question: 1

Which of the following best describes the primary goal of Application Portfolio Management (APM)?
A. Monitor network devices in real-time
B. Manage IT asset depreciation
C. Optimize the application landscape to align with business strategy
D. Track project milestones across departments
✅ correct answer: C
🧠 explanation: The goal of APM is to optimize and rationalize applications so they align with business goals, reduce redundancy, and increase value.

question: 2

In APM, what does application rationalization refer to?
A. Increasing the number of applications
B. Documenting all known issues
C. Evaluating and deciding which applications to keep, replace, or retire
D. Creating custom dashboards
✅ correct answer: C
🧠 explanation: Application rationalization helps organizations make strategic decisions about which apps are redundant, outdated, or valuable.

question: 3

Which ServiceNow plugin must be activated to use APM?
A. CMDB Health
B. ITSM Roles
C. Application Portfolio Management
D. Agile Development
✅ correct answer: C
🧠 explanation: The Application Portfolio Management (com.snc.apm) plugin is required to use APM features in ServiceNow.

question: 4

What is an Application Owner responsible for in APM?
A. Approving incident requests
B. Coding the application
C. Ensuring application health and contributing to assessment data
D. Managing financial reports
✅ correct answer: C
🧠 explanation: Application Owners validate data, support assessments, and drive decisions about the applications they own.

question: 5

Which metric is typically NOT used in application assessments?
A. Business Value
B. Technical Fit
C. Health Score
D. Internet Speed
✅ correct answer: D
🧠 explanation: Internet speed is not relevant to APM. Common assessment metrics include business value, cost, technical fit, and risk.

question: 6

What type of visualization does APM use to show application assessments across multiple dimensions?
A. Gantt Chart
B. Pie Chart
C. Bubble Chart
D. Radar Graph
✅ correct answer: C
🧠 explanation: Bubble charts help visualize applications based on metrics like business fit, technical fit, and cost.

question: 7

In APM, capability mapping is used to:
A. Show data flow between APIs
B. Align applications with business capabilities
C. Generate test scripts
D. Store CMDB hardware records
✅ correct answer: B
🧠 explanation: Capability mapping links applications to business capabilities, helping identify where value is delivered and where gaps exist.

question: 8

Which of the following data sources can APM integrate with for application usage data?
A. Zoom
B. Microsoft Teams
C. Discovery
D. LinkedIn
✅ correct answer: C
🧠 explanation: Discovery populates the CMDB and can provide usage and technical data for applications in APM.

question: 9

Which module allows you to create a centralized list of all applications in the organization?
A. Application Portfolio
B. Business Capability Map
C. Application Services
D. Knowledge Base
✅ correct answer: A
🧠 explanation: The Application Portfolio is the centralized inventory of all applications being tracked and assessed.

question: 10

What does the application category (e.g., Core, Shared, Niche) help with in APM?
A. Identifying SLA targets
B. Tracking developer activity
C. Classifying applications for strategic decisions
D. Assigning user licenses
✅ correct answer: C
🧠 explanation: Application categories help segment apps for better decisions during rationalization and transformation efforts.

question: 11

Which APM component provides a structured view of the organization’s business processes and functions?
A. Capability Map
B. Business Rule
C. CMDB View
D. Application Scanner
✅ correct answer: A
🧠 explanation: The Capability Map displays business capabilities and shows how applications support them, enabling better alignment.

question: 12

What is the purpose of an application tier (e.g., System of Record, System of Differentiation)?
A. It defines application health
B. It segments applications based on their strategic role
C. It assigns data owners
D. It triggers discovery jobs
✅ correct answer: B
🧠 explanation: Tiers like System of Record help classify apps based on how core or innovative they are to the business.

question: 13

Which of the following fields is typically mandatory when creating a new application in the APM inventory?
A. Phone number
B. Cost Center
C. Business Owner
D. Application Name
✅ correct answer: D
🧠 explanation: Application Name is required to identify and track the application in the portfolio.

question: 14

What determines the technical fit of an application in APM?
A. Alignment to user requests
B. Cost over time
C. Infrastructure compliance and supportability
D. Revenue generated
✅ correct answer: C
🧠 explanation: Technical fit measures how well the application conforms to technical standards, maintainability, and future readiness.

question: 15

Where can stakeholders track the overall status and health of application portfolios?
A. Incident Queue
B. APM Dashboards
C. Request Catalog
D. Change Log
✅ correct answer: B
🧠 explanation: APM provides dashboards with visualizations and KPIs to monitor the health and strategic alignment of the portfolio.

