Project Portfolio Server 2007

Microsoft gained Project Portfolio Server in Jan. 2006 when it acquired the software and intellectual property assets of UMT, a Microsoft partner that provides project and portfolio management and consulting services.

Although there are some portfolio management capabilities in Project Server, Project Portfolio Server is the key component of Microsoft’s Enterprise Project Management (EPM) solution. Senior executives might use Project Portfolio Server annually or quarterly, when an organization reviews and funds projects. Portfolio Server tools help executives understand and compare the return on investment of all projects and how well projects serve particular organizational goals (e.g., customer satisfaction or security risk mitigation). Sophisticated modeling tools help executives make efficient selections of projects. Project Portfolio Server might also be used occasionally by senior managers to determine which projects are on track and which are potentially in trouble, although Project Server also supports these tasks. Project managers, in contrast, will generally work with Project Server and Project Professional for day-to-day project management.