Exploring Application Portfolio Management

Learn about the features, functionality, and the business value that Application Portfolio Management provides.

APM uses the following key solution components:

• Application Classification
  • Focuses on Enterprise Business Applications, which can also include functional modules part of a larger ERP suite.
  • Provides additional attributes to classify applications in a new CI class, Business application, which extends the base Configuration Management Database (CMDB) configuration item.

    The configuration items used in APM are related by establishing a CMDB relationship with each other.

    Figure 1. APM CI relationship

    

  • Captures phased rollout/deployment of applications by business unit or geography.
  • Captures attributes from the referenced Software Model.
• Applications Assessment Framework
  • Indicators to assess the application across dimension such as cost, quality, risk, user satisfaction, and business alignment.
  • Common indicators from ServiceNow applications like Financial Management for costs, ITSM for support issues, PPM for investment details.
• Reports and Dashboards
  • Application Landscape Dashboard
  • Application 360 Dashboard
  • Application Assessment Dashboard
  • Application Strategy Recommendation (bubble chart)
  • Applications Rationalization Roadmap
  • Application Risk and Compliance Overview (role required is sn_grc.reader)
• Integration with other applications
  • Integrates with Project Portfolio Suite (PPS) to track execution of strategic goals and recommendations.
  • Integrates with Financial Management to assess applications costs and associated breakdowns.
  • Integrates with PPS to assess planned investments for applications.
  • Integrates with ITSM to assess the incidents, problems, and changes for the applications.
  • Integrates with Service Administration to generate an assessment questionnaire to a user or user group who use the business application and can assess its performance.
  • Integrates with Agile Development 2.0 Digital Portfolio Management (DPM) so that the DPM managers gain a comprehensive understanding of business applications that helps in taking informed decisions to invest, sustain, or replace them. DPM provides a unified workspace for owners to view and collectively manage their services and applications through the full life cycle. For more information, see Exploring Digital Portfolio Management.