Information technology enterprise manager and product portfolio manager application module
View Patent ↗This document discusses, among other things, an information technology (IT) enterprise manager system. In one example, the system includes data groups organized into IT Services, IT Resources, and IT Consumers data groups. The IT Resources data group may include one or more of an IT Applications data group, an IT Assets data group, an IT Staff Data group, and an IT Vendors data group. The IT Consumers data group may include one or both of a Business Processes data group and an IT Clients data group. Information in one data group may use a link to other information in another data group. In one example, the system provides tools and methods for managing a portfolio IT projects through various phases of their lifecycles, such as during project definition, establishing a business case for the project, project design and implementation, and/or project wrap-up. For example, the system may provide user interface displays and report generation that permit the user to compare different projects, such as using business value, probability of success and/or other factors for performing the comparison.
1. A method of managing information technology (IT) for an organization, the method comprising:
receiving and storing information in a computer-implemented relational database; and
organizing the information in data groups in the computer-implemented relational database, the data groups comprising:
an information technology (IT) services data group, the IT services data group including information about an IT service provided to an organization;
an IT resources data group, the IT resources data group including information about an IT resource of the organization used to provide the IT service;
an IT consumers data group, the IT consumers data group including information about an IT consumer within the organization that receives the IT service, the information about an IT consumer including organizational identifiers that identify organizational units within the organization; and
an IT projects data group, the IT projects data group including information about at least one IT project of the organization, the information about at least one IT project of the organization including an IT project identifier that identifies each IT project, a plurality of priorities for the at least one IT project, wherein each priority of the plurality of priorities is associated with a different organizational unit;
linking information from each data group to information in the other data groups including linking the at least one IT project to each organizational unit associated with the at least one IT project using the IT project identifier and the organizational identifiers; and
implementing at least one IT enterprise management function using the information from the IT services data group, from the IT resources data group, from the IT consumers data group, and from the IT projects data group including,
generating a report for display that provides the plurality of priorities for the at least one IT project that have been prioritized by the different organizational units associated with the at least one IT project based on the linked IT project to each associated organizational unit and the plurality of priorities including displaying a priority for the at least one IT project by a particular organizational unit relative to a total number of IT projects pertaining to that organizational unit.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the implementing the at least one IT enterprise management function includes displaying an inventory of the at least one IT project of the organization using the database.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the implementing the at least one IT enterprise management function includes filtering the at least one IT project of the organization using the database.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the implementing the at least one IT enterprise management function includes analyzing the at least one IT project of the organization using the database.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the implementing the at least one IT enterprise management function includes receiving and storing information from a user for defining an IT project using the database.
6. The method of claim 5 , in which the defining the IT project includes at least one of defining an initial scope for the IT project and identifying any stakeholders in the IT project.
7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the implementing the at least one IT enterprise management function includes receiving and storing information from a user for creating a business case for the IT project using the database.
8. The method of claim 7 , in which the creating the business case for the IT project includes at least one of:
determining an alignment of the IT project;
determining an expected value of the IT project;
determining a cost/benefit of the IT project; and
tracking approval of the IT project.
9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the implementing the at least one IT enterprise management function includes tracking design and implementation of the IT project using the database.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the implementing the at least one IT enterprise management function includes receiving and storing information from the user for wrapping up the IT project, including storing in the database at least one of client feedback and lessons learned about the IT project.
11. The method of claim 5 , wherein the implementing the at least one IT enterprise management function includes receiving and storing information from the user for creating a budget for the IT project using the database.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the implementing the at least one IT enterprise management function includes tracking actual expenditures for the IT project against the budget for the IT project using the database.
13. The method of claim 5 , wherein the implementing the at least one IT enterprise management function includes receiving and storing information from a user for scheduling the IT project using the database.
14. The method of claim 5 , wherein the implementing the at least one IT enterprise management function includes receiving and storing information from the user for allocating resources to the IT project using the database.
15. The method of claim 5 , wherein the implementing the at least one IT enterprise management function includes determining a business value of the IT project and a probability of success of the IT project.
16. The method of claim 5 , wherein the implementing the at least one IT enterprise management function includes displaying at least one of cost/benefit information, return on investment information, and business value information for at least one of the IT projects to assist the user in prioritizing the at least one of the IT projects relative to other IT projects in the organization.
17. The method of claim 5 , wherein the implementing the at least one IT enterprise management function includes displaying IT projects on a chart of business value vs. probability of success.
18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the implementing the at least one IT enterprise management function includes representing each IT project on the chart by a bubble.
19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the IT enterprise management function includes adjusting a size of the bubble to represent at least one of a total budget expense and a total cost of ownership.
20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the implementing the at least one IT enterprise management function includes:
defining at least one IT project, including storing in a computer database information regarding at least one of a type of the IT project, at least one justification of the IT project, and at least one stakeholder in the IT project; and
defining a business case for the IT project, including computing an expected value for the IT project using user-input regarding a business value of the IT project and a probability of success of the IT project, and storing the computed expected value for the IT project in the database.
21. The method of claim 20 , in which the computing the expected value includes multiplying a business value score by a probability of success score.
22. The method of claim 20 , further comprising determining an impact of the IT project by using a stored link between the IT project and at least one of a business process, an application instance, an application interface instance, an organizational unit, an IT service, an IT staff member, a region/location, and an IT vendor.
