South African companies are reluctant to adopt applications management and modernisation (AAM) because they don't want to relinquish control over their IT assets.
So says Collin Govender, VP for systems integration at T-Systems SA, who notes that local companies often use in-house teams to manage their application environments.
As with their international counterparts, South African organisations face complex ICT application landscapes, which often feature hundreds, if not thousands, of applications.
This means organisations are incurring unnecessary management and operational issues, which are exacerbated by redundant application functionality. "In fact, experts estimate that one out of five applications are either duplicated or fulfil no significant function," says Govender.
He believes that both mid-sized and large South African enterprises can benefit from streamlined, standardised application environments that improve manageability and drive down costs.
"These organisations can optimise their business operations within agile ICT environments."
According to Govender, AMM delivers savings through standardisation and industrialisation, while improving quality of service, promoting greater flexibility and availability, and ensuring greater transparency and predictability.
Legacy issues are also making local companies reluctant to adopt AMM, he says. "With the entry of the outsourcing model a few years ago, many organisations had to deal with below-par service and other issues, such as cultural and language obstacles. Service level agreements weren't met, which impacted business processes and led to escalating operational expenses," he explains.
Today, the outsourcing marketplace in SA is a strong and established offering, he notes, pointing out that larger organisations remain resistant to handing over control, despite the benchmarked benefits and tangible cost savings.
Another obstacle is the perceived risk associated with an AMM project, he says. "Here, it is important to note that AMM incorporates best practices and standards such as the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL), the de facto international standard for service management, and is aligned with other standards such as COBIT."
This means planning, delivery and support of IT services is based on industry standards and best practice and closely aligns with various other industry regulatory requirements, he explains.
"Also, when implementing AMM at any institution, projects are aligned to meet the various and stringent regulatory requirements set by said industry. The institutions in question can, therefore, rest assured that all the necessary boxes are ticked and adhered to."
Govender believes that, in SA, AMM can help organisations optimise business processes while driving down ICT operational expenditure. "Furthermore, it can lead to a demand in skills and subsequent services that will benefit local outsourcing service providers and build local skills for SA."
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