Pro­gram Manage­ment vs Pro­ject Port­fo­lio Manage­ment: Defi­ni­ti­ons & Differences

Pro­gram manage­ment and pro­ject port­fo­lio manage­ment con­trol seve­ral pro­jects simul­ta­neous­ly in a com­pa­ny to effi­ci­ent­ly imple­ment stra­te­gic objec­ti­ves and make opti­mum use of resources.

Pro­gram manage­ment vs port­fo­lio manage­ment — what are the dif­fe­ren­ces? Pro­gram manage­ment focu­ses on the­ma­ti­cal­ly lin­ked pro­jects with a com­mon objec­ti­ve. Port­fo­lio manage­ment com­pri­ses the tota­li­ty of all pro­jects and pro­grams in a com­pa­ny and con­trols and prio­ri­ti­zes them. 

The pro­gram manage­ment and pro­ject port­fo­lio manage­ment dif­fer in seve­ral cen­tral are­as. The­se include objec­ti­ves, focus, resour­ce manage­ment, risk manage­ment, metrics for mea­su­ring suc­cess, stake­hol­der enga­ge­ment and the soft­ware used. Howe­ver, both approa­ches have one essen­ti­al thing in com­mon, name­ly the stra­te­gic ali­gnment and moni­to­ring of pro­jects so that they are best ali­gned with the company’s objectives.

Pro­gram manage­ment is used when pro­jects are clo­se­ly lin­ked the­ma­ti­cal­ly and tog­e­ther achie­ve an over­ar­ching objec­ti­ve. Port­fo­lio manage­ment makes sen­se when it comes to con­trol­ling and prio­ri­tiz­ing all pro­jects and pro­grams of a com­pa­ny .

In this artic­le, we take a clo­ser look at the defi­ni­ti­ons, the com­mo­n­a­li­ties and dif­fe­ren­ces as well as the methods in pro­gram and pro­ject port­fo­lio manage­ment. We fur­ther­mo­re explain why the choice of the right soft­ware is decisi­ve, for it signi­fi­cant­ly impro­ves trans­pa­ren­cy and effi­ci­en­cy in both pro­gram and port­fo­lio management.

Table of Contents

1. What Is Pro­gram Management?
2. What Is Pro­ject Port­fo­lio Management?
3. What Are the Dif­fe­ren­ces bet­ween Pro­gram and Pro­ject Port­fo­lio Management?
4. What Do Pro­gram and Pro­ject Port­fo­lio Manage­ment Have in Common?
5. When Should Com­pa­nies Use Pro­gram Management?
6. When Should Com­pa­nies Use Pro­ject Port­fo­lio Management?
7. What PM Soft­ware Is Sui­ta­ble for Pro­gram and Pro­ject Port­fo­lio Management?
8. Con­clu­si­on: What Is the Dif­fe­rence bet­ween Pro­gram and Pro­ject Port­fo­lio Management?
9. FAQ

What Is Pro­gram Management?

Pro­gram manage­ment refers to the con­trol and imple­men­ta­ti­on of a group of pro­jects which are lin­ked in terms of con­tent and work tog­e­ther towards an over­ar­ching stra­te­gic cor­po­ra­te goal. A pro­gram is view­ed as a unit who­se pro­jects are not plan­ned and mana­ged in iso­la­ti­on, but in clo­se coor­di­na­ti­on.

Here, the pro­jects are not only inter­de­pen­dent in terms of con­tent. Resour­ces, sche­du­le and results of the indi­vi­du­al pro­jects must be careful­ly coor­di­na­ted to mini­mi­ze con­flicts and achie­ve the over­all objec­ti­ve. The con­­tent-rela­­ted con­nec­tion of the pro­jects is the­r­e­fo­re the cen­tral fea­ture that distin­gu­is­hes a pro­gram from pro­ject manage­ment and also from port­fo­lio management.

