Portfolio Management

Transcription

1 Portfolio Management Software Test Management Sindhu Mylswamy Wipro Technologies Ltd Chennai, India ABSTRACT In more recent times, the Portfolio Management concept has become popular as a way to manage business investments. Portfolio Management is a business process of building, managing and assessing an inventory of organization s products and projects. It facilitates decision making, through evaluation, selection, prioritizing, balancing, execution of the work, harvesting of benefits and feedback of results for process improvement. With the increasing levels of market competitiveness many organizations realize the importance of planning and managing their portfolio. Portfolio Management is about doing the right projects. If the right projects are picked, the result is an enviable portfolio of high value projects. In this sense, this paper describes the objectives, benefits of Portfolio Management and also highlights the portfolio management approach and strategies in action. The paper concludes that the portfolio management implementation is effective and well-aligned with organization strategy although some adjustments are necessary. Index Terms Project o Temporary effort to get something done shortterm Project Management o Planning, organizing, directing a project Program o A group of projects Portfolio o A collection of programs and projects Portfolio Management o Prioritize projects and programs o Monitoring with an eye to the overall goals and needs of the organization INTRODUCTION Managing individual projects is challenging enough; handling several complex programs and projects successfully is an enormous task for any organization. Simply establishing a structure for managing resources, creating effective communication, and identifying acceptable results can be a difficult and time-consuming effort. Portfolio management process provides a way to select, prioritize, authorize and manage the totality of work in the organization or individual department. This includes work that has been completed, work in-progress and work that has been approved for the future. Portfolio Management helps to: Create a level playing field for comparing investments and make better-informed decisions by categorizing projects and IT investments and defining clear evaluation criteria Increase the alignment of the expenditure, thus the outsource or managed service will deliver the maximum possible business value at the minimum possible cost and reduce overall cost spend by eliminating low value investments and services Increase return on investment by channeling resources effectively to higher value investments Examine potential scenarios for portfolio manipulation for example what-if analysis Increase the control over the project/investment life and ensure that the services delivered are the right ones for the client s requirements. TECHNICAL WORK PREPARATION A. Why is Portfolio Management so important? Portfolio Management is about doing the right projects. If the right projects are picked, the result is an enviable portfolio of high value projects. Companies without effective portfolio management and project selection face a slippery road downhill. Some of the problems that arise when portfolio management is lacking are: No strategic direction for project selection and therefore, projects are not aligned with the business strategy Projects are simply added to the 'active list' of projects with no clear directional focus and resources are thinly spread Many mediocre projects in the pipeline (i.e. extensions, enhancements) and a lack of high reward projects Poor quality of execution; and higher-than-acceptable failure rates Portfolio management and project management go hand-inhand to take the strategic focus of the organization and translate it into effectively implemented solutions. The concept of portfolio management stems from a financial perspective. As a Business need, organizations need to ISQT Copyright

2 understand the relative worth, alignment and risk of assets, from applications to people to IT infrastructure. Portfolio Management comes as a solution, as a discipline for picking the winners and ensuring they are on track. As seen in the Figure 1 portfolio management makes sure that projects are aligned to IT strategy and highly related to portfolio planning, project portfolio management and managing available resources effectively. Fig 1, Implementing portfolio management practices in an organization PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT BASIC CONCEPTS Portfolio management is principally about risk and return strategies. Portfolio management is the art and science of making decisions including choosing and monitoring appropriate investments and allocating funds accordingly, matching investments to objectives, and balancing risk against performance. 1- The Portfolio: Portfolio contains a selected, approved, and continuously evolving, collection of initiatives which are aligned with the organizing element of the portfolio, and, which contribute to the achievement of goals or goal components identified in the business strategy of an organization. The basis for constructing a portfolio should reflect the organization's particular needs. 2- The Portfolio Structure: A portfolio structure identifies and contains a number of portfolios. This structure, like the portfolios within it, should align with significant planning and results boundaries, and with business components. For example, take a product-oriented portfolio structure, and then one would have a separate portfolio for each major product or product group. Each portfolio would contain all the initiatives that help that particular product or product group contribute to the success of the enterprise business strategy. 3- Role of Portfolio Managers: Portfolio managers have a great deal of responsibility within an organization; not only do they have to be mindful of individuals responsible for managing portfolio components, but they also have to be mindful of executive management, which sets the strategy. It's portfolio manager who must make assessments using set methodologies and, sometimes more importantly, have the experience necessary to make the hard decisions that will benefit the organization. ISQT Copyright

