Applications are made available in line with business requirements. This process covers the design of the applications, the proper inclusion of application controls and security requirements, and the development and configuration in line with standards. This allows organisations to properly support business operations with the correct automated applications.

Management of the process of Acquire and maintain application software that satisfies the business requirement for IT of aligning available applications with business requirements, and doing so in a timely manner and at a reasonable cost is:

0 Non-existent when
There is no process for designing and specifying applications. Typically, applications are obtained based on vendor-driven offerings,brand recognition or IT staff familiarity with specific products, with little or no consideration of actual requirements.

1 Initial/Ad Hoc when
There is an awareness that a process for acquiring and maintaining applications is required. Approaches to acquiring and maintaining application software vary from project to project. Some individual solutions to particular business requirements are likely to have been acquired independently, resulting in inefficiencies with maintenance and support.

2 Repeatable but Intuitive when
There are different, but similar, processes for acquiring and maintaining applications based on the expertise within the IT function. The success rate with applications depends greatly on the in-house skills and experience levels within IT. Maintenance is usually problematic and suffers when internal knowledge is lost from the organisation. There is little consideration of application security and availability in the design or acquisition of application software.

3 Defined when
A clear, defined and generally understood process exists for the acquisition and maintenance of application software. This process is aligned with IT and business strategy. An attempt is made to apply the documented processes consistently across different applications and projects. The methodologies are generally inflexible and difficult to apply in all cases, so steps are likely to be bypassed. Maintenance activities are planned, scheduled and co-ordinated.

4 Managed and Measurable when
There is a formal and well-understood methodology that includes a design and specification process, criteria for acquisition, a process for testing and requirements for documentation. Documented and agreed-upon approval mechanisms exist to ensure that all steps are followed and exceptions are authorised. Practices and procedures evolve and are well suited to the organisation, used by all staff and applicable to most application requirements.

5 Optimised when
Application software acquisition and maintenance practices are aligned with the defined process. The approach is componentbased, with predefined, standardised applications matched to business needs. The approach is enterprisewide. The acquisition and maintenance methodology is well advanced and enables rapid deployment, allowing for high responsiveness and flexibility in responding to changing business requirements. The application software acquisition and implementation methodology is subjected to continuous improvement and is supported by internal and external knowledge databases containing reference materials and good practices. The methodology creates documentation in a predefined structure that makes production and maintenance efficient.