The Applications Playbook
12 Steps to Excellence in Managing Applications
Book a Call to EnrollGet More InfoDriving Applications:
Key Challenges
Your Application department has the potential to be the powerhouse that drives your organization to new heights. With our targeted improvement plan, you won't just keep up – you'll redefine the game. Let's make Applications the catalyst for your next big success.
Demanding stakeholders with changing needs.
Critical processes are immature and informally managed.
Scarcity of skills & resources for modern challenges.
Projects take too long and fail to deliver value.
Unstoppable security breaches & threats risk derailing your career.
Painful & expensive technologies don't satisfy users but become irreplaceable.
Low quality & under-leveraged data impedes processes & insight.
Capacity for innovation stifled by limited resources consumed by basic operations.
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67%The number of IT departments facing capacity constraints rose from 15% in 2018 to 59% in 2023.
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38%Due to capacity constraints, 38% of IT projects fail to deliver expected benefits of value.
Info-Tech’s 2024 Technology Trends Report, CIO-CxO Alignment Diagnostic, and CIO Business Vision Diagnostic (N=21,367)
8 Secrets for Applications Excellence
Understanding the eight secrets is imperative to overcoming your most prominent challenges and systematically improving IT for the future.
The Applications Playbook
12 Steps to Excellence in Managing Applications
Our 12-step process has been proven across maturity levels, and each step comes with a matrix of methodologies, tools, and templates that's right for you.

Structured, Actionable, 12-Step Framework
Clear activities to delegate to your team
Customizable initiatives with measurable results
Our highest-value advisory engagements
A proven path to Applications excellence
Stakeholder Management
Managing stakeholder satisfaction through application delivery is your most important job.
Core Apps Processes
Stabilizing critical application processes is the only way to stop firefighting.
Workforce Development
Empower end users to own critical processes and shift solutions closer to the challenges.
Project Portfolio Management
Unify portfolio management to drive project success across product families.
Risk & Security
Embed adaptive governance into your solution delivery lifecycle and metrics.
Technology & Vendor
Leverage user feedback to select and manage software effectively.
Product Delivery Throughput
Ensure your applications deliver trusted, high-quality data.
Product Management
Align enterprise goals and priorities through product and product family roadmaps.
Organizational Value
Application Strategy
Budget & Capacity
Renewal & Reflection
Benefits of the Program
Your Application department has the potential to be the powerhouse that drives your organization to new heights. With our targeted improvement plan, you won't just keep up - you'll redefine the game. Let's make Application the catalyst for your next big success.
A Proven Methodology
A proven methodology to improve application delivery and management with supporting resources to make the journey easier.
A Structured Framework
A calendar with 12 actionable steps for core Application functions.
High-Value Advisory Engagements
High-value advisory engagements that deliver tangible results and valuable experiences.
Clear Activities You Can Delegate
Clear activities you can delegate to your team with Guided Implementations and actionable best practices.
Customizable Initiatives With Measurable Results
Customizable initiatives with measurable results that align with your organizational, departmental, and personal goals, with annual proof of improvement.
How Applications Systematic
Improvement Works:
Commit to your Applications Evolution
- Contact your Counselor to learn more about the Applications Playbook.
- Become familiar with the Applications Playbook benefits, steps, expectations, and deliverables.
Assess your Team Performance
- 91ÖÆÆ¬³§ your Applications scorecard based on your personal success metrics and targets.
- Conduct your Annual Applications Department Assessment by evaluating your team’s performance of each step based on your current business context and performance goals.
- This will result in a prioritized set of steps for which to leverage Info-Tech’s support in your first year.​
Customize Your Playbook
- Create your individual systematic improvement key initiatives plan, which will include your top 2-3 Playbook initiatives with your Counselor​.
- Leverage Info-Tech's Diagnostics, Advisory Guided Implementations, Workshops, and Consulting experiences to customize and expedite your progress.​
- Identify key contributors to the 12 monthly steps (direct reports) and delegate​.
Stay on Track & Accelerate
- Quarterly, connect with your Counselor to review progress on the remaining Playbook activities and determine if you would like additional assistance with any of them.​
Celebrate Wins & Evolve
- At the end of each year, you will review and measure your progress across each of the 12 areas through quantifiable success measures. ​
Be Future Ready. Get Your IT
Department Started Now.
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