Portfolio management continues to take center stage according to ESI International as one of the top trends. In a recently published article on the top 10 trends in project management, a global panel of ESI senior executives and subject matter experts highlighted it’s significance for 2014. With the creation of the new Portfolio Management Professional (PfMP)SM credential from the Project Management Institute’s (PMI)® they expect it to become even more important in 2014 for enterprise project management.
In addition to the importance of the credential, they believe that a driving factor will be that frugal corporations are still tight on spending despite large cash reserves and that there are far more projects than people to work on them. Portfolio management is playing an increasingly important role in helping to pick the most strategic projects with the highest return on investment (ROI). This is a key shift in recent years as more enterprises grow beyond simple project management tools, spreadsheets and home-grown systems to top-down systems that enable executives in IT, New Product Development, Process Excellence, and PMOs (project management offices) to improve portfolio-level visibility and insight. The end result is improved business decision making and agility that includes a holistic approach to cost optimization across the entire organization.