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Formalizing Portfolio Decision Processes
Decision Modelling with DMN
Rainer Wendt, masVenta Business GmbH, November 2017
PMI, the Registered Education Provider logo, PMBOK, PMP, PgMP, PfMP, CAPM, PMI-SP, PMI-RMP, PMI-ACP, PMI-PBA, the PMI logo, and the PMP logo and PMBOK are marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc. IIBA®, the IIBA® logo, BABOK® and Business Analysis
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Portfolio Decisions Processes with DMN - November 2017 2
Agenda
Introduction
Business Analysis for the Project´s Rationale
Strategy, Organizational Objectives and Decisions
Alternative Development
Decision: What is the best project?
Decision Modelling Notation (DMN) and Business Rules
Integration of popular Model Notations
Summary

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Dipl. Ing. Rainer Wendt, CBAP, PMP, PMI-PBA, PMI-ACP
Study of Electrical Engineering in Aachen
25+ Years Experience in
- Software development and –architecture
- Project Manager in Telecommunications, Energy and Finance
- Requirements Engineering and Business Analysis
- Risk Management
- Change Management
- Training, Coaching
- Etc.
Managing Director masVenta Business GmbH
President IIBA Chapter Germany
Your speaker today

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- The Portfolio-ABC at a glance
Academia
Business Analysis &
Project Management
Trainings
Public, In-House & Live
Online Trainings
IIBA® Endorsed
Education Provider
PMI® Registered
Education Provider
Business Solutions
Business Intelligence
Self Service BI
PowerPivot Support &
Governance
End User Computing
Management
End User Computing
Governance, Risk &
Compliance
Consulting
Provisioning experts for
projects
Conceptualization
Coaching
Business Analysis
Business Intelligence
Project Management
Process Optimization

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Some recent customers and our partners

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Business Analysis for the Project´s Rationale
Source: BABOK v3
Business Need
Business Case
Assess Value &
Performance
Design & WorkGo/No Go
Decision
Go Live
Vision Project Live
Source : BABOK v3
Rationale

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Focus on the “Rationale”!
PPM
• The right project
BA
• The right scope
PM
• The right way
Project Portfolio Management
Business Analysis
Project Management
Rationale
Doing the right things
in the project
SolutionScope
ProjectScope
ProjectPortfolio
Doing the right projects
Doing the things right
in the right projects

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Strategy, Organizational Objectives and Decisions
Organization success is dependent on the organization's ability to
realize its (project) objectives successfully*
Organizations mainly measure project success in financial profits, after
project closure
Consequently, decisions for investments in projects are mainly driven
by their short- and mid-term financial forecasts
Therefore, contribution to and alignment with strategy and
organizational objectives are not considered in the first place as they
can hardly be expressed quantitatively
PPM decision processes often lack quantifiable strategic components,
gut-feel decision making can often be found
Moreover, interdependencies between projects are analyzed poorly,
decision making takes place in an isolated way, “per box”.
* Enoch, C. N. & Labuschagne, L. (2012). Project portfolio management: using fuzzy logic to determine the contribution of portfolio components to organizational objectives.
Paper presented at PMI® Research and Education Conference, Limerick, Munster, Ireland. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.

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Project Portfolio Management PPM
Following the strategy means executing a strategic portfolio
plan comprising programs and projects
PPM controls the execution of programs and projects, i.e., it
decides about whether and when investments are made
Portfolio management is a dynamic process, whereby a business's list of active
new product (and R&D) projects is constantly up-dated and revised. In the
process new projects are evaluated, selected and prioritized, existing projects
may be accelerated, killed or de-prioritized; and resources are allocated and re-
allocated to the active projects. Cooper, Edgett and Kleinschmidt (2001, p. 362)
Definition of PPM

