What is involved in Application Services

Find out what the related areas are that Application Services connects with, associates with, correlates with or affects, and which require thought, deliberation, analysis, review and discussion. This unique checklist stands out in a sense that it is not per-se designed to give answers, but to engage the reader and lay out a Application Services thinking-frame.

How far is your company on its Application Services journey?

Take this short survey to gauge your organization’s progress toward Application Services leadership. Learn your strongest and weakest areas, and what you can do now to create a strategy that delivers results.

To address the criteria in this checklist for your organization, extensive selected resources are provided for sources of further research and information.

Start the Checklist

Below you will find a quick checklist designed to help you think about which Application Services related domains to cover and 221 essential critical questions to check off in that domain.

The following domains are covered:

Application Services, Application Services Library, Application Maintenance, Application Management, Application Portfolio Management, Application Strategy, Application Support, Application software, Best practices, Business Information Services Library, Business process, Capability Maturity Model, Change Management, Change impact analysis, Configuration Management, Connecting Process, Continuity Management, Contract Management, Financial Management, Functional Management, IT Operation Management, IT Service Management, Information Management, Information Technology, Information Technology Infrastructure Library, Information system, Management Process, Mathematical programming, Planning and Control, Public domain, Quality Management, Service Provider, Software Control and Distribution, Software testing, Supplier Management, Use Support:

Application Services Critical Criteria:

Adapt Application Services issues and forecast involvement of future Application Services projects in development.

– What are your current levels and trends in key measures or indicators of Application Services product and process performance that are important to and directly serve your customers? how do these results compare with the performance of your competitors and other organizations with similar offerings?

– Who will be responsible for making the decisions to include or exclude requested changes once Application Services is underway?

– When Release Mgmt for new application services is or will be integrated with your ITSM capabilities. How is it integrated?

– Who is responsible for ensuring appropriate resources (time, people and money) are allocated to Application Services?

– How is release management for new application services integrated with your itsm capabilities?

Application Services Library Critical Criteria:

Grasp Application Services Library projects and use obstacles to break out of ruts.

– Meeting the challenge: are missed Application Services opportunities costing us money?

– Why is Application Services important for you now?

Application Maintenance Critical Criteria:

Unify Application Maintenance quality and describe the risks of Application Maintenance sustainability.

– Think about the functions involved in your Application Services project. what processes flow from these functions?

– What other jobs or tasks affect the performance of the steps in the Application Services process?

– How do we Lead with Application Services in Mind?

Application Management Critical Criteria:

Think carefully about Application Management leadership and get out your magnifying glass.

– How do senior leaders actions reflect a commitment to the organizations Application Services values?

– What are your most important goals for the strategic Application Services objectives?

– Is the scope of Application Services defined?

Application Portfolio Management Critical Criteria:

Demonstrate Application Portfolio Management issues and visualize why should people listen to you regarding Application Portfolio Management.

– What role does communication play in the success or failure of a Application Services project?

– What is our formula for success in Application Services ?

Application Strategy Critical Criteria:

Bootstrap Application Strategy tactics and differentiate in coordinating Application Strategy.

– What vendors make products that address the Application Services needs?

– Are we Assessing Application Services and Risk?

– How do we keep improving Application Services?

Application Support Critical Criteria:

Boost Application Support engagements and balance specific methods for improving Application Support results.

– Will Application Services have an impact on current business continuity, disaster recovery processes and/or infrastructure?

– Does the application support different cloud deployments and multiple providers?

– Is Application Services Realistic, or are you setting yourself up for failure?

Application software Critical Criteria:

See the value of Application software projects and intervene in Application software processes and leadership.

– How do you manage the new access devices using their own new application software?

– Is the process effectively supported by the legacy application software?

– Is Supporting Application Services documentation required?

– Are there recognized Application Services problems?

– What are current Application Services Paradigms?

Best practices Critical Criteria:

Analyze Best practices tactics and research ways can we become the Best practices company that would put us out of business.

– What are the best practices for software quality assurance when using agile development methodologies?

– Aare there recommended best practices to help us decide whether they should move to the cloud?

– Does your organization have a company-wide policy regarding best practices for cyber?

– What are some best practices for gathering business intelligence about a competitor?

