Planning, Projects, and Production
Your company’s business applications fall within one of these three life cycle categories.  They are either in the planned initiative status, in process of being developed, or currently running in a production mode.  Have you assessed, quantified, and evaluated the applications from value, availability, flexibility, and technological perspectives?  And, by extension, allocating your IT resources consistent with your business objectives?

Applying Business Management to Technology
Some vendors market Application Portfolio Management (APM) as a software tool or package to be purchased.  To others it is the outright outsourcing of all IT services to a third party.  PCS views it as the application of basic business management practices to the portfolio of application systems, which the company uses to conduct and support its business processes. Application assessment and evaluations are conducted from both financial and non-financial approaches.  The objective is to raise and answer questions such as: ‘What are the costs to operate and maintain each individual application?’; ‘Is the application critical to existing business operations?’; ‘Is future business strategy dependent on the application?’

Application Portfolio Management is a disciplined approach that assists in the enablement of IT to better align itself with the business.  Application systems are viewed strategically, tactically, and operationally, and then valued accordingly.  PCS’ consultants are experienced and have gone through this exercise many times.  They bring a veteran business perspective to the information technology arena and can assist you in any aspect of establishing an APM program.

Allocation of Scarce IT Resources
An effective APM program enables the company to best allocate its IT resources and associated business resources to the initiatives and projects that are most closely aligned with business objectives.  The application portfolio is a dynamic entity, as it is comprised of planned initiatives, projects in process, as well as those applications that are in production status.  The entire application portfolio is in a continual state of change and to avoid the potential for misallocation of IT resources, the portfolio should be evaluated on a regular periodic basis.