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Portfolio Item Overview

Portfolio items are high-level entities representing large features used for planning and grouping project work. Portfolio items organize work that delivers business value and decompose it into smaller components for delivery by project teams.

Permission requirement: All users with project access can view portfolio items. Creating and editing portfolio items requires modify permissions on the project and planning level where items are created.

Who Works with Portfolio Items​

Portfolio items serve different purposes across roles:

  • Portfolio Managers create and manage strategic portfolio items representing company initiatives and major programs.
  • Product Owners decompose portfolio items into features and capabilities, prioritize based on value, and track delivery.
  • Program Managers align portfolio items with program increments, manage dependencies across teams, and coordinate delivery.
  • Scrum Masters help teams understand how backlog items roll up to portfolio items, maintaining alignment between sprint work and strategic goals.

What Are Portfolio Items?​

A portfolio item represents a large-grained feature used for planning and grouping project work. Portfolio items provide a structured way to break down complex initiatives into manageable components while maintaining visibility into how smaller pieces contribute to larger strategic goals.

Portfolio items support planning with a single, large, roughly defined feature. Through investigation and discussion with product teams, this feature breaks down into smaller components that can be delivered by one or more project teams. Backlog items are eventually defined at the bottom level of the hierarchy, small enough for teams to deliver within a sprint while recognizing their relationship to the larger whole.

Portfolio Item Types and Hierarchy​

Use the Type field on portfolio items to define the levels of your Portfolio Tree. This allows you to use your internal terminology for large, medium, and smaller grained features.

Defining Types​

  • Flexible hierarchy: Create any number of levels in your Portfolio Tree
  • Custom terminology: Use your organization's terms for different feature sizes
  • Color coding: Assign custom colors to each type for visual identification
  • Consistent visualization: Types appear with colors across Portfolio Tree, Portfolio Kanban, Roadmap Timeline, and Portfolio Item details

Common Type Examples​

Organizations typically use terms like:

  • Top level: Epic, Initiative, or Program Feature
  • Middle level: Feature, Capability, or Theme
  • Lower level: Sub-Feature, Story Group, or Component

To learn how to configure portfolio item types and assign colors, see List Type Administration.

Using Portfolio Items in Agile Practice​

Portfolio items integrate with your agile planning and delivery processes:

Planning and Decomposition​

  • Start high-level: Begin with large, roughly defined features
  • Decompose progressively: Break down features through investigation and team discussion
  • Deliver incrementally: Split work into components deliverable by project teams
  • Maintain traceability: Keep relationships between backlog items and portfolio items

Tracking and Visibility​

  • Monitor progress: Track completion as teams work on backlog items
  • Roll up status: See how lower-level work contributes to portfolio item completion
  • Visualize hierarchy: View relationships in Portfolio Tree and Roadmap views
  • Report at scale: Generate reports showing portfolio item data and trends

Portfolio Item Workflow​

Portfolio items typically move through these stages:

  1. Create: Define high-level portfolio item representing a large feature
  2. Decompose: Break down into child portfolio items or backlog items
  3. Plan: Associate with strategic themes, budgets, and roadmaps
  4. Track: Monitor progress as teams deliver backlog items
  5. Complete: Close portfolio items when all work is finished

Relationship to Other Planning Elements​

Portfolio items connect to other planning features in Digital.ai Agility:

  • Strategic Themes: Align portfolio items with business objectives and strategic priorities
  • Budgets: Track spending and resource allocation across portfolio items
  • Milestones: Mark important delivery dates for portfolio items
  • Roadmaps: Visualize portfolio item delivery timelines
  • Teams: Assign portfolio items to teams for execution
  • Backlog Items: Link stories and tasks that deliver portfolio item value

Troubleshooting​

Why can't I see portfolio items in my project?​

Portfolio items require appropriate planning level configuration and permissions. Verify you have read access to the planning level where portfolio items exist. If your project lacks a planning level hierarchy, portfolio items may not be enabled. Contact your system administrator to configure planning levels and portfolio item types for your project.

How do I know which portfolio item type to use?​

Use the type that reflects the size and scope of work. Larger, strategic initiatives typically use top-level types (Epic, Initiative), medium-sized features use mid-level types (Feature, Capability), and smaller components use lower-level types (Sub-Feature). Your organization's hierarchy should match your planning and reporting needs. If unsure, consult with your Portfolio Manager about your organization's type conventions.

Why don't my backlog items roll up to portfolio items automatically?​

Backlog items must be explicitly associated with portfolio items using the Portfolio Item field or parent-child relationships. Creating backlog items doesn't automatically link them to portfolio items. To establish the connection, edit the backlog item and assign it to the appropriate portfolio item, or create the backlog item as a child of the portfolio item in the Portfolio Tree.

Can I have portfolio items without backlog items?​

Yes, portfolio items can exist without child backlog items, especially during early planning when you're defining high-level scope before decomposition. As planning progresses, you'll typically add child portfolio items or backlog items to break down work into deliverable components. Portfolio items without children are valid for representing future work not yet decomposed.