dependencies Other projects/capabilities Business capabilities impact
Resource Availability and skills
Partnerships Contractual relationships Fit and availability
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Step 4: Compare relative importance of criterion as it relates to value
Criterion weight:
1.0 = equally important with other criterion
3.0 = significantly more important
5.0 = extremely more important
0.5 = significantly less important
0.1 = extremely less important
= Weighting
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Example of project prioritization scoring
Step 5: Bring It HomeInvestment
Return
Value
Risk
Type
Availability
Capacity
Ability
Approach
Cadence
Time to Realize
Controls
Measure Impact
Feedback
Context
• Scores must reflect fit with
strategy and/or significant
events
• Time to realize – what is the
shelf life?
• Solvable capacity scenarios
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Agenda
› Prioritization or politics?
› Common sense approaches
› Recommendations
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Recommendations
1. Keep it simple
• Focus on outcomes to drive accountability
2. Communicate the vision
• Ensure that everyone is clear on criteria
3. Get the right people in the room at the right
time
• Assess and prioritize at appropriate levels
Innotas © 2015
Innotas: Top Down Portfolio Management
Cloud Portfolio Management for Projects, Applications, and People
Resource Capacity & Demand Planning
Predictive Analytics & Planning
Dashboards & Reporting
Waterfall / Agile
ProjectsApps
Integration Platform
Existing Systems
Portfolio & Prioritization
Innotas © 2015
Business Benefits
Visibility
Business Alignment
Optimize Resources Effectively
Measure, Manage, Track &
Trace All Work
Improve Execution
Innotas: Top Down Portfolio Management
Cloud Portfolio Management for Projects, Applications, and People
Resource Capacity & Demand Planning
Predictive Analytics & Planning
Dashboards & Reporting
Waterfall / Agile
ProjectsApps
Integration Platform
Existing Systems
Portfolio & Prioritization
Innotas © 2015
Support
Predictive Portfolio Analysis™ (PPA):Redefining the Prioritization & Aligning Process
Line of Business
Operational
Strategic Initiatives
Applications
New Product Development
Service Tickets
InnovationInfrastructure
Regulatory / Compliance
Situation:
Large Number of
Projects & Requests
Challenge:
Limited Resources
& Budget
Opportunity:
Improved Accuracy
Better Alignment
Increased Agility
Innotas © 2015
Predictive Portfolio Analysis™ (PPA)
Real benefits for your organization:
• Better alignment to business goals
• Increase business agility
• Save time and money
Predict, plan, and re-plan your optimal project
and resource roadmap – within minutes
• Recommends & schedules the highest value
portfolio
• Centered on organizational resource & budget
constraints
• Predictive analytics for maximum accuracy
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Contact Us!
Margo Visitacion
› mvisitacion@forrester.com
› @msmvnj
› Forrester.com
Tushar Patel
› tpatel@innotas.com
› @innotas
› Innotas.com/resources
Thank you
Thank you
forrester.com
Margo Visitacion
mvisitacion@forrester.com
@msmvnj