3 Fig 2, Role of Portfolio Managers in Portfolio Management 4- Portfolio reviews and decision making: As initiatives are executed, the organization should conduct periodic reviews of actual (versus planned) performance and conformance to original expectations. Typically, organization managers specify the frequency and contents for these periodic reviews, and individual portfolio managers oversee their planning and execution. The reviews should be multi-dimensional, including both tactical elements (e.g., adherence to plan, budget, and resource allocation) and strategic elements (e.g., support for business strategy goals and delivery of expected organizational benefits). 5- Governance: Implementing portfolio management practices in an organization is a transformation effort that typically involves developing new capabilities to address new work efforts, defining new roles to identify portfolios and delineating boundaries among work efforts and collections. Portfolio management governance involves multiple dimensions, including: Defining and maintaining an organization business strategy, a portfolio structure containing all of the organization's initiatives (programs, projects, etc.). Reviewing and approving business cases that propose the creation of new initiatives and ownership of portfolios and their contents. Providing oversight, control, and decision-making for all ongoing initiatives. 6- Modern Portfolio Theory(MPT): It is a theory of investment which attempts to maximize portfolio expected return for a given amount of portfolio risk, or equivalently minimize risk for a given level of expected return, by carefully choosing the proportions of various assets. 7- Two principal schools of Portfolio Management: A Passive and Active term refers to the method by which the assets are selected for inclusion into the portfolio. A passive portfolio includes the market portfolio; consist of shares in all companies quoted on the stock exchange, or a selection of group of stock. Passive portfolio therefore does not make any attempt to research each stock and decide if it should be included or excluded from the portfolio. There is no technical or fundamental analysis carried out in order to beat the market portfolio. Active Portfolio Management on the other hand uses research, analysis, economic factors and also an element of subjective judgment in selecting stock into the portfolio. There are various advantages of Passive Portfolio Management over that of active. Passive portfolio management costs much less than active management. This give passive investors an increase net returns as the management costs are lower. Active portfolio often attracts capital gains tax from sell of short-term appreciated gains in stocks. Passive portfolios have predictable styles. A passive investor knows exactly what types of securities he or she is invested in. Active managers, on the other hand, can vary the composition of their portfolios significantly over time - a problem known as "style drift". FOUR GOALS OF PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT The aim of Portfolio Management is to achieve the maximum return from a portfolio which has been delegated to be managed by an individual manager or financial institution. The manager has to balance the parameters which define a good investment i.e. security, liquidity and return. The ultimate goal is to obtain the highest return for the client of the ISQT Copyright

4 managed portfolio. There are four goals of portfolio management, 1- Maximize the Value of the Portfolio: Here the goal is to select new projects so as to maximize sum of the values or commercial worth of all active projects in the pipeline in terms of some business objective. A variety of methods used to achieve this maximization goal, ranging from financial methods to scoring models are given, a- NPV: Determine the project s net present value and then rank projects by NPV divided by the key or constraining resource (for example, the R&D costs still left to be spent on the project; that is, by NPV/R&D). Projects are rankordered according to this index until out of resources, thus maximizing the value of the portfolio (the sum of the NPVs across all projects) for a given or limited resource expenditure. b- ECV: The Expected Commercial Value method uses decision-tree analysis, breaking the project into decision stages for example, Development and Commercialization. Define the various possible outcomes of the project along with probabilities of each occurring. The resulting ECV is then divided by the constraining resource, and projects are rank-ordered according to this index in order to maximize the bang for buck. The method also approximates real options theory, and thus is appropriate for handling higher risk projects. c- Scoring model: Decision-makers rate projects on a number of questions that distinguish superior projects, typically on 1-5 or 0-10 scales. Add up these ratings to yield a quantified Project Attractiveness Score, which must clear a minimum hurdle. This Score is a proxy for the value of the project but incorporates strategic, leverage and other considerations beyond just financial measures. Projects are then rank-ordered according to this score until resources run out. 2- Seeking the right balance of Projects: Here the goal is to achieve a desired balance of projects in terms of a number of parameters; for example, long term projects versus short ones; or high risk versus lower risk projects; and across various markets, technologies, product categories, and project types (e.g., new products, improvements, cost reductions, maintenance and fixes, and fundamental research). Typical methods used to reveal balance include bubble diagrams, histograms and pie charts. a- Bubble diagrams: Display the projects on a twodimensional grid as bubbles. The axes vary but the most popular chart is the risk-reward bubble diagram, where NPV is plotted versus probability of technical success. Then seek an appropriate balance in numbers of projects across the four quadrants. b- Pie charts: Here show the spending breakdowns as slices of pies in a pie chart. Popular pie charts include a breakdown by project types, by market or segment, and by product line or product category. Both bubble diagrams and pie charts, unlike the maximization tools outlined above, are not decision-models, but rather information display: they depict the current portfolio and how should the resources be allocated. Fig 3, Management Strategies for Successful Organization ISQT Copyright

