Applications are the lifeblood of IT and companies today. In fact, research shows the average enterprise has 464 custom applications deployed. According to a report published by the Cloud Security Alliance<\/a>, even those with under 1,000 employees have an average of 22 custom apps.<\/p>\n Business and digital transformation, robotic automation of tasks, artificial intelligence, microservices and the explosion of Software as a Service (SaaS) have massively expanded the landscape of digital solutions companies employ to deliver their business goals. This is true for most companies to the point that many executives are left wondering if there\u2019s really a need for so many solutions that appear to do similar tasks.<\/strong><\/p>\n Rationalizing the inventory of current applications is an approach that can help your company get the most out of its digital investments and optimize IT costs.<\/p>\n As a company grows, either in its workforce or services, it introduces new applications to help meet business challenges. If they don\u2019t review apps periodically, companies run the risk of increased spending, inefficient operations and even security risks associated with data protection and threat monitoring.<\/strong><\/p>\n There are many reasons why companies end up with a complex landscape of applications. For instance, there is often a broad set of decision makers at a company that changes over time. Combined with acquisitions, this often leads to inherited and duplicate applications with no concerted effort to integrate the acquired business into the company\u2019s app portfolio.<\/p>\n When an organization has \u201clegacy untouchables,\u201d or heavily customized solutions built in-house, it can create barriers to replacement or elimination. Companies still integrate these applications, costing money, lowering productivity and hindering business operations.<\/p>\n Even lean companies spend much of their IT budget to keep the business running. If your company has application sprawl, or unregulated growth of the IT system to include more applications, it can lead to inefficiencies at all levels.<\/strong><\/p>\n When you streamline applications, your company can benefit with:<\/p>\n Rationalizing your application landscape<\/a> can be challenging, especially if you have dozens or hundreds of apps to review. When you begin, you will need to consider a number of important questions:<\/p>\n Once you have accomplished the basic landscape assessment and set up your governing criteria, you can classify your application portfolio into a matrix: keep, retire, invest and replace, or invest and reimagine, along with a strategic roadmap to execute the plan over time<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n Application Portfolio Rationalization Helps Align IT and Business Goals<\/h2>\n
Benefits of Application Rationalization<\/h2>\n
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Getting Started<\/h2>\n
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