In project management, PPM is project portfolio management software. Project Portfolio Management Software are centralized tools to analyze and collectively manage current or proposed projects based on many key characteristics. The goals of PPM are to determine the optimal resource mix for delivery and to schedule activities to best achieve an organization’s operational and financial goals.
Tracking multiple active projects while staying informed on overall portfolio performance is challenging. Project portfolio management software provides organizations with a high-level, global view regarding the progress and sustainability of multiple projects.
Project portfolio management software combines cloud concepts with an enterprise solution that helps organizations work more efficiently by offering multiple levels of project data. PPM software is used by business and industry leaders, as well as PMOs (Project Management Organizations) to manage project portfolios using data that is rolled up from many different systems into one.
Project portfolio management software was quickly adopted by IT and software development organizations, but has multiple benefits for any type of company or organization, including: consulting agencies, construction companies, human resources departments, financial institutions, marketing and advertising agencies, IT departments as well as other organizations.
Benefits of Using PPM Software
PPM software is a simple way to evaluate business objectives against current and potential projects using key indicators, teamwork and healthy analytical data.
The first decision to make is investing in the right kind of PPM software. After surpassing that initial barrier, managers and PMOs will have no trouble selecting the best projects to pursue in the future.
Robust reporting and analytics allows you to analyze portfolio and project performance for better decision-making.
For organizations taking on a virtual forest of projects, it is imperative not to go into the woods without a compass. An effective PPM software solution leads the way by offering:
- Centralized organizational objectives and goals
- A simple, but highly functional interface
- Applications optimized for collaboration and communication
- Great tools for visualizing and organizing projects
- Robust reporting and analytics
- Flexibility and versatility to meet a wide range of organizational needs and stakeholder demands
The Best PPM Tools
We’ve seen a lot of great project portfolio management software, but these are a cut above the rest. We take an in-depth look at the pros & cons of the following tools in this review:
- Celoxis – https://www.celoxis.com/
Celoxis advanced features address the real-world complexities of managing projects across organizations and functions. It excels at planning, delegation, collaboration, tracking and reporting with great agility and user-friendliness.
- Sciforma – https://go.sciforma.com/
Sciforma is available as an on-premise, hosted, or SaaS system. Sciforma is also fully supported by HTML5 and is accessible from any mobile device.
- Wrike – https://www.wrike.com/
Wrike comes with Gantt charts, calendars, workload view for resource management, custom dashboards and real-time updates. It allows for structuring via folders, projects and tasks and auto-assignment based on task statuses. Wrike suits a wide range of businesses, from finance and tech to creative and advertising.
- Clarizen – https://www.clarizen.com
Clarizen’s work management approach serves to connect the entire work planning and execution lifecycle—from how executives kick off business initiatives; how organizations create plans to support company goals; and how employees collaborate together to realize those objectives.
- Mavenlink – https://www.mavenlink.com/
Mavenlink integrates with many third-party applications, including Google, NetSuite, Hubspot, Workday, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Salesforce, and JIRA. Its Chrome plugin assigns tasks based on emails and its QuickBooks integration syncs with time and projects.