– Are CSI and organizational change underpinned by Kotters change management best practices?

– What are the best practices for implementing an internal site search?

– How does big data impact Data Quality and governance best practices?

– Are there any best practices or standards for the use of Big Data solutions?

– What are the a best practices for Agile SCRUM Product Management?

– What are some best practices for managing business intelligence?

– What are best practices for building something like a News Feed?

– Do we adhere to best practices interface design?

– Which rules constitute best practices?

Business Information Services Library Critical Criteria:

Discuss Business Information Services Library risks and describe which business rules are needed as Business Information Services Library interface.

– What are the disruptive Application Services technologies that enable our organization to radically change our business processes?

– Do we monitor the Application Services decisions made and fine tune them as they evolve?

– What will drive Application Services change?

Business process Critical Criteria:

Accelerate Business process leadership and secure Business process creativity.

– Do we identify maximum allowable downtime for critical business functions, acceptable levels of data loss and backlogged transactions, RTOs, RPOs, recovery of the critical path (i.e., business processes or systems that should receive the highest priority), and the costs associated with downtime? Are the approved thresholds appropriate?

– When conducting a business process reengineering study, what should we look for when trying to identify business processes to change?

– What finance, procurement and Human Resources business processes should be included in the scope of a erp solution?

– Do the functional areas need business process integration (e.g., order entl. billing, or Customer Service)?

– If we process purchase orders; what is the desired business process around supporting purchase orders?

– How do clients contact client services with any questions about business processes?

– What are the relationships with other business processes and are these necessary?

– Will existing staff require re-training, for example, to learn new business processes?

– Do changes in business processes fall under the scope of change management?

– What would Eligible entity be asked to do to facilitate your normal business process?

– Do Application Services rules make a reasonable demand on a users capabilities?

– What business process supports the entry and validation of the data?

– How do we improve business processes and how do we deliver on that?

– How will business process and behavioral change be managed?

– What/how are business processes defined?

Capability Maturity Model Critical Criteria:

Devise Capability Maturity Model governance and learn.

– What will be the consequences to the business (financial, reputation etc) if Application Services does not go ahead or fails to deliver the objectives?

– Have you identified your Application Services key performance indicators?

– What are the barriers to increased Application Services production?

Change Management Critical Criteria:

Brainstorm over Change Management planning and attract Change Management skills.

– Workforce Change Management How do you prepare your workforce for changing capability and capacity needs? How do you manage your workforce, its needs, and your needs to ensure continuity, prevent workforce reductions, and minimize the impact of workforce reductions, if they do become necessary? How do you prepare for and manage periods of workforce growth?

– What are your results for key measures or indicators of the accomplishment of your Application Services strategy and action plans, including building and strengthening core competencies?

– In terms of change focus, leaders will examine the success of past strategic initiatives and the concrete Change Management that accompanied them. is the overall strategy sound?

– Business Change and Training Manager responsibilities include Planning, coordinating and implementing an Organizational Change Management Plan?

– How should projects be phased to allow adequate time for Change Management and organizational acceptance of the selected technologies?

– How effective is your organization with organizational change management?

– What has been your most Challenging change management experience?

– When is Change Management used on a project at which level?

– What is the latest success strategy in change management?

– Who are the leaders in a Change Management process?

– When is Change Management used on a project?

– What is workplace Change Management?

– Why do we need Change Management?

Change impact analysis Critical Criteria:

Have a round table over Change impact analysis risks and modify and define the unique characteristics of interactive Change impact analysis projects.

– What is the total cost related to deploying Application Services, including any consulting or professional services?

– When a Application Services manager recognizes a problem, what options are available?

– How do we go about Comparing Application Services approaches/solutions?

Configuration Management Critical Criteria:

Map Configuration Management engagements and perfect Configuration Management conflict management.

– Is an asset management process(es) in place to inventory and manage this new asset (investment) from a property management perspective, to provide Configuration Management support, and to monitor system performance?

– Can we answer questions like: Was the software process followed and software engineering standards been properly applied?

– Have all mechanisms that can lead to temporary or permanent changes in the design requirements been identified?

– Have all mechanisms that can lead to temporary or permanent changes to facility documentation been identified?

