With the Thinking Portfolio project portfolio, Retta received a complete package with reasonable lifecycle costs 

 For Retta, the starting point for the acquisition of the Thinking Portfolio was the need to develop project processes. Among other things, they wanted to improve project reporting so that data from different projects could be compared. To allow uniform reporting, the projects had to have a similar structure. This development was necessary since, although the individual projects went well, it was sometimes challenging to see the big picture, says Jussi Rintakoski, Head of PMO at Retta. 

-From a resourcing point of view, we didn’t know how all our people were allocated or how they were going to be allocated. It also took too much time to predict the finances of the projects as a whole. Information on how much money could be spent on developments was not readily available. This was the basis on which we started to develop the process. 

Once it was clear what we wanted to manage, it was time to think about the tools we would use to do it. Retta used Excel-based reporting and portfolio compilation data. Of the various options, the Thinking Portfolio project portfolio was chosen because it seemed to be a relatively complete package for the purpose at a reasonable cost. The review group also included a person who had good experience of using the Thinking Portfolio from a previous job. 

-Last year we signed a contract and within a month we had the first version. We immediately saw that it supports our process very well.  

 Thinking Portfolio helps to find synergies between different development areas 

The project portfolio serves Retta’s development portfolio, which is divided into four different development areas: enterprise architecture, roadmap management, Development Board and development projects. For example, business architects can use the portfolio to find out what’s coming up and find synergies between different initiatives and projects, which help to pool resources to achieve common goals. The roadmap management support functions also bring ideas to the portfolio, making them visible and allowing their implementation and resourcing to be planned in relation to the overall picture.  

The Coordination Team prepares a portfolio of projects for presentation to the Development Board, which considers the prioritisation and continuation of projects based on the recommendations prepared in advance. 

In Retta’s project portfolio, the focus has been kept strictly on managing the development portfolio and, in the case of projects, on resourcing. The development portfolio contains only annual key figures, more detailed project-specific budget tracking has not been included in the portfolio, even though the portfolio would allow it. The handling of the budget and forecasting package is made even smoother by including ideas in the portfolio, i.e. not only projects, but also all known project ideas. 

-From the portfolio, we can see, for example, future plans for resources and we can suggest which projects make sense to implement and in what order in terms of resourcing. 

 Project managers can handle a project portfolio with just a few minutes’ work per month 

The user experience of the portfolio has been positive. Understanding the big picture has been interesting for users. Ideally, project portfolio management does not take project managers many minutes a month. From a business management perspective, the portfolio brings clarity and transparency to what is going on and what can be implemented in the future. The implementation of resource plans through the reporting of working time is also of interest and historical data helps in the resourcing of new projects. 

-The Thinking Portfolio time tracking is a good tool. It’s great to have both planned and realised hours in the same tool. We’ve already seen how we could fix our plans. From here we can also directly account for investment related work on fixed assets, it is a relief to be able to export these entries for accounting purposes. 

Thinking Portfolio visualises projects and the bigger picture 

The visual appearance of the portfolio has been praised in Retta, not only because it has made all kinds of coordination much easier. With a portfolio, you no longer have to think about what to do on each project, but the portfolio guides you by providing you with the tools you need to manage the project. There is no longer any need to maintain various scattered lists, documents and reports. 

– The portfolio is a nice visualisation of both the project and the bigger picture. Traffic lights are a good source of information that can be used to identify potential problems and help you make decisions to solve them. The timeline allows you to see what’s happening and when. Instead of preparing several Power Points in different business areas, we now have a ready-made roadmap from Thinking Portfolio’s portfolio. 

– The initial view of the portfolio alone, a list of projects, is very informative and can be customised to be viewed from many different perspectives. The management of resources is very good, as is the financial side, i.e. how the actual and estimated costs are distributed on an annual basis.  The portfolio is also an umbrella with links to all the information related to the projects.  

Jussi Rintakoski

Head of PMO
Retta