Individual Project, Summary Project, or Project Portfolio?¶

Decision¶

Use an individual project to plan one clearly delimited project. Use a summary project when several projects must be planned operationally together. Use a project portfolio when several projects should be evaluated, prioritized, and analyzed for capacity together.

Individual Project¶

An individual project is the right choice when:

• one project is planned independently

• tasks, subprojects, and resources remain within this project

• no cross-project dependencies must be maintained

• project-related status and target/actual comparison are sufficient

Summary Project¶

A summary project is useful when several projects must be planned or opened together operationally. It requires Rillsoft Project with Rillsoft Integration Server or Rillsoft Cloud and is the basis for multi-user work of several project managers, see Planning as a Team: Multi-User Work and Summary Projects.

Use a summary project when:

• several subprojects of a large project are maintained separately

• project managers plan several connected projects at the same time

• cross-project dependencies are relevant

• dates between projects directly depend on each other

Project Portfolio¶

A project portfolio is useful when several projects are analyzed and controlled together.

Use a portfolio when:

• projects use the same resource pool

• resources must be checked across projects

• project status, priorities, and customers are evaluated together

• management or PMO needs an overview of feasibility and risks

• simulations are required, for example temporarily excluding a project from capacity calculation

Decision Table¶

Related Topics¶

• Build a Project Portfolio

• Control Multiproject Planning

• Portfolio Analysis

• Planning as a Team: Multi-User Work and Summary Projects