For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Modernization Decisions: Should Client Leave Adabas When It Leaves The Mainframe Platform?

by Phil Murphy, October 28, 2009

Applications professionals at a government agency had been operating a suite of custom Adabas applications for decades. The agency was facing mounting economic pressures, it was seeking avenues for cost reduction, and the large bill for the agency's shared-services . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Global Workforce Planning Through 2016: How Population Shifts Will Affect The Supply Of IT Skills

by Phil Murphy, October 26, 2009

The size and composition of the global workforce is changing, and the changes will affect IT professionals and business leaders in diverse ways. Population experts debate generational differences in work styles and work ethics and whether careers that . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Modernization Decisions: Migrate, Rewrite, Or Replace A 40-Year-Old Assembler Application?

by Phil Murphy, October 2, 2009

Client inquiries asking Forrester for help in making application modernization decisions have spiked in recent months, spurred on by firms' need to make the most of the applications they already own while jettisoning applications that no longer effectively . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Application Life Cycles And Fates: Differentiate Between Strategic Intent And Tactical Necessities

by Phil Murphy, August 24, 2009

The application portfolios of large IT organizations are coming under increasing scrutiny as tempting targets for streamlining to increase agility and reduce waste. Applications professionals often seek to assign a label to each application that indicates . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Anatomy Of A Portfolio Management Tool

Common Qualities Apply To All Types Of Portfolio Management Tools

by Phil Murphy, June 23, 2009

The term "portfolio management" is officially in vogue — it has been appended to applications, projects and programs, enterprises, and to IT itself. But what does it mean to manage a portfolio? What are the criteria for determining whether portfolio management . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Micro Focus Acquires Borland Software And Compuware's Testing And ASQ Product Line

by Phil Murphy, Margo Visitacion, May 11, 2009

Micro Focus made a splash early in May 2009 with a trio of announcements — the first regarding impressive, albeit preliminary, fourth quarter financial results, and the other two detailing acquisitions of Borland Software and Compuware's application testing . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Strategies To Cut Application Costs And Increase Productivity Using Application Mining Tools

Increase Productivity And Quality While Reducing Exposure To Risk

by Phil Murphy, April 24, 2009

Today's economic climate demands that applications professionals do more with less: more new development, more maintenance, more integration, and more technology change to support wild fluctuations in the pace of business change. A tall order in good . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Application Mining Benefits Calculator  (152 KB XLS)

by Phil Murphy, April 24, 2009

This is a customizable calculator to help you determine if application mining would be beneficial to your organization.

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Justifying Application Modernization: Industry Analogies Explain Choices In A Business Context

by Phil Murphy, March 17, 2009

Wary business executives are squeezed by external competition for market share and internal competition for operating and IT budgets. Applications professionals can no longer expect that the justification of the twentieth century — "Trust me, you need . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Four Steps To Optimize Your Application And Project Portfolios In Volatile Economic Times

by Phil Murphy, Margo Visitacion, January 14, 2009

Economic instability around the globe is forcing organizations to react: Some organizations will have to cut costs to survive, some organizations will proceed as usual, while still others will take a more predatory stance to gain market share from their . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Micro Focus's Purchase Of Relativity Strengthens Its APM And Modernization Offerings

by Phil Murphy, December 19, 2008

Micro Focus's acquisition of rival Relativity Technologies for $9.7 million is expected to close in early 2009. What does the acquisition mean to applications professionals? It will have several key positive results, including: the combined company will . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Topic Overview: Strategies To Cut Application Costs Using Diagnostic And Monitoring Tools

by Phil Murphy, November 5, 2008

Once developers have implemented and stabilized applications in a production environment, the applications are placed in "maintenance mode"; thereafter, many receive little scrutiny. As time passes, business volumes grow and hardware components change. . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Application Modernization Taxonomy Clarifies Choices And Paves A Path For Progress

by Phil Murphy, October 17, 2008

Modernizing aging application portfolios presents application development and program management professionals with a bevy of confusing choices — the IT industry uses terms with overlapping and conflicting meanings that have ultimately lost all clarity. . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Use Action-Oriented Categories To Guide Application Life-Cycle Investment Decisions

Human Life-Cycle Analogies Provide No Value And Introduce Bias

by Phil Murphy, October 17, 2008

Excessive IT costs have application development and program management professionals searching for ways to reduce wasteful spending within their application portfolios. Many organizations begin the process by describing applications using human terms . . .