– What is the most effective strategy to coordinate versions of vendor code with versions of product code?

– Are the scm procedures for noting the change, recording it, and reporting being followed?

– Why is it important to have senior management support for a Application Services project?

– What would you like the cmdb to do for you -how would they like it to change your life?

– How do engineering changes interface with the configuration management process?

– How will the software and documentation libraries be created and managed?

– What information is required to process a change to a baseline?

– If the change does involve a usq, has it been approved by doe?

– Has an initial assessments of your CM Program been conducted?

– What are valid performance indicators for the service desk?

– What baselines are required to be defined and managed?

– Which of the entities should be configuration items?

– How is the current software configuration defined?

– What are configuration items, baselines, etc. ?

– If yes, has the usq review been completed?

– Why establish baselines?

Connecting Process Critical Criteria:

Track Connecting Process planning and oversee Connecting Process requirements.

– How would one define Application Services leadership?

– What is our Application Services Strategy?

– Is Application Services Required?

Continuity Management Critical Criteria:

Experiment with Continuity Management adoptions and probe using an integrated framework to make sure Continuity Management is getting what it needs.

– Are accountability and ownership for Application Services clearly defined?

Contract Management Critical Criteria:

Communicate about Contract Management risks and observe effective Contract Management.

– Is there a view as to when the market should be re-tested for the goods/services?

– What is the purpose of Application Services in relation to the mission?

– Is a disaster/back-up recovery system in place for each system?

Financial Management Critical Criteria:

Review Financial Management adoptions and clarify ways to gain access to competitive Financial Management services.

– What are our best practices for minimizing Application Services project risk, while demonstrating incremental value and quick wins throughout the Application Services project lifecycle?

– Is there a Application Services Communication plan covering who needs to get what information when?

Functional Management Critical Criteria:

Accommodate Functional Management decisions and revise understanding of Functional Management architectures.

– Do we cover the five essential competencies-Communication, Collaboration,Innovation, Adaptability, and Leadership that improve an organizations ability to leverage the new Application Services in a volatile global economy?

– Do you monitor the effectiveness of your Application Services activities?

– What are the Essentials of Internal Application Services Management?

IT Operation Management Critical Criteria:

Analyze IT Operation Management engagements and inform on and uncover unspoken needs and breakthrough IT Operation Management results.

– Do we aggressively reward and promote the people who have the biggest impact on creating excellent Application Services services/products?

IT Service Management Critical Criteria:

Learn from IT Service Management tactics and find answers.

– If SLAs are already negotiated and reference the Catalogue for documentation of the service levels, how do you change service level in the Catalogue without renegotiating the SLA?

– Are we getting a handle on project initiation-related risks which is all about are we doing the right things?

– In your organization, which group oversees/coordinates your IT service management capabilities?

– What are our key differences between ITAM IT asset management and ITSM IT service management?

– How do mission and objectives affect the Application Services processes of our organization?

– Is Service Delivery (hardware/software/people) capable of supporting requirements?

– What element of the it Service Management lifecycle are you currently focused on?

– What sources do you use to gather information for a Application Services study?

– What should customers be looking for and expect from a good cloud service provider?

– Are you thinking about implementing ITIL standards based tools?

– Which Application Services goals are the most important?

– What metrics will be provided and are they relevant?

– Do you have a growing list of overdue incidents?

– How will changes affect the customers services?

– Will the customers and consumers be notified?

– What availability levels are provided?

– What do you see as your major ITSM challenge?

– What is the scope of certification?

– Where does the data reside?

– Performance supported?

Information Management Critical Criteria:

Chat re Information Management risks and create Information Management explanations for all managers.

– What is the difference between Enterprise Information Management and Data Warehousing?

– How is Business Intelligence and Information Management related?

– What are our Application Services Processes?

Information Technology Critical Criteria:

Dissect Information Technology adoptions and explain and analyze the challenges of Information Technology.

– Do the response plans address damage assessment, site restoration, payroll, Human Resources, information technology, and administrative support?

– Does your company have defined information technology risk performance metrics that are monitored and reported to management on a regular basis?

– If a survey was done with asking organizations; Is there a line between your information technology department and your information security department?

– What is the source of the strategies for Application Services strengthening and reform?

