Strategy and portfolio management

Fund the right work, and know what it delivered

Most portfolio tools track projects. AlignX starts earlier and finishes later: the idea, the business case and what it changes, the score that ranked it, and the benefits measured after it closes.

The scenario workbench, what-if until promoted: a FY27 draft against a $10.0m envelope, investments in or out of the plan, and the dashed budget line

A business case awaiting University Executive approval, the $1M to $10M band, with the approver, due date, rationale and Approve or Reject

You have a list of projects. You don't have a portfolio.

Ideas, business cases, budgets and benefits sit in different places, so the questions that matter most take longest to answer.

Why did this get funded over that?

The scoring sits in last year's spreadsheet, and the reasons for overriding it sit in someone's head.

Is it really on track?

Status is whatever was typed last. It's green until suddenly it isn't.

Did we get what we paid for?

Benefits get written into the business case, then nobody measures them once the project closes.

So the portfolio gets funded on opinion and judged on activity.

How an investment moves from strategy to result

Seven connected steps, from the objective an investment serves to the benefit it delivers.

StrategyThe plan, its focus areas and the objectives under them.
ObjectiveWhat you're aiming for, with key results measured from your own metrics.
IdeaEvery request through one front door, accepted, deferred or rejected with a reason.
Business caseThe options, their costs and benefits, and what the change touches.
ProjectFunded through stage gates, with budget, forecast and actuals.
Check-inStatus earned from schedule, budget and scope, not typed.
BenefitPlanned against actual, month by month, after the project closes.

Choose the right work. Show what it delivered.

Strategy, finance and delivery work from the same records, so the investment committee and the project team argue about the same facts.

Business cases

Know what an investment changes before you fund it.

Each business case compares costed options with NPV, ROI and payback, and links to the applications, capabilities, risks and objectives it affects. Its sensitivity analysis shows what would have to change for another option to win.

Business case options: Do nothing, Lift and shift to the vendor's cloud, and Consolidate onto the licensed platform (Preferred), each with cost, benefit and NPV

Prioritisation

Rank the portfolio on one scorecard.

Every case is scored on strategic fit, value, risk and deliverability, then tiered. Overriding the rank takes a reason, and the reason is kept.

The ranked portfolio: rank, investment, tier and composite score, from 87 down

Scenarios

Try the plan before you commit to it.

Build scenarios against a budget target, see what falls below the line, and promote the one you choose to the plan of record.

Three scenarios compared: the FY27 draft, the plan of record and FY27 constrained, each with investments in plan, cost, benefit and the gap to target

Delivery health

Know which projects are really on track.

Status comes from regular check-ins on schedule, budget and scope, and takes the worst of the three. Changing it means a new check-in.

Monthly check-ins from September back to April, each with progress, confidence, who checked in and its Amber or Green status

Benefits and financials

See whether the money delivered.

Budget, forecast and actuals by month, and every benefit tracked against its target, fed from a live metric where you have one, even after the project closes.

The portfolio's financial roll-up: a $50M budget with $14.7M headroom, and each investment's budget, actuals to date, forecast at completion, variance and share consumed

From the first idea to the last benefit, on the record.

A portfolio that earns its funding

Decisions you can defend

Every ranking, override and approval carries its reasoning.

Benefits: a $1.5M target, $199k realised to date, 13% realisation, five tracking behind, and the planned against realised curve

Benefits measured against the promise

Planned against actual, every month, from the metrics you already track.

Status you can trust

Health comes from check-ins, not from whoever updated it last.

Choices made earlier

Scenarios show what fits the budget before anything is committed.

A portfolio shouldn't just list the work. It should show which work was worth doing.

Start with the portfolio you already run

You don't need a new methodology to start.

Bring it in
Bring it inYour projects, budgets and pipeline, moved across rather than rebuilt.
Score one round
Score one roundPut your next funding round through the scorecard and see where it disagrees with the gut call.
Track one benefit
Track one benefitPick a project that's promised something measurable, and link the benefit to the metric that will show it.

See AlignX in action

Book a 20-minute walkthrough and bring the funding decision you'd most like to revisit.

Book a demo How pricing works

Built inside your Microsoft 365. Your data. Your controls. Your model.

Questions portfolio leads ask

Every business case is scored on the same four criteria, weighted, normalised and tiered. Where someone overrides the ranking, the reason is recorded with it.