Portfolio, Program and Project Management Using COBIT 5, Part 3

This is the continuation of a series of articles published in COBIT Focus beginning in September 2017. The first article ¹ discussed the approach for mapping COBIT 5 with the Project Management Institute (PMI’s) standards and publication A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge ( PMBOK Guide). The second article discussed the differences between PMI standards and COBIT 5 at a high level. ²

PMI published the standards shown in figure 1 that have been adopted by many organizations. Each of these publications has identified and defined processes for implementing these standards. Each standard has a different number of processes, as shown in the second column of figure 1.

Figure 1—PMI Publications

This article provides a mapping of the portfolio management standards with the COBIT 5 processes. The approach shown in figure 2 was developed to map the PMI standards with COBIT 5 processes.

Figure 2—Approach for Mapping PMI Standards With COBIT 5 Processes

PMI has revised the publications noted with a fourth edition, updating portfolio ³ and program management. ⁴ A sixth edition of PMBOK ⁵ was published in September 2017. However, since this mapping was undertaken prior to these publications, the standards listed in figure 1 are described herein. The changes in new editions shall be discussed subsequently.

Since PMI standards are in depth, there are few gaps in activities. COBIT 5 has not specifically identified these activities, but references them.

Portfolio Management

Portfolio management is the highest level of the organization that is responsible for defining, authorizing and supervising programs and projects. Considering it is the highest level in the organizational structure, it should align programs and projects with the organization’s objectives and strategies. Therefore, the portfolio management processes should include governance processes (Evaluate, Direct and Monitor).

The PMI portfolio management standard identifies 5 different knowledge areas for defining processes:

1. Strategic management
2. Governance management
3. Performance management
4. Communication management
5. Risk management

Portfolio management standards emphasize that organizations need to ensure that their portfolio management processes are defined in alignment with organizational strategy. The standard recommends that organizations categorize processes into 3 groups:

1. Defining processes
2. Aligning processes
3. Controlling and managing processes

PMI’s portfolio management standard ⁶ identifies 16 generic processes for portfolio management in 3 process groups ( figure 3). These processes are interlinked and need to be implemented by considering their interdependencies with the 3 process groups based on the knowledge areas. For example, the knowledge area Governance Management has processes in all 3 process groups since COBIT 5 is a framework for governance of enterprise IT (GEIT). When mapping processes related to governance, one needs to consider knowledge areas. Process groups help establish interdependencies.

Figure 3—Portfolio Management Processes

The portfolio management standard of PMI is for organizations that have multiple portfolios, whereas the primary focus of COBIT 5 is the IT portfolio. Considering this, the effort has been made to map PMI’s processes with those of COBIT 5. Since direct mapping is not possible, the management practices of the process reference model of COBIT 5 was considered. The ISACA publication COBIT 5: Enabling Processes provides a detailed description of processes at activity levels, hence it was used while mapping. The mapping is shown in figure 4.

Figure 4—Portfolio Management Standard and COBIT 5 Process Mapping

The sequence processes are considered based on relevance to the PMI’s process, to which the COBIT 5 process gets mapped. For example, since Defining Strategic Plan directly relates to APO02 Manage Strategy and indirectly relates to EDM 02 Ensure Benefits Delivery, the sequence is not as it appears in PRM of COBIT 5.

Conclusion

Mapping of COBIT 5 with PMI standards is useful in providing assurance that the COBIT 5 framework can be used as a “single integrated framework” across organizations. This is the third article covering a high-level mapping of the portfolio management standard. Future articles will discuss mapping of PMI’s program management standard and project management standard (PMBOK) processes with the COBIT 5 process reference model.

Sunil Bakshi, CISA, CRISC, CISM, CGEIT, ABCI, AMIIB, BS 25999 LI, CEH, CISSP, ISO 27001 LA, MCA, PMP

Is a freelance consultant and visiting faculty member at the National Institute of Bank Management, India. He has worked in IT, IT governance, IS audit, information security and IT risk management. He has 40 years of experience in various positions in different industries.

Eswar Muthukrishnan, CISA, CPISI, MCA, PGDM

Is a freelance consultant with more than 24 years of experience in IT and IT services in the telecommunications industry. He has held roles such as chief information officer and vice president of service delivery of IT and ITES, program management, transition management.

Endnotes

¹ Bakshi, S.; “ Portfolio, Program and Project Management Using COBIT 5,” COBIT Focus, 11 September 2017
² Bakshi, S.; E. Muthukrishnan; “ Portfolio, Program and Project Management Using COBIT 5, Part 2,” COBIT Focus, 2 January 2018
³ Project Management Institute, The Standard for Portfolio Management 4 ^th Edition , USA, 2017
⁴ Project Management Institute, The Standard for Program Management 4 ^th Edition , USA, 2017
⁵ Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) 6 ^th Edition , USA, 2017
⁶ Project Management Institute, The Standard for Portfolio Management, 3 ^rd Edition , USA, 2013