MuleSoft's 2025 Connectivity Benchmark puts the average enterprise at 897 applications, with 29% integrated. Few leaders can say what all of them do, and that is before asking how they connect.
Maintenance eats change
The US Government Accountability Office found more than 75% of the federal IT budget for fiscal 2015 went on operating and maintaining existing systems. Every organisation has a version of this, and it limits what can change.
Answer real questions
Architecture repositories can become detailed, accurate and unread. Start with questions being asked now: which systems does this change touch, and which applications are we paying for twice?
Keep it alive
A simple view maintained continually beats a complete view that was accurate last year. Make updates part of how projects close.
