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Information Technology Portfolio Management System (ITPMS)
Frequently Asked Questions

The following are questions and answers concerning the IT Portfolio Management System (ITPMS):

My agency does not have access to ITPMS. How do we get it?

Each agency is allotted one ITPMS license to maintain the agency's IT Portfolio. If you don't have a license, please contact DES ISD Budget Helpdesk.

Please note that an ITPMS license is assigned to an individual and cannot be shared because of licensing restrictions. If an agency desires additional ITPMS licenses, please contact DES ISD Budget Helpdesk.

Who do I contact if I need assistance using ITPMS?

Please contact DES ISD Budget Helpdesk.

What is the name of the software used to run ITPMS?

The software used to run ITPMS is manufactured by CA, Inc. The software is called "Clarity."

I entered information into ITPMS and then went on to a new entry. When I go back to check what I had previously entered, the information isn't there. Why not?

ITPMS doesn't automatically save entered information nor does it warn you by asking you if you wish to save it. Therefore, you must remember to click "Save" or "Submit" before leaving a screen to have the information saved.

Functionally, Save and Submit are basically the same (i.e., your data is saved). Save leaves you where you are; and, Submit takes you back to the place you started from.

We have requested that CA correct this in a future release.

Which projects are required to be entered into the ITPMS IT Portfolio Management System?

The following current and planned projects must be included in the IT Portfolio:

  1. OCIO Oversight Level 2 or 3 projects.
  2. OCIO Oversight Level 1 projects funded from the Technology Pool.

If desired, an agency can enter all their projects into ITPMS to help better manage them. In the next release of ITPMS functionality, we hope to enable the full Project Management capabilities of ITPMS so that task level planning and management of resources and costs can be accomplished.

Which applications and databases are required to be entered into ITPMS?

Mission critical applications and databases should be entered in the agency IT Portfolio.

If desired, an agency can enter their complete application and database inventory into ITPMS.

When I create a new application or database, I don't have update access to it after I save it.

Access to an application or database is restricted to the designated application or database owner plus anyone who belongs to the agency specified in the Agency Security Organizational Breakdown Structure (OBS) field. Therefore, when creating an application or database, remember to set the Agency Security OBS as follows:

  1. Click the "binoculars" next to the Agency Security OBS field
  2. Click the "+" sign next to State of Washington
  3. Scroll through the list to find your agency
  4. Click the "bubble" next to your agency
  5. Scroll to top or bottom of list and click "Add"

If you accidentally create the application or database without adding your agency to the Agency Security OBS, you will still have access unless you have assigned the Application/DB Manager to someone else (i.e., the default is the person who creates the entry). By default, the Application/DB Manager of an application or Project Manager of a project always has access to it.

If you need the Agency Security OBS field for an application or database reset to your agency, contact the DES Budget Portfolio Helpdesk at DES ISD Budget Helpdesk.

When I attempt to update an application or database by adding an Implementation Date, I get the following error: "System error. Contact system administrator."

This is a known bug within ITPMS. It has been reported to CA (Computer Associates) and we are waiting for a fix. There is a work around:

  1. Enter the correct Implementation Date
  2. Enter a temporary Retirement Date greater than the Implementation Date
  3. Save the entry
  4. Delete the Retirement Date
  5. Re-save the entry

When I attempt to review the agency portfolio data, I click the "box" next to a fiscal year but nothing happens when I press enter.

Instead of checking the box next to the fiscal year, hover your mouse over the fiscal year and left click your mouse button.

When reviewing my agency portfolio information, why don't I see anything in the "summary" boxes of the Overview or Strategic Plan?

There are three methods the DIS data entry staff used to enter your Section 1 - Overview and Section 2 - Strategic Plan:

  1. Text entry in the "Summary" field
  2. Creating and then attaching an extract of information from your portfolio via the "Attachments" field.
  3. Entering a URL hyperlink in the "Related Link" field.

Please check all three areas for Section 1 information. If areas are blank, you may add the information, attaché a document, or URL link to update the portfolio.

How do I replace the Agency Portfolio Overview or Strategic Plan information currently in the Portfolio?

There are three ways to do this as follows:

  1. Delete and rekey the information in "Summary" text field. Please note there is a maximum of 2,000 characters of information that may be entered.
  2. Delete the current attachment by clicking the "garbage can" and reattaching a new document by clicking the "folder", finding/highlighting the document you wish to upload, clicking "Open" and clicking "Save." Please note that you must Save or Submit the entry to actually save it.
    • If you want to just update the current attachment, you will need to save it locally for modification and then follow the above instructions (i.e., you need to delete the attachment and then reload it).
  3. Enter a new URL in the "Related Link"

For the Agency Portfolio Overview and Strategic Plan information, what is the preferred way of entering the information (i.e., summary text, attached document, URL link)?

Currently, there is no preference; but, there are some things you should consider about each method:

  1. Summary Field: This field is just a text string and is limited to 2,000 characters of information. You may want to consider a short textual statement which is expanded upon by an attached document or URL link.
  2. Attachments Field: If you attach a document, it will be permanently stored in the ITPMS database; so, it will be available indefinitely. You can attach up to ten (10) documents to each attachment field.
  3. Related Link Field: A URL link to your agency website provides the information. However there are two other considerations:
    • Will the link be permanently available year after year and maintained when your agency changes their website?
    • Is the link available both inside and outside the SGN as many ITPMS users are outside the SGN and the information should be available to all agencies?