– What tools and technologies are needed for a custom Application Services project?

– How does new information technology come to be applied and diffused among firms?

– The difference between data/information and information technology (it)?

– When do you ask for help from Information Technology (IT)?

Information Technology Infrastructure Library Critical Criteria:

Have a session on Information Technology Infrastructure Library governance and be persistent.

– How do we ensure that implementations of Application Services products are done in a way that ensures safety?

– Is a Application Services Team Work effort in place?

Information system Critical Criteria:

Steer Information system visions and sort Information system activities.

– Have we developed a continuous monitoring strategy for the information systems (including monitoring of security control effectiveness for system-specific, hybrid, and common controls) that reflects the organizational Risk Management strategy and organizational commitment to protecting critical missions and business functions?

– Has your organization conducted a cyber risk or vulnerability assessment of its information systems, control systems, and other networked systems?

– Are information security events and weaknesses associated with information systems communicated in a manner to allow timely corrective action to be taken?

– Would an information systems (is) group with more knowledge about a data production process produce better quality data for data consumers?

– Are information systems and the services of information systems things of value that have suppliers and customers?

– What are the principal business applications (i.e. information systems available from staff PC desktops)?

– Why Learn About Security, Privacy, and Ethical Issues in Information Systems and the Internet?

– What are information systems, and who are the stakeholders in the information systems game?

– How secure -well protected against potential risks is the information system ?

– Is unauthorized access to information held in information systems prevented?

– How do we Improve Application Services service perception, and satisfaction?

– Does Application Services appropriately measure and monitor risk?

– What does integrity ensure in an information system?

– Is authorized user access to information systems ensured?

– How are our information systems developed ?

– Is security an integral part of information systems?

Management Process Critical Criteria:

Shape Management Process decisions and triple focus on important concepts of Management Process relationship management.

– The slower data transfer rate between a compute cluster and a storage array has been adversely impacting multiple cloud services. which Service Management process helps to mitigate this impact?

– Does your organization include risk management processes in policy decisions, such as implementation of a new specification, design requirement, or other related elements?

– How do your measurements capture actionable Application Services information for use in exceeding your customers expectations and securing your customers engagement?

– Which cloud service management process monitors and reports on allocation and utilization of resources by consumers in order to generate a chargeback report?

– Where should the organization enhance its Risk Management processes to have maximum benefit and impact on its ability to achieve business objectives?

– Do you have a clearly defined organizational structure at organization level in order to sustain the risk management process?

– Does our organization have a Cybersecurity Risk Management process that is functioning and repeatable?

– Do we leverage resources like the ESC2M2 or DOE Risk Management Process for Cybersecurity?

– Is there systematic monitoring and documentation of the management process?

– Do we use controls throughout the data collection and management process?

– How cost-effective are your distribution and order management processes?

– Do governance and risk management processes address Cybersecurity risks?

– Is there a patch management process in place?

– What is the Change Management process?

– What is the Risk Management Process?

Mathematical programming Critical Criteria:

Unify Mathematical programming tactics and get the big picture.

– How do we manage Application Services Knowledge Management (KM)?

– What are internal and external Application Services relations?

Planning and Control Critical Criteria:

Confer over Planning and Control management and look in other fields.

Public domain Critical Criteria:

Value Public domain risks and summarize a clear Public domain focus.

– How do we measure improved Application Services service perception, and satisfaction?

– Can we do Application Services without complex (expensive) analysis?

Quality Management Critical Criteria:

X-ray Quality Management governance and overcome Quality Management skills and management ineffectiveness.

– Do the Application Services decisions we make today help people and the planet tomorrow?

– What are all of our Application Services domains and what do they do?

– What is the future of Data Quality management?

– Quality management -are clients satisfied?

Service Provider Critical Criteria:

Focus on Service Provider goals and oversee implementation of Service Provider.

– Is there an appropriately trained security analyst on staff to assist in identifying and mitigating incidents involving undetected malware?

– Think about service providers who have difficulty making small talk during interactions with customers. why do you think this happens?

– How quickly can a cloud service provider scale services and capability and is this quick enough for the requirements of the customer/consumer?

– Organizations must be especially diligent about regularly measuring their compliance performance: Is the policy effective?

