Application Rationalization Guide: A Proven 6-Step Framework
This application rationalization guide delivers a proven 6-step framework to assess application value, reduce portfolio sprawl, and improve alignment between IT systems and business strategy. It includes tools for scoring applications, evaluating total cost of ownership, and building future-state migration plans, driving modernisation and long-term IT efficiency.
Application portfolios often grow quietly, leading to a tangled web of overlapping technologies that complicates every modernisation initiative. This guide presents a disciplined approach to managing application assets, addressing blind spots impacting costs, integration, and innovation.
The six-step framework enables methodical assessment and optimisation of the application ecosystem, beginning with governance and scoping, followed by inventory creation and evaluation of applications based on business value, technical fit, and total cost of ownership.
Key Points
- A structured six-step framework for application rationalisation, from scoping and governance to migration strategy.
- Comprehensive methodology for evaluating applications based on business value, technical fit, and total cost of ownership (TCO).
- Practical tools including questionnaires, scoring models, inventory templates, and service catalog guidance.
- Governance models and stakeholder engagement strategies for informed decision-making across the organisation.
- Real-world case studies illustrating successful application rationalisation efforts and lessons learned.
Why should I read this?
This article serves as a practical blueprint for CIOs and IT leaders aiming to bring strategic clarity to fragmented, legacy-heavy IT environments. The guide helps technology leaders move from merely maintaining systems to mastering them, empowering them to streamline technology portfolios, enhance alignment with business strategy, support cloud migration, and implement data-driven decision-making.
“`