5 Reasons Your Company Needs Application Portfolio Management

If you're like us, you have probably experienced the surprise of seeing an e-mail with billing for an application that you had only downloaded as a free trial. But, with your busy day-to-day schedule, you forgot to unsubscribe before that billing came through. No need to feel ashamed! Almost half of Britain signs up for applications which they then forget. Last year, their combined subscription payment for overlooked applications totaled a whopping 800 million pounds! And seeing that we do this in our personal lives, who says the same situation doesn't apply to our professional life as well? We can assure you, it does.

It's especially likely to happen in companies with multiple branches or those that have gone through a merger. When there is no common platform where employees can reference what applications a company uses and what licenses are available for use, it really is no surprise that people turn to buy what they need to get the job done. And perhaps, somewhere along the way, a better application comes along, which gets the job done even quicker. What happens then? This: people start shifting to the new addition in the portfolio, without a second thought to the previous ongoing license. The old application slowly becomes underused, then forgotten and overlooked. But the bill keeps coming. The most effective way of eliminating this possibility altogether is implementing a good Application Portfolio Management strategy for your business.

Application Portfolio Management is a proactive system of identifying, assessing, and managing all the software applications purchased within a company. We listed five ways in which your company will benefit by implementing APM.

Benefits of Application Portfolio Management

• Eliminates Duplicate Technology
• Simplifies Enterprise Architecture
• Minimizes Technology Risk
• Lowers Operational Costs
• Frees Up Resources for Innovation

Eliminates Duplicate Technology

Duplicate purchases of the same software are an unnecessary waste of resources, yet it happens all the time. With an effective APM tool (like Loggle), employees or department heads can visualize the entire software portfolio of their company before making any purchases. Need to have access to software that is already in use by a different department? Check to see if there are any more user licenses available. If not, rather than buying it separately, request an additional license within the same membership.

Why Duplicate Applications Harm Your Business

Simplifies Enterprise Architecture

APM helps you analyze, plan, and implement efficient IT strategies that help your business. By systematically assessing the software in your portfolio, you can decide what to invest in, what to terminate and what to migrate when necessary. Having the right software will help you and your team stay on top of industry trends and create long-term, sustainable plans for achieving your business objectives.

How to Architect Your Enterprise and Why It Matters

Minimizes Technology Risk

Applications have risk factors: integration issues, functionality problems, insufficient tech support, lack of skilled users. These problems may arise as the application becomes out-of-date. Either way, they must be noted and observed. With APM, users can log incidents about disruptions in use by adding notes and comments. This way, department heads or IT managers can have an overview of how problematic an application is and prepare for phasing it out.

Lowers Operational Costs

This one is pretty straightforward—you guessed it: by preventing duplicate purchases and eliminating redundant applications, you achieve a substantial amount of cost savings that result in reducing the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). Many organizations unknowingly spend large chunks of their IT budget on duplicate technology. Eliminate this possibility by keeping track of your application inventory.

Frees Up Resources for Innovation

Put your cost savings to good use! Since you won’t be spending resources on redundant applications, you can invest in improving the quality of your enterprise architecture. Spend on innovation and ensure that your IT landscape is actively helping you reach your business goals.

Wrapping Up

APM is a tool for smart businesses who like to take a calculated, systematic approach to maintain their enterprise architecture. Simply put, you can’t manage what you can’t see. And considering how much companies have started relying on software applications for almost every aspect of business, the importance of application management has never been more important.

A successful APM strategy should not be thought of only in terms of application inventory. There are many elements that are factored in, like user engagement, ease of use, cost, license information, vendors, renewal dates, and so on. Visualizing everything app-related helps you optimize IT strategy across the enterprise and create long-term plans that work for everyone. Whether you’re a large corporation or a small startup, ensure a successful collaboration between the business and IT ends of your enterprise with APM.