Application rationalization is a review of every application you run, to decide which to keep, improve, replace or retire.
TOGAF certified architects · SAP LeanIX certified · Architect-led
Application rationalization services that decide what to keep, fix, move and retire.
We inventory every application, map it to the capability it serves, score it with the TIME model, and give you a costed decommission roadmap and the business case to fund it.
See how it works
- 15+Years of team experience
- 20+Enterprise implementations
- 60 minFree Application rationalization review, with a written plan
- 5.0/5Client satisfaction (CSAT)
Proven Success With
5.0/5 CSAT
New to application rationalization?
What is application rationalization?
Each application is mapped to the business capability it supports, so overlaps and gaps show up clearly.
The result is a roadmap with costs and savings, so the decisions can be funded and carried out.
When to start
When is it time to rationalize your applications?
Most rationalizations start with one of these events.
An acquisition
Two companies, two of everything.
A cloud move
No point moving what you should retire.
End of support
A core platform reaches vendor end of support.
A cost target
IT spend has to fall without cutting service.
SaaS sprawl
Teams bought tools that overlap.
What we do
What do application rationalization services include?
Six pieces of work, each with a deliverable your team keeps.
01Application inventoryEvery application found, named once and given an owner.
- Sources: CMDB, finance, SSO and SaaS logs, interviews
- Duplicates and shadow IT found
- An owner for every application
02Capability mappingEach application linked to the business capability it serves.
- Capability map built or reused
- Overlaps and gaps visible
- Usage by team recorded
03TIME assessmentFunctional and technical fit scored with owners, then classified.
- Scoring agreed with business and IT
- Tolerate, invest, migrate or eliminate
- Reasons written for each call
04Total cost of ownershipLicenses, hosting, support and integration cost per application.
- Contract and renewal dates
- Internal support effort
- Integration upkeep
05Decommission roadmapSequenced retirements with data, contracts and users handled.
- Data archived or migrated
- Contracts ended on renewal dates
- Users moved and trained
06Business caseSavings, one-off costs and risk reduction, ready for funding.
- Savings by year
- One-off migration cost
- Risk removed
How it works
How does application rationalization work?
The portfolio narrows from everything you run to a short list of funded decisions.
- 01Discover
Find every application from systems, contracts and interviews.
- 02Map
Link each one to a capability and an owner.
- 03Score
Rate functional and technical fit, and total the cost.
- 04Decide
Classify each application with the TIME model.
- 05Plan
Sequence the moves and build the business case.
The TIME model
What is the TIME model?
Every application is scored on two axes, functional fit and technical fit, and lands in one of four quadrants.
Functional fitTechnical fit
M
Migrate
Move to a better platform
The business relies on it, but the technology is weak or near end of support.
I
Invest
Keep and improve
Strong on both counts. Extend it and consolidate other tools onto it.
E
Eliminate
Retire it
Weak on both counts. Plan the exit, the data and the contract end.
T
Tolerate
Keep for now
Sound technology that adds little. Leave it alone and review it later.
Capability map
Where overlap and gaps show up
A sample capability map, shaded by how many applications serve each capability.
Sell
- Lead management (Three or more)
- Quoting (Two systems)
- Contracts (One system)
Serve
- Case handling (Two systems)
- Field work (One system)
- Knowledge (Three or more)
Operate
- Procurement (One system)
- Inventory (Two systems)
- Planning (No system)
Support
- Finance (One system)
- HR and payroll (Two systems)
- Reporting (Three or more)
- No system
- One system
- Two systems
- Three or more
Three or more
Overlap. The first place to consolidate and save.
No system
A gap, often filled by spreadsheets. A candidate for investment.
Cost and timing
What it costs and how long it takes
The review is free
A 60-minute architecture review of your application portfolio setup, with a written plan you keep.
A fixed-scope proposal first
Before any work starts you get a written proposal: a fixed-scope project with milestones, or a monthly plan. You approve it, or you do not.
Timing follows scope
How long it takes depends on what is in scope. The proposal states the milestones, so you see the timeline before you commit.
Client stories
Client work we have delivered
Real engagements, described by industry. Each story covers the starting position, what we built and how we delivered it, end to end.
ManufacturingDependable CRM and ERP Operations for an Industrial Equipment ManufacturerSalesforce and Certinia ERP for an industrial equipment manufacturer: multi-month cleanup and troubleshooting, data integrity and ERP fixes, change management and production support.Salesforce Platform · Certinia ERP · Certinia PSA · FlowRead the story 
Communications, Media & TechnologyStable, Dependable Customer Service Operations for a Telecommunications ProviderService Cloud for a US telecommunications provider: troubleshooting and remediation, case process improvements, configuration, defect resolution and managed support.Service Cloud · Salesforce Platform · Case Management · FlowRead the story 
NonprofitContribution Reporting the Board Can Trust for an Environmental NonprofitSalesforce for an Australian environmental nonprofit: 14 reports and KPI dashboards for financial, in-kind and volunteer contributions, and 553 historical records corrected and reimported.Salesforce Platform · Reports and Dashboards · Data Loader · FlowRead the story Client reviews
What clients say about working with our architects
See how teams describe working with SynconAI, from first scope to production delivery.
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Sales CloudService CloudAgentforce
Jack BennettConsumer Goods & Retail · United States
“I had a very urgent deadline for our project reporting to be delivered and needed to build the module, dashboard and output reports in Salesforce. SynconAI were very responsive - they met with me online, responded to my emails quickly and took calls - whatever was needed to progress the work quickly. We are thrilled with the outcome and will continue to work with SynconAI in the future to continue to build our Salesforce capability and platform.”
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Salesforce Managed ServicesAustraliaSalesforce Verified
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ManufacturingAustraliaSalesforce Verified
“They have been great and helping us transform out business by bringing what I conceptualize to life. Great at translating process/workflow needs into a solution. Been a pleasure work with and they're a critical part of our team and will be instrumental into bringing about my vision.”
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Frequently asked questions
Application rationalization, answered.
Straight answers about the TIME model, inventories, savings and how the work runs.
A review of every application you run, to decide which to keep, invest in, migrate or retire, with the costs and a roadmap to carry the decisions out.
A framework that scores each application on functional fit and technical fit, then classifies it as Tolerate, Invest, Migrate or Eliminate.
From several sources at once: the CMDB, finance and contract records, single sign-on and SaaS logs, and short interviews with each department.
It depends on how much overlap and unused software you have. We total the cost of ownership first and put the savings in the business case before you decide.
It depends on the size of the portfolio and how much data exists. The written proposal states the milestones, so you see the timeline before you commit.
No, but it helps keep the result current. Our architects are certified in SAP LeanIX and can set it up as part of the work, or use your existing repository.
Yes. Retiring or replacing applications first means you do not pay to move software you were going to switch off.
Gartner is a trademark of Gartner, Inc. SAP LeanIX is a trademark of SAP SE. Other names are trademarks of their owners. SynconAI is an independent consulting firm and is not affiliated with or endorsed by these companies.
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