We are proud to present a new Noventiq Northern Europe (formerly known as Softline Group Northern Europe) technology partner: knooing. The company is based out of Munich, Germany and specializes in the digitization of the IT sourcing process. As such, their technology and knowledge fit perfectly within Noventiq Northern Europe’s portfolio of ITAM services.
Within an ITAM process knooing’s zero-touch IT sourcing platform can be specifically useful in Life Cycle integration processes. Knooing’s specialisation, digitization of the IT sourcing process, strengthens Noventiq Northern Europe’s storyline with two important use cases:
- Use case 1: Application selection based on capabilities.
- Use case 2: Rationalisation based on capabilities
These use cases correspond with processes located in Tier 2 of the House of ITAM®. The processes in the Tier describe how your ITAM function interacts with other IT functions such as application- and project portfolio management, support & maintenance and retirement of assets and services.
The two main phases where a sourcing platform can take your ITAM system to a higher level are the “acquire or develop” phase, and the “retire” phase.
First, let’s take a look at supporting the “acquire or develop” lifecycle phase of IT Assets, which corresponds with Use case 1: Application selection based on capabilities:
The AI-based matching platform serves as an aid and decision-making tool for the IT procurement. By including your company’s active providers in the search, the platform lays the foundation for a well-founded make-or-buy decision. This makes it easier to have discussions on rationalization, avoid unnecessary cost and helps to reduce complexity that slows down the digital transformation of your company
Second, let’s see how the platform can support the “retire” lifecycle phase of IT Assets:
All kinds of project- and solution requirements can be collected centrally on knooing’s platform. Solutions can then be compared with each other in a matrix, based on the self-defined criteria. This enables you to make fact-based decisions on retiring applications, solutions or even publishers saving money and reducing complexity even further.
This approach is compatible with Gartner’s TIME model, that uses Business value and Technical condition to help organisations make decisions about the lifecycle of applications. In the past, we have used “Risk” as a third dimension (End of Life, vulnerabilities, end of support etc.) to make these decisions easier. With this new partnership, we can help clients making informed decisions based on application capabilities, taking lifecycle management to the next level!
And finally, as a bonus, for those companies that are looking to strengthen their ITAM management system, (for instance, because they are seeking ITAM certification) the platform can function as a practical implementation of the ITAM policies that are managed in “Tier 0” of the House of ITAM. It provides a workflow with tangible evidence and reporting that proves ITAM policies are taken into consideration during the sourcing process.
As you can see, the platform allows you to engage with the IT functions you want to collaborate with from an IT Asset management perspective. On the one hand it deliveres information to base Application Rationalization for short-term cost savings, on the other it enables strategic, pro-active lifecyle management by providing valuable insights during the procurement process before applications are added to your IT environment.
