Five kinds of software, five different questions
Capital-intensive organizations already run plenty of software, and most of it is good at what it was built for. The problem is the gap between deciding what's on the list and delivering what's been sanctioned: the sizing and timing of the commitment itself. That step usually happens in a spreadsheet and a committee room. It is the step Capvium is built for.
| Category | The question it answers | Typical examples | How Capvium relates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spreadsheets and capex models | What does each project's business case say? | Excel models, capex request templates | Capvium takes their outputs as inputs and sizes the portfolio as one book. |
| Project portfolio management (PPM) | What's in the portfolio, and how is it tracking? | Planview, Planisware | Capvium decides the commitments; PPM tracks them through delivery. |
| Asset investment planning | Which investments make the list? | Copperleaf (now part of IFS) | Capvium sizes and times the commitments and stress-tests them against the bad year. |
| Scheduling and schedule optimization | How do we build it, and in what sequence? | Oracle Primavera P6, Microsoft Project, ALICE Technologies | Capvium uses the schedule; it doesn't build it. |
| Schedule and cost risk analysis | How likely is this project to finish on time and on budget? | Oracle Primavera Risk Analysis, Safran Risk | Capvium carries project-level uncertainty up to the portfolio decision. |
When you need Capvium
- Several projects compete for a limited budget and the question is how much each deserves, not just which ones clear the hurdle rate.
- The projects share exposures — a commodity price, a long-lead vendor, specialist crews, grid capacity, a regulator — so their risks don't add up independently.
- The downside matters as much as the base case, and the committee wants to see the bad year before it signs.
- Staging or deferring is a real option, and you need to show what waiting costs and what it buys.
When you probably don't
- You have one project and no competition for the capital — a schedule risk analysis on that project may be all you need.
- You need a CPM schedule built or maintained — that's a scheduler's job.
- You need status reporting, stage-gate workflow or resource booking across many projects — that's what PPM suites are for.
Detailed comparisons
See where it fits in your stack
Bring one real capital decision and the tools you already use. We'll show you what Capvium adds — and tell you if it doesn't.
Book a demo →Frequently asked questions
Does Capvium replace Primavera P6 or our PPM tool?
No. Capvium works alongside them. Schedulers and PPM suites keep running delivery and tracking; Capvium uses their schedules, estimates and project lists to decide how much capital each project should get, and when.
What are the alternatives to Capvium?
For deciding which projects to fund, organizations typically use spreadsheet capex models with IRR or NPV ranking, PPM suites such as Planview or Planisware, or asset investment planning software such as Copperleaf (now part of IFS). For project-level schedule and cost risk, tools such as Oracle Primavera Risk Analysis and Safran Risk are common. Capvium differs by recommending a dollar commitment for every project, sized for the whole portfolio, with the downside quantified before signature.
Is Capvium a project portfolio management (PPM) tool?
No. PPM tools are systems of record for what's in the portfolio and how it's tracking. Capvium is decision software: it recommends how much to commit to each project, and when, and re-sizes the plan when conditions change.
Is Capvium only for very large portfolios?
No. What matters is the shape of the decision — several competing claims on a limited budget, with real downside — more than the absolute size. If that isn't your situation, we'll say so.