If anything is absolutely certain, it’s that project and portfolio management are in a phase of rapid change. Companies are again investing in improving the project management functions.  New technological developments like predictive analytics are fundamentally changing how we plan and manage portfolios. And the traditional workforces that project managers are used to managing are also changing, becoming more fluid and flexible to different market and business needs.  

While we can’t forecast the future, we can take a look at what the most influential trends are happening around us.  After all, identifying what’s changing and why is one of the best ways to stay ahead of the game. Here are five key trends to watch for in 2015:

1. Spending to spur innovation is on the rise

Signs of economic recovery continue to appear, and many companies who have been operating in survival mode are now gaining the confidence to make investments in innovation again.  Innovation projects will make up a greater share of the portfolio mix, yet cautious companies will provide extra oversight to ensure that spending is aligned with business and customer needs. Savvy PMOs and CIOs will find ways to align their efforts with key organizational initiatives, demonstrate their value to the organization, and show that investment in innovation makes good business sense.

2. A shift from reactive to predictive portfolio management

In one of the most exciting developments to shape the project and portfolio management industry in recent years, predictive software is changing our entire approach to portfolio management. The speed of development in companies is ever-increasing, and PMOs need to keep pace. Predictive analysis tools allow them to do just that. While these solutions come in a wide range of formats, investing in these tools makes  it possible to forecast the future state of your business based on your existing data. The ability to make continuous course adjustments as business conditions change is a game-changer, and I expect 2015 to continue to bring more growth and usage of predictive technologies for project, application and resource management.

3. Workforces become more agile   

Workforces are  becoming more fluid and distributed. Remote workers now seamlessly collaborate across geographical boundaries and time zones. It’s a smart business strategy, since companies can hire talent for projects regardless of workers’ locations, and staffing costs can stay more closely aligned to the needs of the business. Of course, with a distributed workforce  comes additional challenges in managing people and deadlines.  To complicate matters, agile development is becoming the preferred project management methodology.  Agile (News - Alert) works better with distributed workforces because you do not have the long (and drawn out) upfront planning.  This can cause your organization some hassle and chaos if it is not done correctly.  Thankfully, real-time, browser-based tools that provide visibility into development and drive alignment are helping to bridge the gap. Visibility of your resource utilization and efficiency is no longer a “nice to have”, it is now essential. Project portfolio management (PPM (News - Alert)) and application portfolio management (APM) solutions that focus on resource management will continue to grow  as a result of this paradigm.

4. Consolidation of PPM vendors and product sets

The playing field is just as big, but the number of players will get smaller as vendors and even product sets change hands and unite. Oracle’s (News - Alert) acquisition of Instantis, Changepoint purchasing Daptiv, and Upland integrating multiple companies underscores the nature of the landscape over the past few years. This trend is true for both on-premise and SaaS (News - Alert)  vendors. What’s driving this trend? A race for market share. And the only way to get it faster is to dominate different yet integrated market segments. For customers, this means competition will increase, and buying decisions will be more carefully vetted than ever before.

5. The elephant in the room: security  

With each day that goes by, it seems another corporate giant falls victim to a security breach—and the trend shows no sign of slowing in 2015. Security is top of mind for all who work with mobile and cloud applications. To provide the increased transparency into IT activities and protection that consumers and stakeholders demand, detection and response applications will be a growth area given the nature of the hybrid architectures that will continue to create more demand for these solutions. There’s also a role to play for PPM and APM (News - Alert) solutions in security, since they enable organizations to consolidate important project and resource information in a single, centralized solution.

While some of these trends present challenges and others offer opportunity, it is clear that IT and project management organizations will continue to play an important role in adapting to the changing needs of the teams they serve and delivering real value to the organization. New tools and solutions are making it possible to plan and manage in a more real-time, flexible way than has been possible before—and the benefits of doing so are clear. 2015 promises to be a fast-paced year of innovation, increased scrutiny on projects, data and security—and hopefully, high-value activities that deliver big boosts to your business’s bottom line.

About the Author: Tushar Patel is VP of Marketing for Innnotas Innotas, the leading provider of Cloud Portfolio Management solutions.  It delivers a seamless way to manage projects, resources and applications across the enterprise. Innotas’ solutions include Project Portfolio Management (PPM), Application Portfolio Management (APM), Resource Management, Predictive Portfolio Analysis (PPA), Agile Portfolio Management, and the Innotas Integration Platform. [email protected]