Information technology enterprise manager and product portfolio manager application module

• US 20050137920A1
• Filed: 12/22/2003
• Published: 06/23/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: BladeLogic Incorporated (KKR & Co., Inc.)
• Original Assignee: ITM Software Corp. (KKR & Co., Inc.)
• Inventors: O'Connor, Stephen J., Niermann, Thomas M.
• Granted Patent: US 8,549,036 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06313 Resource planning in a project environment

Abstract

This document discusses, among other things, an information technology (IT) enterprise manager system. In one example, the system includes data groups organized into IT Services, IT Resources, and IT Consumers data groups. The IT Resources data group may include one or more of an IT Applications data group, an IT Assets data group, an IT Staff Data group, and an IT Vendors data group. The IT Consumers data group may include one or both of a Business Processes data group and an IT Clients data group. Information in one data group may use a link to other information in another data group. In one example, the system provides tools and methods for managing a portfolio IT projects through various phases of their lifecycles, such as during project definition, establishing a business case for the project, project design and implementation, and/or project wrap-up. For example, the system may provide user interface displays and report generation that permit the user to compare different projects, such as using business value, probability of success and/or other factors for performing the comparison.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented information technology (IT) enterprise management system comprising:

a computer-implemented relational database, the database including data entities organized into data groups, the data groups comprising;

an information technology (IT) services data group;

an IT resources data group;

an IT consumers data group; and

an IT projects data group, including IT projects; and

a project portfolio management application module.

2. The system of claim 1, in which the project portfolio management application module includes a project prioritization module, and an project analysis module.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising a project portfolio management application module that addresses phases of a lifecycle of at least one of the IT projects.

4. The system of claim 3, in which the phases addressed by the project portfolio application module include a project definition phase, a business case phase, and a design and implement phase.

5. The system of claim 4, in which the phases addressed by the project portfolio application module further include a wrap-up phase.

6. The system of claim 5, in which the project portfolio application module stores at least one of client feedback and lessons learned about the IT project.

7. The system of claim 4, in which the project portfolio application module includes at least one of an initial project scope definition module and a project stakeholder identification module.

8. The system of claim 4, in which the project portfolio application module includes at least one of a project alignment module, a project expected value module, a project cost/benefit module, and a project approval tracking module.

9. The system of claim 8, in which the project cost/benefit module includes a budget module to track a budget of one of the IT projects and an actual expenditures module to track actual expenditures against the budget.

10. The system of claim 4, in which the project portfolio application module includes at least one of a project schedule module and a project user interface module.

11. The system of claim 10, in which the project portfolio application module includes at least one resource allocation module to allocate resources to one of the IT projects.

12. The system of claim 1, in which the project portfolio application module includes at least one questionnaire.

13. The system of claim 1, in which the project portfolio application module includes a project expected value module to establish a business value of one of the IT projects and a probability of success of the one of the IT projects.

14. The system of claim 1, in which the project portfolio application module includes a project prioritization user interface display that includes at least one of cost/benefit information, return on investment information, and business value information for at least one of the IT projects.

15. The system of claim 14, in which the project prioritization user interface display is configurable to display prioritizations of one of the IT projects by different organizational units.

16. The system of claim 1, in which the project portfolio application module includes a project analysis user interface display to represent projects on a chart of business value vs. probability of success.

17. The system of claim 16, in which the chart is a bubble chart in which each project is represented by a bubble.

18. The system of claim 17, in which a size of the bubble representing at least one of a total budget expense, a total cost of ownership, a planned expense, a planned capital expense, an actual expense, an actual capital expense, a return on investment (ROI), a total benefit, and a schedule health of the corresponding IT project.

19. A method of managing information technology (IT) for an organization, the method comprising:

receiving and storing information in a computer-implemented relational database; and

organizing the information in data groups in the database, the data groups comprising;

an information technology (IT) services data group;

an IT resources data group;

an IT consumers data group; and

an IT projects data group including information about the IT projects.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising displaying an inventory of the IT projects of the organization using the database.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising displaying a prioritization of the IT projects of the organization using the database.

22. The method of claim 19, further comprising filtering IT projects of the organization using the database.

23. The method of claim 19, further comprising analyzing IT projects of the organization using the database.

24. The method of claim 19, further comprising receiving and storing information from a user for defining an IT project using the database.

