BBC Project Management Tool RFI

Across the BBC 100s of projects & programmes are underway concurrently. To effectively manage people and investment capital, risk, maintain alignment with strategy and optimise return on investment, active portfolio management is required.

This requires visibility of plans, spend, risks and issues at portfolio level (e.g. BBC Critical Projects Portfolio or Technology and Media Operations Portfolio) as well as more detailed views of these factors at project and programme level. The information needs to ‘nest’ in such a way as the detailed project/programme view informs the portfolio overview.

Currently, project & portfolio management in the BBC relies on multiple distinct tools, leading to fragmented workflows, data inconsistencies, and inefficiencies in tracking project progress and financial performance. This disjointed approach hinders collaboration and makes it difficult to maintain an accurate overview of project statuses, risks, issues and resource allocations.

It also does not allow re-prioritisation or risk/issue management at portfolio or cross company level. Moreover, it does not allow us to have a holistic view of whether the activities we are undertaking build up to deliver our strategic objectives.

Therefore, the BBC is seeking responses to this Request for Information for a common PPM (Project & Portfolio Management) Tool to build on the introduction of BBC Align – the BBC’s standard project management processes and facilitate this overall Portfolio view. By adopting a centralised, scalable software platform that can be used by all projects, programmes and portfolios across the corporation, we will be able to have relevant oversight and thus more effectively manage risk, issues and resource allocations.

We would also like it to integrate with existing systems (i.e. SAP, Jira etc.). In this way, the BBC will enhance cross-departmental collaboration, track risks and issues at both company and portfolio levels, monitor benefits realisation and return on investment, as well as ensuring strategic alignment for key initiatives, and enabling more effective management of company level transformation changes.

An eventual solution may be utilised by all departments delivering projects within BBC Public Service, including the BBC Transformation Office, Technology & Media Operations, Product Group (for selected projects), Content, News, Nations, CCOG and HR. For the avoidance of doubt, any information provided to the BBC in response to this RFI will be treated as confidential and non-binding.

No contract will be awarded as a consequence of this RFI process, however, the BBC may launch a procurement opportunity in the near future. Responding to this RFI is not a prerequisite for participation in a subsequent procurement, nor does it give any advantage in that procurement. The BBC would welcome responses to this RFI in order that the BBC can build an understanding regarding the current and future provision of the project.