Investment decisions in IT and aligning with financial goals can take time and effort. But with the right application portfolio management software for IT investments, businesses can not only avoid waste but also achieve 3x ROI.
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However, the choice can be overwhelming with numerous software available, ranging from free apps to high-cost analysis tools. Some platforms offer a mix of features, such as portfolio management and investment management.
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In this blog post, we will explore application portfolio management tools, shedding light on how you can simplify your IT application portfolio management. 

We'll discuss the diverse range of options available, helping you make an informed choice that aligns perfectly with your financial aspirations for your business.
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What is application portfolio management software?

Application portfolio management software is a tool that organizations use to oversee and analyze their entire portfolio of software applications efficiently. It provides a comprehensive view of the performance, costs, and alignment of applications with business goals. It helps identify redundancies, reduce IT complexity, and ensure that the application landscape supports the company's strategic objectives.
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Application portfolio management platforms involve the following:
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• Identify and eliminate redundant and unused applications
• Consolidate similar applications into a single new application
• Retire older and more expensive-to-maintain applications
• Determine which data flows through which applications to optimize security controls.
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Elements of an application portfolio management practice

Here are the key practices that companies must follow for implementing a robust application portfolio management:

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1. Create an inventory of IT assets
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Many company employees or departments purchase their own SaaS tools without procurement or IT oversight, which leads to shadow IT becoming a significant issue. According to Cisco's research, 80% of the employees in a company use shadow IT.
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The solution to this problem is to maintain a complete technology inventory. It must include all your IT assets, key features, and associated costs. This entails listing technical information, such as versions and platforms, and business information, such as departments that use them and the accountable people.
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2. Implement methods and resources to maintain and manage inventory
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Relying solely on manual methods and spreadsheets to maintain and manage inventory, relying solely on manual methods and spreadsheets is inefficient and prone to errors.

That’s where application portfolio management tools can automate updates and management tasks. Using application portfolio management software, you can minimize manual interventions.Such software must integrate with the organization's broader information management systems for a more cohesive approach.
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3. Evaluate and optimize the technology portfolio
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According to G2, companies generate around $34 billion in yearly licensing waste each year between the US and UK. To avoid this, companies must assess their application portfolio to address redundancy, capability gaps, misalignment with business priorities, and technical debt. 
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As business landscapes continue to evolve, the analysis of the tech portfolio is an ongoing process. This analysis involves:
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• Recognizing specific areas of functional redundancy
• Identifying where key capabilities lack sufficient technology support 
• Aligning applications with strategic objectives.
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4. Ensure synchronization between technology and business roadmaps
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Aligning your company's application portfolio with its strategic priorities and investments can greatly improve performance.This alignment establishes a clear link between capabilities and value, offers better visibility into necessary technology advancements, and instills greater confidence in all technology-related choices.By doing so, companies foster business agility, which is a vital capability for any company seeking to transform its business and make better use of digital resources to consistently enhance performance and provide more value to customers and themselves.
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5. Align applications to business capabilities
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Applications should be aligned with business capabilities to maximize the value of application portfolio management. You need to think beyond mere maintenance.Application portfolio management should be leveraged to advance overarching business objectives. Engaging business leaders is crucial to identify priority goals and direct investments.
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For instance, application portfolio management can facilitate cloud migration if it aligns with your missions. This integrated approach ensures sustained alignment and consistent achievement of technology and business goals.

Key Features to Look for in an APM Software

The right APM software selection would be about capabilities that provide you with the visibility and control. Look for tools that provide:

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• Application discovery and inventory management: Develop a full picture of all IT assets, including shadow IT.
• Risk evaluation and compliance monitoring: Be audit-ready and minimise the risk of third parties.
• Cost optimization and ROI calculation: Determine redundancies, predict budgets and returns.
• Business capability mapping: Map applications to business purpose.
• Application lifecycle management: Lifecycle management of applications on-boarding to retirement.
• Dependency mapping and impact analysis: Learn about interdependencies in order to mitigate risk in the change.
• Cloud migration planning: Easily move to the cloud using migration preparedness.

Security and compliance management: The apps should be within the limits of organizational and regulatory requirements.

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Benefits of an APM Software

Operating dozens (and even hundreds) of applications is expensive and complicated. The absence of the right system will lead to the risk of wasting money, missing compliance, and having insufficient visibility of your tech stack. Application Portfolio Management (APM) software helps simplify this process and provides quantifiable outcomes.

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Quantified Benefits

• Saving expenses: By doing away with redundancies and renewing agreements, companies might save up to 30 percent on software costs.
• Efficiency benefits: Automating manual tracking and reporting can save over 100 hours per year.
• Quick ROI: Optimizing procurement and usage through monitoring can deliver a 2–3x ROI.

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Industry-Specific Use Cases

• Finance teams: Have insights into the SaaS costs, accurate forecasting of budget and avoiding unexpected renewal.
• Procurement teams: Centralization of contracts, evaluation of vendors and better terms of contract.
• IT & Security teams: Scan shadow IT, provide compliance and accelerate risk assessment.

