Application Portfolio Optimization (APO) provides executives with tools and information to assess the quality and condition of application assets as well as a means for understanding the impact of proposed application changes. This paper presents a three-stage approach for implementing an APO initiative that delivers immediate benefits while setting a foundation to better support future business requirements.
Application Portfolio Optimization
Overview Even in the best of times, Information Technology (IT) organizations face constant pressure to be more efficient. It's not an easy task. Businesses need application support as well as IT flexibility to respond to the issues and opportunities imposed by uncertain economic conditions. The challenge is to provide meaningful reductions in operating expenditures without compromising business performance in the short term or crippling the ability to grow when conditions improve.
Application portfolios represent years of accumulated knowledge and capital investments. These portfolios consume a significant portion of IT budgets for their development, support and operations. Continually growing and evolving, application portfolios routinely contain applications of varying levels of strategic value, function and technical quality, volatility and support expense. Whether from merger and acquisition activities, technology changes or simple aging, portfolios accumulate clutter, disparate technologies and costly supporting infrastructures.
Application Portfolio Optimization (APO) provides executives with the tools and information to assess the quality and condition of application assets they manage as well as a means to understand the impact of proposed application changes. This knowledge enables executives to make well-informed decisions when choosing where to invest budget and resources, and deciding which strategies will best achieve corporate objectives.
The purpose of this white paper is to provide IT managers and executives with an overview of APO and its benefits. The paper presents a three stage approach for implementing an APO initiative that delivers immediate benefits while setting a foundation to better support future business requirements. It details the goals, steps and benefits of implementing each stage as well as offering practical advice for launching improvement strategies.
The Need for Effective Application Portfolio Optimization Numerous factors put pressure on corporate application portfolios. While tight budgets spur an immediate search for cost savings, other considerations impact the success of that search and have significant implications for both short and long term application management strategies. . Portfolio Complexity Application portfolios grow larger and more complex every business day. New applications appear through purchases, development and M&A activities. Interconnections between components through services, data stores and networks proliferate rapidly. One application may support multiple business processes or a single transaction may require multiple applications. In this environment, any change can have widespread business impact. . Technology Demands New technology can deconstruct application functionality in creative ways to bring greater business value, but requires a deeper understanding of portfolio components to be successful. Mash-ups combine the output of multiple applications to create new business functionality (but changes to an underlying application can derail the dependent mash up).
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Newer service oriented architectures (SOA) allow the reuse of existing software assets via services that participate in loosely coupled architectures. Virtualization and related technologies such as cloud computing and Software as a Service (SaaS) capitalize on application services to spread processing and provide new models for delivering business functionality. . Regulatory Environment Corporations face increasing scrutiny due to SOX, HIPAA, financial transparency, data privacy and other government regulations. Many of these regulations focus on data including its source, who had access to it, how it was transformed and where it is kept. These requirements place a premium on understanding the complete flow of data through the complex and interconnected application portfolio. . Programmer Demographics Changing programmer demographics require new methods of obtaining and sharing application knowledge. Legacy programmers are graying and... [download for more]
