Application Portfolio Guide

💡 Overview

The Application Portfolio is a catalog of your applications — one row per application, with owner and contact details, version and lifecycle information, upstream/downstream data flows, and (optionally) a link to a capability in your Capability Modeler map.

Unlike the Capability Modeler or BDN, there is exactly one portfolio — everyone with access sees and edits the same list, and you can additionally share it with specific people at a chosen access level (see Sharing & Permissions).

Two tabs

The top bar has two tabs: Portfolio, the application list itself, and Worklist, the queue of scheduled reviews and lifecycle work items tied to those applications (see Worklist). Everything else — Reports, Configure, Work Items, Integrations, Share, ⚙ Settings — lives in the top bar to its right and is available from either tab.

Mapping to a capability model

If you've built a model in the Capability Modeler, open ⚙ Settings (top bar) and choose it as this portfolio's capability model. Once selected, each application can be assigned a Primary Capability and an optional Secondary Capability from that model.

➕ Adding Applications

The Portfolio tab has a stationary left-hand sidebar — it stays in place as the application list below it scrolls. The Search applications... box at the top of the sidebar is always visible; Filters underneath (department, disposition, location, capability group, and "feeds"/"receives from" data-flow filters) can be collapsed or expanded. Below that are the action items covered in this section: Add Application (with its From JSON... sub-item), Import CSV, Export CSV, and Replace....

Add manually

Click Add Application in the sidebar and fill in the form. Only Short Name and Full Name are required — everything else can be filled in later.

Custom fields you've configured (see Custom Fields & Columns) appear near the bottom of the form, just above the Data Flow section. A free-text Notes field sits below Ownership for anything that doesn't fit a structured field.

Once an application has been saved, a Work Items panel appears next to Vendor/Description showing any worklist items already scheduled for it, with a + Add related work items link to schedule the standard checklist for its current Disposition — see Worklist.

Add from JSON

Click the small ▾ arrow next to Add Application and choose From JSON.... This is designed for pasting output from an AI assistant: the dialog shows a copyable example JSON template — built from your portfolio's actual custom fields, not generic placeholders — that you can hand to an AI assistant as the target format, for example:

"Summarize this application into the following JSON shape: { ...template... }"

Paste the AI's response and click Continue. The regular Add Application form opens, pre-filled with everything recognized — nothing is saved until you review it and click Save yourself.

Import from CSV

Click Import CSV in the sidebar and select a file. Rows are matched to existing applications by (Short Name, Version Number) — a match updates that application's fields; no match creates a new one. A blank Version Number is treated as 1.0, both on import and in the manual form, so the two line up correctly.

Click Export CSV first (directly below Import CSV in the sidebar) to get a template with every supported column, including your custom fields.

Editing and removing

Use the pencil and trash icons at the right of each row to edit or remove an application.

🔀 Data Flow & Diagrams

Recording data flow

In the application edit form, the Data Flow section lets you check off which other applications this one gets data from (upstream) and which it feeds data to (downstream). These links power the filters on the main list (Feeds… / Receives from…) and the network diagrams below.

Diagram modes

Open Reports and choose a diagram mode from the dropdown:

• Single application diagram — pick one application to see just its direct upstream and downstream neighbors.
• Full network diagram — every application and data-flow link in the portfolio, laid out in columns by dependency depth. Rows within each column are automatically arranged to minimize crossing lines, so the diagram stays readable as it grows.

Both diagrams support panning, zooming, and a minimap (full network view only).

🧩 Custom Fields & Columns

Click Configure in the top bar to open a dialog with three tabs.

Custom Fields tab

Add fields specific to your portfolio — a name and a type (Text, Number, or Yes/No). They appear on every application's edit form and become available to show as columns in the list and report (below). Rename a field by editing its name and clicking away; remove one with the field's Remove link.

List Columns & Report Columns tabs

Choose exactly which fields appear in the main application list and in the printed report — independently of each other, and in whatever order you like. Every built-in field and every custom field is available in the Available fields section; click Add to bring one into Shown, in order, then use the ▲ ▼ buttons to reorder, or Remove to drop it back to Available.

