Document the application lifecycle

The application lifecycle describes the succession of stages that the application goes through over time. Alfabet FastLane allows all stages of an application's lifecycle to be documented from its phase-in to its phase-out of the organization. This can include any or all stages from the application's identification, planning the build and deployment, putting it into production, and sundowning it. A robust application lifecycle management includes versioning and planning for successor applications to ensure that IT continues to support critical business areas.

Not all company's document their application lifecycles and it is not mandatory in Alfabet FastLane. However, robust application lifecycle management is key to the health of the business and helps you to understand identify and manage lifecycle conflicts. By documenting the lifecycles of the applications in your application portfolio, you will be able to identify which applications are approaching end-of-life but have no defined successor applications. Furthermore, you can understand whether relevant technologies are in place during the lifecycle of an application. With this insight, you can plan, communicate, and take corrective action for applications that are at risk and ensure the availability and reliability of applications for the company.

In Alfabet FastLane, an application lifecycle consists of the following stages:

Gantt reports that visualize the application lifecycle will also reflect the application’s active period which is when the application is actually being used in the enterprise. This object state typically corresponds to the application’s start and end dates and should be set to Active when the active is in use. The active period usually corresponds to the lifecycle phases that represent when the application is in production, but this will depend on your company's lifecycle management methodology. For example, the active period could begin when the lifecycle phase Pilot starts and end when the lifecycle phase Production ends. Or it could be that the active period begins when the lifecycle phase Production starts and ends when when the lifecycle phase Production ends.

Define the application's lifecycle. Click the navigate  Navigate button of the application to open the content area. Go to the Overview page and scroll to the Application Lifecycle view and open it.