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Digital Transformation Support

The APM software allows organizations to leave behind manual and fragmented tracking and make decisions that are supported by data. This change promotes digital change by:

• Provision of real time dashboards and analytics.
• Modifying software use to strategic objectives.
• Releasing more resources to innovation rather than administration.

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Compliance and Risk Management

• Monitor licenses and usage to stay audit-ready.
• Standardize approvals and vendor assessments to reduce compliance risk.
• Identify shadow IT early to avoid security threats.

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Data-Driven Decision Making

APM provides custom reporting on spend, usage, and vendor performance. Leaders can act with confidence knowing which apps drive ROI and which ones drain budgets.

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Business Agility Improvements

• Quickly adapt tech stacks during mergers, acquisitions, or market shifts.
• Scale usage up or down depending on business needs.
• Eliminate unnecessary costs to keep capital available for growth.
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The top 6 application portfolio management tools to streamline your IT investments 

Here is a list of six application portfolio management software with their features:

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1. Spendflo
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Spendflo is an application portfolio management tool that simplifies your SaaS procurement and renewal. It helps businesses to negotiate, buy, and renew their SaaS tools. Spendflo helps you save time and money by automating and optimizing the process of requesting, approving, and onboarding all your IT software.
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Moreover, this application management software offers the best buying, negotiation, renewal, and tracking service for your SaaS subscriptions, helping companies save up to 30% on their SaaS spend.
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Spendflo's team of expert buyers confidently leverages benchmark data and insights from companies to negotiate the optimal price. The platform efficiently manages SaaS contracts and provides comprehensive reporting of leads to make the entire SaaS buying cycle faster, cheaper, and more efficient. Here are some key features of Spendflo as an application portfolio management tool:
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• Discovery, contract management, approval workflows, assisted buying and       vendor intelligence: This helps organizations gain 360° context before making      purchases. You can confidently discover the perfect software solution for your business      needs with the latest updates on new SaaS tools and evaluate compatibility with existing      tools.
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• Spend analytics and usage tracking: This provides insights into how effectively an      organization is managing its spending and using its purchased applications. It identifies the      signs of overspending, enabling finance teams to proactively save costs and focus on      specific areas.
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• Sentiment hub: This enables you to discover user sentiment related to the SaaS tools being used, which assists you in gaining actionable insights.
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• Vendor risk assessment: This helps you evaluate the vendor’s security practices and      protocols to ensure that they meet the organization’s standards and requirements.
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Pros
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• Up to 30% savings on your SaaS stack
• Offers contract renewal notifications
• Reduced costs due to practical evaluation of SaaS products procured through efficient      negotiation and fast turnaround
• A complete dashboard that tracks transaction status, renewals, and negotiations.

Cons
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• Automatic uploads of signed documents to the platform are missing.

G2 rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars. Their highest-rated features include spend tracking and SaaS                     utilization tracking.
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Pricing: Starting at $2500 per month for companies with an annual spend of $250K - $1 M

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2. ServiceNow (Application Portfolio Management)

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ServiceNow is a cloud-based platform that helps organizations improve the efficiency of their operations by automating and managing digital workflows. One of the modules offered by ServiceNow is the application portfolio management platform, which is part of its IT Business Management suite.
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The ServiceNow application portfolio management module provides several key features to help organizations manage their application portfolio effectively. These features include:
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• Application portfolio management portal: This feature provides a consolidated      interface where managers can access actionable, real-time insights to make informed      decisions.
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• Application portfolio: This allows you to make data-driven decisions on investing,      sustaining, or replacing your business applications.
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• Capability mapping: This feature ensures that your organization's technology       investments and services align with your business value streams by employing capability-      based planning.
  

• Technology portfolio management: This feature enables managers to monitor the       versions and life cycles of the technology that runs their critical business apps, helping       them manage technology risk effectively.
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Pros
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• Workflows are implemented in a backend process for tasks, approvals, and auto-     populating required fields
• No coding required to integrate the platform with third-party applications
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Cons
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• Requires enhancements in the reporting and dashboard functionalities
• Hard to predict license requirements accurately
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G2 rating: 4.3/5
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Pricing: Custom quote on request

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3. Zylo 

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Zylo, a SaaS management tool, offers visibility into your organization's SaaS applications and uncovers shadow IT. 
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Zylo's AI-powered discovery engine monitors SaaS spending, licenses, and usage, providing insights to manage and optimize your SaaS portfolio efficiently. 

