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 applicationsRe-platform – for high value, older technology

applicationsReinvest – for high value, low cost applicationsConsolidate – 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, High Cost

Move to less expensive platforms

High Value, Low Cost

Keep current with updates and training

Low Value, High Cost

Retire or replace to free up IT resources

Low Value, Low Cost

Assess whether these are really necessary

Val

ue

Cost.

Project:   Score

Date Scored:  0

Scored By:  

# Factors Criteria Crit Score Select (X)Result Score

1Efficiency/ ROI

(30)

Directly results in bottom line income increase or cost reduction

30  

0

Ability to repurpose headcount (1 FTE or greater)

25  

Ability to eliminate system/application

20  

Incremental time savings (<1 FTE) 10  No improvement in efficiency or cost savings

0  

Will result in increased cost or inefficiency post-project

-10  

2Institutional Risk

(30)

Mitigates major compliance/legal/security/liability risk

30  

0

Mitigates vendor risk (e.g. end of support)

25  

Mitigates system stability or business process risk

20  

Mitigates minor compliance/legal/security/liability risk

15  

Mitigates risk of impacting existing operations

15  

Prevents/mitigates errors or low end-user satisfaction

10  

No risk mitigation 0  

3Strategic Goal

(20)

Directly Supports Academic Mission 20  

0Directly Supports Research Mission 20  Directly Supports Outreach Mission 10  Directly Supports Administration 5  

4Impact

(20)

University-Wide or External to Cornell

20  

0

All Faculty or Staff or Students or Alumni

16  

Multiple Colleges/Units 12  Single College/Unit or Multiple Departments

8  

Single Department 5  

5

Bonus

(Governance Discretion)

Document reason for bonus points.. 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