23. The method of claim 20 , in which the defining the business case for the IT project includes creating an association in the database between the IT project and at least one organizational objective.
24. The method of claim 20 , in which the defining the business case for the IT project includes creating an association in the database between the IT project and an quantified expected benefit of the IT project.
25. The method of claim 20 , further comprising creating an association in the database between the IT project and information about an approval of the IT project.
26. The method of claim 20 , further comprising creating an association in the database between the IT project and information about at least one of a schedule for the IT project, a resource allocation for the IT project, and any actual expenditures for the IT project.
27. The method of claim 26 , further comprising storing in the database schedule information for the IT project, wherein the schedule information comprises at least one of a delivery date, a schedule health indicator, any dependencies to another IT project, planned start and end dates, and actual start and end dates.
28. The method of claim 20 , further comprising creating an association in the database between the IT project and at least one of stored client feedback information and stored lessons learned information.
29. The method of claim 1 , wherein the implementing the at least one IT enterprise management function includes:
retrieving from a computer-implemented database and displaying names of IT projects;
retrieving from the database and displaying a priority, corresponding to an individual one of the IT projects;
retrieving from the database and displaying an expected value, corresponding to an individual one of the IT projects, the expected value calculated from a business value and a probability of success; and
if any user input regarding prioritization is received, then computing a prioritization of the IT projects using the user input and storing the prioritization in the database.
30. The method of claim 29 , further comprising retrieving from the database and displaying an activity state corresponding to an individual one of the IT projects.
31. The method of claim 29 , further comprising retrieving from the database and displaying a total budget expense corresponding to an individual one of the IT projects.
32. The method of claim 29 , further comprising retrieving from the database and displaying a total benefit corresponding to an individual one of the IT projects.
33. The method of claim 29 , further comprising retrieving from the database and displaying a return on investment corresponding to an individual one of the IT projects.
34. The method of claim 29 , further comprising retrieving from the database and displaying a business value score corresponding to an individual one of the IT projects, the business value score computed using user input in response to questions related to the business value of the IT project.
35. The method of claim 29 , further comprising retrieving from the database and displaying a date by which an individual one of the IT projects is needed.
36. The method of claim 1 , wherein the implementing the at least one IT enterprise management function includes:
receiving user input specifying a filtering of the IT projects according to at least one of any organizational units associated with the IT projects, any schedule health indicators associated with the IT projects, and any justification category associated with the IT projects; and
filtering the IT projects, for display to the user, using the user input.
37. The method of claim 36 , in which the receiving user input further includes receiving user input specifying filtering according to a value range associated with at least one of an IT project one-time cost, an IT project sustaining cost, an IT project total cost that factors in both the IT project one-time cost and the IT project sustaining cost, an IT project benefit, and an IT project return on investment (ROI).
38. The method of claim 1 , wherein the implementing the at least one IT enterprise management function includes:
receiving user input specifying a filtering of the IT projects according to at least one of any organizational objectives associated with the IT projects, any business processes associated with the IT projects, any software application instances associated with the IT projects, any hardware assets associated with the IT projects, any IT services associated with the IT projects, any regions associated with the IT projects, and any vendors associated with the IT projects; and
filtering the IT projects, for display to the user, using the user input.
39. The method of claim 1 , wherein the implementing the at least one IT enterprise management function includes:
receiving user input specifying a filtering of the IT projects according to at least one of any project managers associated with the IT projects, any IT owners associated with the IT projects, any assigned IT staff associated with the IT projects, any executive sponsors associated with the IT projects, any business owners associated with the IT projects, and any assigned business people associated with the IT projects; and
filtering the IT projects, for display to the user, using the user input.
40. The method of claim 1 , wherein the implementing the at least one IT enterprise management function includes:
computing a business value score for the IT projects;
computing a probability of success score for the IT projects; and
displaying graphical indicators of the IT projects on a chart of business value vs. probability of success.
41. The method of claim 40 , further comprising adjusting a visual characteristic of the graphical indicator of a particular IT project to represent a total cost of ownership of the IT project.
42. The method of claim 40 , further comprising adjusting a visual characteristic of the graphical indicator of a particular IT project to represent a Total Budget Expense.
43. The method of claim 40 , further comprising adjusting a visual characteristic of the graphical indicator of a particular IT project to represent a Planned Expense.
44. The method of claim 40 , further comprising adjusting a visual characteristic of the graphical indicator of a particular IT project to represent a Planned Capital Expense.
45. The method of claim 40 , further comprising adjusting a visual characteristic of the graphical indicator of a particular IT project to represent an Actual Expense.
46. The method of claim 40 , further comprising adjusting a visual characteristic of the graphical indicator of a particular IT project to represent an Actual Capital Expense.
47. The method of claim 40 , further comprising adjusting a visual characteristic of the graphical indicator of a particular IT project to represent a Return on Investment (ROI).
48. The method of claim 40 , further comprising adjusting a visual characteristic of the graphical indicator of a particular IT project to represent a Total Benefit.
49. The method of claim 40 , further comprising adjusting a visual characteristic of the graphical indicator of a particular IT project to represent a schedule health of the IT project.
50. The method of claim 40 , further comprising displaying details of a particular IT project upon a user-selection of the graphical indicator representing that particular IT project.