5 3- Ensuring that Portfolio is strategically aligned: This is to ensure that the portfolio of projects reflects the business strategy and that the breakdown of spending aligns with the organization s strategic priorities. The three main approaches are: top-down (strategic buckets); bottom -up (effective gating and criteria) and top-down and bottom-up (strategic check). a- Top-down, strategic buckets: Begin at the top with the business s strategy and from that, the product innovation strategy for the business its goals, and where and how to focus the new product efforts. Next, make splits in resources: given the strategy, where should money be spent? These splits can be by project types, product lines, markets or industry sectors, and so on. Thus strategic buckets or envelopes of resources are established. Then, within each bucket or envelope, list all the projects active, on-hold and new and rank these until we run out of resources in that bucket. The result is multiple portfolios, one portfolio per bucket. b- Top-down: Once again, begin at the top, namely with the business and product innovation strategy. But here the question is: given that selected areas of strategic focus markets, technologies or product types what major initiatives must we undertake in order to be successful here?. The end result is a mapping of these major initiatives along a timeline c- Bottom-up: Make good decisions on individual projects, and the portfolio will take care of itself is a commonly accepted philosophy. Even better, to ensure strategic alignment, use a scoring model at project reviews and gates, and include a number of strategic questions in this model. Strategic alignment is all but assured: the portfolio will indeed consist of all on strategy projects (although spending splits may not coincide with strategic priorities). 4- Pick the Right Number of Projects: Portfolio management is also about resource allocation. Most companies have too many projects underway for the limited resources available. The result is pipeline gridlock: projects end up in a queue; they take too long to reach the market. Thus an over-riding goal is to ensure a balance between resources required for the active projects and resources available. Here are the ways: a- Resource limits: Competing needs within the business will reduce the share of resources available to achieve strategic goals; so it is important to quantify their relative importance and define benchmarks for apportioning these resources. b- Resource capacity analysis: Determine the resource demand, prioritize the projects and add up the resources required by department for all active projects. Project management software, such as MS-Project, enables this roll-up of resource requirements It not only must one seek to maximize the value of the portfolio, but the development projects in the portfolio must be appropriately balanced, there must be the right numbers of projects, and finally, the portfolio must be strategically aligned. No one portfolio model can deliver on all four goals, and so best-practice businesses tend to use multiple methods to select their projects. A 5 LEVEL PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT APPROACH Portfolio Management focuses on what will achieve the initiative rather than on the project itself. Portfolios can be constantly reviewed and altered if necessary to produce the highest returns based on changing situations. The levels in Portfolio Management Approach is given below, 1. Create a Portfolio Database Project names and descriptions Estimated costs, timeframes, staffing Benefits Spotting redundancies Communication across organizations and teams Holistic view 2. Prioritize Projects Try quantifiable rankings Risk and return Still subjectivity and disagreements 3. Divide into budgets based on type To align with business needs Ex: utilities, incremental upgrades, strategic investments 4. Automate the repository Input of new data (new projects) Automated tracking (Portfolio Management software integration) ISQT Copyright

