IT Service Management: A Guide for ITILFoundation Exam

Candidates, Second Edition

by Ernest Brewster, Richard Griffiths, Aidan Lawes and John Sansbury
BCS. (c) 2012. Copying Prohibited.

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ITServiceManagement:AGuideforITILFoundationExamCandidates,SecondEdition

Chapter 30: Application Management (SO 6.6)

INTRODUCTION AND SCOPE
Application management is a function and not a process. It will manage applications through the totality of their lifecycle.
This starts with the first business 'idea' and completes when the application is no longer required. Application management
is involved in the design, testing and continual improvement of applications and the services that the applications support.
An application is any software program or programs that support a business process. Such applications, in conjunction with
data, hardware, middleware and the operating system, make up the IT infrastructure that supports a service. It is not
unusual for large organisations with a diverse set of services to have a high number of application teams. These teams
may be grouped together depending on the type(s) of technology used in the applications that they support.
The applications may be developed in-house or they may be bought in. Bought in applications will need varying degrees of
customisation prior to release. For those teams responsible for bought-in applications, managing the ongoing relationship
with the supplier (in conjunction with supplier management) is important.
Application management teams manage and support applications on a day-to-day basis. For example, they will usually be
the functional escalation route used by the service desk when an incident or problem has been logged and categorised
against their application.
PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES
Application management has two objectives:
n

Custodian of technical knowledge and expertise relating to the managing of applications. Application management
makes certain that the required technical knowledge to design, test, operate and continually improve applications is
available.
Provider of the actual resources to facilitate all phases of the service lifecycle, ensuring that staff are adequately
trained and effective. It is often important for staff who are to be deployed in service operations to have been involved
in the service design and the service transition activities for a particular application.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN APPLICATION MANAGEMENT AND APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT

Application development teams are increasingly becoming accountable for the successful operation of applications they
have designed. In parallel, the application management function is becoming more involved in application development.
This has created a greater level of integration between the two functions but typically requires the following:
n

A single interface to the business for requirements and specification setting.

End-to-end accountability for applications from design to operation.

A single change management process spanning development and operational environments.

The respective aspects are illustrated in Table 30.1.

Table 30.1: Application development versus application management

Application development

Application management

Nature of
activities

One-time set of activities to design and construct application

solutions

Ongoing set of activities to oversee and manage

applications throughout their entire lifecycle

Scope of
activities

Performed mostly for applications developed in house

Performed for all applications, whether purchased

from third parties or developed in house

Primary focus

Utility focus

Both utility and warranty focus

Building functionality for their customer

What the functionality is as well as how to deliver it

What the application does is more important than how it is

Manageability aspects of the application, i.e. how to

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operated

ensure stability and performance of the application

Most development work is done in projects where the focus is

on delivering specific units of work to specification, on time and
within budget

Most work is done as part of repeatable, ongoing

processes. A relatively small number of people work
in projects

This means that it is often difficult for developers to understand

and build for ongoing operations, especially because they are
not available for support of the application once they have
moved on to the next project

This means that it is very difficult for operational staff

to get involved in development projects, as that
takes them away from their ongoing operational
responsibilites

Measurement

Staff are typically rewarded for creativity and for completing one
project so that they can move on to the next project

Staff are typically rewarded for consistency and for

preventing unexpected events and unauthorized
functionality (e.g. 'bells and whistles' added by
developers)

Cost

Development projects are relatively easy to quantify because the

resources are known and it is easy to link their expenses to a
specific application or IT service

Ongoing management costs are often mixed in with

the costs of other IT services because resources
are often shared across multiple IT services and
applications

Life cycles

Development staff focus on software development lifecycles,

which highlight the dependencies for successful operation, but
do not assign accountability for these

Staff involved in ongoing management typically only

control one or two stages of these lifecycles
operation and improvement

Management
mode

KEY ACTIVITIES
Application management has to be involved throughout the service management lifecycle. It is important that application
management is involved at the right time and in the right way. More specifically:
n

Service strategy: High-level requirements are the outputs of this phase. The decision-making criteria relating to
whether applications are developed in-house or are bought in (and customised as necessary) are of particular
relevance to applications management. Application management will have the knowledge and experience to contribute
to this decision.
Service design: How applications are to be designed and subsequently managed is established during the service
design phase. Application management will have an understanding of how similar applications are presently managed,
and will provide information and views during the service design phase.
Service transition: Application management will be included in testing and in ensuring that the testing process is
appropriate and robust. Knowledge held within the application management teams on the applications and how they
interface with each other and with the technical infrastructure will be used to help draw up test scripts. Known errors
may be identified at this stage. The known errors may be eradicated or, after a cost and risk assessment, be allowed
into the live environment with problem management and the known error database being updated.
Service operation: Application management will typically be available to respond to support requests for the
applications for which they are responsible. It is common for application management teams to undertake operational
activities as part of the IT operations management function. Application management teams provide second-line
support and are available for functional escalation relating to events, incidents and problems.
Continual service improvement: The performance of applications which make up or underpin a service will be
constantly monitored. Improvements will be identified and considered from the point of view of cost and urgency. For
applications that have been bought in, close liaison is required with the supplier to ensure that the organisation is
aware of possible enhancements that may be considered for implementation.

RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER SERVICE MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS

IT operations management, technical management
There may be overlaps between application management and both IT operations management and technical management.
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Application management is responsible for the applications while technical management is responsible for the IT
infrastructure. Application management has the same responsibilities for the applications as technical management has for
the IT infrastructure.
IT operations management is a distinct function, but it is usual for teams from both application management and technical
management to be part of this function.

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