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Definitive Pro offers several benefits for conducting an alternatives analysis, including AI-assisted decision models, comprehensive evaluation tools, and a structured approach to managing complex decisions. It helps organizations make data-driven decisions that are aligned with strategic goals, optimizing resources and enhancing overall efficiency​.

Documenting the results should be an ongoing process throughout the alternatives analysis. This includes recording the analysis steps, data collected, evaluation results, and the final decision. Proper documentation ensures transparency and provides a reference for future analyses​.

The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is a structured technique for organizing and analyzing complex decisions. It helps in prioritizing the evaluation criteria by making pairwise comparisons between them. AHP ensures that the most important criteria are appropriately weighted in the decision-making process.

In an alternatives analysis, cost should be treated as an independent variable. This approach allows the team to evaluate how different levels of benefit compare to different levels of cost, helping to identify which alternative offers the best value for money

It’s important to select team members with the right skills and expertise and to establish clear rules of engagement. This includes gaining and maintaining buy-in from key stakeholders and ensuring that the team is independent of any organizations that may have a conflict of interest​.

Some best practices include anticipating challenges in data collection, ensuring the analysis team is properly resourced, treating cost as an independent variable, and using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to prioritize evaluation criteria. These practices help improve the quality of the analysis and the decision-making process​.

For large, complex, and high-risk alternatives analyses, Definitive Pro is recommended as it offers robust capabilities for managing these evaluations. For smaller, less complex, and lower-risk analyses, Definitive Choice, a downloadable app, can be used​.

The key steps in conducting an alternatives analysis include: planning the analysis, building the evaluation model, identifying the alternatives, evaluating the alternatives, comparing the alternatives, and reporting the results. Each step ensures a systematic approach to decision-making​.

Conducting an alternatives analysis is crucial for effective investment management. It allows organizations to thoroughly evaluate different options and select the one that offers the best trade-off between benefits, costs, and risks, ensuring that resources are allocated effectively​.

An alternatives analysis (AoA) is an analytical comparison of the operational effectiveness, suitability, risk, and life cycle cost of different alternatives that satisfy a business or technical capability need. It aims to identify the best alternative by evaluating and comparing the benefits, costs, and risks associated with each option​.

Conducting an alternatives analysis involves a six-step process: Planning the analysis, building the evaluation model, identifying alternatives, evaluating them, comparing the alternatives, and reporting the results. This process helps identify the best alternative by assessing benefits, costs, and risks​.

Our experience is that most multi-criteria decisions can be made with 4-7 criteria, however there is no limit. Here are two things to keep in mind: 1) Only include criteria that are differentiators in the decision; 2) The number of pairwise comparisons to prioritize the criteria increases as the number of criteria increases. 3 criteria require 3 pairwise comparisons; 4 criteria require 6 pairwise comparisons; 5 criteria require 10 pairwise comparisons; 6 criteria require 15 pairwise comparisons; 7 criteria require 21 pairwise comparisons.

No, there is no limit. You can add as many alternatives as you desire.

No. Whether to make your decision based on your own judgment or the judgment of all participants is completely up to you. Even if you want to make the decision based solely on your own judgments, it may be beneficial to invite others to participate. Their perspectives may inform you of something important that you may not be considering. In addition, comparing the results based on your judgments versus the judgments of all participants may help you gain confidence in your decision.

AHP is based on mathematics and psychology. It simplifies the process of weighing the decision criteria by comparing two criteria at a time (i.e., pairwise comparisons) to determine which is more important with respect to the decision goal – and by how much. Without AHP, decision-makers are left to simply guess their relative importance. The benefits of using AHP include:

• Balancing multiple quantitative and qualitative factors
• Ensuring a comprehensive assessment of each alternative
• Promoting cost vs. benefit analyses
• Providing better decision justification
• Enabling quick reprioritization in response to changing business condition

Definitive Pro distinguishes itself from other PPM tools through its integration of AI for decision support, its comprehensive approach to investment planning and portfolio governance, and its ability to drive strategic alignment. Key features include AI-assisted business cases, custom road mapping, resource capacity planning, and a focus on compliance and risk management.

Yes, Definitive Pro assists in managing project risks by incorporating risk evaluation into the decision-making process. It allows organizations to identify and assess risks associated with different project alternatives, ensuring that these risks are considered alongside benefits and costs during portfolio planning.