– What Security arrangements do you have in place with cloud service providers you rely on to deliver your service?

– In the case of public clouds, will the hosting service provider meet their regulatory compliance requirements?

– Are we protecting our data properly at rest if an attacker compromises our applications or systems?

– In the past 12 months, have you had layoffs or do you anticipate layoffs in the coming 12 months?

– Do you allow sensitive data to be loaded on to devices that may be removed from the premises?

– Approximately how many credit/debit card account numbers do you have stored companywide?

– Does the cloud service provider require third-party providers in order to deliver services?

– Does the service provider have a service desk function based on ITIL principles?

– How does our organization choose a service provider?

– What type of IDS system are you using?

– Should You Place Security Within IT?

– Exclusion of consequential damages?

– How many Firewalls do you have?

– Do you have a privacy policy?

– What can be self certified?

Software Control and Distribution Critical Criteria:

Model after Software Control and Distribution governance and devise Software Control and Distribution key steps.

– What may be the consequences for the performance of an organization if all stakeholders are not consulted regarding Application Services?

Software testing Critical Criteria:

Judge Software testing tactics and find out what it really means.

– A compounding model resolution with available relevant data can often provide insight towards a solution methodology; which Application Services models, tools and techniques are necessary?

Supplier Management Critical Criteria:

Analyze Supplier Management failures and oversee implementation of Supplier Management.

– Can Management personnel recognize the monetary benefit of Application Services?

Use Support Critical Criteria:

Mine Use Support outcomes and look in other fields.

– Does Application Services systematically track and analyze outcomes for accountability and quality improvement?

– What are the top 3 things at the forefront of our Application Services agendas for the next 3 years?

– Does the tool we use support the ability to configure user content management alerts?

– Are there Application Services Models?

Conclusion:

This quick readiness checklist is a selected resource to help you move forward. Learn more about how to achieve comprehensive insights with the Application Services Self Assessment:

store.theartofservice.com/Application-Services-Complete-Self-Assessment/

Author: Gerard Blokdijk

CEO at The Art of Service | theartofservice.com

[email protected]

www.linkedin.com/in/gerardblokdijk

Gerard is the CEO at The Art of Service. He has been providing information technology insights, talks, tools and products to organizations in a wide range of industries for over 25 years. Gerard is a widely recognized and respected information expert. Gerard founded The Art of Service consulting business in 2000. Gerard has authored numerous published books to date.

External links:

To address the criteria in this checklist, these selected resources are provided for sources of further research and information:

Application Services External links:

SIMS | Enterprise Application Services
sims.rutgers.edu

Walkthrough: Using ASP.NET Application Services
msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb515342.aspx

Application Services Library External links:

Application Services Library (ASL)
dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1051708

Application Maintenance External links:

Application Maintenance | National MI
www.nationalmi.com/maintenance

Application Management External links:

Application Management – Admissions Home
admissions.augustana.edu/apply

Application Management
gradadmis.udallas.edu/apply

Application Management – Dixie State University
apply.dixie.edu

Best practices External links:

Best Practices — Attorneys Title I North Carolina
www.attorneystitle.com/best-practices

Title Company – Best Practices
www.hbwtitle.com/Education/BestPractices

Best Practices – Independence Title
independencetitle.com/about/best-practices

Business process External links:

Onshore credit to cash business process outsourcing
www.vwinc.com

Infosys BPM – Business Process Management | BPM …
www.infosysbpm.com

Capability Maturity Model External links:

[PDF]Capability Maturity Model® Integration (CMMI®) …
www.sei.cmu.edu/library/assets/cmmi-overview071.pdf

What is Capability Maturity Model (CMM)? – Definition …
searchsoftwarequality.techtarget.com/definition/Capability-Maturity-Model

[PDF]Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) Overview
www.uccs.edu/Documents/tboult/cmmi-overview05.pdf

Change Management External links:

Change management experts -Change Management …
www.checksix.com

[PDF]Organizational Change Management Readiness …
cdt.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/OCM-Readiness-Guide.pdf

Change Management Consulting Firm | Clerestory Consulting
www.clerestoryconsulting.com

Change impact analysis External links:

[PDF]Change Impact Analysis – gkc.org.uk
www.gkc.org.uk/msc-se-2015/03-change-impact-analysis.pdf

