NEOMED Project Approval and Prioritization - Portfolio Management

Why?

Efficient and responsible use of our resources (time, money and people) starts with careful planning. To support this, project requests must undergo a review process, then approved initiatives are prioritized and scheduled based on criteria such as: ties to the strategic plan, funding required and the funding source(s), the effort required, and impacted offices.

NEOMED IT reviews requests on a regular basis and schedules larger projects on a quarterly basis. This process is called Portfolio Management and is illustrated below:

The reasons for vetting and prioritizing requests are:

• To support the responsible use of our limited resources
• To ensure the stakeholders and impacted offices are involved
• To avoid duplication of efforts
• To ensure that we have selected the best solution
• Efficiency!

The current list of prioritized initiatives can be found at: University-wide and Large Initiatives

How?

Approval - is based on:

• Business purpose/return on investment (what problem will be solved or what benefits will be realized?)
• Funding and resources required (initial and ongoing)

Prioritization and timing - is based on:

• Projected tasks and suggested timing (sometimes provided via a sample project or implementation plan)
• Estimation of effort and resources needed (for all offices that need to be involved)
• Realistic time commitment for required participants - how much time per week/month they will dedicate to the project (factoring in any time periods where their availability is limited)
• The need for integrations into existing NEOMED systems (including active directory for single sign-on, Banner, AIMS, etc.)

** Depending on the type of project, the above information is best obtained by:

• Past experience with a similar project
• Talking to the customer references about their experience with the vendor and software
• Sharing information with contacts at other universities who have done something similar

Larger projects are reviewed during a quarterly university-wide project review meeting to ensure key offices are aware of current and upcoming initiatives and can provide input into priority and timing. The standing members of this group are below and others can be added based on the agenda new projects that need to be discussed, and changes in personnel.