Last month, I spent two full days in a workshop with a group of executives from various pharmaceutical organizations. These individuals were from very different companies, with different maturity levels and different transformation timelines. Yet by the end of day one, I could have written everyone’s problems on a single sheet of paper.
They had all invested in an enterprise project and portfolio management (PPM) solution, but not the right one. They had all gone through the procurement exercise, ticked the features checklist, and signed the contract. And every single one of them was still managing their most critical and strategic processes in spreadsheets and slide decks.
OKRs and roadmaps in various PowerPoint files. Capacity plans in Excel spreadsheets. Skills management information scattered across half a dozen files. Portfolio prioritization stitched together by hand every quarter.
Why are companies still using spreadsheets after buying a PPM tool?
These groups had the technology, but not the partnership. They had a product, but no solution.
Here are just a few of the common refrains:
- “We cannot see the big picture.”
- “We cannot plan and pivot with confidence.”
- “It takes too much customization for our PPM tool to do that.”
- “We need more clarity.”
What went wrong? Well, here is some clarity:
When you invest in a PPM platform, the job is not to tick a series of boxes with feature requirements. The real goal is choosing a solution that actually helps you run your business. That means using more than a sliver of functionality, avoiding heavy customization, and adopting industry best practices rather than reinventing governance from scratch. It means picking a partner who understands how organizations work, not just how the software works.
What is the difference between a PPM tool and a true solution?
Clarity by Broadcom is designed so that significant value is available out of the box. This is where customers tell me Clarity is different. OKRs are not a slide. They are real, linked objects. Roadmaps are not a graphic. They are connected plans. Capacity is not a spreadsheet. It is a living model you adjust as new demand arrives. Skills gaps, financials, forecasts, scenario plans, ROI models, project dependencies, and portfolio impacts are all in one place. All these facets are connected, visible, and ready to act upon.
Because the data is properly structured and governed, you can actually use it to prioritize. You can test scenarios. You can pivot when the market shifts, rather than waiting for someone to consolidate files. You can stop guessing and start deciding. I have yet to meet a leadership team that prefers a colorful slide deck over real information delivered in real time. (Learn more about how Clarity connects strategy and work for better outcomes.)
How does heavy customization lead to PPM failure?
The irony is that leaders in many organizations have already spent the money on a PPM tool. What they had not invested in was a way of working that moves the business forward. They customized themselves into a corner, built processes that no one could sustain, and ended up with a platform that looked impressive on paper but could not support the decisions they needed to make.
Clarity was built to avoid that trap. It was built on the practices that actually work. It was built to help people run the business, not force them to dedicate all their time to maintaining the platform.
Final thoughts
So if you find yourself asking for clarity in your data, clarity in your decisions, or clarity in your portfolio, it might be time to consider partnering with Broadcom and employing Clarity—the solution designed to provide the actionable insights you need. Let’s chat.
Frequently Asked Questions
We’ve invested in a PPM tool, so why are we still using spreadsheets and slide decks?
This happens when a team buys a PPM product, but lacks a true partner and solution. Teams end up with technology that requires too much customization and doesn't connect strategic processes like OKRs, roadmaps, and capacity planning. This forces teams to go back to manually creating slide decks and spreadsheets.
What is the main problem with heavy customization of a PPM solution?
While doing customization of a PPM solution can seem expedient, it is ultimately the fastest path to failure. Significant customization leads to the creation of complex, fragile, and unsustainable processes. Instead of running the business, teams spend all their time maintaining the platform and its customizations. What’s worse is that the tool still can't support the critical decisions they need to make.
How does Clarity help provide the big picture, so teams can plan with confidence?
Clarity enables teams to avoid the scattered data problem. The solution puts OKRs, roadmaps, capacity plans, skills, financials, and forecasts in one place. All these aspects are handled as linked, governed objects. This connected data structure enables teams to prioritize, test scenarios, and pivot instantly based on facts, not manually consolidated files.
