Application Portfolio Management (APM) has been getting the attention of an increasing number of enterprises over the past few years. It's no wonder, considering that enterprises typically spend more than half – and often over 70% – of application budgets on maintenance. It is critical for the enterprise to manage its application portfolio. Proper application management can result in reduced maintenance costs and increased value to the business.
What It Is and How It Works
APM in and of itself is not a technology; rather, it is a process and management function that is typically supported by technology. For instance, inventorying enterprise applications is largely a manual process, but recording and storing the inventory typically relies on a database or spreadsheet. Similarly, assessing business value, maintenance costs, functionality overlap, performance, and application age and architecture all require manual data collection which is then stored in an APM tool.