Plan for Application Consolidation Successful application consolidation relies

Plan for Application Consolidation

Successful application consolidation relies on assessment of the application portfolio to determine the best candidates Consolidation projects are expensive, disruptive, and often fail. Start with a preliminary applications assessment to create recommendations for the right consolidation project that will avoid costly expenditures on an ill-fated project. This research is designed for IT leaders who: ü Have been or will be going through merger and acquisition activity. ü Are in global or distributed organizations that offer duplicate services from multiple centers. ü Are in organizations with “shadow IT” in the business, or a history of unmanaged software acquisition and deployment. Info-Tech Research Group This research will enable you to: ü Identify the software consolidation opportunities that will provide maximum business value to the organization. ü Quickly get to the answer “yes” for recommended consolidation initiatives. ü Improve the likelihood of software consolidation project success through a three-phase assessment approach. 2

Executive Summary • For many organizations, consolidating duplicate or redundant software is an ideal way to cut costs and boost productivity. Consolidation seems straightforward: select among the best and simply turn off those that are redundant. Right? • Wrong! Many consolidation projects are poorly planned, costly, and time consuming. They result in angry executives, unhappy users, and put IT in the hot seat. Systems remain in place to handle custom functionality that wasn’t considered, business units refuse to adopt the changes, or the new system won’t meet future business objectives. • If you want to simplify the software portfolio and reduce costs, invest in upfront software inventory analysis for success. Develop consolidation recommendations that meet functionality requirements and ensure that the right projects are considered before embarking on the actual consolidation project. • Info-Tech recommends a three-phase approach to plan your consolidation project: – Create an application inventory from the existing portfolio. – Assess the inventory for consolidation candidates. – Recommend consolidation projects that will reduce costs and boost productivity. Info-Tech Research Group 3

Consolidation planning efforts are small in comparison to the long-term benefits of consolidating the right things You already know why you want to consolidate, here are the reasons you must make an investment in inventory assessment and planning first. Benefits of Effective Consolidation Planning Consolidated applications support business strategy Organization achieves cost savings, expense reduction, increased productivity or increased efficiency after consolidation All possible consolidation options have been considered Roles and processes have been adapted All business functions are supported IT architecture supports the new application portfolio Info-Tech Insight A focused preliminary assessment pays off by avoiding investment in large consolidation projects that would otherwise fail. Info-Tech Research Group 4

Application portfolio assessment is a high level focus of key criteria to determine ideal consolidation candidates The objective of the portfolio assessment is to save time and money by avoiding big investment in non-starter projects. Speed • Take an iterative approach to quickly establish an initial application roadmap and associated value case. Focus • Make recommendations to focus first on high priority, high value opportunities. Flexibility • Structure a flexible approach that can be adjusted as objectives and scope are refined. Info-Tech Research Group 5

Use Info-Tech’s Software Consolidation Readiness Assessment to determine the company’s readiness for software consolidation ool T ech o-T Inf Use the Software Consolidation Readiness Assessment to assess organizational readiness for a software consolidation initiative based on a number of criteria. 1. Define the current state of the organization. 2. Identify potential organizational risks. 3. Prioritize the need to address each risk factor. 4. Define mitigating actions to reduce risks and increase organizational readiness for the project. Info-Tech Insight Whether the goal is to address an entire application portfolio or specific applications, certain capabilities and support are required before a consolidation project should be attempted. Use this tool to determine what steps your organization needs to take to get ready for a consolidation project. Info-Tech Research Group 6

Understand the need and how to approach software consolidation planning. Consolidation Approach Assess As-is Identify Candidates Secure Approval 1 Understand the approach to application assessment: • Determine the right time to consolidate. • Partner with the business. • Manage the assessment like a project. Wrap Up

Recognize opportunities in the organization and begin your consolidation planning when they occur Organizational Events… …Drive Consolidation Business Events: Business Drivers: • Mergers & Acquisitions – Multiple application portfolios brought together, creating overlapping business and application functions. • Globalization – Diverse locations result in multiple instances of similar applications and redundant processing. • Operational inefficiency/low productivity – Complex data analyses, and cumbersome business processes. • Inadequate information access – Poor flow of management information, inadequate communication. • Poor financial performance – Business performance impacted by inefficiencies and information barriers. IT Events: • Unmanaged software deployment – Overwhelming asset inventory becomes a barrier for asset management personnel. • Software/Hardware end of life – Deteriorating systems lose support from vendors and are at risk of data corruption. IT Drivers: • Architectural complexity – Increased infrastructure complexity and costs to run applications. • Duplicate or redundant costs – Application licensing, support, maintenance, specialized skills costs. Info-Tech Insight As a result of these business events, 90% of the time the driver to look at for consolidation is rising IT costs and inability of IT to respond quickly to business needs due to a diverse app portfolio with lots of redundancy. Info-Tech Research Group 8

Identify applications to consolidate in three project phases: inventory, evaluate, justify Before beginning the consolidation project, this assessment provides support in identifying consolidation candidates that are most likely to deliver the expected business value. • Assess Current State Phase 1 Map business functions to all applications within the scope of the review and business strategy. Info-Tech Research Group Phase 2 • Identify Consolidation Candidates Use established criteria and decision tree to identify best consolidation candidates. • Secure Management Support Phase 3 Document project proposals and present recommendations to senior management for approval. 9

The benefit of doing an application assessment before beginning a consolidation project is largely cost avoidance Cost avoidance benefits of application assessment and planning: Identification of the best fit applications for consolidation projects avoids large expenditures on aborted or failed consolidation projects (measure project success rates). Application consolidation roadmap ensures business and IT objectives and strategy will still be followed (measure organization and IT scorecard). Advance planning helps to minimize the negative impact on productivity and effectiveness (measure day to day or weekly performance metrics). Intangible benefits of application assessment and planning: Greater acceptance from the business for app consolidation initiatives. Better informed decisions on which consolidation projects to approve. Info-Tech Research Group 10

Info-Tech Research Group Helps IT Professionals To: ü ü ü Quickly get up to speed with new technologies ü Manage business expectations ü Justify IT spending and prove the value of IT ü Train IT staff and effectively manage an IT department Make the right technology purchasing decisions – fast Deliver critical IT projects, on time and within budget Sign up for free trial membership to get practical solutions for your IT challenges “Info-Tech helps me to be proactive instead of reactive – a cardinal rule in a stable and leading edge IT environment. • - ARCS Commercial Mortgage Co. , LP Toll Free: 1 -888 -670 -8889 www. infotech. com