The first annual Application Landscape report found that millions of applications are obsolete and no longer deliver full business value. The result, says Capgemini, is a need to rationalize and retire applications, freeing up valuable resources to drive innovation and future growth, rather than maintain outdated systems.
The sheer number of applications supported - up to 10,000 for global enterprises - combined with an estimated average data growth of five percent per month means applications management is on track to quickly become an issue of real significance. Moreover, as companies move toward the transfer of applications to the cloud, the need for systematic and well-managed application retirement will accelerate.
Outmoded applications
In in-depth interviews with CIOs and IT leaders in the US and Europe, Capgemini found that:
Successful application management - achieved through a true lifecycle approach of 'build, deploy, maintain and retire' - can deliver tangible business benefits in tough economic times.
Ron Tolido, CTO at Capgemini for Application Services Continental Europe, said: "Our research reveals that key goals for CIOs are value creation, improving efficiencies and cutting costs. 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. This report shows that successful application management - achieved through a true lifecycle approach of 'build, deploy, maintain and retire' - can deliver tangible business benefits in tough economic times."