6 5. Apply modern portfolio theory With Portfolio Management Approach, an organization can perform a value assessment of assets and investments to identify where the budget is currently going and to define options for optimizations of alignment, expenditure balance and project selection. It is also used to define an effective governance structure to manage investments and the realization of benefits. One of the approach is to create a management dashboard to communicate the status of the portfolio in terms of aspects such as health, spend to date, and current level of risk and so support effective investment decision making. PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT PROCESS AND FRAMEWORK The Portfolio Management Process is to provide a way to select, prioritize, authorize and manage the totality of work in the organization. This process has a life cycle that consists of four major sequential phases or activities. These are: Prepare; Plan; Execute; and Harvest. The harvesting activity refers to the reaping of the benefits, assessing their value and feeding the findings back into the preparation phase of the process, in order to establish continuous improvement, and thus completing the cycle. Hence, this Portfolio Management is a repeatable process of preparing for, planning, executing and harvesting the value of work as a business portfolio. Fig 4, a Framework for Portfolio Management Successful PPM requires a framework for real time analysis, planning and implementation. Similarly the organization requires the relative program or project infrastructure, resources and methodologies in place to deliver the programs of work. The Portfolio Management Framework is used for setting up and running portfolios of work. This can range from risks and issues management, program and project governance, financial and resource management, change management, configuration and document management, collaboration and support. Resource levels for program and project management require planning from an enterprise, division, department and project team levels. Implementing portfolio management also requires creating a structure to provide planning, continuing direction, and oversight and control for all portfolios and the initiatives they encompass. Portfolio Management Framework includes steps like, Portfolio Setup and Categorization, Identifying Needs ISQT Copyright

7 and Opportunities, Evaluating Options, Selecting and Prioritizing Work, Balancing and Optimizing the Portfolio, Authorize, Plan and Execute Work and Reporting and Reviewing on portfolio status. PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES IN ACTION Many implementations of portfolio management start directly with trying to identify and prioritize the work of the portfolio, most likely because that is obviously where we will find the greatest value. The value that work brings to an organization is typically, though not necessarily, based on the cost/benefit implications and how well it aligns with the organization's strategy, goals and objectives. So the strategy is really a collection of related items, each supported or enabled by goals, goal components, mechanisms, proposed changes and transformations, and multiple initiatives. Given this complexity, it can be challenging for the organization to devise an effective review process to continuously assess and confirm that both proposed and existing initiatives are firmly attached to specific business strategy goals or goal components. Alignment to strategy is not so easy to achieve without some work up-front. The strategy is usually expressed as high-level statements that describe what an organization is trying to achieve (through goals and objectives) and how the organization plans to achieve it (strategies and tactics). If we do not have this base of reference, we cannot evaluate the work for alignment. The right approach is to develop a corporate strategy that looks at where we are today and where we want to be in the future, then determining how best to get there. Working on the right projects at the right time is critical to sustain a competitive advantage. In today s challenging business environment, many organizations struggle with allocating limited resources and assets wisely. For an organization to perform at its peak, it is important to create a culture that incorporates total life cycle management, integrating project portfolios with operational portfolios, which include asset, application, and product portfolios. These portfolios must work in sync and tie to organizational strategy. Regardless of the type of portfolio, resources and assets will be consumed by projects to create a desired outcome for the organization. Strategically planning the consumption of the resources via a mature and iterative portfolio management process will enable an organization to do the right projects at the right time consistently. PRINCIPLES OF SUCCESSFUL PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT Successful portfolio management responds to fundamental questions, such as what projects are going on and how well do projects support business strategies and meets performance targets?, Are project priorities clear and being acted on and delivering anticipated benefits? Etc. The principles of portfolio management include, 1. Emphasize a Disciplined Process to eliminate response to short-term market volatility 2. Follow Communicated direction (vision - strategies - goals) and Partnership (business process owner and Information Systems) 3. Deliver Great Capability to all investment management solutions 4. Align the investment strategy with organization s Objectives and Risk Tolerance 5. Rigor and balance on priorities 6. Emphasize the importance of Asset Allocation 7. Implement a plan using the most Appropriate Investment Strategies 8. Monitor and adjust the portfolio on an ongoing basis and Assess progress regularly PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES Portfolio Management techniques are the methods that diversified organizations use to make decisions about what businesses to engage in and how to manage these multiple businesses to maximize corporate performance. Two important portfolio management techniques are, ISQT Copyright

8 1- The BCG (Boston Consulting Group) Matrix: It is a method of evaluating businesses relative to the growth rate of their market and the organization s share of the market. The matrix classifies the types of businesses that a diversified organization can engage as: Dogs have small market shares and no growth prospects. Cash cows have large shares of mature markets. Question marks have small market shares in quickly growing markets. Stars have large shares of rapidly growing markets. Fig 5 - The Boston Consulting Group Matrix Model 2- The GE (General Electric) Business Screen : This is a method of evaluating business in a diversified portfolio along two dimensions, each of which contains multiple factors: Industry attractiveness and Competitive position of each firm in the portfolio. In general, the more attractive the industry and the more competitive a business is, the more resources an organization should invest in that business. Fig 6 - The General Electric (GE) Matrix Model ISQT Copyright

