Different questions, different users
A PPM suite tells you what's in the portfolio and how it's tracking. It is where the PMO runs intake and stage gates, where budgets and resources are booked, and where status is reported. It is built to run continuously, across delivery.
Capvium is built for the moments when capital is committed: sanction, a stage gate, a budget cycle, or a change in conditions big enough to reopen the plan. Its output is not a status report but a recommendation — commit, stage, defer or re-size each project, in dollars — with the downside quantified before signature.
| Dimension | PPM software | Capvium |
|---|---|---|
| Core question | What's in the portfolio, and how is it tracking? | How much should we commit to each project, and when? |
| Primary users | PMO, project and resource managers | CFO, strategy and portfolio teams, capital committee, board |
| Main output | Status, scorecards, prioritized lists, resource plans | Recommended commitments in dollars, with the downside quantified |
| Treatment of uncertainty | Point budgets and forecasts, risk registers | Ranges for cost, schedule and revenue, carried to portfolio outcomes |
| How projects are compared | Weighted scores and rankings | Sized against each other and against the bad year |
| When it's used | Continuously, through delivery | At sanction, stage gates and budget cycles — and when conditions change |
Selection is not sizing
Some PPM suites include portfolio optimization: choosing the best set of projects under a budget, typically using scores or weighted criteria. That is a selection decision — each project is in or out. Capvium works on the size and timing of each commitment: a project can be worth funding at half the requested amount, worth staging behind an early-works phase, or worth deferring until a dependency clears. Those options are compared side by side, so the committee sees what each one costs and buys.
Where the two meet
The stage gate is the natural hand-off. The PPM suite runs the gate process and holds the record; Capvium supplies the sizing and the downside for the decision the gate asks for. Project lists, budgets and schedules exported from a PPM system can be used as Capvium inputs, and the recommended commitments flow back into the plan the PPM tracks.
Bring your next stage-gate decision
Use the project list your PPM already holds. We'll show you the sizing and the downside the gate paper is missing.
Book a demo →Frequently asked questions
Does Capvium replace our PPM software?
No. Your PPM suite stays the system of record for intake, stage gates, budgets, resources and status. Capvium adds the capital decision those processes don't make: how much to commit to each project, and when.
Can Capvium use data from our PPM system?
Yes. Project lists, budgets and schedules exported from a PPM system can be used as inputs, alongside your business-case models and schedules.
What's the difference between PPM portfolio optimization and Capvium?
PPM optimization typically selects a set of projects under a budget using scores or weighted criteria — each project is in or out. Capvium sizes and times each commitment under uncertainty, including staged and deferred options, and shows the portfolio's downside before signature.