The Importance of Operational Maturity for Digital Transformation Initiatives
In a previous article I asserted that preparedness is the number one determining factor for success with transformational technology initiatives. One aspect of preparedness is making sure your organization has the necessary level of maturity required to successfully execute transformational technology initiatives. There are two areas that require a high level of maturity to ensure success:
- Operational Maturity
- Organizational Maturity
The level of maturity required is proportional to the level of transformation that is being attempted. If your technology initiative barely moves the transformation needle you can succeed with a lower level of maturity. This article discusses the necessary operational maturity required for transformational success. In a future article I will discuss Organizational Maturity.
What is Operational Maturity?
Operational maturity[1] is a general measure of the overall consistency, reliability, resilience, and coherence of an organization’s operations. Various maturity models[2] provide various numbers of levels and how to define them. Speaking generically, I think you can place any organization (whether a department, a business unit, or the entire enterprise) into one of five levels of operational maturity. These levels are defined by how the organization conducts its operations. Are they Ad Hoc (unpredictable), Repeatable (consistent), Defined (documented), Managed (monitored and measured), or Optimized (continuously improving)?
Measuring Operational Maturity
As I mentioned in the footnote, there are many models with formal measurements you can use to assess your organization’s Operational Maturity. There are many consultants that will charge you a significant sum to help you do that. It has been my experience that people already intuitively know their organization’s Operational Maturity level. They simply need a vocabulary and the courage to talk about it. It is relatively easy to identify if your organization is in the bottom two levels of operational maturity. Ask the managers of the organization to produce the documentation for their relevant business processes. If the processes are not documented your organization is either Ad Hoc or Repeatable.
If your organization is in the bottom two levels of operational maturity, then you are not prepared to automate your operations. Why? Because you cannot effectively communicate to technologists what you expect the automated system to do. In IT terms, you cannot articulate the functional requirements of a proposed system. Neither will you be able to perform any validation that an implemented digital solution will allow you to successfully conduct the operations of your organization.
If someone produces documentation for your organization’s processes, this does not automatically mean your organization is at the level of “Defined.” The next assessment you will need to conduct is to ask the people who execute on those processes to verify the documented processes. Does the documentation reflect the way they actually execute the process?
When we start an engagement with our clients, we ask for any process documentation they have. Many times, what we receive is outdated, inaccurate or defined at a level to provide almost no information. For example, if they are step-by-step instructions for how to use a particular screen to enter a new product, they may have no information about how to obtain the information used in the fields on the screen or who is responsible for providing the correct information. On the other end of the spectrum, we may receive processes defined at such a high level they provide little value. For example, an accounts payable process that contains three steps:
- Receive vendor invoice
- Cut check for vendor invoice
- Send check to vendor
If your documentation does not reflect reality or provides little information about your business processes, you still cannot effectively communicate to technologists what you expect the automated system to do.
If the document is accurate in some cases but does not apply in other cases, then your operational maturity may be Defined but not Managed. If you implement a solution that supports your documented processes, you may only be able to use the solution to partially operate your business. Our recommendation to clients is to treat their digital transformation initiatives as opportunities to optimize their operations. After all, you don’t want to transform your business from functional to non-functional. You want the transformation to be positive. To succeed in bringing positive transformation to your organization, you should really have an operational maturity that is “Managed” and focus your transformation initiative on bringing your maturity level up to “Optimized.”
Conclusion
Of course, in a short article like this, I cannot adequately discuss everything related to Operational Maturity or all that is necessary to succeed with transformational technology initiatives. However, I hope this article has given you something to think about. If you are thinking about starting a transformational technology initiative and would like to know more about how we ensure your success with your initiatives, or you would like to discuss how we may help you, you can reach out to us at info@victoriafide.com
[1]For those of you who are familiar with the IT Operational Maturity Levels (OML) or other maturity models (I counted 42 documented on Wikipedia.org), I am not talking about a formal maturity model. Although several of these models may be helpful for you to measure the level of your operational maturity, I believe a general measure is sufficient to understand where your organization lies on the dial of maturity.
[2] The five levels I mention here are roughly based on the Capability Maturity Model (CMM)