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Alternative Development
Decisions need alternatives, choice is being exercised among
ready made alternatives*
As such, developing alternatives is part of the solution.
Challenges are:
▪ Not enough knowledge to find or develop alternatives
▪ Limited knowledge about the consequences of alternatives
▪ Conflict among those differently affected by differing alternatives
▪ Disagreement on the consequences of each alternative; and
▪ Disagreement about the future situation surrounding the decision
implementation.
* Paulo Tromboni de Souza Nascimento
Business Department, School of Economics, Business and Accounting, University of São Paulo – USP, Av. Professor Luciano Gualberto, 908, Butantã, CEP
05508-010, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

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Decision: What is the best marketing
and sales project for next year?
Invest in
development
of a new
webpage?
Engage another
Sales Rep?
Perform a
product
roadshow
in ten major
cities?

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7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
9
8
7 7
8
9
10
9
7
8 8
7
4 4 4 4
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
6 6 6 6
8 8
6 6
3
4
2 2 2 2 2 2
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Q1 2018 Q2 2018 Q3 2018 Q4 2018 Q1 2019 Q2 2019 Q3 2019 Q4 2019
Strategy Drivers 18/19
Cost Revenue Customer Base New Customers Brand Employees

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Scenario 1-1: Best marketing and
sales project for next year
With equal weights, projects are
very close, webpage is best!

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Scenario 1-2: Best marketing and
sales project for next year
Driven by cost, the roadshow
campaign wins!

Portfolio Decisions Processes with DMN - November 2017 15
Scenario 1-3: Best marketing and
sales project for next year
For exploiting opportunities with
existing customers, another sales
representative will make it!

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How to tackle such complex
decision processes?
By simplifying the situation
using Decision Models with
Business Rules!

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Decision Modelling Notation (DMN)
Source: Methodological Approach with DMN – Signavio GmbH, January 2016
• Formalizing and simplifying decision processes
• Company-wide Business Rules Repository
• Documenting unambiguous Decision Logic
DMN is seamlessly integrated in BPMN,
both global standards by the OMG Group
BPMN Diagram
Decision
Requirement
Diagram
Decision Table w/ Rules

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The decision table, comprising
• Business Rules
• Decision logic
• Priorities / hit policies
is part of the decision model

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Integration of popular Model Notations
Business Processes
▪ BPMN
Business Motivation
▪ ArchiMate
Business Decisions
▪ DMN
Business Data
▪ UML / ERD
According to: Real World Decision Modelling with DMN, 2016, James Taylor and Jan Purchase
Business
Processes
(BPMN)
Tasks
Events
Data
(UML/ERD)
Entities
Relationships
Business
Motivation
(ArchiMate)
Stakeholders
KPIsDrivers
Decision
(DMN)
Declarative Business
Logic
Decision Services
Participants
MetricsData Needs
Context Rationale
Information

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Summary
Projects are starting with their Rationale, somewhere between
Business Analysis, Project Portfolio Management and Project
Management
Decisions for the right projects are not straight-forward;
executing the strategy and ensuring continuous profit needs to
be balanced
Decision Modelling Notation helps formalizing decisions, it
facilitates fact-based decision making according to agreed-upon
business rules (rather than gut-feel decision making)
With DMN, decision requirements and business rules can be
managed centrally rather then spread across multiple Business
and IT documents and models

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Upcoming PM and BA courses
Get now 10% off when booking until November 30th:
11/12/2017 PMP® Exam Prep, Classroom, DE, DUS, 5 days
11/12/2018 CCBA®/CBAP® Exam Prep, Classroom, DE, FRA, 4 days
02/02/2018 PMP® Exam Prep Live Online (PMBOK 6!), DE or EN, 36 hrs
02/02/2018 CCBA®/CBAP® Exam Prep Live Online, DE, 36 hrs
15/02/2018 PMI-PBA® Exam Prep Live Online, DE or EN, 36 hrs
Live Online Courses are split into 8 sessions, e.g. each Friday afternoon. Providing
full 35 hours needed for the exam application.
Info and bookings : training@masventa.de or +49-2404-91391-0, refer to “BITMi”

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