9 PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT TRENDS When implemented properly and conducted on a regular basis, Portfolio Management is a high impact, high value activity. It maximizes the return on any product innovation investments, achieves efficient and effective allocation of scarce resources and forges a link between project selection and business strategy. Over time, other industry sectors have adapted and applied these ideas to other types of investments, including the following: 1- Application portfolio management: This refers to the practice of managing an entire group or major subset of software applications within a portfolio. Organizations regard these applications as investments because they require development (or acquisition) costs and incur continuing maintenance costs. Also, organizations must constantly make financial decisions about new and existing software applications, including whether to invest in modifying them, whether to buy additional applications, and when to sell -- that is, retire -- an obsolete software application. 2- Product portfolio management: Businesses group major products that organization develop and sell into (logical) portfolios, organized by major line-of-business or business segment. Such portfolios require ongoing management decisions about what new products to develop (to diversify investments and investment risk) and what existing products to transform or retire (i.e., spin off or divest). Portfolio management is fundamental to new product success. But it s not as easy as it first seems. 3- Project portfolio management: An initiative, in the simplest sense, is a body of work with: A specific (and limited) collection of needed results or work products. A group of people who are responsible for executing the initiative and use resources, such as funding. A defined beginning and end. Managers can group a number of initiatives into a portfolio that supports a business segment, product, or product line. These efforts are goal-driven; that is, they support major goals and/or components of the organization's business strategy. Managers must continually choose among competing initiatives (i.e., manage the organization's investments), selecting those that best support and enable diverse business goals (i.e., they diversify investment risk). They must also manage their investments by providing continuing oversight and decision-making about which initiatives to undertake, which to continue, and which to reject or discontinue. PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE Portfolio Management software can help to make a project manager s life much easier and more professionally rewarding. More importantly, integrating portfolio management software can help an organization to align its project workload to meet its strategic goals, while making the best use of limited resources. Typical attributes of projects being analyzed include each project's total expected cost, consumption of scarce resources expected timeline and schedule of investment, expected nature, magnitude and timing of benefits to be realized, and relationship or interdependencies with other projects in the portfolio. In general, the value of utilizing a portfolio management approach to managing investments is as follows: 1- Improved Resource Allocation: Too often today, low value projects, or projects in trouble, squeeze scarce resources and do not allow more valuable projects to be executed. True portfolio management on an organizationwide basis requires prioritization of work across all of the departments. In addition to more effectively allocating PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT BENEFITS labor, non-labor resources can be managed in the portfolio as well. 2- Improved Scrutiny of Work: Everyone has pet projects that they want to get done. Portfolio management requires work to be approved by all the key stakeholders. The proposed work is open to more scrutiny since managers know that when work is approved in one area, it removes funding for potential work in other areas. ISQT Copyright

