Abstract
Information Technology Portfolio Management (ITPfM) greatly improves the value and contribution that IT makes to the business by aligning IT investments with business needs. ITPfM provides information on the likely return on investment, areas for reducing risk, setting priorities, and scheduling projects. Enterprise Architecture (EA) is a comprehensive framework for the management and alignment of an organization’s IT assets, people, operations, and projects with organizational goals. The ultimate aim of the EA and ITPfM integration is to replace the IT portfolio with a business performance improvement portfolio. The most profound outcome of an integrated approach is a structured process to balance demand for projects with supply of IT resources. This article addresses the twin models, financial and IT portfolio models and what approach the EA should adopt to support the development of business cases for investments in ongoing IT programs and new development projects. The most common mistake EAs make in supporting business case preparation, is adopting a financial portfolio model approach, which does not support their efforts. This article advances the argument that EAs would position themselves best by adopting the ITPfM model. The premise for this argument is that most IT projects cannot easily match high yielding projects which easily pass the formal-rational appraisal hurdle.
Journal of Enterprise Architecture