Needs assessment
Scoping the assessment: business drivers and current state
25 min
A needs assessment starts from the business, not the technology: strategy, objectives, constraints, and the capabilities the business needs. The current technology estate is then measured against those needs.
| Input | Method | Output |
|---|---|---|
| Strategy, OKRs, budget | Document review, executive interviews | Business drivers and constraints |
| Business capabilities | Capability map (what the business does, independent of org chart) | Capabilities rated for importance and current performance |
| Application portfolio | Inventory, owner and user surveys | Applications by capability, cost, health |
| Infrastructure and cloud | CMDB, cloud bills, architecture diagrams | Hosting, age, capacity, cost |
| Security posture | Framework assessment, audit findings, incidents | Maturity by function, top risks |
| Data and AI | Data inventory, quality profiling, AI use-case list | Data readiness, AI usage and governance |
| People and process | Skills inventory, process walkthroughs, ticket data | Skill gaps, bottlenecks |
Gartner's TIME model sorts the application portfolio by business fit and technical fit, which gives the roadmap its first set of candidate moves.
| TIME | Business fit | Technical fit | Move |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tolerate | Low | High | Keep, minimal spend |
| Invest | High | High | Extend, modernize in place |
| Migrate | High | Low | Re-platform or replace |
| Eliminate | Low | Low | Retire |
A needs assessment that lists every system with no link to a business need is an inventory. Each finding should name the capability it affects.
Word bank
All definitions →- Business capability map
- A hierarchy of what the organization does (e.g., Order Management), used to tie technology to business value.
- CMDB
- Configuration management database: records of configuration items and their relationships.
- TIME model
- Gartner's application rationalization grid: Tolerate, Invest, Migrate, Eliminate.
Knowledge check
High business fit, poor technical fit. TIME move?
First input to a technology needs assessment?