In the con­text of pro­gram manage­ment, pro­jects are the indi­vi­du­al, cle­ar­ly defi­ned com­pon­ents of a pro­gram. Their suc­cessful rea­liza­ti­on is neces­sa­ry for the achie­ve­ment of an over­all pro­gram objective.

A pro­ject is defi­ned as time-limi­­t­ed, with cle­ar­ly defi­ned objec­ti­ves.and aims at crea­ting a pro­duct or a ser­vice. It is cha­rac­te­ri­zed by a defi­ned start and end point as well as con­cre­te requi­re­ments for resour­ces, sche­du­les and budget.

The­se are the most important tasks and objec­ti­ves of pro­gram management:

• Stra­te­gic ali­gnment: ensu­ring that all pro­jects in the pro­gram work towards an over­ar­ching goal and are in line with the company’s objectives.
• Coor­di­na­ti­on of the pro­jects: Coor­di­na­ti­on of sche­du­les, resour­ces and depen­den­ci­es bet­ween the indi­vi­du­al pro­jects. Effi­ci­ent plan­ning and allo­ca­ti­on of per­son­nel, bud­get and mate­ri­als across all projects.
• Risk manage­ment: Iden­ti­fi­ca­ti­on, eva­lua­ti­on and con­trol­ling of risks which can affect seve­ral pro­jects in the program.
• Moni­to­ring of the pro­gram: Moni­to­ring and con­trol­ling indi­vi­du­al pro­jects to ensu­re that mile­sto­nes are rea­ched and tar­gets are met.
• Com­mu­ni­ca­ti­on and Stake­hol­der Manage­ment: Estab­lish­ment of trans­pa­rent com­mu­ni­ca­ti­on struc­tures and invol­vement of rele­vant inte­rest groups.
• Eva­lua­ti­on of pro­gram pro­gress: Defi­ning key figu­res and ensu­ring that the expec­ted results are achieved.

Pro­gram manage­ment brings com­pa­nies clear advan­ta­ges by bund­ling pro­jects stra­te­gi­cal­ly and con­trol­ling them efficiently.

The advan­ta­ges include:

• Tar­ge­ted resour­ce optimization
• Stra­te­gic focus
• Risk mini­miza­ti­on
• Syn­er­gy effects
• Impro­ved communication
• Effi­ci­ent Chan­ge Management
• Long-term plan­ning

Pro­gram manage­ment ensu­res that resour­ces are deploy­ed whe­re they will bring the grea­test bene­fit and con­flicts bet­ween pro­jects are avo­ided. In addi­ti­on, the prio­ri­ty of pro­jects in a pro­gram can be iden­ti­fied more cle­ar­ly so that the allo­ca­ti­on of resour­ces can be coor­di­na­ted accor­din­gly. The coor­di­na­ti­on of all pro­jects ensu­res that they are not only suc­cessful indi­vi­du­al­ly, but also that lar­ger shared objec­ti­ves are achie­ved. Through clear com­mu­ni­ca­ti­on and effec­ti­ve risk manage­ment, delays are redu­ced and chan­ges are imple­men­ted sustainably.

What is pro­ject port­fo­lio management?

Pro­ject port­fo­lio manage­ment refers to the over­ar­ching con­trol, prio­ri­tiza­ti­on and opti­miza­ti­on of all pro­jects and plan­ning objects of an orga­niza­ti­on. It is to ensu­re that the­se acti­vi­ties are stra­te­gi­cal­ly ali­gned and that the available resour­ces are used effectively.

A port­fo­lio is the tota­li­ty of all pro­jects and plan­ning objects, irre­spec­ti­ve of whe­ther they are lin­ked to one ano­ther in terms of con­tent. Their focus is on themaxi­miza­ti­on of the over­all bene­fit for the com­pa­ny while mini­mi­zing risks and con­flicts at the same time.