question: 16

Which role typically owns the responsibility of validating application assessments?
A. ITSM Administrator
B. Application Owner
C. Network Engineer
D. Service Desk Agent
✅ correct answer: B
🧠 explanation: The Application Owner ensures assessments are accurate and represent the application’s real-world value and usage.

question: 17

How is application risk evaluated in APM?
A. Based on employee surveys
B. Based on customer ratings
C. Based on compliance, data sensitivity, and technical fit
D. Based on user interface design
✅ correct answer: C
🧠 explanation: Risk assessments often include factors such as security, compliance, and supportability.

question: 18

What type of indicator can help stakeholders decide if an application should be retired?
A. Application Performance Score
B. Usage and Cost Analysis
C. License Type
D. Support Staff Count
✅ correct answer: B
🧠 explanation: Applications that are high in cost and low in usage are common candidates for rationalization or retirement.

question: 19

Which component is essential for linking an application to IT infrastructure components?
A. Data Policies
B. Script Includes
C. CMDB (Configuration Management Database)
D. ACLs
✅ correct answer: C
🧠 explanation: The CMDB links applications to services, hardware, and software components for dependency analysis.

question: 20

What is the function of the Data Certification feature in APM?
A. Tracks test results
B. Certifies developers
C. Helps validate the accuracy of data over time
D. Encrypts sensitive data
✅ correct answer: C
🧠 explanation: Data Certification schedules periodic reviews to ensure that APM data remains current and trustworthy.

question: 21

In APM, which lifecycle phase typically comes after “Retire” in an application’s journey?
A. Reassess
B. Archive
C. Plan
D. Replace
✅ correct answer: B
🧠 explanation: After retirement, an application may move into archive status for historical reference or compliance purposes.

question: 22

Which ServiceNow feature enables users to view assessment results visually using drag-and-drop functionality?
A. Workflow Editor
B. Visual Task Board
C. Performance Analytics
D. Bubble Chart
✅ correct answer: D
🧠 explanation: The Bubble Chart offers a visual analysis of applications based on business value, technical fit, and cost.

question: 23

The System of Innovation tier includes applications that:
A. Are no longer used
B. Are foundational to the business
C. Provide competitive advantage and emerging tech
D. Manage HR operations only
✅ correct answer: C
🧠 explanation: Systems of Innovation are cutting-edge applications that enable differentiation and innovation.

question: 24

Which field in the Application table helps define an application’s strategic role?
A. Lifecycle
B. Technical Owner
C. Tier
D. Cost Model
✅ correct answer: C
🧠 explanation: The Tier field (e.g., System of Record, System of Innovation) indicates the application’s strategic classification.

question: 25

Which relationship type links a business capability to an application in APM?
A. Uses
B. Depends on
C. Realizes
D. Belongs to
✅ correct answer: C
🧠 explanation: A business capability is realized by one or more applications that support it.

question: 26

Which persona is primarily responsible for assessing business value of applications?
A. Application Architect
B. Application Owner
C. Capability Owner
D. CIO
✅ correct answer: C
🧠 explanation: The Capability Owner is often best positioned to assess an application’s contribution to business outcomes.

question: 27

Which APM feature allows scheduling automated assessments to ensure data quality over time?
A. Portfolio Schedule
B. Data Certification
C. Score Normalizer
D. Assessment Templates
✅ correct answer: B
🧠 explanation: Data Certification helps maintain data accuracy by scheduling regular review tasks.

question: 28

What is the purpose of the Normalized Scores in APM?
A. To eliminate duplicates
B. To standardize metric values for comparison
C. To sort applications alphabetically
D. To normalize storage values
✅ correct answer: B
🧠 explanation: Normalized Scores scale different assessment dimensions to a common range, enabling fair comparison.

question: 29

Which application lifecycle phase is used when an application is being implemented but not yet live?
A. Retire
B. Operate
C. Plan
D. Transition
✅ correct answer: D
🧠 explanation: Transition is the phase where an application is being rolled out or moved into production.

question: 30

What dashboard component helps visualize the distribution of applications across tiers and statuses?
A. Time Series
B. Pie Chart
C. Heat Map
D. Bar Graph
✅ correct answer: C
🧠 explanation: A Heat Map is commonly used to show application distribution by tier, status, capability, or other dimensions.