// Strategic Advisory Success Story
How an Application Rationalization Strategy and Playbook Helped MUSC Prioritize 100+ Applications to be Decommissioned
- Client
- MUSC Health
- Services
- Strategic Advisory
- Area of Expertise
- Application Rationalization
Challenge
Through merger and acquisitions and system replacement projects, the Medical University of South Carolina health system (MUSC) developed a sizable catalogue of redundant applications. To achieve the return on investment (ROI) associated with the M&A and system replacements and reduce technical debt, MUSC Information Solutions (IS) needed to assess, prioritize, and decommission 100+ applications – without disrupting MUSC Health Operations or IS.
Solution
Pivot Point Consulting partnered with MUSC IS business area leaders to facilitate broad adoption of an application rationalization and decommissioning strategy and playbook. These methodology tools allowed MUSC IS to efficiently plan and execute the review and rationalization of applications and platforms in a manner that is efficient, broadly understood and endorsed, minimally disruptive to end users, and mitigates risk. Additionally, the approach taken gave MUSC the tactics to solve their immediate problems, and the tools to continue solving for future challenges.
Taking a programmatic and pragmatic approach, the playbook and tools focused on a portfolio view and included measures of success, costs/ROI, governance, and communication tools. Additionally, a current state assessment was performed, focused on their application portfolio management system deployment. A strategic pathway was developed and initiated to increase both the use of the tools, and to deploy additional capabilities.
A tabletop exercise for a decommissioning target application helped validate assumptions and uncover additional risk. Additionally, the analysis revealed hard savings of approximately $1.7M over 10 years. The hard savings, cost, avoidance, and risk mitigation, provided the program with immediate credibility and executive support.
MUSC IS continues the decommissioning work as part of the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation and is using the playbook and tools to prioritize and plan for 50 applications to be decommissioned. Additionally, the Project Management Office has incorporated the decommissioning methodology into new system implementation projects to proactively measure ROI and ensure redundant legacy applications are removed from the environment.
Client Testimonial
“Pivot Point Consulting understood we needed a strategic approach to planning and executing application rationalization and decommissioning. Using their proven methodology, they worked with us to establish a programmatic approach, enabling MUSC to manage IT assets efficiently. Because of this work, we are able to realize immediate and long-term savings, and have the capability to do this work ourselves.”