For CIOs

Develop Metrics Thoughtfully To Streamline Application Portfolios Successfully

by Phil Murphy, July 23, 2008

CIOs will be stuck with burdensome, expensive application portfolios until they take the steps necessary to rationalize and streamline the portfolios. But streamlining the portfolio with poor transparency and no usable metrics virtually guarantees that . . .

For CIOs

The Application Management Continuum Offers CIOs A Contemporary Approach To Modernization

by Phil Murphy, July 14, 2008

The technology needs of an industry evolve and mature unevenly — in the early years, companies replace technology frequently to scale in step with organic growth. As the industry matures, it reaches a leveling-off point where the need to gain and retain . . .

For CIOs

Budget Adjustments For CIOs In Lean Economic Times

What To Cut And What Not To Cut When The Budget Ax Must Fall

by Phil Murphy, Alex Cullen, March 28, 2008

CIOs have faced lean economic times with regularity over the past four decades, and they will inevitably face lean times again — it isn't a question of whether they will happen but when. Forrester advises CIOs to base budget cuts on the impact to the . . .

For CIOs

Managing IT When Times Get Tough

Proactive CIOs Will Help Firms Amid Economic Uncertainties

by Alex Cullen, Phil Murphy, March 25, 2008

Macroeconomic conditions, whether they are downturns or boom times, broadly shape the CIO's job, but the firm's own context drives action. The reality is that any business at any time may need to shift its executive focus toward running lean — whether . . .

For CIOs

Academic Programs Are Beginning To Offset Anticipated Mainframe Talent Shortages

by Phil Murphy, March 19, 2008

CIOs who question whether a lack of younger workers with mainframe skills will influence their hardware platform choices are asking the wrong question. At issue isn't the viability of the zSeries platform, but how CIOs can offset any anticipated shortage . . .

For CIOs

CIOs Must MAP A Strategic Application Plan

Align IT Execution To Business Needs With Vision, Context, And Orchestration

by Phil Murphy, February 4, 2008

The duties performed by CIOs are analogous to those of big-city mayors — neither executive has the chance to build a community from scratch, and most inherit a series of problems from predecessors: dated infrastructures, more demand than they can meet, . . .

For CIOs

APM Trends: Board-Mandated Cuts To The IT Budget Spur A Global Bank To Adopt APM

by Phil Murphy, January 7, 2008

The impetus for streamlining application portfolios can originate from many different directions and catalysts. In this case it was simple: The bank's board of directors mandated that IT management cut IT costs by 10% and stipulated a five-year period . . .

For CIOs

APM Trends: Bank Assessed The Ability Of Core Applications To Suit Future Business Plans

by Phil Murphy, January 7, 2008

The business leaders in one bank regularly plan business strategy several years into the future. During these sessions, leaders pose forward-looking questions: "How much will our business change seven to 10 years out, and will our systems support these . . .

For CIOs

Case Study: New York State Government's Skills Assessment Framework

by Alex Cullen, Phil Murphy, October 17, 2007

Small IT shops can assess and manage the skills and proficiencies of their staff "by feel" — large IT organizations must have a framework and process to do this. The New York State CIO Council provides an example of best practices for skills assessment . . .

For CIOs

IT MOOSE Management — 20 Best Practices

How CIOs Should Measure IT Maintenance And Ongoing Operations

by Andrew Bartels, Phil Murphy, September 20, 2007

How does a CIO judge whether he or she is using IT resources in the most effective and efficient manner? If the CIO is successful, how does he or she demonstrate this to the CEO and senior management? While IT spending benchmarks are commonly referenced, . . .

For CIOs

Skills Assessment — A 21st Century Imperative For CIOs

by Phil Murphy, Alex Cullen, September 13, 2007

While hiring the right people has always been a key capability of successful organizations, shifting demographics are driving skills management to become one of today's critical issues. Skills assessment efforts provide the foundation for effective skills . . .