A Forrester Consulting
Thought Leadership Paper
Commissioned By BMC Software

IT Efficiency Begins With
Effective Discovery AndDependency MappingFebruary 2016

Table Of Contents
Executive Summary ........................................................................................... 1
Improving IT Efficiency Is A Mandate .............................................................. 2
IT Managers Struggle With Discovery And Dependency Mapping ............. 3
Implementing A Discovery And Dependency Tool Brings Benefits ........... 4
Key Recommendations ..................................................................................... 6
Appendix A: Methodology ................................................................................ 7Appendix B: Demographics/Data ..................................................................... 7

ABOUT FORRESTER CONSULTING
Forrester Consulting provides independent and objective research-based
consulting to help leaders succeed in their organizations. Ranging in scope from ashort strategy session to custom projects, Forrester’s Consulting services connect
you directly with research analysts who apply expert insight to your specificbusiness challenges. For more information, visit forrester.com/consulting.

© 2016, Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.
Information is based on best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject tochange. Forrester®, Technographics®, Forrester Wave, RoleView, TechRadar, and Total Economic Impact
are trademarks of Forrester Research, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respectivecompanies. For additional information, go to www.forrester.com. [1-WGS7V9]

1

Executive Summary
Understanding the dependencies between applications andinfrastructures is the key to IT efficiency. It opens thepossibility to create application topology models that areused to improve critical operational processes that manage
applications, changes, risks, IT architectures, and ITservices. Thus, businesses benefit from an improved
technology control that directly leads to more competitive
services for clients and increased employee productivity.
In December 2015, BMC Software commissioned Forrester
Consulting to understand the impact of digital disruption on
IT strategy as enterprises transform to answer current
business demands. Then to further explore this topic,
Forrester developed a hypothesis to test the assertion thatcreating an agile and efficient IT organization requires deep
knowledge of applications, infrastructures, and theirrelationships through discovery and dependency mapping.
In conducting in-depth surveys with 120 IT managers inenterprises with 1,000 or more employees, Forrester foundthat companies implementing discovery and dependency
tools are better able to address compliance issues, reducerisk, and manage and track assets.
KEY FINDINGS
Forrester’s study yielded three key findings:› IT organizations must find ways to improve efficiency
in order to keep up with business initiatives. Reducing
costs while providing a better overall quality is a critical IT
mission in the next 12 months.

› Application discovery and dependency mapping is a
critical enabler of IT efficiency. Reducing costs andimproving service quality starts with an in-depth
knowledge of the relationship between applications andinfrastructures.

› Application discovery and dependency mapping
touches many aspects of IT services. The ability tomap application and infrastructure components improves
service management, IT operations, vulnerability
assessment, enterprise architecture, and application
management.

2Improving IT Efficiency Is A Mandate
To compete in the age of the customer and improve
employee productivity, enterprises must embrace digitaldisruption. This means adopting and evolving businesstechnologies to win, serve, and retain increasingly
empowered customers and employee users. The impact on
IT is a push to support revenue-generating initiatives, while
simultaneously looking for ways to improve efficiency andmanage costs. Our survey found that:› Reducing costs is a top business priority forenterprises. Two out of three IT managers (68%)
reported that reducing costs is a top business priority for
their company. By comparison, about half (51%) citedrevenue growth as a priority.

› IT organizations focus on efficiency to address cost
reduction imperatives. Sixty-eight percent of IT
respondents are working toward improving the overall
efficiency of IT in the next 12 months. IT managers arefocused to improve agility, improve application
performance, and ultimately increase their ability to drive
innovation (see Figure 1).

› The first step toward better efficiency is cleaning up
IT environments. IT managers plan to use many tactics
to improve IT efficiency. More than half (57%) aim tooptimize current assets by eliminating redundancies. Half(51%) intend to focus on consolidation throughvirtualization, and 41% plan to turn to infrastructure
standardization (see Figure 2).

› It is critical to understand infrastructure to minimize
vulnerabilities. When considering increasing IT
efficiency, 82% of enterprise IT managers find it anessential requirement to better understand infrastructure
in order to manage security risks. Approximately threequarters of IT managers require better backup planningand a complete inventory of installed hardware andsoftware to reduce vulnerabilities (see Figure 3).

FIGURE 1
Two-Thirds Of Enterprises Are Prioritizing
Improved IT Efficiency In The Next 12 Months“Which of the following initiatives are going to be
your top IT priorities in the next 12 months?”
Improve the overall
efficiency of IT

68%

Improve the performance andavailability of applications
and business services

49%

Improve IT agility andflexibility

46%

Increase IT capabilities todrive business innovations

44%

Improve the measurement ofIT’s impact on businessperformance

31%

Define a strategy for risk
and compliance30%

Base: 120 IT managers with responsibility for infrastructure andoperations management at US enterprises
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on
behalf of BMC Software, January 2016

FIGURE 2
Steps To Improving IT Efficiency Start With
Optimizing Current Assets“What measures is your IT organization taking in
the next 12 months to improve IT efficiency?”
Optimization of our current
assets by eliminating
redundancies and dead wood

57%

Infrastructure consolidation
using virtualization and/or
private cloud solutions

51%

Infrastructure standardization(servers, storage, network)

41%

Acquisition of better software
management tools32%

Improving our service
management processes(ITIL, COBIT, etc.)

