Task: Consolidate Benefits and Revenue Realization
Consolidate and validate data relative to benefits and revenue realization to drive quality decisions by portfolio stakeholders.
Disciplines: Product Portfolio Management
Extends: Consolidate Benefits and Revenue Realization
Purpose
  • To ensure follow-up on the realization of expected benefits and revenues on which the portfolio investment decisions are made
  • To adjust investment decisions based on changes to the expected contributions
Relationships
RolesPrimary Performer: Additional Performers:
Outputs
    Main Description

    Collect, validate, and aggregate all required portfolio decision support information, ensuring that all data related to expected benefits and revenues is current and available across all dimensions of the portfolio, driving reporting and analysis steps carried out during the task of monitoring the portfolio, and conducting reviews.

    The data gathered and validated is relevant to the following and all authorized components currently in execution within the portfolio:

    • Expected benefits, savings, and cost reductions
    • Actual and projected revenues
    • Industry and market segment revenue projections
    • Currency conversion gains or losses
    • Benefits or revenues probabilities, dependencies, and risks
    • Benefits or revenues planned and target realization date
    • Changes to business cases (cash flow projections and probabilities)
    • Portfolio metrics and measures (return on investment (ROI), internal rate of return (IRR), and net present value (NPV))
    • Project or program health and indicators
    • Project schedule and cost compared to the plan

    Use supporting data review cycles while monitoring and controlling your portfolio. These cycles include daily team status and assignments, weekly project updates, monthly product reviews, and quarterly executive reviews. The collection and aggregation of data (in support of those distinct but connected cycles) are ongoing processes that produce specific deliverables and reports at particular points in time of the overall portfolio review cycle.

    The revenue and benefits information is typically reviewed during quarterly portfolio reviews, but it is collected continuously across the several cycles.

    Steps
    Identify and validate sources of required benefits or revenues data

    An important factor that drives the quality of the information is capturing inputs from the right sources. In the case of benefits and revenues information, that can include a support system (such as accounting, financial or marketing) or a specific stakeholder (such as product or project manager, financial manager, or marketing lead). Alternatively, information can be collected across several external activities, such as conferences, industry briefings, and so on.

    The first step to develop a data infrastructure that will drive quality decisions is to understand what is the most accurate source for the desired data or the system of records for a particular information. With the origin of the information validated, it is equally important to communicate these sources to all portfolio stakeholders to avoid the proliferation of multitude of database, spreadsheets, or other repositories for the same information.

    Execute data collection procedures

    Depending on the type and source of the required data, this step involves the following activities:

    • Running data exports, extracts, or reports from various source systems
    • Conducting interviews with specific stakeholders (internal and external)
    • Attending industry seminars and conferences
    • Conducting customer events
    • Analyzing market trending database
    • Consolidating detailed input to the required level to support particular portfolio review cycles (most likely quarterly and yearly)
    Validate accuracy and completeness of data

    As the required data is captured and fed into the various portfolio review and analysis cycles, conduct quality and completeness checks to ensure that all data is current, representative, and complete. Those data checks can take the form of automated data validation scripts, process or data spot checks, and peer audits and reviews.

    Produce required reports and analysis
    Based on the standard formats (such as financial, schedule, timelines, resources, risks, etc.) that are pre-defined for each stakeholder group, produce the required reports and submit to stakeholders.
    Key Considerations
    Inputs to consider are internal and external source systems, as well as the portfolio stakeholders.