Project Portfolio Management and cartography for digital governance

Digital governance is a matter of knowledge, anticipation and adjustment, to keep in line with strategic direction. When piloting the "IS ship", the insight provided by mapping is key, and the vision of projects provided by Project Portfolio Management is indispensable. Bringing the two together - projects and IS mapping - is a formidable asset for digital governance. Let's explore why bringing maps and projects together will help you in your digital transformation.

The descriptive power of a map

To get to a new destination, your first instinct will be to consult a map. A map allows you to consider your options for getting from point A to point B. A map is a powerful visualization tool. A map allows you to quickly and easily consider all possible routes, from the most direct to the longest.

Can you imagine having to do it in words? To put into words all the possible paths you could take to get from point A to point B, as in this schematic view. The combinatorial aspect makes the exercise tedious and the result difficult to exploit.

And the larger and more track-rich your territory, the more possibilities you increase... and the greater the descriptive power of your map, compared with putting it into words.

The power of an integrated project map

What if this map not only gave you the current situation, but also the future? The map with new routes and new points? You can consider new options for getting from point A to point B.

Because when you decide to go to point B, the situation you consulted at the start will no longer be the one you'll encounter if you're in a changing environment. The shortest route at the start will not necessarily be the most relevant when you're on your way (this is the promise of the Waze service, which constantly recalculates the itinerary to take account of changes in traffic, roadworks, etc.).

Those familiar with project management will note the similarity with the Pert network representation of a project.

From territory to dynamic Information System map

Now imagine that the map doesn't represent a territory, but your information system.

Imagine that each point corresponds to :

a digital application or service
a business theme (HR, finance, production, etc.)
a strategic objective
a server

Or imagine that each link corresponds to :

A data stream
A network
A business interface

A tool to help you understand the possibilities of your Information System.

And if all these data are structured according to the principles of the physical urbanization of a territory with a land use plan, with zones, with neighborhoods, with blocks, ...

So you have a formidable information system mapping tool for navigating your digital assets.

Change of view, from a business vision to an infrastructure vision, from a process vision to a data flow vision.

A projected vision of your information system

What if we went even further? What if you could visualize the future?

What if your information system mapping not only described the situation to date, but also the situation to come? The situation that will be created by digital projects?

Because if there's one area that's constantly evolving, it's information systems.

Imagine, then, that the yellow dots and dashed lines are projects!

The visualization of your information system is enhanced by the future! What's possible now and what's possible in the future. All this by superimposing on the map existing digital services and digital services in the project phase.

What a wonderful tool for digital governance!
What a fantastic tool for anticipating needs!
What a fantastic tool for dialogue with business managers to discuss their needs!

It's all the challenges of an interface between the world of cartography and the world of projects.

Why combine PPM and IS mapping?

What both approaches have in common is their purpose:

Project Portfolio Management aims to align resources, deliverables and deadlines with strategic objectives.
IS urbanization aims to organize IS transformation by aligning digital services with the organization's needs and expectations.

In order to converge towards this common goal, Project Portfolio Management and Information System Mapping meet at a number of points:

The Project: the link between urbanization and the project portfolio. The aim of an IT project is to deliver and put into production a digital service that will enhance or reinforce the information system.
Organization: IT projects serve the company's various departments and mobilize the organization's resources. IS urbanization organizes digital services for the company's various departments.
Strategic objectives: the aim of urbanization is to ensure that existing and future IS responses are properly aligned with these objectives. And for the target to be reached, it's the projects that will enable us to meet those needs.

The players: whether on the business side or the IT side, whether they drive the need or build the solution, they are brought together by the projects.
The chosen, the constrained and the opportunistic: what might seem like an oddity in this list, reflects the double flow between the two approaches:

Project Portfolio Management brings the list of new requests to the cartography, which are then "projected" onto the "Plan d'Occupation des Sols" to assess overall consistency.
IS urbanization brings to the PPM constrained projects highlighted by obsolescence, technical debt, decommissioning and interdependence between applications.
And the opportunities offered by technology and the expansion of functional coverage are at the crossroads of these flows.

Project Portfolio Management and IS mapping: no salvation without tools

PPM and IS Mapping share large volumes and a wealth of data. While "pilot" approaches using office automation tools can demonstrate the benefits of these approaches, it's not long before you need to switch to a tool.

When your information system comprises hundreds of applications, with all the data associated with flow, infrastructure, processes, business, etc., it's easy to see why a dedicated tool is needed.

The challenge of volume and the need for exploration in projects also lead to the use of dedicated project portfolio management software.

And if you want to bring these two approaches into dialogue, or even better, superimpose the two views, the tools become indispensable.

Manage common data flows, enrich IS mapping repositories and vice versa.