APM PRACTICE QUESTIONS 2024

How does APM Leverage the ServiceNow System? - ANSWERITOM Relationship: APM Uses: 1 - CMDB 2 - Discovery APM uses ServiceNow's infrastructure to pull in valuable information: * Application Services * Infrastructure Cis Discovery vs APM: * Discovery gives basic picture of resources * Discovery identifies CIs * APM Service Mapping captures the relatinship between the business functions the CIs support * APM uses Discovery Data to understand applications and underlying identify services/tech. Integration with NOW SAM - ANSWERSAM - Software Asset Management: 1 - Software model data 2 - License asset data 3 - Lifecycle data SAM & APM: * SAM uses software Cis to build inventory & license allocations * SAM focuses on software license entirlement compliance * APM's TPM (Technology Portfolio Management) uses SAM software inventory to automate technology inventory & lifecycle * APM links apliaction services to technology through the Business Service Software Models table with a primary software indication Why use APM? - ANSWERAPM provides: Key capabilities to prioritize investments in application portfolio based on data such as risk, value and costs. Why use: Gain a comprehensive understanding of: * Application Inventory * Identify Redundancies & Rationalization initiatives * Decrease Budgetary Costs * Manage Business Capabilities * Track Technology Lifecycles 3 Primary Reasons 1. Too many applications to maintain and support 2. Technical Gaps supporting business capabilities 3. Identifying Technology Risks (What's end of life?) To solve 2 Challenges: 1. lots of siloed working between multiple teams 2. lots of tools to track those application portfolios Typical use cases that application portfolio management supports - ANSWERTypical Use Cases: • To create an authoritative list of applications, their related entities, and attributes • Assess the application health and the value of those applications • Analyze the technology dependencies and risks involved • Assess the business capabilities and align applications to them • Using CMDB, map infrastructure to applications & align ITSM activities to the applications Common areas of interest to all stakeholders include: - ANSWERCommon Stakeholder Interests: • # of applications • application ownership • applications categorized by business capability, data classification, business criticality, PII data • accuracy of application information Key Items to Understand - ANSWERCurrent products Process and current application portfolio system maturity Scoped vs global applications Customer preparation checklist Customer resources and their availability Requirements Digital transformation (technology driving growth, blurring of industry boundaries) - ANSWERDivert IT budgets to a growth mindset, not just a "keep the lights on" philosophy Shift from cost reduction to investment value Volatile business demand (increased competition, speed is essential) - ANSWERControl tech portfolio growth and streamline ops and delivery Changing customer needs (IT customization with low effort is essential) - ANSWERChanging customer needs (IT customization with low effort is essential) Success Blockers - ANSWERTechnical debt Duplication Security & Compliance risks Increasing support costs Slow change Success Drivers - ANSWERApplications that support goals Keeping costs under control Simplicity Low security risk Fast change What 2 metrics should be focus in Workshops? - ANSWER1 - Application Risks 2 - Outdated Applications APM Triggers - ANSWERNew application introduced into portfolio Major changes to business applications (e.g., rollout, capability) Changes to application performance (e.g., incidents, changes) Periodic updates to application assessments Periodic data certification - ANSWERAPM has an out-of-the-box capability to assign data certification tasks to application owners. Using this feature, application owners get assigned tasks at a set frequency to validate application information. Application owners are assigned Data Certification tasks APM Roles - ANSWERROLE DETAIL: APM Analyst (sn__analyst) - Access applications landscape, dashboards, roadmaps, strategy program workbench, and associated pages - Contains Roles: *. sn__user *.sn__admin *. View/update/delete application indicator scores *. View/update/delete application scores *. Create/update/delete APM programs and targets *. Create/update/delete goals *. Access the APM Service Portal pages for program navigation, category analysis, bubble chart view, application comparisons *. Create demand with application strategy related attributes *. View Application 360 dashboard ROLE DETAIL: APM User (sn__user) - Access to create/update applications, view landscape, and roadmap - Contains Roles: *. Create/Update/delete applications *. Create/update/delete application rollouts *. View application landscape reports and dashboards *. View applications roadmap APM Maturity Model - ANSWERMaturity Model - 4 Levels: Level 1 - Applications under Management Level 2 - Basic Rationalization Level 3 - Advanced Rationalization Level 4 - Continuously Optimized Portfolio Maturity Level 1 - Applications Under Management - ANSWERLevel 1 is all about having applications under management in a single system of record that can be trusted. This is where: The application lifecycle process is defined IT and Business Ownership is established Applications are categorized Maturity Level 2 - Basic Rationalization - ANSWERLevel 2 allows for basic rationalization. Human input and manual analysis is leveraged to create simple goals. This is where: Metadata is input manually Category based optimization takes place Coarse optimization of data is achieved Maturity Level 3 - Advanced Rationalization - ANSWERLevel 3 leverages the power of the ServiceNow platform, utilizing built-in associations and relationships to create more powerful analysis. This is where: Broadly sourced metadata is implemented Multi-objective rationalization becomes possible Business and IT demands are integrated Maturity Level 4 - Continuously Optimized Portfolio - ANSWERLevel 4 is where users reach continuous improvement mode. This is where: Artificial Intelligence based recommendations play a role Tightly integrated Demand processes are implemented Regularly evolving criteria and use cases are utilized APM Processes - ANSWERAPM Processes: 1 - Identify 2 - Measure 3 - Evaluate 4 - Decide 5 - Take Action 3 Main Navigation Starting Points - ANSWERThe Application Portfolio Management Portal The Application Portfolio Management Dashboards The Business Planning Portal TOGAF is typically modeled at four levels: - ANSWERTOGAF (The Open Group Architecture Framework) is modeled at 4 Levels: 1 - Business 2 - Application 3 - Data 4 - Technology. The current implementation of ServiceNow's APM aligns to three of the four levels: Business, Application, and Technology, with plans to add Data Architecture in