Demand Management as a Success Factor in Project Portfolio Management

Introduction

Demand Management (from now on DM) is the process an organization puts in place to internally collect new ideas, projects and needs during the creation of a Portfolio (from now on PTF). This collection is done internally but should also consider the external market situation and the general Strategy of the Organization. Demand is successful when the final output is useful to prioritize and select a valuable strategic aligned portfolio. The more the process is able to capture the real strategic commitment of the Organization and merge it with the past ongoing activities the more Demand is a success factor in building the correct portfolio and support planning and project management. There are many aspects of this process to take into consideration and this chapter aims to address the many questions about this activity: who should manage the Demand? How could Demand take into consideration the Strategic Direction without frustrating bottom-up new ideas/projects proposal? How the attention on old and new components should be balanced? How should Demand be managed to be aligned with the specific characteristics and requirements of Organizations?