IT Investment Governance & Engagement
The Project Portfolio Performance (P3) team is key in implementing and using the IT Governance Framework which includes oversight and portfolio management of all major IT investments.
IT investment governance, along with project and portfolio management maturity, are critical for ensuring business and IT alignment, and prioritizing agency-specific and enterprise investment decisions. Senior IT Portfolio Managers (SIPMs) work with agencies to ensure IT decision-making supports long-term agency and enterprise business strategies. This is accomplished through the following activities:
IT Investment Governance Consultation
IT Governance is a set of processes organizations use to align their IT practices with their business strategies. As part of these IT governance processes, decision-makers select and prioritize the IT investments to achieve the organization’s goals. IT governance is comprised of these focus areas:
- Strategic alignment with business
- Value delivery
- Risk management
- Resource management
Portfolio Management
Portfolio management ensures an organization selects and prioritizes projects to achieve its business goals. SIPMs review proposed agency IT projects to ensure they align with agency and enterprise objectives, ensure project goals and benefits are clearly identified, and confirm agency sponsorship and governance are in place to support project decision-making. SIPMs continue to monitor projects within the State of Oregon’s enterprise
PPM Tool to ensure they are managed appropriately, and benefits are realized.
Agency Maturity Assessment
The State Chief Information Officer (CIO) is responsible for overseeing all state government information and telecommunications technology. Part of this responsibility includes developing awareness of agency maturity in IT governance, project management practices and project oversight experience. As the complexity of an investment increases, so does the required level of project management experience and rigor. As the agency maturity increases, the required level of EIS oversight can be reduced. Each year, EIS conducts an Agency Maturity Assessment for all State of Oregon agencies. The resulting agency’s score is considered when determining the level of oversight required for projects initiated by the agency.
Agency Agile Maturity Evaluation
The Agency Agile Maturity Evaluation is a tool designed to help Executive Branch agencies, boards and commissions in the State of Oregon evaluate their maturity with agile methodologies. The evaluation covers six critical categories: Organizational Culture, Previous Experience, Environment and Technology, Organizational Flexibility, Training and Assistance, and Commitment to User Research and Human-centered Design. Agencies will be asked to complete this evaluation annually. The resulting scores will help an agency understand their agile maturity and highlight areas of continued growth and readiness to embark on agile projects. EIS will make a determination whether to offer incremental gating based on an agency’s agile maturity.
IT Project Prioritization Consultation
Every two years agencies identify the major IT initiatives that will need funding as part of their agency biennial budget. Agencies must provide information about these IT investments through to their SIPM. SIPMs advise agencies on the IT project prioritization process and support the process by conducting review of agency materials and providing analysis and confirmation of project scoring.
Additional information on the IT project prioritization process, along with templates and forms can be found
here.