What it is (plain English)
A structured front door for new work: ideas and requests from across the business are captured, evaluated consistently, and either promoted into projects or parked — so investment decisions are deliberate rather than driven by whoever shouts loudest.
Problems it solves
- Project ideas arriving through back channels with no evaluation.
- No consistent way to compare and prioritize competing investments.
- Good ideas lost; pet projects funded without scrutiny.
- No visibility into the pipeline of potential work.
What must exist first
Platform Core Setup. This is typically the entry point into SPM; a Data Foundation & Quality for portfolios/cost centers helps.
What the customer needs to provide
- How demand/ideas reach you today and from whom.
- Your evaluation and prioritization criteria (value, cost, risk, strategic fit).
- The approval path from idea to funded project.
- Who owns intake and portfolio decisions.
Where it can go next
Approved demand becomes projects in Project & Portfolio Management (PPM); connects up to Strategic Planning for alignment and down to Resource Management for feasibility.