Organize To Deliver And Manage Application Transformation

Every firm faces a central dilemma: how to resolve the standardization and differentiation of its business apps to the satisfaction and benefit of all within the organization. Matching the upgrade cadence of business apps such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) to the changing requirements of a global business is an almost insuperable challenge. Given the configuration, testing, data conversion, and training requirements, many firms can accommodate one new release per year at most. This research shows how firms deploy business application centers of excellence (CoEs) to drive an appropriate level of standardization across business units and to establish repeatable best practices. Examining several different approaches, this report proposes a model for determining the staffing, terms of reference, and success metrics for your business app CoE. This report describes the way in which firms deliver the organizational component of Forrester's playbook for application development and delivery (AD&D) professionals working on business application strategy. The report was originally published on November 14, 2012; Forrester reviews and updates it periodically for continued relevance and accuracy; we substantially revised this edition to include data from the Q4 2014 Global Organizational Business Applications Online Survey.