Until you customize a tab, it shows the built-in default set — opening Configure and changing nothing leaves your list and report exactly as they were.

Text field row height

For the Description field and any Text-type custom field, a Rows box appears next to it in the Shown list — set how many lines of text to display (1–10, default 2) before the cell truncates. This is set independently for the list and the report, since a printed report often has more room than an on-screen table column.

🔍 Search & Replace

Search & filter

The Search applications... box at the top of the left sidebar filters the main list instantly as you type, matching against short name, full name, code, department, contacts, location, vendor, and description.

Below it, the collapsible Filters section narrows the list by department, disposition, location, capability group (once a capability model is selected), and by data flow — Feeds… to find everything that feeds a chosen application, or Receives from… for the reverse. Filters combine with each other and with the search box; a Clear filters link appears whenever any are active.

Replace

Click Replace... in the sidebar to open a guided find-and-replace — most useful for updating a stakeholder's name, department, or email address across every application that references it.

1. Choose which field to search (Short Name, Full Name, Department Owner, Department Contact, Technical Contact, Location, or Vendor).
2. Enter the exact value to find and the value to replace it with, then click Find Matches.
3. Every matching application is reviewed one at a time — for each, click Apply to save that one change or Skip to leave it alone.

Replace Contact

Click Replace Contact... (the sub-item under Replace... in the sidebar) to set the Department Contact and/or Technical Contact for every application owned by a chosen department in one pass — handy after a reorg or when a stakeholder changes roles. Pick the department, enter the new contact name(s) you want to apply (leave either blank to leave it unchanged), then review the full list of affected applications before confirming — this one does apply to every match at once, unlike the one-at-a-time Replace above.

✅ Worklist

The Worklist tab (top bar, next to Portfolio) is a queue of scheduled reviews and other lifecycle work tied to individual applications — separate from the application records themselves. It shows only open items; once something is completed it drops off the tab (see Worklist Report for full history, completed items included).

Left sidebar

Mirrors the Portfolio tab's sidebar: an always-visible Search applications... box and a collapsible Filters section — by department, by contact (department or technical), and by capability group (primary or secondary) — since a work item itself only knows which application it's for, these filter on that application's own fields. Below the filters, Add Work Item opens the add dialog.

The worklist table

Sortable by Due Date (the default) or Assigned To — click a column header to sort by it, click again to reverse. A row's due date is shown in red when it's overdue.

Adding a work item manually

Click Add Work Item and fill in:

• Application and Due Date — required.
• Assigned To — free text, optional; items with nobody assigned show as unassigned.
• Repeat every N workdays — leave blank for a one-time item, or set a number of workdays for a recurring review.
• Notes — free text.

Completing and repeating

Click Complete on a row to mark it done. If that item had a repeat interval set, completing it automatically creates the next occurrence, due that many workdays after today — the cadence resets from whenever the item is actually completed, not from its original due date, so a review completed late doesn't leave every future occurrence permanently behind schedule.

Click Remove to delete a work item outright (with a confirmation prompt) instead of completing it — for a one-off item that's no longer needed.

Adding a checklist of work items to an application

Rather than adding items one at a time, you can schedule an entire pre-configured checklist against one application at once. On that application's edit form (see Adding Applications), below the Disposition field is a Work Items panel listing any work items already scheduled for it, and a + Add related work items link.

1. Set the application's Disposition to whatever it's changing to (e.g. Retired).
2. Click + Add related work items. The dialog previews the checklist configured for that disposition (see Work Item Templates) — if nothing is configured yet, it tells you so and points you to the Work Items button.
3. Pick a Date and choose Starting on or Ending on:
   • Starting on — the date is when the first item begins; each later item's due date chains forward from it.
   • Ending on — the date is when the last item is due; a true workback plan, with every earlier item's due date computed backward from it.
4. Click OK to create one worklist item per checklist entry — all created unassigned, with the checklist item's title carried over as its Notes. Assign them to people from the Worklist tab afterward.

🗒️ Work Item Templates

Click Work Items in the top bar (admins only) to configure the standard checklist of steps for each Disposition — Planned, Pilot, Active, Sunset, and Retired. This is the checklist that + Add related work items (see Worklist) schedules onto an individual application.

