It is very important that businesses and organizations have a systematic and organized way of assessing and making decisions regarding applications within their business. According to Scott Nelson, Research Managing Vice President, "Enterprises that ignore long-range planning risk dealing with escalating maintenance costs for out-of-date applications, a lack of access to information critical to decision making and regulatory compliance, and a loss of business agility in an increasingly agile world". (Gartner, 2010) What he is saying, is that in an ever-changing and advancing technological world, businesses need a system in place for long-term planning and managing change/updates that need to be made. Application architecture offers specific steps to utilize when doing this type of planning and decision making. Schools can utilize these same application strategies to achieve business (or school related) outcomes.
By collecting and displaying data in an "application road map" all stakeholders can quickly and easily gain a better understanding of the key features, requirements and expenses of each application. Collecting and displaying data in this manner allows for leaders to make informed decisions regarding which applications should be prioritized for upgrade, replacement, or retirement and which applications are currently fulfilling their requirements in an effective way.
Educational leaders have the huge responsibility for making decisions regarding programs and spending within their organization. These decisions cannot be made lightly. As an educational leader, I feel that communication is extremely important. People within your organization want to know and understand why changes are being made. If I were to lead an organization in making decisions regarding applications, I would use this systematic approach to collect and display data because it clearly communicates the key information that personnel and stakeholders need and want to know. It shows that decisions and changes are being made for good reason, and that there is data to support why. Stakeholders typically want what is best for the organization, so if they can clearly see that certain applications are difficult and expensive to maintain, that there is little cost benefit, or that there are newer, better options available, they will be more likely to support leaders in change initiatives. I also feel that if stakeholders are involved in the data collection process (for example acknowledging their needs, priorities and opinions through a survey), then they will be more invested in the decision to adopt new programs and applications.
By collecting and displaying data in an "application road map" all stakeholders can quickly and easily gain a better understanding of the key features, requirements and expenses of each application. Collecting and displaying data in this manner allows for leaders to make informed decisions regarding which applications should be prioritized for upgrade, replacement, or retirement and which applications are currently fulfilling their requirements in an effective way.
Educational leaders have the huge responsibility for making decisions regarding programs and spending within their organization. These decisions cannot be made lightly. As an educational leader, I feel that communication is extremely important. People within your organization want to know and understand why changes are being made. If I were to lead an organization in making decisions regarding applications, I would use this systematic approach to collect and display data because it clearly communicates the key information that personnel and stakeholders need and want to know. It shows that decisions and changes are being made for good reason, and that there is data to support why. Stakeholders typically want what is best for the organization, so if they can clearly see that certain applications are difficult and expensive to maintain, that there is little cost benefit, or that there are newer, better options available, they will be more likely to support leaders in change initiatives. I also feel that if stakeholders are involved in the data collection process (for example acknowledging their needs, priorities and opinions through a survey), then they will be more invested in the decision to adopt new programs and applications.