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The Complete Guide to IT Application Management

Each year, organizations generate an unprecedented number of applications, many of which are modern and complex. These apps often consist of sophisticated containerized workloads bundled as collections of microservices.

Managing and optimizing such a volume of complicated apps is no easy feat but a solution exists in the latest IT application management practices.

Key Takeaways:

Application management is a set of processes that developers and operators can follow to ensure consistent performance and reliability for apps at every stage of their lifecycle.
The application lifecycle is a crucial element of management, as apps have different needs at different phases of the lifecycle in order for them to achieve peak efficiency.
Modern application management methods, such as self-service and DMaaS, are suitable for extracting the most value from cloud-native workloads.

What is IT application management?

IT application management refers to the processes by which IT teams operate, maintain, control, and update apps throughout the application lifespan. These processes include the actual design and development of an app as well as testing, iterating, and ultimately retiring the app.

The goals of application management are consistent and sustainable performance, efficiency, and governance. The enterprise and end-users alike can rejoice when applications regularly run at peak performance with minimal dips in functionality.

Effective application management yields efficient and reliable code, enhancing the end-user with experience and enabling the dev team to prioritize innovation rather than problem-solving for a poorly managed app.

Stakeholders at every level also benefit from competent application management. Not only can IT application management improve the cost-efficiency of apps on an enterprise-wide level, but it also improves business continuity through comprehensive monitoring and frequent update patterns.

Understand the stages of the application lifecycle

Application management and lifecycle management are practically synonymous, as modern apps go through several stages in their life that each require unique management solutions.

The application lifecycle consists of the following basic states, each of which an organization can bolster through effective management practices:

Planning
Development
Testing and QA
Deployment
Monitoring & Maintenance

There is a wide range of tools that enterprise leaders can employ in their application management strategies, some of which cater directly to cloud native developers. Much of the modern application lifecycle takes place in the cloud, making it especially important for IT decision-makers to become familiar with these cloud native solutions.

For example, there is a need for a solution that can manage large amounts of apps in complex environments such as the hybrid multicloud deployments that are increasingly common in today’s IT landscape. The Nutanix Lifecycle Manager (LCM) is one such solution that enables centralized upgrades and seamless dependency management with one-click simplicity, even on the most complex cloud infrastructures.

Greater efficiency in IT application management is possible at every stage of the application lifecycle by adopting certain DevOps philosophies. It is the developer’s role to manage an application from the backend, but collaboration with operators on the other side can streamline the process greatly.

Modernize application management

Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) provides a modern means of application management. Through VDI, users can access a digital workspace in which to configure and operate any applications from any location.

In addition to the accessibility benefits of VDI, it is also important to note that the implementation of virtualization serves to centralize the management process in such a way that security, efficiency, and control capabilities pertaining to applications all become available from one unified console.

Another modern staple in an application management strategy is the potential for self-service. The self-service capabilities available on Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM), for example, include simple provisioning of role-based governance solutions and end-to-end automation for the creation and consumption of applications.

Application management services provide an alternative solution for organizations that lack in-house expertise regarding IT application management or that wish to explore potentially more cost-effective measures. Application management services providers are outsourced solutions that specialize in the maintenance, monitoring, and updating of modern applications without the need for businesses to dedicate their own resources to the endeavor.

Allied Market Research reports that the global application management services market was valued at $17.12 billion in 2020, with a projected increase to $94.786 billion by 2030. This growing market size is not only indicative of third-party service being an increasingly valid investment but also that there is a clear value in application management as a practice for individual businesses to integrate into their own IT teams.

Master IT application management in the cloud

Applications are the lifeblood of modern businesses, and so those businesses need an equally modern method of managing and optimizing those applications. This becomes difficult as organizations prepare for a cloud native future that is both inevitable and complex. Enterprises need simple application management solutions even as all other aspects of IT become more complicated.

Nutanix accelerates the process of integrating application management and brings simplicity to every aspect of managing cloud deployments with the Cloud Manager tool. Organizations operating in the Nutanix environment can also take advantage of other success-oriented services like virtual desktop modernization.

Applications are becoming more sophisticated, and the environments they run in are also growing more complex under the surface. The IT application management solutions that organizations use to keep their operations under control do not have to be so complex, though. Rather, development and deployment can continue unimpeded through the smooth integration of cloud-focused management solutions.

Learn more about the role of DevOps in application management and generating business value.

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