Applications Inventory and Attributes - Lifecycle and Status attributes for the Applications Inventory

Applications Inventory and Attributes

Chapter 8. Lifecycle and Status attributes for the Applications Inventory

Lifecycle and Status attributes track where each application sits in its governed lifecycle and record the key dates that mark transitions, trigger governance obligations, and enable lifecycle duration analysis.

Attribute Name	Maturity	Description and Notes
Lifecycle Status	Crawl	Description — The current stage of the application in its defined lifecycle: Proposed (approved for development or evaluation), Active (deployed and in operational use), Deprecated (designated for planned retirement but still operational), or Retired (decommissioned and removed from service). Benefit(s) — The foundational governance attribute that determines which processes, policies, and governance obligations apply to the application at any given time. Without lifecycle status, the portfolio cannot distinguish between what is running, what is being phased out, and what has already been retired — making every portfolio-level count, cost calculation, and governance report unreliable. Source — Manually Entered. Examples — Active (Salesforce CRM, currently in production use), Deprecated (legacy CRM scheduled for retirement Q3 2027), Proposed (new AI analytics platform under evaluation) Notes — Valid values: Proposed, Active, Deprecated, Retired. Only Active applications generate ongoing cost and operational obligations. Deprecated applications should have a Planned Retirement Date populated. Retired applications are retained for historical record only.
Date Proposed	Walk	Description — The date on which the application was formally proposed or added to the portfolio pipeline for evaluation, development, or procurement authorization. Benefit(s) — Enables calculation of time-in-proposal, identification of stalled initiatives that have been in Proposed status longer than governance standards permit, and provides the starting point for full lifecycle duration analysis. Source — Manually Entered.
Date Approved	Walk	Description — The date on which the application was formally approved by the relevant governance body for development, procurement, or deployment. Benefit(s) — Closes the loop between proposal and approval, enabling governance cycle time analysis and providing the audit trail required to demonstrate that investment authorization followed the organization's defined governance process. Source — Manually Entered.
Date Deployed to Production	Crawl	Description — The date on which the application was first deployed to its production environment and made available to its intended users — the definitive start of the application's active operational life. Benefit(s) — Combined with current date, enables calculation of application age — a primary input to technical debt assessment, End-of-Life risk evaluation, and identification of legacy applications whose architecture may predate current standards by many years. Source — Manually Entered.
Date Deprecated	Walk	Description — The date on which the application formally entered Deprecated status — still operational but officially designated for planned retirement. Benefit(s) — Marks the beginning of the deprecation window and enables tracking of how long applications remain deprecated before retirement. Applications that stay in Deprecated status for extended periods represent unresolved governance obligations and accumulated technical and financial risk. Source — Manually Entered.
Date Retired	Walk	Description — The date on which the application was formally decommissioned, removed from operational service, and its record closed as Retired in the inventory. Benefit(s) — Closes the application record with a definitive retirement date, enabling lifecycle duration analysis and providing the organizational record of when the application's operational life ended. Source — Manually Entered.
Planned Retirement or End-of-Life Date	Walk	Description — The target date by which the application is expected to be retired or reach its end of organizational life, where known and committed. Benefit(s) — Enables proactive planning for application decommissioning, successor application preparation, data migration, and user transition — all of which require substantial lead time that organizations consistently underestimate when retirement planning begins only after the decision is made. Source — Manually Entered.
Last Record Review Date	Crawl	Description — The date on which the application's inventory record was most recently reviewed and validated for accuracy by its named IT Application Owner. Benefit(s) — The primary data quality signal for the inventory. A record not reviewed in 12 or more months is likely stale and may be producing inaccurate cost, risk, and governance reporting. Enables systematic identification of records requiring refresh before they become the basis for consequential governance decisions. Source — Manually Entered — updated by the IT Application Owner at each governance review.
Next Scheduled Review Date	Walk	Description — The date on which the application's inventory record is next due for owner review and validation — maintained as a future-dated commitment, not an after-the-fact record. Benefit(s) — Transforms inventory review from a reactive, ad hoc activity into a scheduled governance obligation, enabling proactive identification of upcoming review obligations and systematic data quality management across the full portfolio. Source — Manually Entered — set at time of last review, targeting the next review cycle.
Last Significant Change Date	Walk	Description — The date on which the application last underwent a significant technical, operational, or organizational change — such as a major version upgrade, a hosting environment migration, an ownership transfer, or a significant scope or user base change. Benefit(s) — Provides a leading indicator of application activity and evolution. Applications with no significant change over many years may be candidates for rationalization review. Recently changed applications warrant heightened governance attention to ensure their inventory records remain current. Source — Manually Entered.

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