Editing a checklist

Choose a Disposition from the dropdown to see its ordered checklist. For each item:

• Edit the title or workdays inline — click away (or tab out) to save.
• Reorder with the ▲ ▼ buttons.
• Remove to drop it from the checklist.

Add a new item at the bottom of the list with a title and a workdays value, then click Add. Every change (add, edit, reorder, remove) saves immediately — there's no separate save step, only Done to close the dialog.

Workdays for the first item is counted from the checklist's start date; for every later item, it's counted from the previous item — always in business days (weekends are skipped; holidays are not accounted for).

Sample start date

Enter an optional Sample start date at the top of the dialog to preview how the checklist would land on a real calendar — each item shows the date it would be due, chained forward from that date. This is a preview only; nothing is saved by entering it.

Reset to Defaults

Click Reset to defaults at the bottom of the dialog to discard the configured checklists for every disposition in the portfolio and replace them with the system defaults — the same starter checklist a brand-new portfolio gets. You're asked to confirm first, since this can't be undone; it affects all five dispositions at once, not just the one currently selected in the dropdown.

📋 Reports

Click Reports ▾ in the top bar and choose a mode: Application List, Single Application Diagram, Full Network Diagram (see Data Flow & Diagrams), or Worklist Report. Use Print / PDF from the top bar to print whichever page you're currently on directly, without going through Reports.

Application list report

A printable table using the columns configured under Report Columns. Click Print / Save as PDF to open your browser's print dialog — choose "Save as PDF" there to export a file.

Worklist Report

A printable table of every work item — open and completed, not just the active queue shown on the Worklist tab — with its Application, Due Date, Assigned To, Status, and Notes. Filter it to a particular application, a particular assigned person, or both at once using the dropdowns above the table.

Export / Download CSV

Both the sidebar's Export CSV (Portfolio tab) and the Reports page's Download CSV (Application List mode) export every application with a fixed, comprehensive column set (all built-in fields plus your custom fields) — independent of whatever columns you've configured for on-screen viewing, so the CSV is always a complete data dump suitable for re-importing or archiving.

🔌 Integrations

Read applications in automatically from systems like ServiceNow or Vertice instead of entering them by hand. Click Integrations in the top bar to configure a source and trigger reads — this is only visible to portfolio admins.

Configuring a source

1. Click Integrations → Add Source.
2. Give it a name, choose the source type (ServiceNow or Vertice), and enter the API address, account ID, and API key for that system.
3. Click Save.

Reading data in

Click Read now next to a configured source to pull its current applications. A summary appears showing how many were:

• Added — a genuinely new application, created and linked to this source.
• Matched to existing — the incoming record's name closely matched an application already in your portfolio (entered manually, imported via CSV, or read from a different source), so it was linked to that application instead of creating a duplicate.
• Refreshed — already linked from a previous read of this same source; only the link itself was refreshed, not the application's fields, so any manual edits you've made since survive every resync.
• Ambiguous — the incoming record's name matched more than one existing application about equally well. Rather than guess, it's skipped and flagged here for you to sort out by hand.

Vertice: reads run from your browser

Vertice's API only accepts requests from allowlisted client IPs, so a Vertice source's "Read now" runs from your own browser rather than from this app's server — the decrypted API key is fetched just long enough to make the calls, and never stored client-side.

🔗 Sharing & Permissions

Use Share (top bar) to invite specific people to your portfolio at a chosen access level.

Access levels

Inviting someone

1. Click Share in the top bar.
2. Enter their email address and choose an access level.
3. Click Send Invitation.

Change or revoke access for anyone already invited from the same dialog.

Viewing a portfolio shared with you

If someone has shared their portfolio with you, use the portfolio switcher next to the logo to move between your own portfolio and any shared with you. Action buttons throughout the app are shown or hidden based on the access level you were granted for whichever portfolio is currently active.

Renaming the portfolio

Only the portfolio's original owner can rename it, from ⚙ Settings — this is intentionally separate from the Admin access level, the same way only a model's creator can rename it in the Capability Modeler.