The business question What are our cost drivers? looks at the costs of the business capabilities based on the operational expenses of the applications that support them. This allows operating costs to be differentiated between critical and standard business capabilities in order to identify the major cost drivers in the organization. Comparing application expenses to their business relevance enables you to take advantage of investment opportunities as well as make sound rationalization decisions.

The business question What are our investment and retirement candidates? helps you to decide where to focus rationalization activities by analyzing applications on multiple dimensions in the context of a TIME ( Tolerate, Invest, Migrate, Eliminate ) quadrant. Understanding the application score will help in making decisions about whether it is best to keep an application ( Tolerate ), invest in the application ( Invest ), consider the application as a migration candidate ( Migrate ), or sundown the application ( Eliminate ).

The business question reveals which applications may qualify as candidates to invest or retire in order to meet rationalization goals. By comparing recommendations with real-world application scores, this business question ensures that you scrutinize investment decisions from different perspectives.