Mapping dependencies between projects: a five-step method

Method · project portfolioPublished November 2, 2026Méliantis team

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In brief

When a vendor changes its terms or a regulatory deadline lands, the first question is always the same: which projects are hit? Without a dependency map, the answer takes weeks. With one, a few minutes. Here is the five-step method, doable with the documents you already have.

Why map dependencies

A transformation portfolio is not a list of independent projects. Projects share vendors, applications, data and above all teams. An outside change almost never hits a single project: it ripples from one to the next. The dependency map makes these ripples visible before they turn into delays.

The five-step method

List the projects and their deadlines. Start from the portfolio as tracked in committee: name, objective, delivery date, sponsor.
Link each project to the applications it changes or uses. Project plans and architecture files are enough for a first version.
Link each application to its vendors. Software vendors, hosting providers, AI models, service providers: in the financial sector, the DORA register of information already gives you a good part of it.
Spot the shared teams. The same team on several projects is the most often forgotten dependency, and the most costly when everything lands at once.
Qualify each link. Distinguish what is established by a document from what remains to be confirmed. An honest map beats a complete one.

The more solid the line, the surer the link

Plain linkMentioned somewhere, with no further detail. Keep in mind.

Link to confirmProbable but undocumented: to validate with the project team.

Confirmed linkEvidenced by a contract, a plan or an architecture file.

Strong linkThe project cannot deliver without this element: any change hits it directly.

Mistakes to avoid

Aiming for completeness from the start : begin with the projects of the next committee and the critical vendors.
Going down to the level of individuals : the map stops at teams; it is for deciding, not for monitoring.
Doing it once and for all : a useful map is updated with every change of scope, vendor or date.

Questions to ask yourself

If our main hosting provider changed its terms tomorrow, how long would it take to list the affected projects?
Which teams work on more than three projects at once?
Which links in our portfolio rest on a single person's memory?

See what this hits in your organization

Prévoq links this kind of change to the projects, teams and contracts of your organization, with the level of evidence of each link.

See the demo Request a discovery session

Sources

Regulation (EU) 2022/2554 (DORA) · eur-lex.europa.eu · accessed October 31, 2026
Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2956, register of information templates · eur-lex.europa.eu · November 29, 2024

This analysis presents the state of the texts and public sources at the date indicated. It does not constitute legal advice.