Your APM goals

If this describes your primary goal(s)

• We are building a business case to determine where and if APM is needed now.
• We want to understand how well supported are our business capabilities, departments, or core functions by our current applications.

• Start with Application Portfolio Snapshot
• Next step: APM Foundations (this blueprint)

• We want to start our APM program with our core or critical applications.
• We want to build our APM inventory for less than 150 applications (division, department, operating unit, government, small enterprise, etc.).

• Optionally start with Application Portfolio Snapshot for capability mapping and analysis
• Start with APM Foundations

• We want to start simple with a quick win for our 150 most important applications.
• We want to start with an APM pilot before committing to an enterprise APM program.
• We need to rationalize potentially redundant and underperforming applications to determine which to keep, replace, or retire.

• Start with APM Foundations
• Continue with Build an Application Rationalization Framework

• We want to start enterprise APM, with up to 150 critical applications.
• We want to collect and analyze detailed information about our applications.
• We need tools to help us calculate total cost of ownership (TCO) and value.
• We want to customize our APM journey and rationalization.
• We want to build a formal communication strategy for our APM program.

• Start with APM Foundations
• Continue with Build an Application Rationalization Framework
• Then continue with Modernize Your Applications

Your Challenge

Common Obstacles

Info-Tech’s Approach

• Organizations consider application oversight a low priority and app portfolio knowledge is poor.
• No dedicated or centralized effort to manage the app portfolio means no single source of truth is available to support informed decision making.
• Organizations acquire more applications over time, creating redundancy, waste, and the need for additional support.
• Organizations are more vulnerable to changing markets. Flexibility and growth are compromised when applications are unadaptable or cannot scale.

• APM implies taking a holistic approach and compiling multiple priorities and perspectives.
• Organizations have limited time to act strategically or proactively and need to be succinct.
• Uncertainties on business value prevent IT from successfully advising software decision making.
• IT knows its technical debt but struggles to get the business to act on technical risks.
• Attempts at exposing these problems rarely gain buy-in and discourage the push for improvement.

• Think low priority over no priority.
• Integrate these tasks into your mixed workload.
• Create an inventory built for better decision making.
• Rationalize your apps in accordance with business priorities and communicate risks on their terms.
• Create a roadmap that improves communication between those who own, manage, and support an application.
• Build your APM process fit for size.

Source: National Small Business Association, 2019

Having more applications than an organization needs means unnecessarily high costs and additional burden on the teams who support the applications. Especially in the case of small enterprises, this is added pressure the IT team cannot afford.

A poorly maintained portfolio will eventually hurt the business more than it hurts IT.

Legacy systems, complex environments, or anything that leads to a portfolio that can’t adapt to changing business needs will eventually become a barrier to business growth and accomplishing objectives. Often the blame is put on the IT department.

of small businesses cited inflexible technology as a barrier to growth

Source: Salesforce as quoted by Tech Republic, 2019

Directionless portfolio of applications

Info-Tech’s Five Lens Model

Assigned dispositions for individual apps

Application Alignment

Business Value

Technical Health

End-User Perspective

Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

Maintain: Keep the application but adjust its support structure.

Modernize: Create a new initiative to address an inadequacy.

Consolidate: Create a new initiative to reduce duplicate functionality.

Retire: Phase out the application.

Disposition: The intended strategic direction or implied course of action for an application.

How well do your apps support your core functions and teams?

How well are your apps aligned to value delivery?

Do your apps meet all IT quality standards and policies?

How well do your apps meet your end users’ needs?

What is the relative cost of ownership and operation of your apps?

Application rationalization requires the collection of several data points that represent these perspectives and act as the criteria for determining a disposition for each of your applications.

1. Lay Your Foundations

1.1 Assess the state of your current application portfolio.

1.2 Determine narrative.

1.3 Define goals and metrics.

1.4 Define application categories.

1.5 Determine APM steps and roles (SIPOC).

2. Improve Your Inventory

2.1 Populate your inventory.

2.2 Align to business capabilities.

*Repeat

3. Rationalize Your Apps

3.1 Assess business value.

3.2 Assess technical health.

3.3 Assess end-user perspective.

3.4 Assess total cost of ownership.

*Repeat

4. Populate Your Roadmap

4.1 Review APM Snapshot results.

4.2 Review APM Foundations results.

4.3 Determine dispositions.

4.4 Assess redundancies (optional).

4.5 Determine dispositions for redundant applications (optional).

4.6 Prioritize initiatives.

4.7 Determine ongoing cadence.

*Repeat

Supermarket Company

The grocer was a smaller organization for the supermarket industry with a relatively low IT budget. While its portfolio consisted of a dozen applications, the organization still found it difficult to react to an evolving industry due to inflexible and overly complex legacy systems.