Please check all three areas for Section 1 information. If areas are blank, you may add the information, attaché a document, or URL link to update the portfolio.

When updating applications, databases or projects, we'd like to name the actual resource who is responsible (e.g., application/DB owner, sponsor, project manager, etc.). However, when I use the binoculars to try and find the resource, they are not there nor can I add new resources. How do I do this?

Currently, we have restricted the "Add Resource" functionality. We are researching how we might release this functionality to agencies; but, there are some security concerns that must be addressed. Therefore, if you have resources you would like to add, please prepare a spreadsheet of them containing the persons' names and their State email addresses and please contact DES ISD Budget Helpdesk.

Should completed projects be deleted and an application added?

Projects, once entered, should be considered permanent and cumulative as follows:

  1. Status should be updated periodically and at least once each year for budgetary purposes (i.e., new budget/planned numbers for future years and actual for current year).
  2. Completed projects should NOT be deleted; instead, do the following:
    • Change their project status to "Complete"
    • Enter the actual Finish Date
    • Update the project actual costs
    • Attach the Post Implementation Review.
    • If the project results in and application and/or database, create the appropriate entry.

When I view my applications and databases either through the Agencies Investment or the Applications screens, I see all of my applications. However, when I use the Agencies GIS Resources screen, I don't see all my GIS related applications and databases. Why is this?

If a GIS application has an implementation date in a future fiscal year, it will not show on the Agencies GIS Resources screen unless you select the fiscal year in which it is planned to be implemented.

Some of the applications/databases in our agency portfolio are out of date, what do we do to decommission them?

Applications and databases are designed to be permanent and cumulative; so, please don't delete them when they are decommissioned. Instead, please follow these steps:

  1. Select the application.
  2. Deselect the "Active" checkbox
  3. Enter a "Retirement Date"
  4. Click Save or Submit

Sometimes the calendar dropdown for date selection does not go far enough back in time for some of our very old applications and databases. What do we do?

Instead of using the calendar dropdown menu, you can directly enter the date in the format mm/dd/yyyy.

While checking the applications entered by DIS, we noticed that all are marked as GIS. This is not the case.

Unfortunately, our data entry staff made the erroneous assumption that applications should default to GIS. We apologize for this error. To fix them, please do the following:

  1. Select the Application submenu under Portfolio Management
  2. Click the "binoculars" next to the Agency field in the Application Filter.
  3. Enter the first letter of your Agency abbreviation in the Filter field
  4. Click Filter
  5. Click the "bubble" next to your agency
  6. Click Add
  7. Click Filter
  8. Select the application
  9. Deselect the "GIS Resource" checkbox
  10. Click Submit to save the entry which will return you to your application list so you can fix the next one

With project, application and database information loaded into the ITPMS, how do I search for information that will help my agency understand what others have done?

ITPMS provides a built in search capability that can provide this information by doing the following:

  1. Select either the Projects or Applications from the Portfolio Management submenu.
  2. Create a filter entry in the "Name" field of the Filter
    • Enter the ITPMS wildcard character, an asterisk (*)
    • Enter your search word
    • Enter another asterisk.
    • For example to search for all projects involved with "workflow," enter *workflow* in the Name field of the Filter
  3. Click "Filter" or press enter.
  4. A list will be returned with all entries containing the search word.
  5. You can click on the application name to view the details.

When I click the Projects or Applications submenu choices under Portfolio Management, it displays all agencies. As I usually just want to see them for my agency, how do I limit the display to my agency?

You can "filter" for just your agency with the following steps:

  1. Filtering for your agency:
    • Click the "binoculars" next to the "Agency" field of the Filter.
    • Enter the agency abbreviation in the "Abbreviation" field
    • Click "Filter"
    • Select your agency by clicking the "bubble" next to the agency abbreviation
    • Click "Add"
    • Click "Filter"
  2. Saving the "Filter" for future use:
    • Click "Save Filter"
    • Enter a name for the filter in the "Filter Name" field
    • If you wish the filter to be the default every time, click the "Default" box
    • Click "Submit"
  3. Clearing a Filter:
    • Click the "down arrow" in the Filter field
    • Click "System Default"

How can I get data out of Clarity for my own use?

This should probably be its own FAQ because it will cover multiple pages. There will be one for each list type that can be exported from ITPMS giving the fields that are available (in some cases the screen tag is different than the internal Clarity name which is what is displayed in the Configure screen for the list.

When I export a Project or Application list to Excel, the Project Name and App/DB Name fields come across as hyperlinks back to Clarity. How do I remove the hyperlinks?

You can remove the hyperlinks with the following steps:

  1. Insert a column to the left of the one with the hyperlinks
  2. Copy the column with the hyperlinks
  3. Paste special into the new column by clicking the "Values" bubble
  4. Delete the column with the hyperlinks