IF4IT Best Practices

The following materials represent common, industry-tested knowledge that the IF4IT has worked to identify, document, curate, and publish for use by IT leaders and practitioners to build and operate better IT organizations. Each topic area contains and represets IF4IT-suggested, structured guidance that we believe helps professionals design, implement, deploy, operate, and support better IT organizations and solutions. This being said, we also acknowledge that every enterprise is somewhat different in areas like their industry, size, scope, regions, skills, funding, products & services, and the technologies they use. So while our materials help identify and address common issues, the details of final design and implementation are always the responsibility of the implementing practioner. Browse or use Search to help find what’s available. We hope you find the materials useful. Note: We are porting our materials to our new website platform. Please be patient as we work through these changes.

Application Portfolio Management

Application Portfolio Management (APM) Best Practices

This document presents best practices and guidelines to help IT organizations establish, govern, and continuously improve their Application Portfolio Management (APM) capability. APM is a sub-discipline of IT Management — the broader organizational discipline responsible for gove

Application Portfolio Management

Applications Inventory and Attributes

The Applications Inventory is the hub of the APM inventory ecosystem — the primary governed entity around which Application Portfolio Management is organized. Every application in the enterprise that is owned, operated, licensed, or depended upon has a record in the Applications

Enterprise Architecture

Capabilities Inventory and Attributes

The Capabilities Inventory is the authoritative enterprise record of every business and IT capability the organization performs or intends to perform. Each Noun Instance in this inventory is a single, uniquely identified Capability — a discrete area of organizational ability to p

Enterprise Architecture

Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

The Data and Information Inventory is the authoritative enterprise record of every named, governed type of data or information the enterprise produces, consumes, stores, or transmits. Each Noun Instance in this inventory is a single, uniquely identified Data and Information type

Enterprise Architecture

Enterprise Architecture Value Model

If you are a CIO, CTO, or IT executive responsible for establishing, inheriting, or restructuring an architecture function, the most consequential decision you will make is not which framework to adopt, which tools to license, or how many architects to hire. It is what your archi

Enterprise Inventory Management

Enterprise Inventory Management Best Practices

Contained herein are the best practices and guidelines that we believe help organizations design, build, govern, populate, and continuously improve enterprise inventories. An enterprise inventory is a managed collection of items of a defined type that the organization needs to kn

Application Portfolio Management

Integrations Inventory and Attributes

The Integrations Inventory is the authoritative enterprise record of every governed data and information integration — every connection through which data or information moves between two entities in the enterprise or between the enterprise and the outside world. Each Noun Instan

IT Operating Environments

IT Operating Environments Best Practices

Contained herein are the best practices and guidelines that we believe help organizations identify, consistently name, govern, and operate across the full spectrum of IT operating environments. An IT operating environment is a governed technology space - consisting of infrastruct

Enterprise Architecture

Regulatory Agencies Inventory and Attributes

The Regulatory Agencies Inventory is the authoritative enterprise record of every regulatory body whose requirements create formal compliance obligations for the enterprise — governmental, quasi-governmental, supranational, self-regulatory, or standards-setting. Each Noun Instanc

Service Catalog

Service Catalog Best Practices

Contained herein are the best practices and guidelines that we believe help organizations design, build, deliver, operate, and continuously improve an Enterprise Service Catalog, which is an important tool for [Service Management](https://if4it.org/best-practices/service-manageme

Service Management

Service Management Best Practices

Contained herein are the best practices and guidelines that we believe help organizations design, build, operate, govern, and continuously improve their service management capabilities. Service Management is the professional discipline of treating services as managed assets that

Technology Portfolio Management

Technology Portfolio Management (TPM) Best Practices

Contained herein are the best practices and guidelines that help organizations identify, inventory, govern, and strategically manage the full portfolio of technologies upon which their enterprise depends. Technology Portfolio Management (TPM) is the organizational discipline of g

Application Portfolio Management

Vendors Inventory and Attributes

The Vendors Inventory is the authoritative enterprise record of every third-party vendor the enterprise engages — every organization from which the enterprise procures technology, services, data, or capabilities. Each Noun Instance in this inventory is a single, uniquely identifi