Jon Cohn Exton PA - Rationalizing Application Portfolios
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Jon Cohn Exton PA - Rationalizing Application Portfolios
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Jon Cohn Exton PA - Rationalizing Application Portfolios
- 1. JonCohn ExtonPA - RationalizingApplicationPortfolios The pressure ismountingforCIOsand otherIT leaderstohelpthe businessenable newdisruptive technologieslikemobile,social,cloudandbigdata,butmany CIOsare strugglingtodo sobecause maintainingandsupportinglegacyapplicationsconsumesthe lion'sshare of the budget.Here are five recommendationsforrationalizingyourapplicationportfolio. In manyorganizations,the complexityof the applicationlandscape isbecomingamajorchallenge for the CIO.Maintainingandsupportinglegacyapplicationsconsumesthe lion'sshare of the budget, leavinglittleroomforinnovation.Andyet,disruptivenext-generationtechnologieslike mobile, social,cloudandbig data promise tantalizingbenefitstothe businessif itcanleverage them. Andthere'sthe rub: Evenas the businessisbeginningtolookatIT as a strategicenablerthatcan helpitgetits arms aroundthese newtechnologies,ITisstrugglingtodeal withanapplication landscape thatismore complex thaneverbefore. "There'sa strikingdifferencefrom2011: IT isconsideredmuchmore,particularlybythe business side,assomethingthathelpstheminnovateandinformthemselves,"saysRonTolido,seniorvice president,ApplicationServices,atconsulting,technologyandoutsourcingservicesprovider Capgemini. Tolidoisalsothe author of Capgemini'srecentlyreleasedApplicationLandscapeReport2014, a follow-uptoa 2011 reporton the same subject. "In 2011, IT was much more lookedatfor cost reduction,"Tolidoadds."Now it'sseenasastrategic enabler.Itputsa lot of the CIOs that we've beensurveyingunderalotof additional pressure." Evenback in2011, CIOsclearlyfeltthe pressure torationalize the applicationlandscape,Tolidosays. "Despite theirworries — andclearrecognitionof the needforaction — many CIOsindicatedthat theyfounditdifficulttoactuallystartrationalizingtheirportfolio,"Tolidowritesinthe report."The impedimentsof complexity,costconstraintsandthe inabilitytodefine aconvincingbusinesscase were simplytoobigtotake on." Now,he says,the needisbecomingcritical.He hasfive recommendationstohelpCIOsget rationalizationprogramsunderway. 1. Industrialize andStandardize First Nearlyone-half(48percent) of respondentstoCapgemini'sstudyreportedtheyhave more applicationsintheirportfoliothanthe businessactuallyrequires.That'salarge jumpfrom2011, when34 percentof organizationsreportedthe same. "Most CIOswill admitthattheyhave far too manyapplications,"Tolidosays."It'sa clearincrease comparedto 2011. Despite the ambitionsCIOshada few yearsagoto simplifytheirITlandscape,in practice theyhaven'treallybeenable todoit."
