How to Manage IT Portfolios in ClickUp

ClickUp can centralize every IT project, product, and investment so your organization can manage an entire IT portfolio from one connected workspace. This how-to guide walks you through setting up a practical, scalable IT portfolio management system based directly on the structure and ideas from the official IT portfolio management article.

Step 1: Plan Your IT Portfolio in ClickUp

Before you start configuring anything, clarify what your IT portfolio needs to include and how it will be evaluated. Use ClickUp as the single source of truth that captures:

• All technology projects and products
• Current and planned IT investments
• Risk, value, and strategic alignment indicators
• Dependencies between teams, apps, and services

From the source framework, an effective IT portfolio includes multiple types of assets:

• Applications and services
• Infrastructure and platforms
• Data products and analytics initiatives
• Security, compliance, and risk programs
• Innovation and R&D projects

Document these categories in a ClickUp Whiteboard or Doc to define your taxonomy before you build the structure.

Step 2: Build Your IT Portfolio Workspace in ClickUp

Next, translate the portfolio design into a clear workspace hierarchy. A simple way to start is:

• Space: IT Portfolio Management
• Folders: Applications, Infrastructure, Data & Analytics, Security, Innovation
• Lists: Portfolios, Programs, and Projects under each folder

This mirrors the layered portfolio view described in the source article, moving from strategy down to execution.

Key ClickUp lists for IT portfolio control

Create these core lists to reflect the lifecycle of IT investments:

1. Intake & Requests: For new project and enhancement proposals.
2. Active Initiatives: For approved investments currently in delivery.
3. Run & Operations: For business-as-usual work tied to portfolio assets.
4. Retired & Sunset: For decommissioned apps, tools, or services.

Each initiative becomes a task (or epic) with custom fields that capture portfolio data like cost, risk, and value.

Step 3: Configure Custom Fields in ClickUp for IT Data

Custom fields let your team assess each item in the IT portfolio consistently, just as outlined in the article’s value, risk, and alignment sections.

Essential ClickUp custom fields for IT portfolios

Add custom fields at the Space or Folder level so they apply to every related list:

• Strategic Alignment: Dropdown (High, Medium, Low)
• Business Value: Number or dropdown (Value score)
• Risk Level: Dropdown (High, Medium, Low)
• Compliance Impact: Dropdown (Regulatory, Internal, None)
• Cost Estimate: Currency field (Initial capex/opex)
• Ongoing Run Cost: Currency field (Monthly or annual)
• Owner: People or text field for accountable lead
• Lifecycle Stage: Dropdown (Plan, Build, Run, Optimize, Retire)

These fields help you perform portfolio analysis similar to what the source article describes: comparing initiatives by risk, cost, and strategic impact.

Step 4: Create IT Portfolio Views in ClickUp

Use ClickUp views to give stakeholders the lens they need, from executives down to delivery teams.

Recommended ClickUp views for portfolio leaders

• Table View: Your master IT portfolio grid. Show columns for cost, risk, alignment, and lifecycle stage so you can sort and filter.
• Gantt View: Visualize timelines across programs and dependencies between initiatives.
• Board View: Kanban board grouped by Lifecycle Stage or Status for a simple pipeline view.
• List View: For detailed work management on specific initiatives or programs.
• Dashboard: Aggregate portfolio KPIs such as total spend, initiatives by risk level, and status distribution.

Take advantage of filtering in ClickUp to create focused saved views, such as:

• High-risk initiatives in current fiscal year
• Projects with low strategic alignment but high cost
• Innovation investments above a defined budget threshold

Step 5: Set Up Intake and Prioritization in ClickUp

The source article emphasizes governance and decision-making. Implement that through structured intake and clear prioritization rules.

Design a ClickUp intake form

Create a Form view connected to your Intake & Requests list. Include fields for:

• Project name and description
• Sponsoring department
• Problem statement and expected outcomes
• Estimated cost and timeline
• Strategic objective(s) supported
• Risk and compliance considerations

Map each form question to your ClickUp custom fields so portfolio data is captured automatically when new ideas arrive.

Apply a repeatable prioritization method

Use your custom fields to calculate a prioritization score, aligning with the value and risk concepts from the article. For example:

1. Standardize scores (e.g., 1–5) for business value, risk, and cost.
2. Use a formula custom field in ClickUp to combine them into a single priority score.
3. Sort Table views by this priority score for your governance meetings.

This makes portfolio decisions transparent and data-driven, not just based on the loudest request.

Step 6: Connect Delivery Work to the Portfolio in ClickUp

IT portfolio management only works if execution data rolls up cleanly. Use ClickUp tasks, subtasks, and relationships to connect strategy to work.

Structuring delivery in ClickUp

• Create a top-level task for each approved initiative.
• Break down work into subtasks or link to related project lists.
• Use dependencies to reflect the technical and schedule relationships mentioned in the source article.
• Tag items with portfolio categories (e.g., Application Modernization, Security, Data Platform).

Ensure each task inherits or references the same portfolio custom fields so reporting and dashboards remain consistent.

Step 7: Automate IT Portfolio Workflows in ClickUp

Automation keeps your IT portfolio current without overloading teams. Based on lifecycle and status concepts from the source page, configure ClickUp Automations so that:

• When a request is approved, its status changes and it moves automatically from Intake to Active Initiatives.
• When a task reaches a specific status (for example, Deployed), its Lifecycle Stage custom field updates to Run.
• When a high-risk item is created, a comment automatically mentions the risk or security team.
• Weekly reminders go to owners to review cost, risk, and alignment fields for their initiatives.

This ensures your portfolio data reflects reality without manual chasing.

Step 8: Report on Your IT Portfolio with ClickUp Dashboards

The original IT portfolio management article stresses visibility and continuous evaluation. ClickUp Dashboards let you turn live work data into portfolio insights.

Useful ClickUp dashboard widgets

• Portfolio Health: Pie or bar charts showing initiatives by status and lifecycle stage.
• Spend Breakdown: Charts grouped by department, category, or strategic theme.
• Risk Overview: Widgets filtered by risk level and compliance impact.
• Timeline: Gantt or workload widgets to visualize capacity and major milestones.
• Value vs. Cost: Scatter or bar charts comparing value scores against cost estimates.

Share dashboards with executives and key stakeholders so they can see the state of the IT portfolio at a glance without digging into individual projects.

Step 9: Continuously Improve Your IT Portfolio Setup in ClickUp

As your organization evolves, refine the structure and data in your workspace. Use feedback from portfolio reviews and retrospectives to:

• Tune custom fields and scoring models.
• Retire or merge categories that no longer fit.
• Update automation rules to reflect new governance steps.
• Adjust views and dashboards for changing leadership questions.

You can also collaborate with strategy and productivity experts, such as the team at Consultevo, to optimize your ClickUp implementation for complex IT environments.

Learn More and Align with Best Practices

This how-to article is grounded in the IT portfolio management concepts explained in the original guide on the ClickUp blog. For additional context, definitions, and examples of portfolio types, explore the full resource at https://clickup.com/blog/it-portfolio-management/.

By combining those best practices with the practical configuration steps outlined here, you can use ClickUp to centralize IT investments, make smarter decisions, and keep your technology portfolio aligned with business strategy.

Need Help With ClickUp?

If you want expert help building, automating, or scaling your ClickUp workspace, work with ConsultEvo — trusted ClickUp Solution Partners.

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