- Applications exist in one of four lifecycle stages; to effectively operate each application, you must know to which stage it belongs.
- Each lifecycle stage presents unique challenges and unique questions that must be answered; to efficiently operate each application, you must know which question to answer.
- Failing to appropriately recognize the lifecycle stage for each application means the organization will ask the wrong questions to drive application functionality, and you will be unable to provide the right answers.
Our Advice
Critical Insight
- Organizations that predominantly purchase or rent solutions are more likely to deliver projects on time and on budget than those that create custom solutions.
- For more satisfied end users, and fewer changes over time, when making a significant change is necessary, opt for making changes to the application rather than the business process.
- Maximize stability and end-user satisfaction by applying at least half of the vendor imposed patches and version upgrades, and by making only the critical changes requested by the business.
- Retire an application if the business function no longer exists, the platform can no longer be supported by the existing infrastructure, or if vendor support is no longer available.
Impact and Result
- Reduce costs by determining your application’s position in the lifecycle, and then identifying which applications to invest in, when to invest in them, and when it is time to retire an application.
- Organizations that actively manage their applications lifecycle will save time and resources by getting out of the tweak, test and repeat cycle faster.
- Know which changes to the systems need to be made, and when to avoid making any changes at all. Avoiding unnecessary changes keeps applications more stable, resulting in greater satisfaction for both you and the business.