Consolidating Platforms And Applications
Platforms and enterprise applications can spread over time, sprouting new outposts and accreting new modules. And the longer an organization has been around, the more likely it is to contain multiple solutions that do more or less the same thing, as well as legacy infrastructure that's still there "just in case," or perhaps because no one quite knows what to do with it.
The systemic shocks of recent times have led businesses to add new platforms -- for example, to get through remote working challenges, but subsequent price rises have led some to rue the size and complexity of their IT estate. Unsurprisingly, consolidating platforms and applications has become a priority.
Thirty-five percent of the IT leaders polled said that reducing the number of applications was "something they'd be doing more of in 2024." Twenty percent said the same of their platforms.
The main driver for consolidation was operational efficiency; reducing the need to manage multiple standalone systems, as well as saving time and resources. It can also help to eliminate functional silos, purge out-of-date and duplicated data, and, by simplifying the technology stack, make it easier for teams to collaborate and share information.
Just below that came cost efficiency. Many prices have increased at above-inflationary rates in the last couple of years, at a time when all costs were rising sharply.
Another important driver is enhanced security. Each new application or platform represents another attack surface, with the added complexity of running multiple tools acting as a force multiplier. Tool sprawl is also a problem within security with data from the Ponemon Institute showing 30 percent of organizations using more than 50 unique cybersecurity products.
"We're consolidating compliance and risk management, vulnerability scanning and reporting, MDR and SIEM," said one IT leader.
So, consolidating platforms and applications makes a lot of sense. The trouble is, it is difficult, requires long-term planning and leadership, and can cause disruption. A shortage of necessary skills (cited by 50 percent), the need for investment (49 percent) and security concerns (45 percent) were the main impediments to consolidation efforts.
