Process Integration in it Portfolio Management

In the past few years, many Information Technology (IT) departments have been vastly expanded or created, and new processes have come into existence. With these increasing numbers of elements, organizations face the challenge of process integration. They must seek to integrate what are often rapidly changing sets of procedures to make processes work synergistically and maximize the return from IT. Current process frameworks and guidelines such as Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) or Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) fall short of the challenges posed by process integration in Information Technology. This paper provides the basis of a framework for IT process integration. To do this, two groups of integration strategies are considered. First, we discuss horizontal and vertical integration strategies as a single group. We then address a second group of initiatives consisting of foundation building, innovation, and automation as complementary strategies to the first. Finally we discuss future trends in process integration.