Application Readiness Maturity: Level 4 – Change Ready

At Level 4, IT organizations are ready for change and can quickly adopt new technologies like Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) or Mobile Application Management and keep up with the increasing frequency of software infrastructure updates and releases. Here IT has implemented a complete, end-to-end automated process for managing applications across their entire lifecycles in the enterprise, from purchase to retirement. IT has codified packaging standards and best practices, automated the request/fulfillment processes, and established a single point of service for applications and licenses. At this level, IT has integrated the Application Readiness process with other related business processes. This includes integration with Software License Optimization and IT service management processes to ensure that licenses are available for requested applications, optimize license spend, and improve service delivery and support.

In addition, IT has empowered end users to serve themselves in requesting applications using a consumer-like process. Users simply select the desired application from an enterprise app store. The requests are automatically validated, checked for license availability, routed for approval (if necessary), and the applications are delivered to the requesters quickly and reliably.

Process:

At Level 4 of the Application Readiness Maturity Model, the end-to-end process of managing the enterprise application lifecycle is fully automated.

• The line of business or application owner enters a request using a specialized, request process that automates the collection of requirements and initiates the Application Readiness process.

• The request is validated through automatic lookup of application information in an external application data source such as CMDB to confirm that the application is approved and purchased.
• The requested application is automatically assessed for compatibility across multiple target environments and multiple virtualization formats to determine best fit. Mobile apps are tested for both device and OS compatibility, as well as assessed for risky behavior.
• Planning phase only needs to deal with exceptions because packaging standards and best practices are codified enabling automation of many of the packaging tasks.
• If there are no exceptions, the application is automatically packaged and handed off to the deployment system for automatic promotion to the test and production environments. Simultaneously, the application is published to the enterprise app store for immediate access by end users.
• Feedback on deployment success/failure is used to proactively and continually improve service quality.

Results:

The benefits of reaching Level 4 of Application Readiness are many. IT dramatically shrinks the time from request for a new application to delivery, and reduces costs through increased efficiency and informed demand planning. IT also aligns more closely with the business in that IT no longer has to wait for the business to tell IT what it needs. Instead, IT can proactively make application recommendations to line of business owners on applications that may be right for them. In addition, IT can now effectively manage SLAs and accurately predict the time to roll out new applications.

What’s more, IT increases end-user productivity and satisfaction by empowering users with self-service access to applications. And that’s not all. IT future proofs the application portfolio in that it can quickly add new applications and take on new technologies such as mobile devices, enabling the enterprise to maintain a competitive edge.

Flexera provides technology that supports you through all four levels of the Application Readiness Maturity Model. You can easily and incrementally add components of the technology as you mature your process. Contact a Flexera Representative for a discussion of where your organization is in the maturity of your application readiness process, and how you can be change ready for new application technologies.