PIPES Community Recap: AIP Best Practices for Delivering Value Faster
In our latest PIPES Community session, members gathered to discuss best practices for implementing asset investment planning (AIP) in a way that maximizes business value—without overwhelming teams or delaying outcomes. Moderated by IFS Copperleaf’s David Wu, Director of Copperleaf Services Portfolio, the conversation centered on how organizations can phase their AIP adoption to deliver value early and often, while setting the foundation for more advanced capabilities over time.
A Portfolio-First Approach: Getting Out of Spreadsheet Hell
Most organizations begin their journey with IFS Copperleaf Portfolio™, and for good reason. As clients shared, starting here allows planning teams to move beyond spreadsheets into a centralized platform that creates a single source of truth for capital planning. This shift enables more consistent project evaluation and provides a standardized foundation for developing, approving, and managing investments through their full lifecycle.
But one critical lesson emerged: don’t delay implementing workflows. Several participants noted that postponing this step often results in costly data clean-up and planning inefficiencies later on. By automating approvals and ensuring business case consistency from day one, workflows bring governance and traceability to investment decisions.
Tell the Story Behind the Plan
Once workflows are in place, self-serve dashboards and reporting become essential tools. The Self-Serve Analytics (SSA) and dashboard library empower teams to communicate the “why” behind every plan—whether to regulators, executives, or operational teams.
Participants emphasized the importance of being able to surface insights on demand, rather than relying on IT or consultants for custom reports. As one speaker put it: “You need to tell your capital story. Dashboards let you do that—visually, interactively, and credibly.”
Asset Integration for Better Planning
From there, many organizations expand into AssetAware Investments and Performance Management, building stronger ties between capital planning and operations. By linking investments directly to asset data, teams can automate risk scoring and eliminate inconsistencies across business units.
As one attendee shared, “We’re starting to move from project-by-project planning to programmatic optimization. It’s helping us identify redundant investments and better quantify asset risk across the lifecycle.”
This not only improves investment quality but also allows for continuous planning—adapting to real-world execution data without losing sight of long-term goals.
Intelligent Bundling: From Theory to Practice
A recurring theme was interest in Intelligent Bundling, especially for organizations managing linear assets or aiming to reduce outages. The ability to group interventions strategically—based on geography, timing, or resource needs—can yield significant efficiency gains.
Several members expressed interest in deeper knowledge sharing around this feature, with one suggestion being a future PIPES session dedicated solely to bundling logic, ESRI integration, and real-world examples.
A Roadmap, Not a Rulebook
The phased adoption framework presented in the session isn’t meant to be rigid. Instead, it’s designed to help organizations prioritize modules based on the problems they’re solving—whether that’s improving compliance, increasing capital efficiency, or defending a regulatory submission.
The session wrapped with a reminder: start with the end in mind. Align every phase of your AIP journey with the outcomes you’re trying to achieve—and use the IFS Copperleaf Value Framework™ to keep that alignment front and center.