“Identifying and Tracking Applications: A Detailed Look”

EMA White Paper ($99 value!)

Author

Charlie Betz
Research Director
EMA

About Enterprise Management Associates (EMA)
Founded in 1996, Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) is a leading industry analyst firm that provides deep insight across the full spectrum of IT and data management technologies. EMA analysts leverage a unique combination of practical experience, insight into industry best practices, and in-depth knowledge of current and planned vendor solutions to help its clients achieve their goals. Learn more about EMA research, analysis, and consulting services for enterprise line of business users, IT professionals and IT vendors at www.enterprisemanagement.com or blogs.enterprisemanagement.com. You can also follow EMA on Twitter or EMA on Facebook.

One of the most challenging aspects of IT management is defining IT services. Unlike a computer, a rack, a chair, or even a well defined vendor software package, IT services often have blurry boundaries, and yet there is substantial value in identifying them. Without a list or catalog of what IT provides to its business partners, it is difficult to justify IT budgets and align IT activities with business drivers and value. In this paper, EMA discusses how to define applications, how to manage their identifiers, how to maintain application data, and how to reconcile disparate application portfolios.