--- sourceDocument: Australia Strategic Portfolio Management sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/it-business-management Release : - australia ft:locale : - en-US ft:publication_title : - Australia Strategic Portfolio Management ft:clusterId : - itbm bundleId : - itbm workflow : - Technology --- # Program Management # Program Management {#ariaid-title1} Release version: Australia Updated September 10, 2026 ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 3 minutes to read Summarize ![AI sparkle icon](https://servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ai-sparkle-icon) Summarized using AI This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete. ## Summary of Program Management The ServiceNow® Program Management application enables you to logically group related projects and demands under a single program entity, facilitating coordinated management that is not possible when projects and demands are handled independently. This capability is essential for managing strategic, multi-project initiatives, typically involving significant budgets and extended timelines. Show full answer Show less ## Key Features * **Program Creation and Structure:** Create programs by adding related projects and demands. Note that a program can be part of only one portfolio and projects or demands can belong to only one program. * **Program-Specific Tasks:** Create tasks essential to the program's completion that fall outside individual project scopes. * **Milestones, Risks, and Issues:** Define key milestones along with anticipated risks and issues at the program level. * **Progress Monitoring:** Track the progress and status of all constituent projects and demands using graphical charts and timelines that include milestones. * **Cost, Resource, and Schedule Tracking:** Aggregate cost plans and track financials, resources, and schedules across the program. * **Program Workbench and Dashboard:** Use the program workbench for detailed views of program components and the PMO dashboard for generating graphical reports and financial insights. * **Approval and Creation Workflow:** Programs follow a strategic approval process starting from initiative planning, business case development, executive approval, and then program creation. This differs from the demand-to-project workflow used for individual projects. * **Enhanced Planning Views:** Programs now have dedicated planning views in the Strategic Planning and Portfolio Planning Workspaces, including prioritization, roadmaps, Kanban boards, and financial planning with no additional setup required. ## Practical Guidance for ServiceNow Customers * Use programs to manage large, strategic initiatives typically exceeding $1M in budget and spanning multiple years and organizational boundaries. * Projects and demands can be linked to programs or directly to portfolios, but they cannot belong to multiple programs or portfolios simultaneously. * Leverage the program workbench and PMO dashboard to gain centralized visibility and control over program progress, finances, and risks. * Follow the recommended strategic approval workflow to ensure programs are properly authorized and aligned with organizational goals before creation. * Utilize the enhanced planning capabilities in relevant workspaces for streamlined program prioritization and management. ## What to Expect By using the Program Management application, you can expect to achieve coordinated oversight of multiple related projects and demands, improved tracking of financials and resources, and a structured approach to managing strategic initiatives. This results in better alignment with organizational objectives, risk mitigation, and streamlined executive reporting. A program helps you to logically group related projects or demands under a single entity. The ServiceNow® Program Management application helps you to manage related projects and demands in coordinated way which is not possible when projects and demands are managed independently. The it_program_manager [role](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/oK21ACshcvfKsTp8cyK2VA#roles-installed-with-PPS-finance__roles_ProgramMgmt) is essential to be able to manage programs. The Program Management application provides the following capabilities to the program manager: * Create a program by adding related projects and demands. * Create tasks specific to the program. These tasks are essential for completion of the program but are outside the scope of projects. * Define key milestones, anticipated risks, and issues for the program. * Monitor the progress and status and of all the projects and demand that are part of the program. Program manager can track the costs, resources, and schedules. When you create a program, consider: * A program can be part of a portfolio or can be a generic standalone program that is not part of any portfolio. * A program cannot be part of multiple portfolios. * A project or demand cannot be part of multiple programs. * You can have projects and demands that can directly be part of a portfolio and not part of a program. The following diagram illustrates how you can implement programs. Figure 1. Program implementation ## Basics of Program Management When you create a program, you can add multiple projects or demands to it. If you have created cost plans for the projects and demands, certain values are rolled up from the cost breakdown of program. At the same time, the risk and issues of the projects and demands are also included with the program. The following diagram illustrates how information in the program is related to the projects and demands that are part of the program. Figure 2. Information population in program Project workbench provides graphical charts to view and monitor the progress of the program and the projects and demands that are part of it. You can also view the progress of a program, projects, and demands against a timeline with the details of milestones and key milestones. The project manager dashboard provides a central location to a program manager to generate different graphical reports of programs and the program financials. ## Creating programs: approval and business case workflow {#c_ProgramManagement__section_program_creation_workflow} Programs in ServiceNow® follow a different creation pattern than projects: Why programs don't typically come from demands : * Demand workflow: demand → approval → convert to project * Program workflow: strategic initiative → executive approval → create program directly * Programs are strategic multi-project containers decided at executive/portfolio level, not operational demands. They represent multi-year transformations such as digital transformation and cloud migration, rather than single deliverables. {#c_ProgramManagement__ul_dsq_mxn_s3c} Recommended program approval workflow : 1. Strategic planning phase: Create Initiative planning item in Strategic Planning for the strategic program 2. Business case development: Attach business case document to Initiative; define scope, budget ($1M+), timeline (2-5 years) 3. Executive approval: Present Initiative with business case to steering committee or executive sponsor for approval 4. Program creation: After approval, create Program record in PPM with reference to approved Initiative 5. Project breakdown: Create constituent projects under the program (these can come from demands) {#c_ProgramManagement__ul_program_workflow} Alternative: Demand-based program creation (if needed) : If your organization requires formal demand intake for programs: 1. Create Demand with Category as Program Request. 2. Attach program business case to Demand. 3. Route through demand approval workflow. 4. After approval, manually create Program (no automatic conversion like demand→project). 5. Link Program to source Demand via reference field. {#c_ProgramManagement__ol_demand_program} Program vs Project decision criteria: * Use Program when: Multi-project initiative, $1M+ budget, 2+ year duration, cross-organizational scope * Use Project when: Single deliverable {#c_ProgramManagement__ul_program_vs_project} Tip: Program management has been enhanced with dedicated planning views in Strategic Planning Workspace and Portfolio Planning Workspace. Programs now automatically receive their own prioritization, roadmap, Kanban, and financial planning views---accessible from the Programs menu with zero setup required. For more information on the new program planning experience, see [Programs enhanced experience in Strategic Planning](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/Ktx3LoCG73G6hCnNT71QFw "Programs enhanced experience provides dedicated program planning views with zero setup. Access program-scoped planning data including Prioritization, Roadmap, Kanban, and Financials views for focused program management without navigating portfolio-wide interfaces.") and [Programs enhanced experience in Portfolio Planning](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/RQNVpw3dL36Bwqp3bqZGxg "Programs enhanced experience provides dedicated program planning views with zero setup. Access program-scoped planning data including Prioritization, Roadmap, and Financials views for focused program management without navigating portfolio-wide interfaces."). * **[Create a program to manage projects and demands](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/xlDtswmmV8wUQ5L0K3abVg)** Create a program to manage related projects and demands. Define the duration, estimated cost, benefits, and ROI to the organization. * **[Program workbench](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/F4FqRk33ySo4L7hSm85Xag)** The program workbench is a central location for viewing details of a program and the projects and demands that are part of the program. * **[Program Dashboard](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/mTbXaMEbrfErF5PsBDwONg)** The PMO dashboard provides a central location to a program manager to generate different graphical reports.