Application management keeps your IFS environment usable and current after go-live: user questions, changes to the configuration, authorisations and updates. It deserves more attention than it usually gets. IFS supports only the unmodified standard software of a current release; first-line support, configuration and testing are left to your own organisation.
Choosing the right solution is step one; managing and maintaining it afterwards often gets too little attention.
Why does application management get neglected?
Because after go-live nobody really has time for it. The project team has gone, the consultants have left and every question lands with one colleague. That person does the work alongside their own job, and so do your key users.
Then the next IFS release update comes along. Nobody knows exactly what changes for your processes, how to approach the update or who tests it. Finding the answers yourself costs time and money, because you have to hire or train people. Meanwhile you fall behind on new developments.
Erry de Boer, CEO of Eqeep, sees this problem often. At Eqeep, we believe the solution that creates your ideal world only keeps doing so if you keep up.
Which roles does in-house application management need?
Four: a process owner, a functional application manager, key users and technical management. One person can hold two roles, as long as it is clear who owns which task. Only the key user comes from the IFS support policy; the other three roles are the split we recommend.
- Process owner. Decides, for each process, which change is needed, which issue comes first and which new feature you adopt.
- Functional application manager. Manages the configuration, users and authorisations. Collects change requests and coordinates cases, tests and updates. A natural candidate for the key user role towards IFS.
- Key users. The first point of contact for colleagues, per process or department. They test changes and updates and help new colleagues get started.
- Technical management. Database, integrations, batch jobs and performance. If IFS runs on your own platform or in another cloud, IFS also leaves back-ups, recovery and deploying delivered code to you. For IFS Cloud Services, that split is set out in your contract with IFS.
You decide who takes which role and how many hours a week they get for it. How to keep key users’ knowledge when they leave is covered in the Eqeep training plan.
What does IFS expect from your key user?
To investigate problems first and to manage your cases with IFS. Under the IFS support policy (version 2026-02), you name one key user to represent all your users. IFS expects that person to be trained to handle initial problem resolution and to report errors. Deputies are allowed, and tasks can be delegated to other trained staff whose names IFS holds.
Before raising a case, your key user searches the IFS Knowledge Search and checks whether the problem can be reproduced. The case describes what happens and what you expected, with the steps, screenshots or logs and the business impact. Your organisation coordinates all its own cases, so nothing is registered twice.
According to IFS, a priority 1 case needs a skilled person on your side. If nobody responds to a proposed resolution in time, IFS closes the case. Read how to keep your IT environment available during holidays.
Who is responsible for your configurations?
Your own organisation. If a problem lies in your configurations, content or data, the IFS support policy calls it a false alarm. IFS closes such a case, and work on it may be charged.
IFS configurations include custom fields, objects, events, menus and business rules, client scripting and report layouts. Personalisations such as saved searches and screen layouts count as well.
So give every configuration an owner, record why it exists and who approves a change, and include it in your tests for every update. The difference between configuration and customisation is explained in development and optimisation.
What do IFS updates ask of your team?
Two release updates a year, usually in spring and autumn, and a service update usually every month. You test every update you deploy. Under the support policy, testing resolutions and releases is the customer’s sole responsibility.
On IFS Cloud Services, you schedule a deployment request with IFS. On other deployments, your technical team deploys the update itself. For each update, your team does the following:
- The functional application manager works out what changes for your processes.
- Key users test processes, configurations, customisations and integrations in a test environment.
- The process owner signs off and agrees a maintenance window with IT.
- Key users explain to colleagues what changes.
- The functional application manager follows the IFS Community, where IFS posts removal plans for deprecated features.
Reserve fixed testing capacity and maintenance windows, including for the monthly service updates. The hours depend on your configuration, customisations and integrations. How far you can fall behind before your support is reduced is covered in IFS maintenance and support.
What do you keep in-house and what do you outsource?
Keep the decisions in-house and outsource what needs specialist knowledge. You can hire or train people, or hand the work to a partner who knows the applications inside out. If you do, choose one partner that also knows your organisation, rather than a different firm for each part that does its job ‘quickly’.
Process ownership, priorities, test sign-off and the key users belong in-house, because they know the daily work. The service desk, technical management, monitoring and release guidance can be outsourced. For update and impact analyses, Eqeep runs the IFS tools and our team guides yours.
We have offered Managed Services, or application management, since 2018. It began as a pool of experts who supported customers from time to time, and high demand turned it into a larger package. Customers now receive strategic support every day with the development and optimisation of their applications.
Eqeep can take on much of this work, but not your decisions on processes, priorities and test results. Support options and what belongs in an SLA are covered in IFS maintenance and support. See what Eqeep application management covers.
How did SPIE build its own IFS knowledge?
By relying on Eqeep first and taking over knowledge later. SPIE brought in Eqeep in 2019 for the application management of all its IFS systems, aiming to build in-house expertise. For the first two years, SPIE relied entirely on Eqeep. We then transferred our knowledge to SPIE’s employees, who took on more and more themselves.
By 2024 we had been SPIE’s IFS partner for over five years and handled only the complicated issues. Every month we reviewed together which updates were ready, what had been tested and approved, and what we would install. We also kept looking at whether the configuration could improve and which new developments were relevant to SPIE.
Questions about in-house application management
What does a functional application manager do in IFS?
After go-live, the functional application manager looks after the IFS configuration: users and authorisations, configurations and change requests. The role also coordinates cases with IFS and the testing of updates. The process owner decides on changes to a process.
Is the IFS key user the same as your key users?
No. IFS means one named person who represents all your users and manages your cases with IFS, possibly with deputies. Key users per process or department are the split we recommend; they help colleagues and test changes and updates. The functional application manager is a natural candidate for the key user role towards IFS.
Which application management tasks can you outsource?
The service desk, technical management, monitoring and release guidance. Keep decisions on processes and priorities, test sign-off and the key users in-house. For update and impact analyses, Eqeep runs the IFS tools and our team guides yours.
Tell us where you stand with IFS. You get one conversation and a clear next step. Together we map which management tasks stay with your own team. Discuss your IFS question.
