Every organization spends a lot of money on technology. Maybe it’s not the greatest expense – that’s people. But it’s up there, and if some of the more melodramatic reports are to be believed it will overtake the cost of people when we all lose our jobs to robots. But here’s the thing. Robots wouldn’t manage all of that technology expenditure manually through spreadsheets. But that’s what most IT organizations do.
Very few businesses utilize effective Application Portfolio Management (APM.) That’s the management of the organization’s digital assets in a centralized, integrated manner. Instead, they maintain inventories of their assets across multiple spreadsheets that are only updated when the person responsible remembers. Then again, studies show that 88% of spreadsheets have errors, so perhaps them not remembering that often isn’t all bad!
But even if those spreadsheets are updated regularly, and even if there are no errors, they won’t accurately reflect what’s happening in the business. There will remain those isolated applications that no one remembers – the ones that live outside of IT and are only used by a few users a few times a year. And they won’t include shadow IT – those applications and services purchased by business departments without the involvement of IT at all.
The need to be future ready
This isn’t a management model that can take an organization into the brave new world of digital transformation – a world that is happening far quicker than anyone thought (even in the current economy IDC is forecasting a 10.4% expansion in spending on digital transformation in 2020 to $1.3 trillion). Organizations need not just an accurate and complete inventory of assets, they need to manage those assets effectively.
That’s where APM comes in. It not only delivers integrated and automated inventory management of digital assets; it allows for the effective management of those assets. It enables the elimination of those services and applications that don’t align with the organization’s strategic priorities. It supports the creation of roadmaps to drive planning and execution of initiatives that align technology and business innovation. And it aids the development of application lifecycles for all assets that ensure future-proofing the ability to deliver key business functions.
APM is a necessary weapon in an IT leader’s arsenal, yet very few leaders have it available to them. That has to change and at ServiceNow we want to help that change occur. That’s why we’re presenting a webinar on November 17th where we explore the concepts around APM in more detail and offer a plan to start your own APM journey. Register here.
