Deploying business applications, such as customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise resource planning (ERP), and vertical industry applications is complex and time-consuming. Managing them is even more challenging. EMA research has found that while enterprise IT organizations are very good at deploying and maintaining infrastructure, they are still struggling to effectively deploy and manage the business services and applications that infrastructure supports.

At the same time, one of IT's biggest stated challenges is aligning with the business. One of the best ways to achieve such alignment is to put tools in place that provide a clear picture of the links between infrastructure and applications - in essence, a model of IT technology as it aligns with business imperatives.

With this in mind, EMA published cross-functional research outlining a revolutionary new paradigm for managing enterprise applications. For enterprise IT executives, this research represents current best practice. It offers guidance about the kinds of capabilities required to develop a business-focused management perspective. The goal of best practices is to generate organizational maturity by optimizing both processes and technology. While best practice libraries provide extensive guidance on the process side, research highlights the technology requirements for managing business services as they become increasingly complex, and to do so at reasonable cost.