Definitive Pro facilitates the evaluation and scoring of project alternatives through AI-assisted decision models and the use of AI personas. These tools help ensure that project evaluations are consistent, comprehensive, and aligned with strategic priorities, enabling organizations to make well-informed decisions.

Road mapping is crucial in PPM as it provides a visual and structured representation of how an organization plans to achieve its strategic goals over time. It helps in aligning technology initiatives with business needs and in monitoring progress towards long-term objectives. Definitive Pro offers custom road mapping tools to facilitate this process.

Definitive Pro improves decision-making speed and accuracy by using AI-driven tools that provide quick, data-backed recommendations. The platform’s ability to automate routine tasks, such as generating business case summaries and deliverables, allows managers to focus on strategic decisions, reducing the time taken to reach conclusions without sacrificing accuracy.

AI personas in Definitive Pro simulate the perspectives of various stakeholders like CTOs or CFOs during project evaluation and scoring. They contribute expert insights, ensuring that diverse viewpoints are considered in decision-making, much like how multiple inputs refine a weather forecast.

Definitive Pro supports strategic alignment by offering tools like AI-assisted decision models and custom road mapping that ensure projects are aligned with organizational goals. This alignment maximizes resource utilization and helps in achieving long-term business objectives.

AI in PPM, as integrated in Definitive Pro, helps in rigorous decision-making by generating data-driven insights, assisting in business case development, and providing quick summaries for executives. AI personas can also simulate expert input during project evaluation, enhancing the quality and speed of decision-making.

Definitive Pro enhances PPM by combining investment planning with efficient portfolio governance, powered by AI-assisted decision models. It enables organizations to strategically align their project investments, optimize resource allocation, and drive better decision-making. Key features include AI-assisted business cases, investment value analysis, and custom road mapping.

Project Portfolio Management (PPM) is a strategic approach to managing an organization’s projects and investments by aligning them with its business objectives. PPM involves selecting, prioritizing, and controlling projects to ensure they contribute to the organization’s goals while effectively utilizing resources.

Definitive Pro offers features such as AI-Assisted Decision Models, Cost-Benefit-Risk Trade-Off Analysis, and Custom Business Roadmapping. These tools help ensure that your investment decisions are aligned with strategic goals, maximizing the overall benefit of your project portfolio​​.

To build a roadmap, navigate to “Roadmaps” under the “My” section, click “Create Roadmap,” and enter the relevant details. You can categorize your projects and ideas, add milestones, and assign owners. The roadmap can be customized, printed, and saved for future reference​.

Definitive Pro leverages AI in several ways, including AI-Assisted Decision Models, AI Personas for Pairwise Comparisons, and AI-Assisted Business Cases. These features streamline the decision-making process by providing data-driven insights, expert opinions, and comprehensive business case analyses​​.

The key financial metrics in Definitive Pro include Return (profit or net cash flow), Return on Investment (ROI), Payback Period, Net Present Value (NPV), and Internal Rate of Return (IRR). These metrics help evaluate the financial viability of projects and compare different investment opportunities​.

Before requesting resource estimates, ensure the “Solution Approach” tab is completed, and the “Key Planning Milestones” are updated. Then, navigate to the “Resource Estimate” tab, select the necessary resources, and click “Request Estimate.” You can track the status of the estimates under the “Show Resources” field​.

In Definitive Pro, an “Alternative” refers to any potential investment, such as a business need, capital request, or project request. To configure the list view of alternatives, navigate to the list, click “Actions,” and select “Configure View.” You can customize which fields are visible and set filters for the alternatives displayed​.

To add an idea, go to the “Projects” section within your desired portfolio, click “Add Project,” and fill out the necessary fields, including the Governance Board, Sponsoring Business Unit, and Business Priority. Save the idea by selecting “Idea for now.” The idea will only be visible to you unless added to a custom roadmap​.

To generate a business case report, navigate to the list of alternatives, select the relevant alternative, and click the “Actions” button in the upper-right corner. Choose “Report,” select the pages you wish to include, and click “Run Report.” The report will be saved to your “Downloads” folder. You can generate multiple reports at once by selecting multiple alternatives​.

To log in to Definitive Pro using Okta, ensure that you have been added to the appropriate Active Directory group by your Microsoft AD administrator and that your Definitive Pro administrator has created your account using your enterprise email. Once both steps are completed, you can log in through your Okta portal. If prompted, acknowledge any system notification screens before accessing your dashboard​.