Application Streamlining Initiative
Kickoff Meeting
August 23, 2011
Application Streamlining
Application Streamlining will allow the
synchronization of IT priorities with business
priorities. Applications will be managed as key
assets of the institution.
Application Streamlining Components
• Application Portfolio Management, or APM, is a process that
evaluates the entire institution’s set of applications. It is used to
categorize each application based upon its value to the
organization and the cost of operation.
• Application Rationalization is the process that decides the
disposition or action plan for each application in the portfolio.
Likely outcomes are:
Retire– for low value, high cost applications
Re-platform – for high value, older technology applications
Reinvest – for high value, low cost applications
Consolidate – for redundant applications
Cornell Current State
Bain’s review of applications and services in the Cornell IT
environment cited the following weaknesses:
•Significant waste and duplication
•Poor prioritization
•Lack of collaboration across units
•Unclear/non-existent guidelines & standards
•Application development resources highly variable across units
•Resources often lack breadth and/or depth
•Development capabilities not aligned with program needs
The Application Streamlining Initiative will address each of these
weaknesses in a program of continuous improvement.
Steps to Effective Application Streamlining
Goal: Move toward an application portfolio containing
high value, low cost applications
Steps to success:
• Ensure upper management support
• Establish objective evaluation criteria
• Gather an appropriate team
• Develop a deliberate methodology with transparent processes
• Manage the effort as a project
• Leverage the results
The Challenges
•
Construct meaningful definition of what constitutes an application.
•
Define information to be gathered in the inventory – important technical
characteristics and “fit,” measures of application scope and value, and
cost elements.
•
Apply objective assessment criteria against inventory information
sufficient to place applications in the appropriate quadrants of the
Rationalization Start Chart on the next slide.
•
Maintain appropriate stakeholder engagement throughout.
•
Develop initial recommendations.
•
N.B.: Many findings and recommendations will be preliminary until the
inventory is completed for most, if not all, campus units.
Application Rationalization Star Chart
High Value, Low Cost
Move to less expensive platforms
Keep current with updates and
training
Low Value, High Cost
Low Value, Low Cost
Retire or replace to free up IT
resources
Assess whether these are really
necessary
Value
High Value, High Cost
.
Cost
Project:
Score
Date Scored:
0
Scored By:
#
1
2
3
4
5
Factors
Criteria
Directly results in bottom line
income increase or cost reduction
Ability to repurpose headcount (1
FTE or greater)
Efficiency/ ROI Ability to eliminate
system/application
(30)
Incremental time savings (<1 FTE)
No improvement in efficiency or cost
savings
Will result in increased cost or
inefficiency post-project
Mitigates major
compliance/legal/security/liability
risk
Mitigates vendor risk (e.g. end of
support)
Mitigates system stability or
Institutional Risk business process risk
Mitigates minor
(30)
compliance/legal/security/liability
risk
Mitigates risk of impacting existing
operations
Prevents/mitigates errors or low
end-user satisfaction
No risk mitigation
Directly Supports Academic Mission
Strategic Goal
Directly Supports Research Mission
Directly Supports Outreach Mission
(20)
Directly Supports Administration
University-Wide or External to
Cornell
All Faculty or Staff or Students or
Impact
Alumni
Multiple Colleges/Units
(20)
Single College/Unit or Multiple
Departments
Single Department
Bonus
(Governance
Document reason for bonus points..
Crit Score
Select (X)
Result
Score
30
25
20
0
10
0
-10
30
25
20
15
0
15
10
0
20
20
10
5
0
20
16
12
0
8
5
0
Pilot Planning
• Startup – 3 weeks
– Kickoff meeting, methodology, definitions, timeline
•
Data Collection – 3 weeks
– Prepare survey instrument, interview stakeholders, organize
data, present inventory
• Analysis – 3 weeks
– Assign business value, assign technology value, assess
portfolio, review with stakeholders
• Recommendations – 2 weeks
– Find targets of opportunity, recommend optimization strategy
• Complete – 1 week
– Write report, lessons learned
Roles and Responsibilities
• Executive Sponsorship
– Stay informed. Take ownership
– Allocate appropriate business staff for value analysis
• Business Analysts
– Prepare Inventory Templates
– Prepare Business Questions
– Conduct Interviews
• IT Professionals
– Decide Information to Capture on Applications
– Document Applications Inventory
• OIT Staff
– Facilitate Process & Projects(s)
– Prepare for Campus Engagement
Pilot Results
• Open, Transparent Application Inventory
– Can be modified
– New applications are compared with existing inventory
• Star Chart with Value/Cost Determinations
– Applications are within unit
– Relative comparison more important than absolute
• Application Rationalization Recommendations
Next Steps
•
•
•
•
•
Complete Application Inventory Template
Assign Business Owner/Expert to Each Application
Complete Business Value Assessment Template
Complete Value Analysis Methodology
Complete Technology Assessment Methology