What are our most important projects?

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The business question What are our most important projects? provides a holistic overview of the project portfolio so that you can immediately understand key project trends. The visualization identifies the most important IT transformation projects so that you can take the necessary actions by understanding which critical projects are underperforming based on RAG (Red, Amber, Green) status values. Review the RAG status to monitor your IT transformation, mitigate project failure, understand investment outcomes, and better manage stakeholder expectations.

This business question visualizes data in a data table. The data table shows a complete list of all projects with a special focus on the RAG (Red, Amber, Green) status value for each project. The RAG status is used in project management to indicate the status of projects in order to quickly identify if management action is required for a project. Additionally the dataset shows project start and end dates, indicators for architecture impact, business value, and project risk, and the current year budget.

The following measurements are used to assess and monitor the projects:

• RAG (Red, Amber, Green) Status

  The RAG status is based on the project monitoring indicators and indicates if a project is likely to deliver late or over budget (= Red), the project has missed some targets but the end date/budget is not at risk (= Amber), or the project is on track (= Green).

  • The RAG status is Red if any of the following indicators has one of these values:
    • Budget = 3-Out of Budget
    • Resource = 3-Overdrawn
    • Time = 3-Out of Time
  • The RAG status is Amber if the conditions for Red are not met and any of the following indicators has one of these values:
    • Budget = 2-Almost in Budget
    • Resource = 2-At Risk
    • Time = 2-Almost on Time
  • The RAG status is Green if the conditions for Red and Amber are not met and any of the following indicators has one of these values:
    • Budget = 1-In Budget
    • Resource = 1-In Plan
    • Time = 1-On Time
• Average Project Risk

  This average calculation of values for indicators specified for the evaluation type Project Risk.

  • Duration: Risk resulting from the tendency that longer projects fail more often. This might be due to staff turnover or the complexity of work typical for longer projects.
    • 1- Very High (> 18 months)
    • 2- High (12 - 18 months)
    • 3- Medium (7 - 11 months)
    • 4- Low (3 - 6 months)
    • 5- Very Low (<2 months)
  • Team Size: Risk resulting from the team size of the project team. The larger the team, the more considerable are coordination and communication efforts.
    • 1- Very High (> 50)
    • 2- High (20 - 50)
    • 3- Medium (10 - 19)
    • 4- Low (5 - 9)
    • 5- Very Low (<5)
  • Technology Adoption: Technology adoption risks are measured by the availability of in-house competence for the technologies dominant in the project. The more new technologies that are used, the higher the risk.
    • 1- Very High (new technology in prototyping)
    • 2- High (new technology with experienced partner)
    • 3- Medium (new version of familiar technology)
    • 4- Low (in-house familiarity)
    • 5- Very Low (in-house expertise)
• Average Business Value

  The following indicators are averaged to generate a value for the evaluation type Business Value:

  • Cost Savings Potential:
  • Market Opportunity
  • Strategic Value

  The indicators may have the following values: 1- Very High, 2- High, 3- Medium, 4- Low, 5- Very Low

• Average Architectural Impact

  The following indicators are averaged to generate a value for the evaluation type Architectural Impact:

  • Complexity Reduction
  • Standard Conformity
  • Innovation

  The indicators may have the following values: 1- Very High, 2- High, 3- Medium, 4- Low, 5- Very Low

• Planned Budget (current year / total)

  The current year budget is based on the operational expenses of the project for the current year. The total year budget is based on the operational expenses of the project for all years. The calculation is based on the sum of the budget values for the following cost types:

  • Software License Cost
  • Software Maintenance Cost
  • Infrastructure Cost
  • Service Cost
  • OpEx Other

Which projects require my immediate attention? Look for all projects where the RAG status is Red. Review these projects to understand whether the issue is due to missed deadlines, insufficient resources, or overspending. Recommendation: Consider the measures required to rectify the situation by contacting stakeholders and other responsible persons.

Where will project failure most hurt the business? Look for projects where the Average Business Value column is set to Very High or High and determine which projects will have the most impact on the business. To review whether project failure will impact critical business capabilities, click the Filter   button and select a business capability in the Business Capability field.

Which projects are running over budget? Click the Filter   button and set Current Year Planned Budget in the Importance Criteria field. The projects will be sorted based on the current year operational expenses for the project. Look for projects where the Average Project Risk column is Very High or High and determine whether the risks are occurring due to overspending.

Which projects present the highest risk to the IT infrastructure? Look for projects where the Average Architectural Impact column is Very High and High.

Which projects impact a specific business capability? Click the Filter   button and specify a business capability in the Business Capability field. The visualization is updated to show only projects that impact the selected business capability.

What is the situation for projects belong to a specific project portfolio? Click the Filter   button and specify a project group in the Project Group field. The visualization is updated to show the projects in the specified project group.