Infrastructure Slideshow:
Overcoming Application Overload

Is the management of applications on your enterprise in need of rational revision? Rationalization refers to the retiring of apps that are simply no longer needed by organizations. But guess what? Far too few companies are doing this, according to a survey from Capgemini, a consulting/technology/outsourced-services company. Co-produced with HP, the Capgemini report reveals that businesses in the U.S. and Europe maintain millions of applications that are obsolete and no longer deliver full business value. Sometimes, application convergence results from a merger or acquisition. In many case, though, it's the "let’s keep it just in case" mentality that is creating a virtual landfill of apps. The majority of CIOs and other top tech execs say many of these apps are simply not serving a valuable function. In these economic times, proving the ROI of IT investments is essential. Senior execs are under the gun more than ever to increase cost efficiencies of app management. But the sheer number of apps supported -- up to 10,000 for large, global enterprises, with average data growth of 5 percent per month -- means that tech departments clearly are facing an issue of potentially critical significance. "Our research reveals that key goals for CIOs are value creation, improving efficiencies and cutting costs," says Ron Tolido, CTO at Capgemini for application services in continental Europe. "Despite the fact that data archiving and application retirement can result in significant cost savings, process efficiencies and increased agility, it still does not rank high enough on the agenda." Capgemini surveyed approximately 100 CIOs and top-level IT managers in companies of various sizes within a wide range of industries. This included 14 in-depth interviews. Thirty-seven percent of the responding companies are US based, and 63% are located in Europe (Benelux, France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom).