U.S. Navy: Application Rationalization

The United States Department of the Navy's Commander, Navy Installations Command (CNIC) is responsible for the operation, administration and support of Navy installations worldwide.

CNIC was established when the Navy, faced with budget constraints, decided to consolidate onshore management by consolidating the 16 shore operations into a single enterprise-wide system. Among the biggest challenges it faced: CNIC's application portfolio had grown unwieldy and unmanageable. Its information technology organization lacked sufficient knowledge of the portfolio to serve as an effective control point. Application functionality was duplicated across regions. There was minimal visibility into the program application spend. And CNIC needed to implement budget cuts across its entire organization.

The command selected Accenture to help it rationalize its entire application portfolio—to decide which applications it needed, which should be replaced and which should be enhanced. Accenture was chosen because of our proven track record, having worked successfully with the Navy on previous large-scale projects. Also important: Accenture had deep experience rationalizing application portfolios throughout the private sector. CNIC knew Accenture could deliver the same results for the Navy, moving it closer to its goal of high performance.

Working closely with CNIC's IT organization, Accenture used the Accenture Application Optimization Suite to rationalize the command’s existing application portfolio. The suite creates a target application portfolio that increases business value while reducing total cost of application ownership. Existing applications are evaluated for both overlapping and missing functionality as well as areas where the cost to sustain an application exceeds the value provided to the business. This process delivers a road map that specifies whether the organization should decommission, remediate, re-platform, consolidate or enhance each application.

By adopting a proven methodology, Accenture validated the applications that CNIC had thought it utilized as its applications, classified the applications both in terms of the business function that each supports and the processes executed using the applications. Based on our finding, Accenture also helped identify the appropriate disposition for each application. Throughout the process, Accenture employed our proven performance management practices to help ensure that CNIC achieved its targeted outcomes.

By teaming with Accenture, CNIC completed a thorough rationalization of all its applications—and overcame a major hurdle in the consolidation of its 16 regional operations into a single management system. As a result of the work, CNIC identified $20 million to $40 million in information technology savings, began the process of reducing by 56 percent the number of information technology tools provided and reduced by 70 percent the number of business applications used.

Accenture also helped CNIC establish the guiding principles by which future applications should be selected, architected and managed. This provides the Navy with an efficient and cost-effective approach to maintaining its applications portfolio as its needs grow and change.

Accenture’s continuing research shows that high-performance businesses share certain characteristics, including an ability to rationalize, simplify and standardize IT to manage the total cost of ownership and enhance productivity. By choosing Accenture to help make its application rationalization effort—and therefore its consolidation—a success, the U.S. Navy has demonstrated its commitment to high performance.