In today’s fast-paced world of tech, IT organizations are constantly adopting new systems and applications. But keeping up with the latest innovations can lead to a dangerous habit: Tech hoarding.
Much like stacks of unused items accumulate in the home of a compulsive hoarder, redundant applications and technologies can begin to pile up in an enterprise IT environment. Whether you’re retaining legacy apps that have been dormant for years or outdated enterprise software solutions that have already been replaced, tech-hoarding impacts system performance and drains your IT budgets.
Consider this:
- In a recent McKinsey survey, CIOs reported that up to 20% percent of the budget dedicated to new technology products is diverted to resolve issues related to legacy tech.
- Collectively, companies lose an estimated $300 billion each year to “technical debt” – maintaining legacy systems or dealing with the ramifications of bad software.
Once the ongoing costs from old tech hit your balance sheet, then the questions arise: Where are the overlaps in functionality? Are we overstaffed? How much could we save by de-cluttering our technology closet?
If any of this sounds familiar, then it may be time to kick your tech-hoarding habit. To help you get started, here are 7 tips we’ve learned that can streamline your technology and application portfolios.
- Start with an audit. The first step of technology portfolio management involves identifying and classifying all of your application and technology assets. For each application, this includes collecting information on the annual spending, contract termination dates, and term conditions. By conducting an initial audit, you’ll have a comprehensive view of your IT environment – enabling you to decide which resources should stay and what can be eliminated. Then, you can use the information you’ve gathered to set your decommission priorities.
- Establish a data governance policy. When eliminating systems and applications, you’ll need to decide what should be done with all the legacy data. In our experience, establishing a governance policy early in the process is essential. Doing so will help you avoid any delays related to data retention and decommission.
- Do your homework. Once you’ve identified an application or technology that can be replaced, retired, or consolidated, make sure you research all the ways it is currently being used. Understanding the work and data flow of an existing application will help you speed up its replacement or retirement while ensuring no details or use cases are overlooked.
- Determine your legacy management solution. Find and implement the best legacy management solution to meet your unique needs. Do you need to select a supplemental product? Will your approach leverage best-of-breed, best-of-suite, or an all-in-one solution? Do you have the staff to support it? Ask yourself these questions to select the solution that’s right for you.
- Communicate with stakeholders. Engaging business owners and other key stakeholders early in the process will help ease the transition when decommissioning systems. Do your best to get their buy-in. Communicate your expected timelines to help them make the necessary preparations. And meet often to manage expectations and address any concerns.
- Capture the benefits. Decommissioning legacy systems will free up valuable resources for your team. Before you get started, decide how you will leverage these new-found savings to be more responsive to the needs of the business – like refocusing developer time on innovation or investing the cost savings into new technologies that align with your strategic goals.
- Prevent future application creep. Once you’ve thinned out your technology and application portfolio, create new governance policies as a safeguard against future application creep. This will ensure you give up your tech-hoarding habits for good.
Know When to Call in an Expert
Just like facing the reality of an unhealthy habit, admitting you have a technology hoarding problem is the critical first step to overcoming it. But you don’t have to handle the cleanup alone. With the right partner, you can clear out the clutter of legacy tech and build an agile, future-ready IT environment focused on delivering real business value – fast.
At Impulse Strategic Solutions, we know that technology portfolio management is complex, tedious, and resource-intensive. That’s why we offer a team of experienced, senior IT leaders to help guide the way. To learn more about our methodology and experience with IT assessments and portfolio management, contact us today.