25. The method of claim 24, in which the defining the IT project includes at least one of defining an initial scope for the IT project and identifying any stakeholders in the IT project.

26. The method of claim 24, further comprising receiving and storing information from a user for creating a business case for the IT project using the database.

27. The method of claim 26, in which the creating the business case for the IT project includes at least one of:

determining an alignment of the IT project;

determining an expected value of the IT project;

determining a cost/benefit of the IT project; and

tracking approval of the IT project.

28. The method of claim 26, further comprising tracking design and implementation of the IT project using the database.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising receiving and storing information from the user for wrapping up the IT project, including storing in the database at least one of client feedback and lessons learned about the IT project.

30. The method of claim 24, further comprising receiving and storing information from the user for creating a budget for the IT project using the database.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising tracking actual expenditures for the IT project against the budget for the IT project using the database.

32. The method of claim 24, further comprising receiving and storing information from a user for scheduling the IT project using the database.

33. The method of claim 24, further comprising receiving and storing information from the user for allocating resources to the IT project using the database.

34. The method of claim 24, further comprising determining a business value of the IT project and a probability of success of the IT project.

35. The method of claim 24, further comprising displaying at least one of cost/benefit information, return on investment information, and business value information for at least one of the IT projects to assist the user in prioritizing the at least one of the IT projects relative to other IT projects in the organization.

36. The method of claim 35, in which the displaying includes displaying prioritizations of one of the IT projects by different organizational units.

37. The method of claim 24, further comprising displaying IT projects on a chart of business value vs. probability of success.

38. The method of claim 37, further comprising representing each IT project on the chart by a bubble.

39. The method of claim 38, further comprising adjusting a size of the bubble to represent at least one of a total budget expense and a total cost of ownership.

40. A computer-assisted method comprising:

defining at least one IT project, including storing in a computer database information regarding at least one of a type of the IT project, at least one justification of the IT project, and at least one stakeholder in the IT project; and

defining a business case for the IT project, including computing an expected value for the IT project using user-input regarding a business value of the IT project and a probability of success of the IT project, and storing the computed expected value for the IT project in the database.

41. The method of claim 40, in which the computing the expected value includes multiplying a business value score by a probability of success score.

42. The method of claim 40, further comprising determining an impact of the IT project by using a stored link between the IT project and at least one of a business process, an application instance, an application interface instance, an organizational unit, an IT service, an IT staff member, a region/location, and an IT vendor.

43. The method of claim 40, in which the defining the business case for the IT project includes creating an association in the database between the IT project and at least one organizational objective.

44. The method of claim 40, in which the defining the business case for the IT project includes creating an association in the database between the IT project and an quantified expected benefit of the IT project.

45. The method of claim 40, further comprising creating an association in the database between the IT project and information about an approval of the IT project.

46. The method of claim 40, further comprising creating an association in the database between the IT project and information about at least one of a schedule for the IT project, a resource allocation for the IT project, and any actual expenditures for the IT project.

47. The method of claim 46, further comprising storing in the database schedule information for the IT project, wherein the schedule information comprises at least one of a delivery date, a schedule health indicator, any dependencies to another IT project, planned start and end dates, and actual start and end dates.

48. The method of claim 40, further comprising creating an association in the database between the IT project and at least one of stored client feedback information and stored lessons learned information.

49. A computer-assisted method for managing different information technology (IT) projects, the method comprising:

retrieving from a computer-implemented database and displaying names of IT projects;

retrieving from the database and displaying a priority, corresponding to an individual one of the IT projects;

retrieving from the database and displaying an expected value, corresponding to an individual one of the IT projects, the expected value calculated from a business value and a probability of success; and

if any user input regarding prioritization is received, then computing a prioritization of the IT projects using the user input and storing the prioritization in the database.

50. The method of claim 49, further comprising retrieving from the database and displaying an activity state corresponding to an individual one of the IT projects.

51. The method of claim 49, further comprising retrieving from the database and displaying a total budget expense corresponding to an individual one of the IT projects.

52. The method of claim 49, further comprising retrieving from the database and displaying a total benefit corresponding to an individual one of the IT projects.

