Some execution-side IT PPM configurations can be flexible enough to provide lighter versions of providers' project and resource management features as an alternative to using third-party service desk and trouble-ticket management systems to manage operational IT service requests. However, most IT PPM products often stop short of readily embedded and full support for ITIL standards often found in IT service management (ITSM) products.
For customers who chose a stand-alone IT project portfolio management system, project managers can report at summary levels into this system, rather than becoming a slave to it at the work breakdown structure level and lower. Project portfolio-level IT PPM can be purchased as a stand-alone solution disassociated from whatever IT PPM software systems or applications are being used for project execution. In fact, having both a top-down portfolio management IT PPM configuration and a bottom-up, execution-level IT PPM configuration, using separate instances of the same or different PPM products, is increasingly becoming a reality.
if IT PPM providers begin to build PPM-to-social networking into their applications, end users will more likely stay in that IT PPM system for longer periods of a workday. End users that value the social networking and collaboration capabilities of an IT PPM system will want to log into it when they first get to work for the day and stay inside the IT PPM system to collaborate and communicate all day long, rather than leaving it to use outside personal productivity tools and services, such as email, to hold IT PPM discussions.