[PDF]Change Impact analysis IEC 61508v4F17PSAM12
psam12.org/proceedings/Presentations/paper_17_4.pdf

Change Impact Analysis Tools & Software | The Change Compass
www.thechangecompass.com/services

Configuration Management External links:

Interactive Configuration Management and Procurement …
amcom1.redstone.army.mil/icapp/icapp_home

AWS OpsWorks – Configuration Management
aws.amazon.com/opsworks

Configuration Management | IpX
icmhq.com

Continuity Management External links:

12 Business Continuity Management – USPS
about.usps.com/handbooks/as805/as805c12_001.htm

WCDM – Continuity Management Symposium
www.wcdm.org

Contract Management External links:

What is Contract Management? – Business News Daily
businessnewsdaily.com/4813-contract-management.html

[PDF]Contract Management Manual – September 2016
www.mdt.mt.gov/publications/docs/grants/subgrantee_manual.pdf

Contract Management Software – Icertis
www.icertis.com/contract-management-software

Financial Management External links:

HFMA – Healthcare Financial Management Association
www.hfma.org

Financial Management – AbeBooks
www.abebooks.com/book-search/title/financial-management/pics

Functional Management External links:

CROSS-FUNCTIONAL MANAGEMENT (CFM) – Building a …
www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/mgmt_cross-functional.html

IT Operation Management External links:

IT Operation Management- ServiceNow ITOM – InSource
insourcenow.com/it-operation-management

IT Operation management Software, Services and …
it-operations-management.itinfraworld.com

IT Service Management External links:

Remedyforce- IT Service Management and Help Desk – …
www.salesforce.com/remedyforce

ServiceAide: ITSM Tools – IT Service Management …
serviceaide.com

IT Service Management | Availability Management | Optanix
www.optanix.com

Information Management External links:

Property Information Management System
www.sbcounty.gov/assessor/pims

Information Technology External links:

Umail | University Information Technology Services
umail.iu.edu

Rebelmail | UNLV Office of Information Technology (OIT)
rebelmail.unlv.edu

OHIO: Office of Information Technology |About Email
www.ohio.edu/oit/email

Information Technology Infrastructure Library External links:

Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) …
www.itinfo.am/eng/information-technology-infrastructure-library-guide

Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) | …
www.cdotech.com/?q=itil

Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL)
www.techopedia.com/definition/24417

Information system External links:

National Motor Vehicle Title Information System
www.vehiclehistory.gov

National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS)
dor.mo.gov/motorv/nmvtis

National Motor Vehicle Title Information System: …
www.vehiclehistory.gov/nmvtis_vehiclehistory.html

Mathematical programming External links:

ORIE 6300: Mathematical Programming I
people.orie.cornell.edu/dpw/orie6300

Planning and Control External links:

[PDF]Manufacturing Planning and Control – web.mit.edu
web.mit.edu/sgraves/www/ProdPlanCh.PDF

[PDF]Budgeting and the Planning and Control Process
flexstudy.com/catalog/schpdf.cfm?coursenum=9531a

Excel Graphical Production Planning and Control …
www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8zEvxkxhcw

Public domain External links:

Public Domain ~ Free Media for Creative Projects | Pond5
www.pond5.com/free

LibriVox | free public domain audiobooks
librivox.org

Quality Management External links:

Community Health Services Quality Management, Home …
www.dshs.texas.gov/qmb

abaqis® | Quality Management System
www.abaqis.com

Antelope Valley Air Quality Management District
avaqmd.ca.gov

Service Provider External links:

Sonic – Internet & Phone Service Provider
www.sonic.com

My Provider Link – Your Service Provider’s Billing Partner
myproviderlink.com

Software testing External links:

Software Testing and Deployment | Olenick
www.olenick.com

Software Testing, Monitoring, Developer Tools | SmartBear
smartbear.com

Software Testing Certification Information – ASTQB …
www.astqb.org

Supplier Management External links:

Supplier Management – American Express
www.americanexpress.com/us/content/supplier-management

Global Supplier Management – Walmart
gsmreg.wal-mart.com/gsmReg

221 Application Services Criteria for Multi-purpose Projects

Published by poster on January 30, 2018