32%

Rationalization of our current
software licenses

28%

Base: 120 IT managers with responsibility for infrastructure and operations
management at US enterprises
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on
behalf of BMC Software, January 2016

3

FIGURE 3
Minimizing Security Vulnerabilities Is Critical When
Improving IT Efficiency“How critical are each of the following items toimproving IT efficiency?”
Critical requirement

Important requirement

A better understanding ofinfrastructure to minimize
security vulnerabilities

36%

A better planning of
backup sites

31%

A complete inventory of
installed hardware and software30%

A better way of controlling
hardware and software
investments

24%

A better capacity
management process

24%

A better tool to determine theroot cause of incidents
A more effective change
management process

22%
21%

A better incident and problem
14%
management process

46%
44%
44%
50%

FIGURE 4
Fifty-Three Percent Of Enterprises Are
Challenged By Server Consolidation And
Virtualization“Why is server consolidation andvirtualization a challenge?”
We do not have a completeview of dependencies
between applications andbetween applications andinfrastructure
We do not have a view of
the resources needed by
all applications
We do not have a complete
view of how applications
are deployed

56%

36%

31%

49%
51%
54%
61%

Base: 120 IT managers with responsibility for infrastructure and operations
management at US enterprises(only showing responses including “critical requirement” and “importantrequirement”)
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalfof BMC Software, January 2016

IT Managers Struggle With
Discovery And Dependency
MappingEfforts to improve IT efficiency are underway, but a variety
of issues linked to asset and software dependencies
impede goals. Inadequate tools and necessary rework also
limit IT managers’ ability to streamline IT processes.
Enterprise IT managers reported the following:› Ignorance of application dependencies makes server
consolidation and virtualization challenging. Currently,
53% of enterprises consider server consolidation andvirtualization challenging due to a lack of visibility. MoreBase: 64 IT managers with responsibility for infrastructure andoperations management at US enterprises that consider server
consolidation and virtualization challenging
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on
behalf of BMC Software, January 2016

than half (56%) of these companies have an incomplete
view of dependencies between applications and between
applications and infrastructure. More than a third (36%)
lack a view of resources, and 31% are unable to view how
applications are deployed (see Figure 4).

› Determining the cause of incidents and problems
hampers IT managers. More than two-thirds ofenterprises (68%) find it challenging to determine theultimate cause of incidents. Half of them have difficulty
determining where the issue originated, and 43% lack theneeded tools to provide application dependency
information. Secondary challenges in determining the root
cause of incidents include people, management, and skill
issues (see Figure 5).

› Rework is a waste of resources. Rework uses precious
resources, and 75% of enterprises have a rework rate of
11% or higher. Lowering rework can save time and costs,
thereby improving efficiency (see Figure 6).

4

FIGURE 5
Determining The Ultimate Causes Of Incidents Is
Challenging For 68% Of Enterprises“Why is determining the root cause of incidents
and problems a challenge?”
Difficulty in determining where
the issue originates

FIGURE 6
Rework Hampers Efficiency“What is the rework rate of your change
management process?”(Hardware and software)
56%

51%

Lack of tools needed to provide
application dependency
information

43%

Difficulty in identifying the right
person(s) to handle the issue

37%

25%
Lack of incident and issue
management process(es)28%Lack of necessary skillset(s)27%Delays in being alertedof an issue

27%

Base: 82 IT managers with responsibility for infrastructure and operations
management at US enterprises that consider it challenging to determine
the root cause of incidents and problems
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on
behalf of BMC Software, January 201617%2%
10% or less

11% to 24%

25% to 49%

50% or more

Base: 120 IT managers with responsibility for infrastructure and operations
management at US enterprises
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on
behalf of BMC Software, January 2016

› Half of companies believe a discovery andImplementing A Discovery And
Dependency Tool Brings Benefits
A large percentage of IT organizations rely on manual
methods to track assets. This process is slow and not easily
adaptable to change, and therefore may hinder efforts toincrease IT efficiency and quickly respond to the needs ofthe business. Our survey found that:› More than a third of companies with inventory
challenges are tracking assets manually. Complete
documentation of hardware and software inventory issomewhat or very challenging for 82% of decisionmakers. Of these respondents, 36% source assets too
fast to keep track of what’s deployed. Further, 39% trackassets manually and are unable to refresh their inventory
lists. This manual approach to asset tracking is notsustainable if enterprises want to keep up with the pace ofchange (see Figure 7).

dependency tool will improve asset management. The
expected benefits of implementing a discovery anddependency tool are of significant value to organizations;these outcomes rectify many of the issues that companies
struggle with today. Nearly half (47%) of companies
believe a discovery and dependency tool will improveasset management. Timely identification of complianceissues, improved disaster recovery, and improved
consolidation top the list of perceived benefits.

5› Enterprises that use discovery and dependency tools
are better able to address compliance issues.
Companies that implement a discovery and dependency
tool realize material benefits as a result. Two out of fiveenterprises (40%) are better able to address complianceissues. Additionally, about a third benefit from reduced
risk by eliminating antiquated software (34%) andidentifying which infrastructure is supporting which part ofthe business (33%) (see Figure 8). All of these benefitscontribute to the ultimate goal of increased IT efficiencies.
FIGURE 7
Root Causes Of Challenges Associated With
Inventory Documentation“Why is this inventory a challenge?”
We collect hardware
information but do not havesoftware or application data
We track assets manuallyand cannot keep thelist up to date

42%

39%

We source assets too
fast to keep track ofwhat’s deployed36%

We use a network discovery
tool that does not provide
enough data

34%

Base: 98 IT managers with responsibility for infrastructure and operations
management at US enterprises that find it challenging to completedocumentation of hardware and software inventory
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on
behalf of BMC Software, January 2016

FIGURE 8
Realized Benefits“Which of the following benefits has your company
received as a result of implementing a tool for
discovery and dependency?”
Better able to addresscompliance issues

40%

Better asset management

38%

Ability to reduce risk by
upgrading software thatis no longer supported

34%

Improved ability to track andreport on existing andnew assets

34%

Improved disaster recovery

33%

Identify which infrastructure
is supporting which part ofthe business

33%

Improve the resolutionof availability andperformance issues

31%

Better able to understandwhich assets can bedecommissioned

31%

Improved consolidation
planning and confidence

29%

Allows for better planning forsoftware upgrades

29%

Understanding the structure ofapplications at the primary site
Transparency on chargeback/showback so departments
understand the services
that are being delivered

24%

17%

Base: 58 IT managers with responsibility for infrastructure and operations
management at US enterprises currently using a discovery anddependency tool
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on
behalf of BMC Software, January 2016

6Key Recommendations
As IT executives strive for increased IT efficiency, application discovery and dependency mapping provides thefoundation on which operational efficiency is built. A better understanding of the relationships between applications andinfrastructure components is the key to major operational improvements:

›››

›
›

Service management is improved through a better control of infrastructure and application changes.
Companies that better understand their operational deployment can better evaluate and plan for changes.
Understanding application dependencies reduces the risk of disrupting other service components and provides
improved control of application and infrastructure changes on business services.
Operation management is improved through a more efficient set of management tools. Ignoring
infrastructure and application dependencies leads to potentially conflicting decisions that eventually have animpact on service quality. IT operations processes help avoid these conflicts and lead to more IT efficiency.
These processes include provisioning and allocating dynamic resources, planning for digital transformation,
understanding software licensing issues, and identifying unused or misused resources. Capacity planning andservice-level management can also be vastly improved by better understanding the relation between
infrastructure and business service performances.
Enterprise architecture benefits from a better way to plan service delivery strategies. Application mapping
allows firms to understand which applications run on servers and how these servers depend on each other. This
enables a more efficient and error-free server consolidation, creating a strategic roadmap for infrastructure
evolution and paving the way for architecture innovations.
Risk management benefits from a better understanding of potential vulnerabilities. Understanding whereand how applications are deployed and how they affect the business provides a better view of potential security
risks due to mismanaged infrastructure configurations.
Application management is improved by a better understanding of production deployments, which inturn improves release management. IT organizations can use a discovery and dependency tool to validate
application architectures and development with production before deployment.

7

Appendix A: MethodologyIn this study, Forrester conducted an online survey of 120 enterprise organizations with more than 1,000 employees in theUS to understand how discovery and dependency mapping can create a more agile and efficient IT organization. Survey
participants included decision-makers in IT management with responsibility for infrastructure and operations management
strategies. The study began in December 2015 and was completed in January 2016.

Appendix B: Demographics/Data
FIGURE 9
Job Title And Level Of Responsibility“Which title best describes your position
at your organization?”“What is your level of responsibility when it
comes to infrastructure and operations
management at your organization?”

C-level executive
9%
Vice president
8%Manager40%

I influence
decisions28%

Director
42%(percentages may not total 100 because of rounding)Base: 120 IT managers with responsibility for infrastructure and operations management at US enterprises
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of BMC Software, January 2016

I am the final
decision-maker22%

I am part of ateam making
decisions
50%