The most important tasks and objec­ti­ves of port­fo­lio manage­ment are the following:

• Stra­te­gic ori­en­ta­ti­on: ensu­ring that all pro­jects and pro­grams in the port­fo­lio add to the long-term busi­ness objec­ti­ves of the company.
• Prio­ri­tiza­ti­on: eva­lua­ti­on and clas­si­fi­ca­ti­on of pro­jects accor­ding to their con­tri­bu­ti­on to the stra­tegy, their busi­ness value and their urgency.
• Resour­ce opti­miza­ti­on: out­line plan­ning of bud­get, per­son­nel and other resour­ces across the enti­re portfolio.
• Risk manage­ment: iden­ti­fi­ca­ti­on and con­trol­ling of risks which may result from the port­fo­lio constellation.
• Report­ing: Ongo­ing moni­to­ring of KPIs for stra­te­gic plan­ning and regu­lar report­ing to management.
• Trans­pa­ren­cy: Crea­ti­on of a clear pro­ject port­fo­lio over­view to enable well-foun­­ded decis­i­ons and to react to mar­ket changes.

Pro­ject port­fo­lio manage­ment offers com­pa­nies advan­ta­ges by pro­vi­ding a holi­stic view of all pro­jects and pro­grams. The stra­te­gic focus ensu­res that all acti­vi­ties are tar­ge­ted towards achie­ving the company’s busi­ness objec­ti­ves.

The prio­ri­tiza­ti­on of pro­jects accor­ding to, for exam­p­le, busi­ness value and urgen­cy allows for opti­mal resour­ce plan­ning, avo­i­ding thus both bot­t­len­ecksand over-capa­ci­­ties. Risks ari­sing from the com­po­si­ti­on of the port­fo­lio are iden­ti­fied and mana­ged at an ear­ly stage, which increa­ses the relia­bi­li­ty of plan­ning and action.

In addi­ti­on port­fo­lio manage­ment crea­tes trans­pa­ren­cy regar­ding sta­tus and per­for­mance of all pro­jects, faci­li­ta­ting thus well-foun­­ded decis­­i­on-making at manage­ment level. The abili­ty to react fle­xi­bly to chan­ges in the mar­ket envi­ron­ment or new oppor­tu­ni­ties makes com­pa­nies more agi­le and competitive.

What Are the Dif­fe­ren­ces bet­ween Pro­gram and Pro­ject Port­fo­lio Management?

Pro­gram manage­ment and pro­ject port­fo­lio manage­ment dif­fer fun­da­men­tal­ly in terms of scope, objec­ti­ves, focus, time and pro­ces­ses. In terms of con­tent and stra­tegy, pro­gram manage­ment is aimed at a group of con­nec­ted pro­jects that are to achie­ve an over­ar­ching goal tog­e­ther. Port­fo­lio manage­ment con­siders the tota­li­ty of a company’s pro­jects and programs.

Pro­gram manage­ment focu­ses on mana­ging depen­den­ci­es and over­laps in the imple­men­ta­ti­on of pro­jects and maxi­mi­zing syn­er­gies, while pro­ject port­fo­lio manage­ment prio­ri­ti­zes and opti­mi­zes pro­jects and pro­grams stra­te­gi­cal­ly to achie­ve the grea­test pos­si­ble busi­ness value.

Ano­ther dif­fe­rence is the time hori­zon. Pro­gram manage­ment is limi­t­ed to the dura­ti­on of a pro­gram and its pro­jects and ends as soon as the objec­ti­ves are achie­ved. In con­trast, port­fo­lio manage­ment is a long-term and con­ti­nuous pro­cess which covers all cur­rent and future plan­ning projects.

The pro­ces­ses also dif­fer. In pro­gram manage­ment, the focus is on the ope­ra­tio­nal coor­di­na­ti­on and syn­chro­niza­ti­on of the pro­jects. Pro­ject port­fo­lio manage­ment, on the other hand, is focu­sed on stra­te­gic eva­lua­ti­on and decis­­i­on-making pro­ces­ses.

The dif­fe­rent objec­ti­ves in pro­gram and pro­ject port­fo­lio manage­ment also lead to dif­fe­rent pro­ce­du­res in risk manage­ment, resour­ce manage­ment and in gene­ral responsibilities.

