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
Getting Started With APM
The first step to undertaking APM is inventorying all enterprise applications. While it would appear that IT should be in a position to undertake this activity in isolation, that is not the case. Rogue applications exist in the business units of virtually every enterprise. Over the years, Excel spreadsheets or Access databases have been deployed by business units to meet a specific need, and are now relied upon in the day-to-day activities of the departments.