Managing your legacy applications
They might be legacy but, the ongoing success and evolution of virtual desktop solutions tells you that they will be around for some time.
Simplicity, reduced cost and business flexibility can be achieved by creating a service approach for the legacy application estate that addresses the complete lifecycle: discovery through to retirement.
The goal for application management is to simplify and standardise,
The provision and on-going support of applications to users in a controlled, supported, and cost-effective way.
The introduction of new applications to minimise the number of applications supporting the same business function or process.
The number of systems, staff are required to learn and use to complete their work.
Discovery
What is it? - Discovering all the User, Business specific data for all applications and methods of access.
Why do we do it? - To effectively deliver and support these applications a concise and current catalogue of the application estate must be established.
What is the primary deliverable? - Applications catalogue
In a complex environment, there are multiple applications deployed across multiple domains distributed geographically all across the company. To effectively deliver and support these applications a concise current portfolio of the application estate must be established.
This process produces an application catalogue of installed applications to be considered for delivery to users. This catalogue will be deemed as containing currently deployed applications and subject to rationalisation. Information will be collected on client applications, server applications and their associated data to facilitate effective delivery and support of the approved applications.
The information is presented in an approved format that will guide the effective consolidation and rationalisation of all applications discovered.
Rationalisation
What is it? - Cleansing of the data provided by Discovery using defined choices. Includes an architecture assessment to determine application delivery platform.
Why do we do it? - To produce a reduced application set matched to business functionality needs, reduced support costs and in line with the architecture to reduce the core application set.
What is the primary deliverable? - Rationalised application and its preferred delivery method.
The rationalisation of the application estate will reduce the complexity and support costs. It will also offer support for legacy access devices in order to comply with capital investment requirements.
This also requires a rigid enforcement of the IT strategy and architecture across the business to remove spurious requests for software.
Understanding the business process supported by the application is an important aspect of rationalisation, particularly to identify applications which may be providing similar or duplicate functions for the business.
It can be challenge to classify the processes across a business and a framework such as the one published by APQC https://www.apqc.org/pcf can help simplify this task.
Packaging
What is it? - The processes required to prepare a rationalised application for deployment and installation.
Why do we do it? - To ensure that the application and data can be delivered to the identified application delivery platform.
What is the primary deliverable? - Application Accreditation Report and associated installation package.
Platform accreditation will produce a detailed technical assessment of a rationalised application. It contains the detailed process required to ensure the application can be deployed either manually or through via an automated package.
This needs to include data migration in any of the following scenarios are true.
Consolidation requires a server move to centralise associated data.
Rationalisation creates a need for data conversion to new application.
Rationalisation creates a need for data conversion to upgraded application.
Before moving to Operations functional testing should be performed to confirm the application package performs as required and integration testing is also completed to ensure it does not adversely impact other applications.
Operations
What is it? - Ensure that the completed package can be deployed and supported in production by the Service Desk and end users.
Why do we do it? - Acceptance into service is necessary whenever you instigating change. This also provides assurance that appropriate process and procedures have been followed.
What is the primary deliverable? - Operational acceptance
Once an application has been packaged for deployment to the chosen application delivery platform it needs to satisfy certain operational requirements. Fulfilment of these requirements produces a completed package suitable for production deployment.
There are two operational areas to consider Training and Operational acceptance.
Training - For both Service Desk and end users.
Operations Acceptance - The final part of the change control confining that all documentation is available to assist ongoing support and testing has been completed.