In the table below you will find a clear over­view of the essen­ti­al dif­fe­ren­ces in objec­ti­ves, scope, focus and time frame bet­ween pro­gram and pro­ject port­fo­lio management:

What Is the Dif­fe­rence bet­ween Pro­gram and Pro­ject Port­fo­lio Manage­ment in Risk Management?

In pro­gram manage­ment, the focus of risk manage­ment is on cross-pro­­ject risks which can occur within a pro­gram due to depen­den­ci­es bet­ween pro­jects. The­se are ope­ra­ti­ve risks like delays, resour­ce bot­t­len­ecks or con­flicts which may occur due to links bet­ween pro­jects. The aim is to iden­ti­fy risks and mini­mi­ze their impact on the over­all objec­ti­ve of the program.

In port­fo­lio manage­ment, on the other hand, risk manage­ment rela­tes to stra­te­gic risks. which can jeo­par­di­ze the enti­re port­fo­lio and thus the achie­ve­ment of objec­ti­ves at com­pa­ny level. The­se include risks such as the mis­a­lignment of pro­jects with the cor­po­ra­te stra­tegy, over­loa­ding of resour­ces or insuf­fi­ci­ent diver­si­fi­ca­ti­on within the portfolio.

The­re are dif­fe­rent risk manage­ment methods for both pro­gram manage­ment and pro­ject port­fo­lio manage­ment which allow you to iden­ti­fy risks and take mea­su­res in an effi­ci­ent manner.

How Do Pro­gram and Pro­ject Port­fo­lio Manage­ment Dif­fer in Terms of Resour­ce Planning?

In pro­gram manage­ment, resour­ce plan­ning focu­ses on effi­ci­ent­ly coor­di­na­ting the allo­ca­ti­on of resour­ces bet­ween the indi­vi­du­al pro­jects. Depen­den­ci­es are taken into account to ensu­re that the pro­jects are com­ple­ted on time and with the neces­sa­ry resour­ces. Resour­ce bot­t­len­ecks or over­lap­pings bet­ween pro­jects are avo­ided by careful plan­ning to ensu­re the achie­ve­ment of the over­all objec­ti­ve of the program.

In port­fo­lio manage­ment, resour­ce plan­ning takes place at stra­te­gic level. Here, the focus is on the opti­mum dis­tri­bu­ti­on of the limi­t­ed resour­ces of the com­pa­ny to all pro­jects and pro­grams of the port­fo­lio. Prio­ri­tiza­ti­on is based on the stra­te­gic importance, expec­ted busi­ness value and urgen­cy of the pro­jects. The aim is to ensu­re that resour­ces are focu­sed on the pro­jects that offer the grea­test bene­fit to the com­pa­ny.

While pro­gram manage­ment coor­di­na­tes resour­ce plan­ning within a pro­gram at the ope­ra­tio­nal level, pro­ject port­fo­lio manage­ment ali­gns resour­ce dis­tri­bu­ti­on stra­te­gi­cal­ly across all pro­grams and pro­jects of a company.

How Do Pro­gram and Pro­ject Port­fo­lio Manage­ment Dif­fer in Terms of Responsibilities?

In Pro­gram manage­ment vs port­fo­lio manage­ment the­re are also dif­fe­ren­ces when it comes to respon­si­bi­li­ties. The pro­gram mana­ger is respon­si­ble for pro­gram manage­ment. He/she is the per­son who mana­ges the coor­di­na­ti­on, tar­get achie­ve­ment and depen­den­ci­es of the indi­vi­du­al pro­jects. He/she reports to the pro­gram manage­ment or the manage­ment board.

In pro­ject port­fo­lio manage­ment, the port­fo­lio mana­ger is respon­si­ble for the stra­te­gic sel­ec­tion, prio­ri­tiza­ti­on and resour­ce dis­tri­bu­ti­on at com­pa­ny level. He/she direct­ly reports to the com­pa­ny manage­ment or the exe­cu­ti­ve board.

