PPM Tools: The solution, or just another part of the problem?

I recently spent a stimulating couple of days at Project Challenge last month. One of the presentations I managed to catch was entitled “Stop Implementing a PPM Tool, and Start Solving the Problem”, given by Stephen Brown of Polarisoft, from which I thought you might appreciate me relating the key take-aways.
This presentation highlighted the disappointment felt by many organisations after implementing a project portfolio management (PPM) tool, when they find that the reality of working with the tool doesn’t live up to their (often unrealistically optimistic) expectations. This is commonly embodied in thoughts like “We bought the wrong tool” or “We’re not mature enough for a tool”.