In this environment, digital transformation in Project Portfolio Management (PPM) has shifted from a “nice-to-have” to a necessity. Traditional systems built on spreadsheets, email trails, and manual reporting can no longer keep pace with complex funding programs that span departments, partners, and delivery agents.
Instead, PPM software platforms are helping organisations take control by connecting data, funding, and outcomes to deliver better decisions, stronger accountability, and greater strategic impact.
The Shift: From Administration to Insight
Historically, project portfolio management was seen as an administrative function — a way to track progress, manage budgets and report on outputs. But as software has evolved, PPM has become a strategic enabler.
Research published by the Project Management Institute (PMI) shows that organisations with mature PPM practices complete 35% more of their programs successfully than those with less mature approaches (PMI, Delivering on Strategy: The Power of Project Portfolio Management).
This shift reflects a growing recognition that visibility across the entire portfolio — not just within individual projects — is essential for success.
PPM tools help funding program managers:
- See everything in one place – A single source of truth for all projects, programs and partners.
- Connect strategy to delivery – Link budgets and milestones to measurable outcomes.
- Act on data, not instinct – Use real-time insights to address risks and opportunities early.
For funders and delivery organisations alike, the ability to turn data into insight is transforming how programs are governed and delivered.
Connected Data, Smarter Decisions
At the heart of this transformation is the ability to unify data. When financial, operational and performance data are connected, program managers can see how investments are tracking across the entire portfolio — not just at an individual project level.
A study by Ojiako et al. (2021) found that organisations with strong project portfolio management practices achieved consistently higher project performance and resilience (Project Portfolio Management Practices and Project Performance Success).
For organisations administering grants, scholarships or research funding, this means better visibility over:
- Funding allocations and disbursements
- Project progress and performance
- Risk exposure and compliance
- Cumulative impact across programs
With Tactiv’s Project Portfolio Management solution, organisations can evaluate project performance, track milestones and manage disbursements. Additionally, it allows them to align every dollar spent to strategic outcomes — all in one secure system.
Clarity Across Funding Buckets and Financial Performance
Digital transformation in project portfolio management doesn’t just connect projects and outcomes — it also clarifies the financial picture across every funding stream.
With an integrated PPM platform, organisations can gain a unified view of how funds are distributed, utilised, and co-contributed across multiple programs and projects. This includes visibility into:
- Funding bucket allocations — how funds are assigned to specific periods or initiatives.
- Project drawdowns — tracking when and how funds are used over time.
- Co-contributions — ensuring all partner and stakeholder inputs are captured and accounted for.
- Aggregate financial performance — rolling up data from individual projects to provide an organisation-wide funding position.
Having this clarity supports proactive management of financial commitments. In turn, this enables teams to identify under- or over-spend early, rebalance resources, and ensure alignment with strategic funding objectives.
When these insights are aggregated at the portfolio level, funders gain a true line of sight from every dollar invested to every outcome achieved, demonstrating transparent stewardship of funds.
Automated Workflows and Built-In Governance
Digital transformation in project portfolio management is not only about visibility — it’s also about consistency and control.
Maintaining governance and compliance without slowing delivery is a common challenge for organisations running funding programs. Modern PPM platforms automate routine processes such as approvals, milestone reviews and compliance checks. This ensures every project follows the same governance path, reducing risk while freeing program teams to focus on delivery.
This ensures projects stay compliant with funding rules while freeing teams from repetitive administrative work.
According to Prism PPM, mature portfolio management connects strategy to execution, helping organisations “evaluate, prioritise and manage projects for maximum value”.
By embedding governance into workflows, digital systems create a repeatable structure that supports accountability and auditability without adding manual work.
➔ Find out more about workflows AND how it positively impacts your reporting capabilities
Real-Time Risk Management
In a traditional environment, risk reporting often lags behind reality. By the time an issue surfaces in a quarterly report, the damage may already be done.
Digital transformation changes this by providing real-time visibility of risks and issues across all projects. Configurable dashboards and analytics surface potential problems early, allowing proactive intervention.
With Enquire, risks and issues can be viewed in the broader portfolio context — making it easier to understand how one project’s impact might affect another. This supports better mitigation and more informed decision-making.
This capability is particularly valuable for organisations managing public funds or grants, where governance standards and reputational stakes are high.
Stronger Collaboration and Stakeholder Engagement
Funding programs often involve multiple stakeholders, such as internal teams, partners, suppliers, and delivery agents. Traditional tools make coordination difficult without losing visibility or version control.
Modern PPM systems like Enquire solve this through secure portals and configurable access permissions. Stakeholders can collaborate, share evidence, and approve milestones within a central environment – maintaining transparency without sacrificing control.
This strengthens accountability and builds trust, ensuring everyone works from the same data with a shared understanding of progress.
Outcome-Based Reporting and Impact Measurement
The most significant evolution digital transformation brings is the ability to measure outcomes, not just outputs.
Funders now expect clear evidence of impact; we mean not just that funds were spent, but that they achieved their intended results.
Enquire enables program managers to configure performance indicators, align them with frameworks like the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or GINI, and report consistently across projects and portfolios.
This move toward impact-driven portfolio management reflects findings from Springer’s research on strategic alignment and value optimisation, which identified PPM as “a critical determinant of organisational success”. Good digital platforms like Enquire ensure that making that connection between spend and impact is easily measurable.
Data Sovereignty, Security and Trust
For government and public sector organisations, compliance and data security are critical.
Tactiv’s Enquire platform is hosted in Australia and built to meet data sovereignty, auditability and security standards. Features such as role-based access, version control, and full audit trails ensure that every decision, document and transaction is transparent and traceable.
This not only supports regulatory compliance but strengthens trust between agencies, partners and the public. Ensuring executives can have complete confidence in data integrity and accountability across their funding programs.
The People Side of Digital Transformation in Project Portfolio Management
Technology is only part of the picture — people drive transformation.
McKinsey’s long-term digital transformation research shows that projects succeed more often when leaders actively engage users and embed new tools into existing business processes
That’s why Enquire is designed to be configurable without code — giving organisations the flexibility to adapt templates, workflows and data fields without heavy IT involvement. The result: a system that fits the organisation, not the other way around.
The goal of digital transformation in PPM isn’t complexity — it’s clarity and confidence.
The Future: From Efficiency to Impact
Digital transformation in project portfolio management is moving beyond efficiency gains to strategic impact.
Integrated data, automation, and analytics are helping organisations link funding decisions to measurable outcomes and demonstrate value to stakeholders.
As artificial intelligence and predictive analytics mature, we’ll see even more capability in forecasting risks, recommending investments, and automating reporting across entire portfolios.
For organisations running funding programs, this represents a major opportunity to deliver better governance, faster decisions and greater social impact.
Digital Transformation in Project Portfolio Management: Where to Start
If your organisation is still managing programs through spreadsheets and disconnected systems, it’s time to ask:
- Do we have real-time visibility across our portfolio?
- Are we confident in our data and audit trails?
- Can we clearly demonstrate the outcomes of our funding decisions?
If the answer is “not yet,” digital transformation is your next logical step.
To learn more about how digital transformation can help your organisation manage its projects, funding and outcomes more effectively, visit our Project Portfolio Management page.
About Tactiv
For over 20 years, Tactiv has supported governments, foundations and institutions globally and across Australia and New Zealand, managing more than $25 billion in funds through its Enquire platform.