53. The method of claim 49, further comprising retrieving from the database and displaying a return on investment corresponding to an individual one of the IT projects.

54. The method of claim 49, further comprising retrieving from the database and displaying a business value score corresponding to an individual one of the IT projects, the business value score computed using user input in response to questions related to the business value of the IT project.

55. The method of claim 49, further comprising retrieving from the database and displaying a date by which an individual one of the IT projects is needed.

56. A computer-assisted method for managing different information technology (IT) projects, the method comprising:

retrieving from a computer-implemented database information about different organizational units associated with a particular IT project; and

retrieving and displaying prioritization information, organized by the different organizational units, for the IT project.

57. The method of claim 56, in which the retrieving and displaying prioritization information comprises displaying a priority for the IT project by a particular organizational unit relative to a total number of IT projects pertaining to that organizational unit.

58. A computer-assisted method for managing different information technology (IT) projects, the method comprising:

storing information about the IT projects in a computerized database;

receiving user input specifying a filtering of the IT projects according to at least one of any organizational units associated with the IT projects, any schedule health indicators associated with the IT projects, and any justification category associated with the IT projects; and

filtering the IT projects, for display to the user, using the user input.

59. The method of claim 58, in which the receiving user input further includes receiving user input specifying filtering according to a value range associated with at least one of an IT project one-time cost, an IT project sustaining cost, an IT project total cost that factors in both the IT project one-time cost and the IT project sustaining cost, an IT project benefit, and an IT project return on investment (ROI).

60. A computer-assisted method for managing different information technology (IT) projects, the method comprising:

storing information about the IT projects in a computerized database;

receiving user input specifying a filtering of the IT projects according to at least one of any organizational objectives associated with the IT projects, any business processes associated with the IT projects, any software application instances associated with the IT projects, any hardware assets associated with the IT projects, any IT services associated with the IT projects, any regions associated with the IT projects, and any vendors associated with the IT projects; and

filtering the IT projects, for display to the user, using the user input.

61. A computer-assisted method for managing different information technology (IT) projects, the method comprising:

storing information about the IT projects in a computerized database;

receiving user input specifying a filtering of the IT projects according to at least one of any project managers associated with the IT projects, any IT owners associated with the IT projects, any assigned IT staff associated with the IT projects, any executive sponsors associated with the IT projects, any business owners associated with the IT projects, and any assigned business people associated with the IT projects; and

filtering the IT projects, for display to the user, using the user input.

62. A computer-assisted method for analyzing risk vs. value in information technology (IT) projects, the method comprising:

storing information about IT projects in a computerized database;

computing a business value score for the IT projects;

computing a probability of success score for the IT projects; and

displaying graphical indicators of the IT projects on a chart of business value vs. probability of success.

63. The computer-assisted method of claim 62, further comprising adjusting a visual characteristic of the graphical indicator of a particular IT project to represent a total cost of ownership of the IT project.

64. The computer-assisted method of claim 62, further comprising adjusting a visual characteristic of the graphical indicator of a particular IT project to represent a Total Budget Expense.

65. The computer-assisted method of claim 62, further comprising adjusting a visual characteristic of the graphical indicator of a particular IT project to represent a Planned Expense.

66. The computer-assisted method of claim 62, further comprising adjusting a visual characteristic of the graphical indicator of a particular IT project to represent a Planned Capital Expense.

67. The computer-assisted method of claim 62, further comprising adjusting a visual characteristic of the graphical indicator of a particular IT project to represent an Actual Expense.

68. The computer-assisted method of claim 62, further comprising adjusting a visual characteristic of the graphical indicator of a particular IT project to represent an Actual Capital Expense.

69. The computer-assisted method of claim 62, further comprising adjusting a visual characteristic of the graphical indicator of a particular IT project to represent a Return on Investment (ROI).

70. The computer-assisted method of claim 62, further comprising adjusting a visual characteristic of the graphical indicator of a particular IT project to represent a Total Benefit.

71. The computer-assisted method of claim 62, further comprising adjusting a visual characteristic of the graphical indicator of a particular IT project to represent a schedule health of the IT project.

72. The computer-assisted method of claim 62, further comprising displaying details of a particular IT project upon a user-selection of the graphical indicator representing that particular IT project.