How do PM methods dif­fer in pro­gram and pro­ject port­fo­lio management?

In pro­ject manage­ment, a distinc­tion is made bet­ween tra­di­tio­nal and agi­le methods . Tra­di­tio­nal methods include, e.g., mile­stone trend ana­ly­sis (MTA) or the water­fall method. When it comes to agi­le pro­ject manage­ment methods, Kan­ban and Scrum are par­ti­cu­lar­ly popular.

In pro­gram manage­ment, tra­di­tio­nal pro­ject manage­ment methods are often used. The­se line­ar approa­ches are par­ti­cu­lar­ly sui­ta­ble for pro­grams with cle­ar­ly defi­ned goals and fixed sche­du­les, as they enable struc­tu­red plan­ning and con­trol.

With its sequen­ti­al pro­ce­du­re, the Water­fall method offers trans­pa­ren­cy and tracea­bi­li­ty, which is advan­ta­ge­ous for the coor­di­na­ti­on of seve­ral pro­jects within a pro­gram. Mile­stone plan­ning helps you to moni­tor pro­gress and to ensu­re that all pro­jects stay on track.

Pro­ject port­fo­lio manage­ment, on the other hand, pri­ma­ri­ly reli­es on agi­le methods . The­se fle­xi­ble approa­ches enable quick adapt­a­ti­on to chan­ges and pro­mo­te ite­ra­ti­ve plan­ning, in which the pro­ject port­fo­lio is often coor­di­na­ted on a quar­ter­ly basis.

With its visu­al manage­ment, Kan­ban offers a clear over­view of the sta­tus of dif­fe­rent pro­jects and faci­li­ta­tes prio­ri­tiza­ti­on. Scrum sup­ports con­ti­nuous port­fo­lio impro­ve­ments and adjus­t­ments through short work cycles and regu­lar checks.

As a gene­ral rule, tra­di­tio­nal methods are of advan­ta­ge when the focus is on sta­bi­li­ty and pre­dic­ta­bi­li­ty. Agi­le methods are more sui­ta­ble when fle­xi­bi­li­ty and quick reac­tion time are requi­red. A com­bi­na­ti­on of both approa­ches can be useful in many cases to ensu­re both struc­tu­re and adaptability.

What Do Pro­gram and Pro­ject Port­fo­lio Manage­ment Have in Common?

Pro­gram and port­fo­lio manage­ment have seve­ral cen­tral com­mon points. Both approa­ches help to pur­sue the stra­te­gic objec­ti­ves of a com­pa­ny by ensu­ring that pro­jects and plan­ning objects are tar­ge­ted, prio­ri­ti­zed and ulti­m­ate­ly implemented.

Both pro­gram and port­fo­lio manage­ment focus on the moni­to­ring and con­trol­ling of pro­gress in order to ensu­re the achie­ve­ment of objec­ti­ves. Fur­ther­mo­re the invol­vement of rele­vant stake­hol­ders plays a decisi­ve role in ensu­ring trans­pa­ren­cy, com­mu­ni­ca­ti­on and support.

What Are the Com­mon Chal­lenges in Pro­gram and Pro­ject Port­fo­lio Management?

The­re are seve­ral com­mon chal­lenges in pro­gram and port­fo­lio manage­ment that ari­se from the com­ple­xi­ty and stra­te­gic importance of both approa­ches.

Both pro­grams and port­fo­li­os requi­re clear prio­ri­tiza­ti­on to ensu­re that resour­ces are focu­sed on the most important and stra­te­gi­cal­ly rele­vant projects.

Resour­ces such as bud­get, per­son­nel and mate­ri­al are often scar­ce. The chall­enge is to allo­ca­te them effi­ci­ent­ly, avo­id over­laps and pre­vent bottlenecks.

Both approa­ches requi­re you to iden­ti­fy and con­trol depen­den­ci­es bet­ween pro­jects or pro­grams to mini­mi­ze delays or conflicts.

