A Fuzzy AHP-based Methodology for IS/IT Project Portfolio Prioritization: a PMO Case Study

Abstract

The prioritization of Information System (IS) and Information Technology (IT) projects has been increasingly a key responsibility to be fulfilled by the IS/IT PMO, in order to inform decision-making on the priorities of IS/IT initiatives to be invested on. However, subjectivity, which is a form of uncertainty, is an impediment within the IS/IT Project Management Office (PMO) experts judgments with respect to the IS/IT projects against the criteria and eventually sub-criteria in the prioritization exercise. Most of the studies utilized Multi Criteria Decision-Making (MCDMs) methods and fuzzy sets theory to perform the prioritization of alternatives under uncertainty. Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) was prominently stated by literature in carrying out Project Portfolio prioritization under uncertainty due to its effectiveness to calculate alternatives scores with respect to quantitative and qualitative criteria modeling uncertainty using fuzzy sets theory and checking experts judgements reliability via Consistency Ratio (CR). Therefore, this study demonstrates the application of a FAHP-based methodology to an IS/IT PMO Project Portfolio prioritization case study. The outcomes which are the computed IS/IT Project Portfolio ranking and the calculated $C R$ with respect to a two-levels criteria hierarchy, were considered promising by the IS/IT PMO experts to ensure informed decision-making reliability and to carry out managerial actions appropriately about the highly-priority IS/IT projects.