Application Change Management
In Planview Enterprise 12 to 14, contact your Planview representative regarding managing applications as you do other types of outcomes. In addition, contact your Planview representative if you are interested in learning specifics about our Enterprise Architecture solution.
For information on service portfolio management in Planview Enterprise 11.5, see the Getting Started Guide for Planview Enterprise 11.4, Service Portfolio Management Guide for Planview Enterprise 11.4, and the Administrator Guide for Planview Enterprise 11.4
Summary
Application portfolio optimization is an iterative process that involves performing multiple what-if scenarios to arrive at trade-off decisions. As a result, some retirement and consolidation changes will be flagged for the change approval process.
The objective of this effort is to result in actionable recommendations. These change recommendations must first pass through an APM board approval process that considers the unique aspects of the change relative to the overall portfolio and program, and then make it past any strategic approval gates that ultimately provide the necessary priority and funding to accomplish them.
Approach
The initial optimization cycles will generally focus on application change opportunities rather than standards changes. Depending on the level of Application Portfolio Management maturity and state of the applications themselves, there may be a bounty of “low-hanging fruit” to be considered. As a result, a good number of retirement and consolidation changes will be immediately apparent and flagged for transition into the change approval process. Over time, this process will narrow the gap between business needs and application change opportunities.
As the degree of misalignment is reduced, the IT organization will naturally transition to a more proactive posture. The IT organization can now place greater emphasis on standards change and leverage it as an active mechanism for business and technology alignment. If an application standards management process didn’t exist before, the application governance board can leverage the approach presented in APM-2 to initiate and manage one. A best practice to consider is the development of application standards in parallel with the APM program, simply because both have a good degree of the planning and thought required in common, and given the symbiotic nature between APM and technology standards.
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