10 3- Less Ambiguity in Work Authorization. The portfolio management planning process provides criteria for evaluating work more consistently. This makes it easier to compare work on an apples-to-apples basis and do a better job in ensuring that the authorized work is valuable, aligned and balanced. Utilizing a portfolio management process removes any clouds of secrecy on how work gets funded and increases openness of the authorization process 4- Improved Alignment of the Work. In addition to making sure that only high priority work is approved, portfolio management also results in the work being aligned. All portfolio management decisions are made within the overall context of the department's strategy and goals. In the IT department, portfolio management provides a process for better translating business strategy into technology decisions. 5- Improved Balance of Work. In financial portfolio management, one have to make sure that the resources are balanced appropriately between various financial instruments such as stocks, bonds, real estate, etc. Business portfolio management also looks to achieve a proper balance of work. 6- Enhanced Communication and Increased Collaboration. In many organizations today, functional departments do not communicate well with their peer departments or even within their own groups. Portfolio management requires an ongoing dialog. For example, if the portfolio is organization-wide, the heads of the departments will need to communicate effectively. PITFALLS IN PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT IMPLEMENTATION The reality is that most organizations have a great deal to do to make portfolio management work for them. Meaningful portfolio management standards and usable software applications have been painfully slow to emerge. In addition, several pitfalls often derail implementation efforts. Here are four of the biggest: 1- Lack of Ownership: Managing a portfolio is the responsibility of executives and this is a message that does not always get driven home. Portfolio management provides the crucial linkage of project work with strategy and ultimately the enabler of that strategy. It is not just another level of tactical project management. Executives have to take ownership, get firmly involved and be supportive. 2- Ineffective Process: In the same way as projects need some form of process to facilitate successful execution, a portfolio requires a structured methodology for establishing oversight procedures, prioritizing projects, balancing resource capacity and demand, and optimizing project funding, scoping, integration, sequencing and resourcing for strategic value. Portfolio management is a discipline. 3- Mismatch with Maturity: Often lost in the conversations about project prioritization frameworks and strategic alignment is the simple fact that without solid planning and tracking at the individual project level, portfolio management can never achieve its primary goals. Proper portfolio management needs proper project management. 4- Misalignment with Culture: Portfolio management, like project management, is scalable. It has to be designed to fit the organization s culture and the way in which decisions are made and work gets done. Misaligning the intensity of portfolio information needs, analysis and control with a organization s culture is a guaranteed showstopper. Each activity should not only deliver real value it has to be widely supported. CONCLUSION Portfolio management is primarily known for prioritizing prospective projects, but its functions also include accelerating, decelerating, or terminating ongoing projects. The challenge to any portfolio manager goes well beyond tracking all of the projects in the portfolio. The portfolio manager must know how to align multiple projects in the portfolio to jointly meet organization goals. Further, every portfolio manager has a need to flow better projects through the organization faster than with current approaches. One key to performance is to learn how to balance a project portfolio based upon factors that are vital to an organization s short term and long term health. Portfolio Management is a systematic way of including different views of risk in decision making process and its benefits can easily be recognized across most organizations, regardless of size or industry. The process of portfolio management includes evaluating, prioritizing, and selecting new projects and ensuring that ISQT Copyright

11 both long-term and short-term needs of the organization are met through a diversity of project investments. As described following the practices of portfolio management throughout the organization helps to ensure that only the most valuable work is approved and managed across the entire organization. The key is to ensure that management understands and continually evaluates the risk-return position of both their organization s assets and new investment opportunities to create the most value in the long-term. While investment decisions should include the strategic concerns and management perspectives that pushed the organization to initially investigate a given investment option, a risk-return quantitative analysis ensures that management will neither overpay for the potential strategic gain nor underestimate the potential risks of any new investment. APPENDIX - CASE STUDY WITH EXAMPLES A case study on portfolio management implementation with examples of usage, Example 1: In an organization, when we first evaluate the portfolio of work, we may find that our projects are focused too heavily on cost cutting, and not enough on increasing revenue. We might also find that we cannot complete our strategic projects because we are spending too many resources supporting our old legacy systems. Portfolio management provides the perspective to categorize where we are spending resources and gives us a way to adjust the balance within the portfolio as needed. Example 2: The Marketing Division is making the best decisions for Marketing, and the Finance Division is making the best decisions for Finance. However, when all the plans are put together, they do not align into an integrated whole, and, in fact, they are sometimes at odds. We cannot perform portfolio management within a vacuum. If we practice portfolio management at the top of our organization, all departments will need to collaborate on an ongoing basis. If we are practicing portfolio management within a service department like IT, portfolio management will force collaboration between and among IT and the other client departments. REFERENCES [1] Book named Portfolio management in practice written by Christine Brentani published by Elsevier Ltd, 2004 [2] Handbook of portfolio management edited by Frank J. Fabozzi published by Frank J.Fabozzi Associates,1998 and Portfolio management written By S. Kevin and published by Prentice-Hall of India Pvt Ltd, 2006 [3] 'Real Alignment: Portfolio Management Capabilities allow organizations to better control and manage assets by Pennypacker.J, Sepate.P, Projects@work, 2003 [4] BIOGRAPHY Sindhu is involved in design, development, testing and maintenance of software projects. Most recently, she did a project on Project Portfolio Management Tool and very much interested and likes to contribute to this field. She did her Master of Science in Software Systems from Birla Institute of Science and Technology, Pilani (BITS) and her Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science of Engineering from Tamilnadu College of Engineering, Coimbatore. ISQT Copyright