Application Portfolio Management Research Center
Application rationalization and modernization help you become a trusted partner.
Talk to an AnalystDeliver More Value From Your Application Portfolio
You have a lot of applications.
- Do you know what they do, how much they cost, or why they exist?
- Are these apps supporting your most important capabilities?
- Do you have multiple applications doing the same thing?
- Is application management becoming more challenging?
Application portfolio management (APM) helps you transform your applications into a cohesive service catalog aligned to your business capabilities.
Start Your APM Foundations
Follow Our Three-Step Application Portfolio Management Process
Discover
You can't manage what you don't know. Iteratively build your application inventory with key data.
Read our top downloaded research APM Foundations to begin making changes in your Application Management process.
Rationalize
Use your inventory to align your application architecture to your IT and business strategy.
Gather data on your own application portfolio to inform your decisions on which software to switch out with the Application Portfolio Assessment tool.
Modernize
Modernizing your application portfolio using business and technical perspectives.
Before you take the easy road and automatically renew your software, join 80% of organizations that saw increased satisfaction by Switching Software Vendors.
Why Does Application Portfolio Management Matter?
Effective application portfolio management doesn't happen on its own. It requires assistance with supporting pieces such as application maintenance, application management, business architecture, optimized intake, value measurement, and end-user feedback. Refer to these APM journey supporting topics below: Diagnostics, Related Blueprints, and Additional APM Resources to Support Your Role.
Management Requires Awareness
72%of organizations do not have an excellent understanding of the application portfolio.1
Reduce Unmanaged Apps
83%of employees are using apps not sanctioned by their IT departments.2
Reduce IT Spend and Waste
68%of IT directors have wasted time and money because they did not have better visibility of application roadmaps.3
Improve Business Support
49%of current IT performance is aligned to business needs.4
Prepare for the Cloud
54%of CIOs don't know how many cloud-based subscriptions their organization has.5
Simplify Your App Landscape
48%of organizations believe there are more applications than the business requires.1
- Your Challenge
- Application sprawl comes from evolving capabilities, turnover, mergers and acquisitions, and end-user implementations.
- Leaders are spending more time and resources managing a portfolio that is larger than necessary.
- Complex environments impede goals of change and scalability, expose the organization to risks, and inhibit growth.
- Common Obstacles
- Poor visibility into the portfolio makes strategic planning difficult and business use unclear and hides application risk.
- Organizations lack standard practices to define the business value, leading to rationalization decisions that are misaligned to business needs.
- Time-to-value takes too long, and business buy-in slowly fades.
- Info-Tech Approach
- Build a framework tailored to your specific goals and limitations. Focus on:
- Discovering all your applications.
- Understanding their business use and value.
- Building an iterative approach to rationalization that examines applications from multiple perspectives.
1. Jayanthi, Aruna. "Application Landscape Report." Capgemini, 2014. Accessed 20 Nov. 2017. 2. Starke, Joann. “The Shadow IT Dilemma.” Cisco Blogs, 23 March 2016. Web. 3. Bowling, Alan. "Clearer Visibility of Product Roadmaps Improves IT Planning." ComputerWeekly.com, 1 Nov. 2010. Accessed 29 Sept. 2015. 4. Info-Tech Research Group, n=350+ pairs of CEOs and CIOs. 5. “The CIO in 2017 Cloud Sprawl and Shadow IT: Why IT Leaders Need Visibility and Control.” VansonBourne, 2017. Web.
We Can Help You Dive Deeper
Explore the following Info-Tech Diagnostics and blueprints that support your APM journey.
Discover
Inventory and assess your application portfolio.
APM Foundations
Optimize your Portfolio's value. Discover, rationalize, and modernize your applications.
Download Blueprint
Review your Application Strategy
Ensure that your applications enable business goals and strategy.
Start Now
Application Portfolio Snapshot
Align and assess your applications to support optimal portfolio management.
Talk to an AnalystRationalize
Streamline your application portfolio to drive business value.
APM Foundations
Optimize your Portfolio's value. Discover, rationalize, and modernize your applications.
Download Blueprint
Application Portfolio Assessment: End User Feedback
Don't guess what's important, measure application satisfaction.
Start Diagnostic
Application TCO Calculator
Define TCO and value across your entire app portfolio as part of your application rationalization.
Download CalculatorModernize
Manage the portfolio to support organizational and technological evolution.
Switching Software Vendors Overwhelmingly Drives Increased Satisfaction
Realize the benefits of switching poorly performing software.
Download Blueprint
Modernize Your Applications
Build continuous modernization into your application strategy.
Download Blueprint
SoftwareReviews
Get expert help with your application decisions, with detailed, fact-based reviews, comparison data, and in-depth market insights.
Start NowAdditional APM Resources to Support Your Role
Deliver Your Digital Products at Scale
Understand how products enhance business capabilities and contribute to enterprise goals.
Download Our 5-Piece Solution SetEmbrace Business-Managed Applications
Support the business in implementing and managing its applications.
View DiagnosticDocument your Business Architecture
Better align your applications with capabilities to bridge IT solutions and business goals.
Download Our 3-Piece Solution SetIndustry Insights
Explore related research by industry vertical to gain tailored insight.
View SnapshotBuild an Application Department Strategy
Unlock the potential of your application portfolio with an application department strategy.
Download Our 3-Piece Solution SetCIO Business Vision
Measure business satisfaction with core IT services to find out what is most important to them.
View DiagnosticCIO-CEO Alignment
Understand your CEO's business vision to better align your technology investments.
View DiagnosticBuild a Value Measurement Framework
Define business value to understand and prioritize applications, projects, products, and enhancements.
Download Our 2-piece Solution SetAgile / DevOps Research Center
All the tools and advice you need to facilitate an Agile approach.
View Our Research CenterOptimize Project Intake, Approval, and Prioritization
Improving your application portfolio is a great opportunity to update your intake process and prioritization criteria.
Download Our 3-piece Solution SetAssess Core IT Processes
Find out where APM falls on the list of most pressing IT priorities.
View DiagnosticApp Team Perspective
What is the state of the backend of the application? Has the application maintained sufficient code quality? Is the application reliable? How does it fit into your application architecture?
To update and define your application management processes and governance, consider starting our Streamline Application Management blueprint.
CIO Perspective
What is the overall cost of the application? What is the projected cost as your organization grows? What is the cost to maintain the application?
As a CIO, consider starting our Enterprise Application TCO-ROI Assessment Diagnostic.
End-User Perspective
How does the end user perceive the application? What is the user experience? Do the features adequately support the intended functions? Is the application important or does it have high utilization?
To understand how your end users feel about your applications, consider starting our End User Feedback Diagnostic.
Maximize Business Value From IT Through Benefits Realization
Since rationalization is about enabling capabilities to deliver value, use rationalization to help improve your application value realization.
Download Our 3-piece Solution Set