Application Portfolio Management, the Basics - How much Software do I have

May 11, 2007

Group ICT - B&E - Application Support

Application Portfolio Management, the basics

How much software do I have

Marcel Rispens, RabobankFrank Vogelezang, Sogeti

22 Group ICT - B&E - Application Support

Content

Part 1: Application Portfolio Management Marcel Rispens– Why did we start with APM– The first management indicators– APM parameters

Part 2: Application Portfolio Measurement Frank Vogelezang– The base metric: size– Current functional size measurements– Improving by review– Special sizing challenges: packages– Size estimation technique


Application Portfolio Management

Marcel Rispens


Why did we start with APM

• For comparison of departments and a baseline for improvement we needed information on:

– performance on cost – performance on productivity– performance on quality

• Benchmarks by Maturity and Gartner

• Application Portfolio Management is the best way to manage on performance in a support environment and to start with building up influence in IT investment decisions


The first management indicators

• Cost per function point

– detailed view on cost-related performance– build-up of this cost gives directions for improvement

• Function points serviced per full-time equivalent

– detailed view on productivity– trigger to improve/remove service intensive applications

• Defects per 1,000 function points

– detailed view on quality– trigger to improve/remove defect sensitive applications


APM, overall goals

• Providing the basis for a consistent set of application related discussions

• Communicating the status of the exisiting application set

• Highlighting and aligning which applications support the business strategy and vision and which applications are likely to constrain the business in the future

• Uncovering major issues associated with applications

Taken from: IT Portfolio Management step-by-step, B. Maizlish and R. Handler


gemiddeld laag hoog

Bedrijfsbelang

€ 84

benchmarklijn


APM indicators

• Size

• Cost per function point

• Service level– Gold– Silver– Bronze

• Architectural fit

• Complexity

• Business importance


Application Portfolio Management, the basics:

Establish a way to quantify the amount of software you have to support with a precision that suits your management targets

Build a limited number of indicators which you can use to guide management decisions


Application Portfolio Measurement

Frank Vogelezang

Functional size per department x 1,000 FP

75

53 54

15

133

69

0

25

50

75

100

125

150

DK LB Siebel SAP KRN KGICT


The base metric: size

• Application size is the base metric to make different aspects of the software portfolio comparable

• Currently used functional size measurement methods:

– Fast FPA estimation– Function Point Analysis– COSMIC– Backfiring

– Backtracking from budget


Size measurement method

Improving by review

• Fast FPA estimation

• Function Point Analysis

• COSMIC

• Backfiring

• Backtracking from budget

Review results

• Corrections on the size between -60% and +130%

On average: -30%

• Only corrections for scope creep

• Only corrections for scope creep

• Not reviewed: the method is as good as the tool that is used

• Not reviewed


Special sizing challenges: packages

• Six categories can be distinguished:

– as-is, implemented without modifications– as integrated part of a larger application– new functionality in addition to existing package functionality– new functionality to enable interfacing with the packaged software– unused functionality of the package– customized for this installation, within the package

• Two special challenges:


Special sizing challenge: Siebel

• Over 1,000 tables• Over 1,000 applets

• Start from the Responsibilities table

– Determine the number of business entities in use as logical files

– Determine the number of list applets as 1 External Output

– Determine the number of form applets as 3 External Inputs1 External Output


Special sizing challenge: SAP

• Over 40,000 tables• Over 70,000 transactions

• Some rules of thumb:– logical files make up about 25% of the total size in a SAP application– reports make up about 25% of the total size in a SAP application– expect between ½ and 2 logical files per 3 external inputs

• Determine the SAP transactions that are active– consider the active transactions that are reports to be External Outputs– consider the other active transactions to be External Inputs– derive the number of logical files from the number of External Inputs– check if the rules of thumb apply


Size estimation technique

• Questionnaire for functional owners or support staff

• Based on Function Point Analysis categories:– Internal Logical Files– External Interface Files– External Inputs, divided into:

– maintenance screens and functions– inbound interfaces– background processes initiated by the user

– External Outputs, divided into:– inquiries– reports– outbound interfaces– unique controls to select field values

– External Inquiries– inquiries with a unique identifying key– help functionality


Application Portfolio Measurement:

Size estimation, combined with expert review, can give size measurement results that are precise enough for Application Portfolio Management purposes, but require only a limited amount of resources


• Marcel [email protected]

• Frank [email protected]

More information:

http://metrieken.sogeti.nl



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Application Portfolio Management, the Basics - How much Software do I have

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