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Editor's Note: Take a look at our featured best practice, IT Strategy (30-slide PowerPoint presentation). The key drivers of Information Technology (IT) or Management Information Systems (MIS) value are an organization's IT mindset and its ability to execute. Today’s best practices show that IT value can be maximized when enterprise IT investments are aligned with business goals and IT execution is [read more]
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Enterprise application portfolios are often bloated with legacy tools, niche systems, and duplicated capabilities. Many of these applications quietly hemorrhage money without delivering measurable value. CIOs wrestle with hundreds of these applications, often lacking a single, unified view. The Gartner TIME Framework offers a template to fix this by translating vague technology sprawl into structured Decision making that aligns with Strategy, controls risk and liberates cash for growth initiatives.
The TIME Framework—short for Tolerate, Invest, Migrate, and Eliminate—ranks applications by 2 dimensions: Business Value and Technical Fit. The output is simple but surgical. Each application is classified into 1 of 4 strategies that dictate how it should be managed, modernized, or retired. TIME is a staple in the Application Portfolio Management (APM) playbook because it turns IT inventory from static lists into active assets.
The Gartner TIME approach fits perfectly into the current wave of Digital Transformation, where cloud migration, Cyber Security, and Cost Optimization are not projects—they are mandates. Organizations using TIME can quickly isolate what to fund, what to retire, and what to modernize. It brings order to chaos, especially in post-merger environments, outdated ERP stacks, or sprawling SaaS ecosystems that no one remembers buying.
The TIME framework has 4 dimensions (or quadrants):
TIME’s power lies in its ruthless simplicity. Each quadrant leads to concrete action. No academic theory. No open-ended assessments. Just facts, priorities, and dates.
TIME forces hard decisions that CIOs can defend. These are not arbitrary calls. Every application is scored against traceable Business Value and Technical Fit criteria using a standardized 1–5 scale. Business Value reflects how well the system supports strategic objectives, capability criticality, and regulatory or brand risk. Technical Fit captures reliability, maintainability, security posture, and integration health. The median scores form the cut lines. Below-average applications face scrutiny. Above-average ones earn investment.
TIME reduces noise in Strategic Planning. It clarifies which technology assets deserve funding, which need remediation, and which are silently dragging the portfolio down. It transforms cost discussions from finger-pointing to data-backed tradeoffs.
Let’s take a closer look at the first 2 TIME strategies for now.
The Tolerate Strategy deals with applications that are technically healthy but business-light. These applications run without incident. They meet SLAs, have stable integrations, and consume minimal support effort. But they no longer support mission-critical capabilities or measurable outcomes. Think of internal tools for outdated workflows or compliance systems that were once essential but now idle. The goal is to:
Tolerate is about containment. CIOs must actively monitor these systems in case their Business Value deteriorates further. Then it is time to Eliminate them.
Invest is the Strategy for scaling systems that matter. Applications in this quadrant are both valuable and technically sound. They enable critical workflows, support strategic objectives, and serve a wide user base. They meet SLA targets. Security exposure is minimal. And the architecture allows growth.
Investing does not mean open checkbooks. It means targeted action:
These applications are the backbone of modern IT Strategy. They deserve funding, but only if there is a clear performance baseline and sustained SLA compliance.
A regional bank recently launched a two-year cloud re-platforming effort after years of underwhelming digital outcomes. Their application portfolio had over 400 systems, many undocumented, redundant, or dangerously unsupported. The CIO introduced the TIME Framework to establish a single inventory and cut through the noise.
Using TIME, they scored all applications on Business Value and Technical Fit. Outdated core banking apps with high Business Value but low Technical Fit were placed in the Migrate quadrant. These were re-architected using modern cloud-native designs. Obsolete HR and reporting tools with no usage and high maintenance costs were Eliminate candidates. Several low-use compliance systems with high stability were Tolerate. The few high-value, high-fit platforms—customer analytics, fraud detection—received Invest-grade funding with dedicated squads and delivery targets.
These measures resulted in 22 percent reduction in run cost, sharper budget alignment with strategic outcomes, and a roadmap that earned executive sponsorship. TIME turned their sprawl into a Strategy.
How does TIME handle SaaS applications that IT does not control?
Score them like any other asset. If the Business Value is low and the Technical Fit is poor—due to vendor lock-in, SLA breaches, or integration issues—they likely belong in Eliminate. At minimum, review vendor contracts.
What if application owners contest the scoring?
Transparency is the lever. Require owners to provide evidence. Make decisions traceable. Use one questionnaire, one scoring model, and a quarterly refresh cycle to build trust.
How often should TIME be applied?
Quarterly is optimal. Too infrequent and decisions get stale. Too frequent and teams fatigue. Revisit thresholds, update scores, and track progress in waves.
Is TIME only for large enterprises?
No. The methodology scales. Mid-sized organizations with just 30 applications can still benefit from clarity on where to spend and where to cut.
Does TIME replace Enterprise Architecture reviews?
No. It complements them. TIME delivers structured portfolio views. EA focuses on broader patterns. The two should be aligned, not siloed.
The Gartner TIME framework is not really about technology. It is about Leadership discipline. It enforces clarity where ambiguity usually thrives. It shows CIOs, CFOs, and COOs exactly where money is going, and whether the return justifies the cost. It makes IT performance visible. Not through vanity metrics, but through investment-grade classification.
TIME breaks inertia. It gives leaders the vocabulary to have hard conversations—about vendor underperformance, integration fragility, duplication, and dead-end legacy. It cuts through the defense mechanisms of system owners who protect low-value tools simply because they are stable.
The simplicity of the model hides the depth of its impact. TIME forces trade-offs. Every dollar in the Invest quadrant has to come from Eliminate or Tolerate. This is not a new layer of governance—it is a reset. It gives CIOs a repeatable, quarterly playbook to align technology to Strategy without getting lost in PowerPoint gymnastics.
And that’s the point. TIME is not about being clever. It is about being clear. It is not about finding perfect answers. It is about making informed decisions and sticking to them. In an era of shrinking budgets and rising complexity, that might just be the edge that matters.
Interested in learning more about the other quadrants of the Gartner TIME framework? You can download an editable PowerPoint presentation on Gartner TIME framework here on the Flevy documents marketplace.
You can download in-depth presentations on this and hundreds of similar business frameworks from the FlevyPro Library. FlevyPro is trusted and utilized by 1000s of management consultants and corporate executives.
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