Risks that affect seve­ral pro­jects or pro­grams must be iden­ti­fied at an ear­ly stage and addres­sed with sui­ta­ble mea­su­res. A trans­pa­rent com­mu­ni­ca­ti­on across all levels is decisi­ve when it comes to inclu­ding stake­hol­ders, avo­id misun­derstan­dings and cle­ar­ly com­mu­ni­ca­te the objectives.

The­se chal­lenges requi­re sys­te­ma­tic approa­ches and clo­se col­la­bo­ra­ti­on to ensu­re over­all success.

When Should Com­pa­nies Use Pro­gram Management?

Pro­gram manage­ment is par­ti­cu­lar­ly sui­ta­ble when ope­ra­tio­nal pro­jects with a com­mon goal need to be coor­di­na­ted. Pro­ject port­fo­lio manage­ment is more sui­ta­ble when it comes to stra­te­gic planning.

A typi­cal exam­p­le is a soft­ware com­pa­ny that works on a num­ber of updates for a map ser­vice plat­form. The­se updates and the asso­cia­ted pro­jects can look as follows:

• Inclu­si­on of addi­tio­nal locations
• Impro­ved search function
• Dis­play of remo­te areas
• Advan­ced rou­te planner

Dif­fe­rent pro­ject mana­gers over­see the work on indi­vi­du­al com­pon­ents, while a pro­gram mana­ger takes respon­si­bi­li­ty for over­all coor­di­na­ti­on and moni­to­ring progress.

When Should Com­pa­nies Use Pro­ject Port­fo­lio Management?

Com­pa­nies should use port­fo­lio manage­ment if they con­ti­nuous­ly need to stra­te­gi­cal­ly mana­ge seve­ral pro­jects and pro­gram­mes that are not neces­s­a­ri­ly lin­ked in terms of con­tent, but all con­tri­bu­te to the long-term goals of the orga­niza­ti­on. Pro­gram manage­ment is not a good choice for this becau­se it focu­ses on the ope­ra­tio­nal imple­men­ta­ti­on of projects.

An exam­p­le for this is the digi­ta­liza­ti­on stra­tegy of a lea­ding Ger­man manu­fac­tu­rer of luxu­ry fur­ni­tu­re. The com­pa­ny has used digi­ta­liza­ti­on to rea­li­ze opti­miza­ti­on poten­ti­al along the enti­re value chain.

Indi­vi­du­al pro­jects within this stra­tegy include:

• Intro­duc­tion of a digi­tal mer­chan­di­se manage­ment system
• Opti­miza­ti­on of pro­duc­tion pro­ces­ses through IoT technologies
• Deve­lo­p­ment of an E com­mer­ce portal

The­se pro­jects dif­fer the­ma­ti­cal­ly but they call for a uni­form prio­ri­tiza­ti­on and con­trol­ling in port­fo­lio manage­ment to be able to imple­ment digi­tal trans­for­ma­ti­on within the frame­work of the com­pa­ny portfolio.

What PM Soft­ware Is Sui­ta­ble for Pro­gram and Pro­ject Port­fo­lio Management?

A pro­ject manage­ment soft­ware that covers both pro­gram manage­ment and port­fo­lio manage­ment must meet dif­fe­rent requi­re­ments to sup­port com­pa­nies in a tar­ge­ted man­ner. While pro­ject port­fo­lio manage­ment makes stra­te­gic decis­i­ons on the sel­ec­tion and prio­ri­tiza­ti­on of pro­jects, pro­gram manage­ment focu­ses on the ope­ra­tio­nal manage­ment of pro­jects that are bund­led into pro­grams. The soft­ware should the­r­e­fo­re meet both the stra­te­gic and ope­ra­tio­nal requi­re­ments.

With PLANTA Pro­ject , PLANTA offers you a sui­ta­ble soft­ware for this end.

