The Application and User Location diagram shows the geographical distribution of applications. It can be used to show where applications are used by the end user; the distribution of where the host application is executed and/or delivered in thin client scenarios; the distribution of where applications are developed, tested, and released; etc.

Analysis can reveal opportunities for rationalization, as well as duplication and/or gaps.

The purpose of this diagram is to clearly depict the business locations from which business users typically interact with the applications, but also the hosting location of the application infrastructure.

The diagram enables:

• Identification of the number of package instances needed to sufficiently support the user population that may be spread out geographically
• Estimation of the number and the type of user licenses for the package or other software
• Estimation of the level of support needed for the users and location of support center
• Selection of system management tools, structure, and management system required to support the enterprise users/customers/partners both locally and remotely
• Appropriate planning for the technological components of the business, namely server sizing and network bandwidth, etc.
• Performance considerations while implementing application and technology architecture solutions

Users typically interact with applications in a variety of ways; for example:

• To support the operations of the business day-to-day
• To participate in the execution of a business process
• To access information (look-up, read)
• To develop the application
• To administer and maintain the application