The administration of the City of Turku consists of the Central Administration, headed by the mayor, and five divisions. The Central Administration attends to the preparation and implementation of decision-making for the City Council, the City Board and its sections. In addition to the Mayors, also the Directors of Central Administration Groups and Divisional Directors belong to the Management Group.

The Management Group is tasked with steering the city organization, delineate important matters and to develop the operations and the preparation of decision-making for the Central Administration.

Thinking Portfolio’s references impressed

Since the beginning of 2015, the Turku City Administration has been using Thinking Portfolio’s project portfolio as a tool for development project management. During the procurement stage, the supporting factors for choosing Thinking Portfolio were the tool’s suitability for development programs and the organization, as well as the possibility of customizing its features alongside the evolution of the development programs.

As the responsible person in this case, Strategy and Development Director, Jussi Vira, has been involved in developing the city’s processes, and was therefore part of the final decision-making team on the procurement of the tool. “The experiences of other Thinking Portfolio client organizations were definitely a factor,” Vira says.

“Other cities had had positive experiences with the tool, and it was a solid reference for us.

Organizations that had implemented the application earlier had provided positive feedback, which encouraged us.”

The City of Turku manages all types of development projects with Thinking Portfolio. Currently, the city’s portfolio contains around 500 operational development and IT-oriented projects.

Clear overview has provided additional value to development operations

Portfolio managers are in charge of the accuracy of the data as well as preparing and presenting Thinking Portfolio analyses to project owners and management teams. Jussi Vira has been pleased with the immediately evident additional value that Thinking Portfolio has brought to project management.

“By using a single tool for project portfolio management, we are provided a general view of the development projects of the entire city. In my opinion, this overview has been the most critical benefit the tool has provided us with so far.”

The Project portfolio has been received so positively, that the users have expressed interest in using the tool for other types of development work as well. Another planned expansion is the implementation of Thinking Portfolio as a tool for innovation.

“The users have been pleased with Thinking Portfolio. Overall, it has been great that things have progressed so quickly with the application.

Thanks to these positive experiences, we are discussing other ways of utilizing Thinking Portfolio. The next development step is to incorporate Thinking Portfolio in visualizing innovation.”

The new application is appreciated by its users

Development Manager Sari Hannila, who was also responsible for the definition and implementation project of
Thinking Portfolio for the City of Turku, states that user feedback has been positive and that the users have been pleased with the clarity of the user interface.

“One of our users got acquainted with two portfolio management applications over the summer. Based on their experience, Thinking Portfolio was definitely their tool of choice. It is easy to approach and pleasant and easy to use.

The users have been able to use TP independently after a short orientation. Any initial apprehension is cast aside very quickly.

Using the application will only get easier, as soon as we are able to match the application with our development processes.”

Thinking Portfolio gets ten points for service

Collaboration with Thinking Portfolio’s supplier has been positive, although the initial stages of the definition process could have been a bit clearer.

“We were looking for a bit more clearly defined and stronger approach to the application definition process. By communicating their expectations better, the supplier would have made it easier for us to plan our resource allocation.

During the implementation stage, the supplier exhibited excellent flexibility. Their service-readiness and attitude deserve full marks.”

Contact information:

Jussi Vira,
Strategy and Development Director,
City of Turku

Sari Hannila,
Development Manager,
City of Turku