Reducing redundant functionalities of an application portfolio : Case study Swedish municipality

Abstract: Many government organizations consist of complex application portfolios with significant redundant functionalities and in order to run this portfolio, 80% of the IT budget is consumed by maintenance cost. Eliminating redundant functionalities improves efficiency, operational performance and decreases maintenance costs. A midsized Swedish municipality has a complex application portfolio with redundant functionalities, and this study aims to suggest actions for reducing redundant functionalities of citizen related applications. In order to identify redundant functionalities in a complex organization such as the government, all surrounding complexities need to be identified. Therefore, by performing a literature study, Application Portfolio Rationalization has been selected as an approach for reducing redundant functionalities. An online survey was conducted for gathering data about applications and the total response rate was 46.5%. The collected data was analyzed to identify complexities and applications with similar purpose and functions. Finally, actions were suggested for reducing redundant functionalities of applications by consolidating them with the “best-in-class” application, and implementing a central database for reducing redundant storage of data by the applications.