• PLANTA Pro­ject sup­ports pro­ject port­fo­lio manage­ment by enab­ling the eva­lua­ti­on, prio­ri­tiza­ti­on and stra­te­gic plan­ning of pro­jects. Com­pa­nies can eva­lua­te and prio­ri­ti­ze plan­ning objects based on defi­ned cri­te­ria and deploy their resour­ces in a tar­ge­ted man­ner. Moni­to­ring and pro­gress con­trol ensu­re con­ti­nuous opti­miza­ti­on of the pro­ject portfolio.
• Fur­ther­mo­re, PLANTA Pro­ject sup­ports com­pa­nies in the plan­ning, con­trol­ling and moni­to­ring of their pro­jects. The soft­ware offers func­tions such as date and resour­ce plan­ning, cost con­trol and risk and chan­ge manage­ment. PLANTA Pro­ject can be easi­ly inte­gra­ted into the exis­ting soft­ware land­scape thanks to the inte­gra­ti­on opti­ons offe­red by various tools. The soft­ware enables pro­cess-ori­en­­ted plan­ning and con­trol of pro­jects, sup­port­ed by cus­to­mizable pro­cess models and com­­pa­­ny-spe­ci­­fic workflows.

Con­clu­si­on: What Is the Dif­fe­rence bet­ween Pro­gram and Pro­ject Port­fo­lio Management?

Pro­gram and port­fo­lio manage­ment dif­fer in terms of focus and objec­ti­ves. While pro­ject port­fo­lio manage­ment stra­te­gi­cal­ly prio­ri­ti­zes all of a company’s pro­jects and allo­ca­tes resour­ces, pro­gram manage­ment focu­ses on the ope­ra­tio­nal coor­di­na­ti­on of pro­jects within a program.

Port­fo­li­os stri­ve for long-term stra­te­gic com­pa­ny objec­ti­ves, while pro­grams imple­ment pro­jects with the same sub­ject mat­ter and objectives..

Both approa­ches com­ple­ment each other, with pro­ject port­fo­lio manage­ment sup­port­ing the cor­po­ra­te stra­tegy and pro­gram manage­ment ensu­ring ope­ra­tio­nal imple­men­ta­ti­on.

Com­pa­nies bene­fit from using PLANTA Pro­ject to effi­ci­ent­ly imple­ment both stra­te­gic and ope­ra­tio­nal goals.

FAQ

What Is the Dif­fe­rence Bet­ween a Pro­gram Mana­ger and a Port­fo­lio Manager?

A pro­gram mana­ger coor­di­na­tes pro­jects within a pro­gram, takes care of their ali­gnment and time­ly imple­men­ta­ti­on. A port­fo­lio mana­ger stra­te­gi­cal­ly con­trols all pro­jects of a com­pa­ny, prio­ri­ti­zes them in line with the company’s stra­te­gic busi­ness objec­ti­ves and opti­mi­zes resour­ce dis­tri­bu­ti­on. The pro­gram mana­ger is focu­sed on the ope­ra­tio­nal side, while the port­fo­lio manager’s work is focu­sed on stra­te­gic objectives.

How Can I Mea­su­re the Suc­cess of Pro­gram and Pro­ject Port­fo­lio Management?

The suc­cess of pro­gram manage­ment is mea­su­red based on KPIs such as achie­ve­ment of objec­ti­ves, adhe­rence to bud­get and sche­du­les as well as the achie­ve­ment of cross-pro­­gram mile­sto­nes. The­se include, for exam­p­le, cost savings or increased effi­ci­en­cy, which are rea­li­zed through pro­gram syn­er­gies. Port­fo­lio manage­ment eva­lua­tes the stra­te­gic achie­ve­ment of objec­ti­ves, ROI, resour­ce uti­liza­ti­on, risk reduc­tion and the balan­ce bet­ween short-term and long-term investments.

What Is the Dif­fe­rence Bet­ween a Pro­ject and a Program?

A pro­ject is a time-limi­­t­ed pro­ject with a clear objec­ti­ve and con­cre­te results. A pro­gram con­sists of seve­ral the­ma­ti­cal­ly rela­ted pro­jects that are coll­ec­tively ali­gned with over­ri­ding objectives.