Craig Bickel
Craig Bickel

IT budgets today typically include a large amount of Application costs.  Acquisitions, change in business strategies, business growth and new demand for IT services have contributed to significant growth in application portfolios.  Support needs to grow with the portfolio as new solutions are added and the overall complexity and risks increase.

This situation leads to two key challenges for IT and the Business:

  1. Rising costs – while most organizations believe they are spending on highest valued opportunities, this is rarely the case.  As the portfolio increases, spending gets spread across too many priorities and very few understand the true costs of each application.  In addition, complex infrastructure supporting applications are often shared across multiple solutions which further complicates the true costs. 
  2. Outdated Applications – companies rarely initiate programs to simplify or retire applications.  Why? It is hard work and usually means that one organization may have to give something up for the companies greater good.  However, just like life itself, applications have a life cycle or beginning and end.  A burning platform can arise as vendors discontinue support for applications, hardware becomes obsolete, and organizations lose specialized resources that maintain these applications. 

It is imperative that organizations adopt an Application Portfolio Management (APM) process to align their portfolio with business, strategic and technology priorities.

  • One of the best places to start an APM program is to conduct an application rationalization project.  This project focuses on building or enhancing an existing inventory of applications, but more importantly it establishes a framework for classifying business value and understanding application assets. 
  • During this process, applications are scored and ranked along with an initial set of issues and opportunities.    The ranking provides input to a strategic roadmap of which applications to invest, promote, retire, or enhance in some form (migrate, renovate, etc.)  in an effort to reduce complexity and focus resources on new capabilities.

An application portfolio rationalization forms the basis of an organizations application strategy and governance process that can drive business and IT improvement for years to come. 

To learn more about what Wavestone US can do for your company, visit http://www.wavestone.us/capabilities/.

Craig Bickel
Principal

Craig has over 30 years of executive and consulting experience in IT strategic planning, IT governance, IT sourcing, program management, organizational design and operational excellence. He has been an award winner from ComputerWorld and CIO magazine and has been the principal driver of business and IT transformation in numerous companies and industries.

Optimizing the 3 Stages of Your Cloud Software Development Lifecycle

May 25, 2023

Your Cloud Optimization Strategy requires seamless coordination between optimization levers throughout the SDLC to produce and maintain effective cloud solutions. Discover best practices and improvement opportunities for each lever, where they fit in the SDLC, and how to synergize them effectively.

Accelerate Cloud Maturity with the Right Cloud Optimization Strategy

May 18, 2023

Migration is only the beginning of the cloud journey. Moving to the cloud is not enough to leverage its advantages – a central, organized framework is needed to direct efforts. Learn to formulate a strategy customized to your needs and optimize your cloud enterprise continuously with a Cloud Optimization Strategy.

Have a Question? Just Ask


Whether you're looking for practical advice or just plain curious, our experienced principals are here to help. Check back weekly as we publish the most interesting questions and answers right here.

Ask Wavestone