The IT manager found himself in a scenario where he knew the applications well but had little awareness of the business processes they supported. Application maintenance was purely in keeping things operational, with little consideration for a future business strategy.

As the business demanded more responsiveness to changes, the IT team needed to be able to react more efficiently and effectively while still securing the continuity of the business.

The IT manager found success by introducing APM and gaining a better understanding of the business use and future needs for the applications. The organization started small but then increased the scope over time to produce and develop techniques to aid the business in meeting strategic goals with applications.

Results

The IT manager gained credibility and trust within the organization. The organization was able to build a plan to move away from the legacy systems and create a portfolio more responsive to the dynamic needs of an evolving marketplace.

The application portfolio management initiative included the following components:

Train teams and stakeholders on APM

Model the core business processes

Collect application inventory

Assign APM responsibilities

Start small, then grow

1.1 Assess your current application portfolio

1.2 Determine narrative

1.3 Define goals and metrics

1.4 Define application categories

1.5 Determine APM steps and roles

2.1 Populate your inventory

2.2 Align to business capabilities

3.1 Assess business value

3.2 Assess technical health

3.3 Assess end-user perspective

3.4 Assess total cost of ownership

4.1 Review APM Snapshot results

4.2 Review APM Foundations results

4.3 Determine dispositions

4.4 Assess redundancies (optional)

4.5 Determine dispositions for redundant applications (optional)

4.6 Prioritize initiatives

4.7 Determine ongoing APM cadence

Work with the appropriate management stakeholders to:

• Extract key business priorities.
• Set your goals.
• Define scope of APM effort.

Gather information on your own understanding of your applications to build a detailed inventory and identify areas of redundancy.

Work with application subject matter experts to collect and compile data points and determine the appropriate disposition for your apps.

Work with application delivery specialists to determine the strategic plans for your apps and place these in your portfolio roadmap.

Application Portfolio Management Foundations Playbook

Application Portfolio Management Snapshot and Foundations Tool

This template allows you to capture your APM roles and responsibilities and build a repeatable process.

This tool stores all relevant application information and allows you to assess your capability support, execute rationalization, and build a portfolio roadmap.

DIY Toolkit

Guided Implementation

Workshop

Consulting

Call #1: Establish goals and foundations for your APM practice.

Call #2:

Initiate inventory and determine data requirements.

Call #3:

Initiate rationalization with group of applications.

Call #4:

Review result of first iteration and perform retrospective.

Call #5:

Initiate your roadmap and determine your ongoing APM practice.

1.1 Assess your current
application portfolio

1.2 Determine narrative

1.3 Define goals and metrics

1.4 Define application categories

1.5 Determine APM steps and roles

2.1 Populate your inventory

2.2 Align to business capabilities

3.1 Assess business value

3.2 Assess technical health

3.3 Assess end-user perspective

3.4 Assess total cost of ownership

4.1 Review APM Snapshot results

4.2 Review APM Foundations results

4.3 Determine dispositions

4.4 Assess redundancies (optional)

4.5 Determine dispositions for redundant applications (optional)

4.6 Prioritize initiatives

4.7 Determine ongoing APM cadence

• Complete in-progress deliverables from the previous four days.
• Set up review time for workshop deliverables and to discuss the next steps.

Work with the appropriate management stakeholders to:

1. Extract key business priorities
2. Set your goals
3. Agree on key terms and set the scope for your APM effort

Work with your applications team to:

1. Build a detailed inventory
2. Identify areas of redundancy

Work with the SMEs for a subset of applications to:

1. Define your rationalization criteria, descriptions, and scoring
2. Evaluate each application using rationalization criteria

Work with application delivery specialists to:

1. Determine the appropriate disposition for your apps
2. Build an initial application portfolio roadmap
3. Establish an ongoing cadence of APM activities

Info-Tech analysts complete:

1. Workshop report
2. APM Snapshot and Foundations Toolset
3. Action plan