Portfolios, programmes & projects

The three-tier hierarchy is the spine of Sageon Business. Use it well and rollups (RAG, financials, milestones) work automatically across the whole org.

How the levels relate

Portfolio                  (strategic — the whole bet)
   └─ Programme            (coordinated workstream)
        └─ Project         (the unit of delivery)
             └─ Tasks      (the work)

You can have a single portfolio with multiple programmes, or many portfolios for different parts of the business. There's no enforced minimum — even a one-project shop benefits from having all three levels because Sageon's reports assume the hierarchy.

When to use each level

Portfolio

Use for a strategic theme that lasts 1+ years.

Examples: "Digital Transformation 2026", "Customer Growth", "Operational Resilience".

A portfolio is where execs look. It should answer "is our overall plan on track?"

Programme

Use for a coordinated set of projects delivering one outcome.

Examples: "Customer Platform" (under Digital Transformation), "Data & AI", "Office Move 2026".

A programme is where programme directors live. It groups projects that share resources, dependencies, or a common goal.

Project

Use for a discrete piece of delivery with a defined start and end.

Examples: "Customer Portal v2", "Migrate to AWS", "Hire CFO".

A project is where PMs and delivery teams spend their day. RAID, Gantt, milestones, finances all happen here.

Rollups: what flows up automatically

Data	Flows from	To
RAG status	Projects	Programmes → Portfolios
Budget vs actual	Projects	Programmes → Portfolios
Milestone counts	Projects	Programmes → Portfolios
Open RAID items	Projects	Programmes → Portfolios

So setting your project to amber RAG automatically tints its parent programme and portfolio. No manual updates needed.

When you don't need all three

If your org is small enough that you only have 5 projects total, skip programmes — just have one portfolio with five projects directly under it. Sageon will still work; the programme level just shows zero rollup.

If you only ever have one big delivery effort, you can run it as a single project with multiple workstreams (Tasks → Epics). That's also fine.