Some of the key features of Zylo are:
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• Contract negotiation: It manages negotiations from end-to-end, handling all      communication with the vendor to facilitating internal and external approvals.
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• Alerts and reports: It provides an accurate view of your SaaS inventory with rogue      purchase alerts and reports on custom metrics.
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Pros
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• Extensive data reporting features
• Robust security measures and collaboration features
• Seamless integration with platforms such as Microsoft, Salesforce, and Slack
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Cons
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• No transparent pricing
• Absence of a free trial option
• Limited support and documentation resources
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G2 rating: 4.8/5
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Pricing: Custom quote on request

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4. LeanIX
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LeanIX provides solutions for enterprise architecture management (EAM), SaaS management platform (SMP), and value stream management (VSM). These solutions help organizations improve their operations by providing visibility into their IT estate, enabling them to make better decisions faster.
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• EAM: It helps organizations in informed decision-making, change management, and      aligning technology with business goals. EAM visualizes application landscapes, IT      components, and business capabilities, enabling consistent oversight for effective      application portfolio management.
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• SMP: IT helps organizations manage their SaaS applications by providing visibility into      usage and spending. This enables organizations to reduce SaaS spending and increase      purchase efficiencies.
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• VSM: LeanIX’s VSM solution fosters developer autonomy by uniting engineering teams      through a central service catalog. A deep grasp of all services fosters reuse, minimizes      duplication, and speeds up vulnerability responses. This streamlines DevOps, enabling      resource allocation to prioritize ongoing innovation.
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Pros
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• Enables you to split up the EAM repository into manageable sections 
• Easy to crowdsource continuous and iterative improvement of the application portfolio 
• Offers easily consumable dashboards and reports
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Cons
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• Limited admin features
• Data patch tool is not available
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G2 rating: 
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• EAM - 4.6/5
• SMP - 4.3/5
• VSM: Not enough reviews for this
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Pricing: Custom quote on request

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5. Flexera One 
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Flexera One is an IT asset management solution designed for organizations with intricate hybrid environments. It offers visibility into IT assets spanning on-premises, SaaS, and the cloud, empowering data-driven decision-making. With Flexera One, businesses can manage complexity, minimize risks, cut costs, and optimize technology investments. 

Here are some key features of Flexera One:
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• Unified view: It offers visibility into software, SaaS, and cloud-product usage, facilitating      efficient vendor negotiations and contract renewals.
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• Cost reduction: The platform helps reduce costs by identifying opportunities for      optimization and rationalization across the technology estate.
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• Insights: You can access actionable insights spanning software, SaaS, and cloud assets      in your IT estate. This empowers decision-making regarding end-of-life and end-of-     support assets and opportunities for rationalization.

Pros:
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• User-friendly self-service interface for easy navigation and a more streamlined user      experience
• Improved asset discovery capabilities for better visibility and control over cloud resources

Cons:
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• Increased resource consumption in private cloud environments, lacking resource allocation      and efficiency
• Custom actions may result in slower deployment speed compared to underlying      commands

G2 rating: 3.7/5
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Pricing: Custom quote on request

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6. Ardoq 
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Ardoq is a data-powered solution for the enterprise architecture of any organization. The software assists entities in strategizing, implementing, and forecasting the consequences of alterations within their workforce, projects, strategies, workflows, software, hardware, and competencies.
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Some of its key features include the following:
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• Ardoq helps to deliver business outcomes with architecture that evolves with your      organization.
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• It predicts the impact of change across their people, projects, strategies, processes,      applications, infrastructure, and capabilities.
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• Ardoq dashboards aid interactive visualizations, and diagrams allow users to focus on      understanding interdependencies between technology and people and spend less time      documenting.
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Pros
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• Powerful data crunching tools
• Offers lots of ways to display data
• Can auto-import databases
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Cons
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• Only suitable for enterprises
• No transparent pricing
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G2 rating: 4.8/5
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Pricing: Ardoq offers a base plan and add-ons. Custom quote on request
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Application portfolio management tools: Beacon for your IT investments

In the realm of IT investments, selecting the right path can be overwhelming due to the abundance of options. Choosing the appropriate software solution can help companies gain valuable insights, optimize their application portfolio management processes, and achieve long-term financial stability.
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Spendflo enables businesses to reduce application portfolio management costs by up to 30%. With our team of expert buyers and intuitive platform, you can confidently manage procurement, renewals, and upgrades without any hassle!

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Frequently Asked Questions

Who is responsible for managing APM software?

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The operations of APM software are typically a joint IT, procurement and financial responsibility. IT helps in maintaining applications to be secure and compliant, procurement on vendor contracts and renewals, and finance to monitor costs, budget and ROI. These teams together remain visible and in control of the application landscape of the organization.

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How does APM software support digital transformation?

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The use of APM software is important in digital transformation as it takes organizations off manual tracking and poorly distributed spreadsheets. It offers live dashboards, automation workflows, and data-driven knowledge to assist teams to align their application portfolio with the overall business objectives such as agility, scalability and innovation.

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Can APM software help with compliance and risk management?

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Yes, APM software enhances compliance and risk management through tracking licenses, finding shadow IT, and standardizing vendor assessments. This will make the business remain audit-ready, reduce security risks, and consistently remain compliant throughout the entire application portfolio.

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How does APM software improve decision-making?

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The APM software combines the spend, usage and vendor performance data into actionable dashboards and reports. With this level of visibility, leaders can make data-driven decisions on renewals, consolidations, or new purchases, reducing guesswork and increasing efficiency.

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What's the difference between APM and other IT management tools?

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Whereas IT management tools are frequently created to monitor infrastructure, device or network, APM software is created to specifically optimize an organization application portfolio. It aims to monitor the use, expenses, contracts and compliance to ensure the maximization of ROI and minimization of unnecessary spending on the software.