It happens in boardrooms and IT steering committees every year. A leader looks at the software line items and asks a seemingly simple question: "Can we just move this to a different tool?" On paper, the migration looks like a technical swap. In practice, many organizations find that ValueOps® by Broadcom is not just a line item—it is the connective tissue of their entire operating model.
Why is it so difficult to replace the advantages offered by ValueOps by Broadcom? When we talk about stickiness in enterprise software, it often carries a negative connotation of being locked in. But for users of ValueOps, stickiness reflects deep organizational integration. It is the difference between a tool you use and a system you inhabit.
The illusion of simple substitution
The primary reason ValueOps is so difficult to replace is that it doesn't perform just one job. It manages a delicate network of intricate pieces—Clarity® by Broadcom, Rally® by Broadcom, and ConnectALL® by Broadcom. Together, these offerings provide end-to-end traceability.
Most organizations trying to "roll off" the platform discover they need a patchwork of four or five different toolsets to replicate the same capabilities. They would need separate financial tools, execution engines, reporting suites, and decision-making platforms just to get back to their starting point. This fragmentation reintroduces the very siloed data and manual coordination teams worked so hard to eliminate.
The real-time intelligence gap in SPM
Executive decision-making relies on a steady stream of high-fidelity data. When an organization moves away from an integrated system like Clarity, that stream often turns into a series of disconnected puddles.
Without a single location for strategic portfolio management (SPM), leaders end up relying on obsolete reports that are out of date the moment they are generated. In contrast, Clarity provides real-time portfolio intelligence. It offers immediate visibility into where capital and capacity are actually being spent. It also tracks the attainment of outcomes you are looking to get from those investments. (To learn more, see the Honda case study, which offers a real-world example of how ValueOps helps organizations unify technology and business.)
When you remove that real-time visibility, the governance model begins to degrade. You go from having automated prioritization rules and funding guardrails to having endless meetings just to decide what to do next. That is a significant increase in cognitive load for leadership teams who need to be focused on innovation and competition.
Auditable integrity and the corporate memory
One of the most overlooked aspects of ValueOps is its role as the organization’s "memory." Every historical decision, every trade-off made during a planning cycle, and every outcome achieved is preserved and auditable.
Whether you are looking at the operational side, where work happens in Rally, or the portfolio side, where planning occurs in Clarity, everything is trackable. In highly regulated industries, this isn't just a convenience; it is a requirement. For some companies, the financial modeling within Clarity is so mission-critical that if the system went away, bills literally wouldn't get paid.
The cultural shift and migration reality
Moving away from ValueOps is rarely a "lights-off" technical event. It is a broad-based change across the entire organization. The migration cost isn't just the price of new licenses; it's the cost of a total shift in the organizational operating model and culture.
When you remove the system, you don't eliminate the underlying complexity of the business. You simply shift the burden of managing that complexity back onto your people. Instead of a system enforcing governance, you have individuals managing one-offs in spreadsheets. This inevitably increases risk and reduces the quality of decisions across the board.
Preparing for the agentic future
As we look toward the future of AI enablement, ValueOps becomes even more vital. AI models are only as good as the data they are trained on. If your strategy, funding, and execution data are scattered across disparate tools—or lost in Jira instances that don't roll up hierarchically—training a predictive model or agentic AI becomes a logistical nightmare. (Review a prior post to learn more about what distinguishes Rally from Jira.)
How does ValueOps support AI-driven, predictive analytics in large enterprises? Having all this information in one location sets the stage for the successful AI initiatives that modern enterprises need to stay ahead. While some might argue that AI could be used to simply "code" a replacement for enterprise software, that overlooks a critical point: enterprise stability. A custom-coded app lacks the built-in governance, regulatory standards, and ongoing support for changing industry frameworks that ValueOps provides up-front.
The bottom line on business value
Ultimately, ValueOps is sticky because it solves the fundamental problem of modern business: how to connect strategy to outcomes without losing sight of the people and money in between.
Replacing it doesn't just mean changing software. It means choosing to reintroduce manual coordination, degrade your data integrity, and increase the burden on your workforce. In an era when resilience and strategic alignment are the primary drivers of success, leaders in most organizations realize that an integrated, end-to-end platform is the only way to achieve their top objectives.
If you want to continue the discussion, please contact us.
Frequently asked questions
Why can’t we just replace ValueOps with a collection of smaller, specialized tools?
While individual tools may handle specific tasks, replacing ValueOps typically requires a patchwork of four or five different systems to replicate its end-to-end functionality. This fragmentation reintroduces data silos and manual coordination, shifting the burden of managing business complexity back onto your employees.
How does ValueOps function as a "corporate memory?"
ValueOps preserves every historical decision, trade-off, and achieved outcome in an auditable format. This helps ensure that the logic behind planning and execution remains transparent and accessible over time. For highly regulated industries, this traceability is often a requirement.
How does ValueOps prepare teams for the future of AI in the enterprise?
AI models require consolidated, high-fidelity data to be effective. With ValueOps, teams can keep strategy, funding, and execution data in one location rather than having it scattered across disparate tools. Consequently, teams can more easily train predictive models and agentic AI to gain a competitive edge.
Is moving away from ValueOps primarily a technical challenge?
No, it is a broad-based organizational change. The true cost of migration includes a total shift in the company’s operating model and culture. Often, this move results in a degraded governance model in which meetings and manual tasks replace automated rules.
