Difference between Programs and Portfolios
Both program and portfolio are used to group individual projects together, however they have distinct functionalities.
A Program is an entity on its own and it is managed like a project. It has its own set of documents, its own status report and its own budget that need to be tracked and presented to stakeholders. Any given project can only be part of a single program.
Portfolios are just like tags that group projects together under a unified view and with combined metrics. Projects can be member of multiple portfolios.
Practical example of portfolios are:
- Projects of the same department/division/customer
- Projects for a specific vertical (ex. Infrastructure, Application, Supply Chain)
- Projects for specific sponsor
When to use one vs the other?
If you need to present a status report on a weekly basis or the budget is tracked at the program level, a Program is more appropriate.
If you want to have a unified view of a specific group of projects, then a portfolio is a simpler option.
