The Annual Balance of Investment (BoI) process results in the agreement of the budget, headcount, objectives and delivery roadmap for the portfolio for the next financial year (along with a refreshed longer view), along with the (recursive) flow down (and agreement of these) for any sub-portfolios within it. It therefore should result in these being agreed and aligned across all portfolios and sub-portfolios, and consequently must be a collaborative agreement across all these areas.
As each portfolio should be operating against a long-term view of its objectives, budget, headcount and roadmap, this process should be by exception only where there are external influences or delivery failures that require adjustments to be made. If a portfolio is delivering to plan and operating within guardrails, and if no external influences are driving the need for change, then the long-term plan for the portfolio should be considered extant and approved.
However, none of the agreed elements (budget, headcount, objectives or delivery roadmap) should be considered fixed and unchangeable for the year. Portfolios should be free to veer and haul these within the agreed guardrails, and there should be processes in place to handle in year changes that breach these guardrails.