- 2. One of the bigcontributingfactorstothe growingnumberof applicationsinthe portfolioisthatfew businessesare willingtodecommissionapplications,evenasindividual businessunitsturnto software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutionstomeettheirneeds,eitherwith IT'sapproval orinthe formof shadowIT. These SaaSsolutionsaddtothe complexityaswell. Capgemini recommendsstartingbytakingafreshlookat yourapplicationlandscape,seekingways to applyindustrializationandstandardizationtorationalize itsfoundation.Fully70percentof respondentstoCapgemini'sstudybelieve thatatleastone-fifthof theirapplicationscouldbe consolidatedbyeliminatingredundantfunctionality. "Look foropportunitiestomutualize resources,improve documentation,refactorsoftware, consolidate overlappingapplications,eliminateredundantapplications,replace agingandhigh-risk technologies,getridof excessive customizationandtoimprove developmentandapplication managementproductivity,"Tolidowritesinthe report. 2. ConsiderMore Radical RationalizationScenarios Despite effortsoverthe pastfewyearsto streamlinethe applicationlandscape,Tolidosaysthat,in manyorganizations,the problemhasreachedthe pointthatCIOsneedtoconsider"extreme" strategies.He pointstotwosuch rationalizationstrategiesthatmore andmore organizations surveyedbyCapgeminihave begunadopting:"enhancement"and"rip-and-replace." In the enhancementscenario,Tolidosays,ITleaveslegacyapplicationsinplace but doesn'ttouch themor spendtime addingnewfeatures.Instead,ITwrapsnext-generationtechnology — likea mobile front-endorcloud-basedAPI — aroundthem. In the rip-and-replace scenario,ITsimplyjettisonsthe oldapplicationsandreplacesthemwith new, standardapplications,oftencloud-basedapplications. "Thoughthe firststrategyis a pragmatic,relativelylow-riskone thatdeliversquickresultswithout massive change,it'sradical inthe sense thatit movesthe focusawayfromrebuildingcore applicationstothe outerlayersof the applicationestate,"Tolidowritesinthe report."The second strategyismuch more radical though,and islikelytobe ignitedbythe impatience of the business, frustrationbyearlierrationalizationattemptsandthe availabilityof anew generationof relatively low-cost,easy-to-implementcloud-basedsolutions." While Tolidonotesthatthese strategieswouldhave beenunthinkablebymostCIOsjusta few short yearsago, the pressure fromthe businessismountingthese daysandCIOsthatare strugglingto make progressinapplicationrationalizationneedtoconsidermore radical solutions. 3. Leverage Next-GenerationSolutions "In mostcases,the single biggestreasonnottobe able to rationalize isthe inabilityto create a businesscase,"Tolidosays."Thissimplyhastodo witha lackof metrics." But here,Tolidosays,the businesslandscape hasbeguntiltinginfavorof CIOs.Social,mobility,big data and cloudsolutionsare bigdriversof the needforapplicationrationalization,andCIOscanuse the perceivedhighbusinessvalue of these solutionstobuildcompellingbusinesscasesfor improvementstothe underlyingcore applications.
- 3. "There'smuchmore pressure fromthe businessside torationalize the applicationlandscape because theywantto dothese innovativethings,"Tolidosays. "Also,the newwave of applicationstypicallycomeswithadvanced(cloud-based) platformsthat provide alternative waystounlocklegacyapplicationsandlinkthemtothe new frontends,"Tolido writesinthe report."Done inthe right way,the applicationportfoliowouldbe aconvincingmix of new,high-value solutionsandcritical changestothe underlyingfoundation." 4. EmbedInnovationinthe ApplicationLifecycle Most CIOs are familiarwiththe old80-20 rule:80 percentof yourtime and resourcesare spent "keepingthe lightson"—runningandoperatingexistingapplications.Thatleavesonly20percentfor innovation.The waytoslaythat bugbear,Capgemini says,istoembedinnovationwithinthe applicationlifecycle (andintoanyapplicationmanagementorsupportcontract,if applicable). "For example,thiscanbe done throughorganizingperiodical trendworkshops,the obligationto dedicate awell-definedpartof the projectportfoliotoinnovative solutionsormore organizational measuressuchas establishinganinnovationgovernance element(like a"value office")orsimply crowdsourcingsuggestionsforimprovement,"Tolidowritesinthe report. 5. SystematicallyUse FactsandMetrics to Create More Mutual Understanding Underlyingitall,the keytosucceedinginrationalizationandinnovationeffortsisasolidbase of agreementbetweenbusinessandITon the currentstate of the applicationlandscape andthe priorities forimprovement.Withboththe businessandITon the same page,you can create a forward-looking,collaborativeatmosphere thatcanenable digital transformationsuccess. "Considertoolsforapplicationmappingandassessment,andforapplicationportfolio management,"Tolidowritesinthe report."Use these tools —amongotherthings—torelate applicationstobusinessprocessessothatthe businessimpactandvalue of applicationsbecome clearerand more tangible.Thishelpstomake rationalizationdecisionsandestablishprioritiesbased on businesscriticality.Also,paymore attentiontobusinesscase development,businessoutcome- drivendashboardsandeven"value engineering,"astheyprovide powerful,objectivemeansfor communicationbetweenthe variousstakeholders. Source : cio.com Recommendedby: JonCohn ,CTO, VP IT Architecture https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonacohn joncohn@comcast.net