Project, Program, and Portfolio Management
Project A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result.*
Project Management Is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to met project requirements*. It is accomplished through the application and integration of the project management processes of initiating, planning, executing, monitoring, controlling and closing.
Program A group of related projects managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits and control not available from managing them individually. Programs my include elements of related work outside of the scope of the discrete projects in the program.*
Program Management The centralized coordinated management of a program to achieve the program’s strategic objectives and benefits.*
Portfolio A collection of projects or programs and other work that are grouped together to facilitate effective management of that work to meet strategic business objectives. The projects or programs of the portfolio may not necessarily be interdependent or directly related.*
Portfolio Management The centralized management of one or more portfolios which includes identifying, prioritizing, authorizing, managing, and controlling projects, programs, and other related work, to achieve specific strategic business objectives.* ASU is using portfolio management to align projects with ASU's strategic goals and objectives. By developing project scorecards (evaluation of time to implement, clarity of scope, cost, resource usage, vendor confidence, complexity of project (interfaces, data migrations) projects can be weighed against each other and prioritized according to factors such as strategic impact vs. level of risk vs. level of effort vs. resource usage. The project scorecard will also show us if it the project is a good fit with the strategic goals and objectives of the university, thus allowing ASU to balance its project portfolio and make changes in project selection depending upon changes in the direction of ASU's strategic goals and objectives.
* As defined by the Project Management Institute (PMI)