Businesses of every size begin with a vision of what the company wants to achieve and how it might make an impact in the marketplace. Accomplishing that vision, of course, takes a lot of determination and strategic planning. Aligning a company’s vision and goals with its resources and abilities is an ongoing challenge as the organization grows. One major stumbling block companies can encounter is project failure, as more than 70 percent of projects either fail or have serious difficulties to overcome.
In an episode of The Distillery Podcast, Matt Soccio discussed strategic portfolio management and the ways it can help projects succeed and align resources with business objectives. Matt has 20 years of IT experience on enterprise transformations, as well as 10 years working with ServiceNow. He has worked in different levels of government, higher education, and commercial businesses and is now the associate director of strategic portfolio management at Cask NX. Here’s what Matt says strategic portfolio management can do to drive business success.
Understanding strategic portfolio management (SPM)
At its core, SPM is about aligning limited resources to strategic goals and objectives. “Some of that is keeping our lights on, and some of that is growth and innovation work,” Matt says. By working with strategic plans and employing repeatable processes, SPM enables decision-makers to evaluate the feasibility and value of various proposals. It can be a compass for executives, guiding resource allocation and ensuring that projects contribute meaningfully to long-term goals.
Project failure challenges
Failing to properly allocate resources—both in terms of money and employees—can be a significant driver of project failure, especially when available resources and the needs of the project are constantly changing. Matt notes that people may be pulled away from projects when they are needed elsewhere, and the company’s objectives may change mid-project as well.
This failure to align resources and projects with strategic objectives often leads to what Matt calls “ungoverned demand,” where priorities shift, resources collide, and projects fail to deliver expected outcomes. Failure to manage this influx of demand results in missed expectations, schedule slippages, and, often, project failures.
Finding value in strategic portfolio management
Failing to complete projects or achieve strategic objectives is costly for companies. In 2016, an estimated $122 million was wasted for every $1 billion invested in the United States due to project failures.
Matt points out that these failures affect not only individual companies but the world economy as well. He says one-third of the world’s economy is tied to project work, emphasizing the need for effective governance and management practices. Implementing strategic portfolio management can not only reduce budget leakage but also improve project performance and help companies achieve strategic goals.
How to successfully implement strategic portfolio management
Implementing strategic portfolio management requires executive buy-in and an approach tailored to organizational capabilities and objectives. With that in mind, ServiceNow is an invaluable resource for strategic portfolio management, as it is able to provide tools and features that elevate and mature an organization’s capabilities and drive success. ServiceNow can also help companies collect critical data to make the right decisions and foster lean governance. Establishing partnerships with key stakeholders—including financial officers, project management directors, and strategic planners—helps drive adoption of strategic portfolio management. As executives buy in, they can build a strategic roadmap and invest time and funding into necessary resources.
Strategic portfolio management can enable organizations to re-examine how they approach project management and strategic planning. By aligning limited resources with strategic objectives, organizations can mitigate the risks of project failure, optimize resource allocation, and drive tangible business outcomes.
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Global dynamics, AI advancements, heavy competition–the only certainty is change.
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We’re with you for what comes next
You're working in a rapidly shifting environment.
Global dynamics, AI advancements, heavy competition–the only certainty is change.
We get it. And we’re here to help you harness the full potential of ServiceNow to simplify transformation.
Let's navigate the future together.
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