6 PPM Tools For Project Portfolio Managers (With Tips)

Project portfolio management allows organisations to prioritise and manage different projects with the aim to analyse the potential return and meet their financial requirements. Project portfolio managers may use a variety of tools to help organisations make strategic decisions and optimise projects. Learning about such tools can help you determine projects that are worth pursuing and achieve organisational goals. In this article, we define PPM tools, share a list of useful tools and provide a few tips to help you efficiently use them. 

What are PPM tools?  

PPM tools are software and tools that project portfolio managers use to ensure effective project planning and coordinate various activities associated with project management. A portfolio may contain multiple projects with different goals. You can use these tools to determine the project that aligns the most with the objectives of the organisation. Portfolio management tools can be useful for tracking the progress of each project.

As a project manager, you can use these tools to define priorities and allocate resources to the most important projects. PPM software and tools can help you handle and execute multiple projects in a specific period of time. These tools can be useful in various industries such as construction, finance, health care, automotive and information technology. You can use PPM software to create in-depth documentation of the project budget and avoid possible issues that may happen during the project. 

6 tools for project portfolio managers

Here are a few software and tools to help you optimise the entire project portfolio management process: 

1. Microsoft Project

Microsoft Project helps project managers perform a variety of tasks such as scheduling, assigning and tracking projects. Project managers can use this tool to manage business portfolios. They can transform the data into insights and comprehensive project reports. Many professionals consider it reliable due to its visual and interactive user interface. With the help of this PPM software, project portfolio managers can focus on the visibility, priority and optimisation of each project. Here are some key features you may find in Microsoft project:

• helpful tools to improve the effectiveness of collaboration
• project timeline view with interactive appearance.
• quick prioritisation of projects and tasks
• creation of project schedules and plans
• useful in tracking the time and managing existing resources

2. KeyedIn

KeyedIn is another useful tool that allows project portfolio managers to improve the decision-making process and ensure success for the organisation. KeyedIn can help in taking the agile principles that help in improving the execution of the projects and allow managers to apply those principles to make better portfolio decisions.

This tool focuses on growing and scaling project portfolio management by implementing result-driven management operations. With the help of this software, you can improve the entire project execution process and help your team become more productive. Here are some key features of KeyedIn: 

• helps in managing dynamic projects and tasks
• provides a roadmap to manage project portfolios
• allows you to study the project management process through portfolio insights and financial tracking
• helps in addressing customer requirements and queries 
• offers good visibility and control into projects
• helps in streamlining projects and informing about the best possible decision to make

3. Bubble PPM 

Bubble PPM is software that helps in optimising project management operations and achieving long-term project goals. The features of this tool can help in planning, initiating and delivering innovative ideas into project management. Many PPM professionals find this software a one-stop shop for project portfolio management.

A project page or project timeline in Bubble PPM contains all the tools and options associated with project management. The tool offers various features for strategic planning, portfolio management and resource management. Here are the key features of Bubble PPM software: 

• offers multiple project-tracking tools 
• provides a comprehensive dashboard for the portfolios
• helps in getting a real-time overview of portfolios
• helps in improving the return on project investments
• ensures efficient and reliable project delivery

4. Acuity PPM 

Project portfolio managers often use Acuity PPM software to manage portfolios and make strategic business decisions. You can use the Acuity PPM tool to track the project progress or performance and report or inform senior leaders about the status of the portfolio. You can visualise the timing and scheduling of each project to ensure better organisation.

Project portfolio managers can use this tool to analyse possible risks associated with a project and select the best project to add value to the portfolio. Here are some other features of Acuity PPM software: 

• allows you to track multiple milestones and project deadlines
• provides insights and analytics tools to improve the decision-making process
• offers resources and management tools such as change management, resource management and budget management

5. Planisware

Planisware is a project portfolio management software that many businesses use to plan projects and make strategic decisions. It provides a variety of resources for strategic portfolio management and project controls. With the help of Planisware, project managers can quickly share the comprehensive view of a project with all team members. It can be a great tool for IT business processes, financial management and product development and engineering. Here are the key features of Planisware: 

• provides different parameters that help in shaping strategies according to the requirements
• helps in monitoring project progress and minimise project delays
• improves project functionality and performance
• helps in assessing the value of each project and determining priorities
• allows transforming strategies and plans into portfolio forms
• helps in delegating tasks to the team members

6. Planview AdaptiveWork

Formerly known as Clarizen, Planview AdaptiveWork offers cloud-based project portfolio management features to help businesses manage multiple projects simultaneously. Project portfolio managers can use this PPM software to efficiently track and manage projects. Planview AdaptiveWork allows you to prioritise tasks, plan client projects and automate workflows.

You can analyse the capacity and demand of the organisation for better project planning. This tool can also allow you to utilise resources and centralise work across projects. Here are a few other features of Planview AdaptiveWork that can help project portfolio managers: 

• tools for capacity management and resource management
• dashboards and reports
• a cloud-based management system
• real-time data collection
• ability to track the total expense of the project
• document management tools

Tips to use project portfolio management tools

The tools and software listed above can help you collect and analyse business data for the portfolio, make strategic decisions and meet the financial goals of the organisation. Each tool may have some special features allowing you to select one as per your requirements. By reviewing a few tips and advice, you can efficiently use these tools and improve the process of project portfolio management. Here are some helpful tips you can consider during the PPM process:  

• Set a goal: Setting a goal before initiating a project can allow you to determine the target and plan strategies to achieve them.
• Link relevant projects: Using PPM software to link multiple projects in the portfolio can provide a clear idea of how one project may affect the other projects in the portfolio. 
• Set smaller milestones: Creating small milestones and setting deadlines can make it easier for the management team to achieve short-term goals.
• Prioritise projects: Setting dependencies for prioritising the projects can allow you to determine the value of each project and mark projects based on their priorities. 
• Track individual progress: Tracking the workload of team members can help in assessing their individual progress and improve the overall productivity of the team.