The current state of play of agile project and portfolio management in Irish software organisations

The latest in a series of fora for companies practising Agile and Lean methods was held in NUI Galway on March 7th. The event, focused on leading edge research and practice in agile project and portfolio management, and was attended by over 30 people from companies such as IBM, Lumension, Ericsson, Aró, Fidelity, CSGI, SourceDogg and NUI Galway. Deirdre Giblin (Agile Line Manager, Ericsson) shared the experiences of Ericsson in relation to the project management of large scale agile projects, while Dr. Orla O’Dwyer from the Enterprise Agility research cluster and Roger Sweetman disseminated research findings drawn from an extensive study across eight organisations. Attendees learnt about the project portfolio challenges faced by organisations, such as prioritisation and selection of the right projects, resource allocation and release management, as well as the impact these challenges can have on organisations. The research outlined some key solutions for overcoming these challenges. Attendees also learned about practices for constructing a portfolio of controls and managing control tensions within information systems projects and portfolios. The event adopted a highly interactive format with engaged discussion, and participants also had an opportunity to network before and after the event.