Application Portfolio Management: Understanding its value for the enterprise

[Lilly Souksamla]

Organizations are changing the way they view their IT departments.  More are seeking to run IT as a business.  And that’s a good thing.  After all, technology can generate significant value for the business, and C-suite leaders want to know the return on investment.  One key contributor to that value is an organization’s application portfolio, the mix of applications used to manage finances, process orders, track inventory, measure productivity—you name it, there’s an application to support it.  

In fact, most enterprises now have so many applications that it’s a challenge keeping track of them.  With the impact applications have, making the right decisions on purchasing, upgrading, and managing them is a strategic imperative—let alone understanding and tracking their impact on the bottom line.  That’s where Application Portfolio Management (APM) comes in.  An APM solution can help organizations tackle the major pain points related to: 

• Poor visibility – The inability to identify redundant and obsolete apps to contain costs and build a cost-effective infrastructure 
• A lack of alignment with the business – Ensuring that applications support key business objectives and creating a clear roadmap for future application investments 
• Application risk management – Limiting the potential risk to the business resulting from end-of-life technologies and outdated legacy platforms 

Managing an application portfolio is a big job—one that goes beyond the capabilities of a spreadsheet.  Today’s enterprises need a single source of truth on all their applications, so they can focus effort and investment where it will have the maximum effect.  An APM solution includes capabilities for: 

• Inventory – An integrated repository of data on all digital assets that is automatically updated with information from throughout the enterprise infrastructure 
• Analysis – Detailed metrics showing how applications align to strategy, cost, value, and their contribution to each department’s mission 
• Planning – A roadmap for future application investments to help the organization maintain its competitiveness, innovate at speed, and deliver on the organization’s goals 
• Delivery – Translating insight on application needs and performance into real-world solutions that support business strategy

With ServiceNow APM, we’ve created a solution that’s more than a system of record.  It’s also a system of action.  You can better control application costs, limit the risks that come with “shadow IT”, and ensure that your application investments sync with your strategy.  

Interested in learning more? Visit us online and find out how ServiceNow APM can help you plan for a new tomorrow.  

See the next blog in our series here