IT Portfolio and Project Management - Project, Project Lite, and Opportunity Requests

Navigation

Select a link below to jump to that section:

• Definitions
• Purpose
• When to use
• How to use
• Process Steps
• Roles & Responsibilities
• Questions/Assistance

Definitions

• Future Planning Project - A type of request that will go through Project and Portfolio Management Office (PPMO) Team review before becoming and IT Department Project or an IT Project in TDX.
• IT Department Project – Department Projects are generally for smaller projects that are well understood or may be handled within a single IT unit. However, they may be utilized for larger, more complex projects run by an IT unit. Department Projects are designed to be created and utilized by all staff handling activity that is larger than a ticket and smaller than an IT Project. This allows the activities to be visible for tracking, managing, and reporting. These projects can be started immediately after the request is submitted with the Functional Lead role in the Project Request assigned as the Project Manager.
• IT Project – IT Projects are for strategic IT projects that require more support from across the IT Department and generally more complex. In most cases, a Project Manager is required. These projects are generally identified and submitted by the Project and Portfolio Management Office (PPMO) Team.
• Opportunity – Opportunities are ideas for improvement identified by staff, usually to meet our Stewardship & Sustainability goal in the 2030 Strategic Plan. The Opportunity Review Request triggers a review with the requestor and a Project and Portfolio Management Office (PPMO) resource to review and expand the opportunity and its benefits into a format that can be considered as an IT Project or IT Department Project.

Back to Top

Purpose

• Future Planning Request - These are generally for Annual Planning/Continuous Planning of future projects to create a roadmap of activities within MSU IT.
• IT Department Project Request – The Department Project request is used for small, well-understood initiatives requiring changes to IT service operational and delivery components. These projects are run by IT unit leads and the PPMO provides assistance and recommendations to support project success. The functional lead identified in the request becomes the Project Manager.
• IT Project Request – These requests are generally completed by a PPMO resource. IT Projects used for strategic initiatives requiring changes to IT Service operational and delivery components. These requests are reviewed by the Portfolio Management team to assign the appropriate resource (generally the requesting unit) to complete an IT assessment to gather the information required for approving the project.
• Opportunity – An opportunity request is created when a team member has an idea that may help the institutional strategic plan related to Stewardship & Sustainability. The primary goal is to identify low value services, products, and activity that can be retired, consolidated, or adjusted. The Portfolio Management Team can help develop the request into an IT Project or Department Project.

Back to Top

When to use

• Future Planning Request - When project is more than 3 months from starting, requires PPMO review for approval to be on roadmap, or during Annual Planning cycle.
• IT Department Project Request – Generally for projects within an IT Unit that is generally, small, well-understood, and limited in scope and support required. Also for larger projects that an IT unit will run using supporting materials and artifacts provided by the PPMO.
• IT Project Request – Generally will only be completed by PPMO. Projects handled within IT without a specific business sponsor that are complex enough to require support from multiple teams and likely require an IT Project Manager to support delivery.
• Opportunity – When someone identifies an improvement that can be made to meet Stewardship and Sustainability goals but is not sure of how to get started with a solution.

Back to Top

How to use

Complete the appropriate request form utilizing the instructions in the form:

• Future Planning, Department Project, IT Project – use the same form
• Opportunity

Back to Top

Process Steps

• Future Planning
  • Complete request form
  • PPMO Review and follow up
  • Assessment of request
  • If approved, project is created
• Department Project
  • Complete request form
  • PPMO follows up with support needs identified in request
  • Project is created with Functional Lead from request form as Project Manager
• IT Project
  • Complete request form, generally done by PPMO resource
  • Portfolio Management team will identify assessment owner (usually the primary service owner) and provide direction on completing IT Assessment
  • Assessment and funding request are completed
  • Portfolio Management team and Service Owner determine and execute appropriate review (this may be full Executive Leadership Team or a subset) to approve request to proceed with planning. ELT reviews IT Projects after planning to determine if they should proceed
• Opportunity
  • Complete request form
  • Portfolio Management team member will reach out and schedule a review
  • Complete an opportunity template of elaborated idea
  • Share opportunity with appropriate executive for decision and next steps

Back to Top

Roles & Responsibilities

• Requestor
  • Complete appropriate form
  • Participate in process to assess project or elaborate idea
  • Ensure project set up for success with funding, resources, and appropriae assessments/reviews
  • Manage project lite if requestor is also the functional lead/project manager for the project lite
• Portfolio Management Team
  • Manage Project request reviews and processes
  • Support assessment and management of projects
  • Support elaboration of opportunities
• Service Owner
  • Lead IT Assessment process
  • Support information gathering for funding, resources, and architecture
• Business & IT Stakeholders
  • Give input into IT assessments as needed
  • Give input into opportunity reviews as needed
• IT Executive Leadership Team (ELT)
  • Review/approve IT Project requests as appropriate
  • Review and provide decision on opportunity requests

Back to Top

Questions/Assistance

Complete a Portfolio Management Assistance request (link).

Back to Top