Strategic Program vs. Program
Programs in a Portfolio
- These are collections of related projects managed together to achieve benefits and control not available from managing them individually.
- Managing this way will help improve efficiency, resource sharing, and risk management.
- Examples: A set of IT infrastructure upgrades, HR employee onboarding and training, customer support contact center improvement, finance cost optimization.
Strategic Programs
- High-impact programs that are explicitly designed to execute key parts of strategic initiatives to achieve an organization’s strategic goals.
- They enable organizations to drive business transformation, growth, innovation, or competitive advantage.
- Examples: A digital transformation initiative, global market expansion, AI-driven product innovation, net-zero carbon emissions, omnichannel customer experience transformation.
Key differences
|
|
Programs |
Strategic Programs |
|
Focus |
Operational or tactical goals |
Strategic business outcomes |
|
Alignment |
May or may not align to strategy |
Always aligned with strategic objectives |
|
Scope & Impact |
Varies, usually smaller scale |
Broad, enterprise-wide impact |
|
Priority & Visibility |
Can be low to medium |
High priority and executive visibility |
|
Funding & Sponsorship |
Departmental or functional |
Executive and strategic-level backing |
|
Licensing |
SPM Standard |
SPM Pro |
How to identify?
- If a program contributes directly to a strategic goal (ex: grow revenue by 20%, expand globally, or lead in AI by 2026), it's likely strategic.
- If it focuses more on improving how work is done or running the business better, it's a program within the portfolio.
'Program' and ‘Strategic Program’ tables
Program table name: pm_program
Strategic program table name: sn_align_core_program
Program is available in PPM and customers have been using it for years. Program houses both projects and demands. Multiple programs roll up to a portfolio.
Since SPW supports hybrid planning while aligning with strategy, we created a new table ‘Strategic Program’. Strategic program rolls up to the initiatives which is associated with strategic priorities of the organization. Strategic programs can be tied to any planning item type, i.e. project/ epic/ demand/ produce idea/ custom planning item. This new table will give us flexibility to enhance by adding new fields and logic as needed as opposed to enhancing the traditional Program table as many customers are already using it. We intend to support financial planning for strategic programs so that customers can view the financial roll ups from the planning items and also do the funding activities top-down in the future.
Which table & lens should I use to manage my programs?
- If you are already using PPM programs and portfolios, then start using the project program lens. You will be able to plan the programs on the roadmap and view the hierarchy of programs and projects. You can realize the value of portfolio plans immediately.
- However, if you are a new customer to SPM or you want to manage strategic programs, I recommend reviewing the strategic program and initiative tables and seeing if it meets your needs for planning. This approach will help you to take advantage of achieving strategic alignment and the enhancements we are planning in future, especially financials.
