Automate Work Faster and More Easily With Robotic Process Automation

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  • Parent Category Name: Optimization
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  • Your organization has many business processes that rely on repetitive, routine manual data collection and processing work, and there is high stakeholder interest in automating them.
  • You’re investigating whether robotic process automation (RPA) is a suitable technological enabler for automating such processes.
  • Being a trending technology, especially with its association with artificial intelligence (AI), there is much marketing fluff, hype, and misunderstanding about RPA.
  • Estimating the potential impact of RPA on business is difficult, as the relevant industry statistics often conflict each other and you aren’t sure how applicable it is to your business.

Our Advice

Critical Insight

  • There are no physical robots in RPA. RPA is about software “bots” that interact with applications as if they were human users to perform routine, repetitive work in your place. It’s for any business in any industry, not just for manufacturing.
  • RPA is lightweight IT; it reduces the cost of entry, maintenance, and teardown of automation as well as the technological requirement of resources that maintain it, as it complements existing automation solutions in your toolkit.
  • RPA is rules-based. While AI promises to relax the rigidity of rules, it adds business risks that are poorly understood by both businesses and subject-matter experts. Rules-based “RPA 1.0” is mature and may pose a stronger business case than AI-enabled RPA.
  • RPA’s sweet spot is “swivel chair automation”: processes that require human workers to act as a conduit between several systems, moving between applications, manually keying, re-keying, copying, and pasting information. A bot can take their place.

Impact and Result

  • Discover RPA and how it differentiates from other automation solutions.
  • Understand the benefits and risks of complementing RPA with AI.
  • Identify existing business processes best suited for automation with RPA.
  • Communicate RPA’s potential business benefits to stakeholders.

Automate Work Faster and More Easily With Robotic Process Automation Research & Tools

Start here – read the Executive Brief

Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should use RPA to automate routine, repetitive data collection and processing work, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the ways we can support you.

Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

1. Discover robotic process automation

Learn about RPA, including how it compares to IT-led automation rooted in business process management practices and the role of AI.

  • Automate Work Faster and More Easily With Robotic Process Automation – Phase 1: Discover Robotic Process Automation
  • Robotic Process Automation Communication Template

2. Identify processes best suited for robotic process automation

Identify and prioritize candidate processes for RPA.

  • Automate Work Faster and More Easily With Robotic Process Automation – Phase 2: Identify Processes Best Suited for Robotic Process Automation
  • Process Evaluation Tool for Robotic Process Automation
  • Minimum Viable Business Case Document
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Leverage Agile Goal Setting for Improved Employee Engagement & Performance

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  • Parent Category Name: Manage & Coach
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  • Managers are responsible for driving the best performance out of their staff while still developing individuals professionally.
  • Micromanaging tasks is an ineffective, inefficient way to get things done and keep employees engaged at the same time.
  • Both managers and employees view goal setting as a cumbersome process that never materializes in day-to-day work.
  • Without a consistent and agile goal-setting environment that pervades every day, managers risk low productivity and disengaged employees.

Our Advice

Critical Insight

  • Effective performance management occurs throughout the year, on a daily and weekly basis, not just at annual performance review time. Managers must embrace this reality and get into the habit of setting agile short-term goals to drive productivity.
  • Employee empowerment is one of the most significant contributors to employee engagement, which is a proven performance driver. Short-term goal setting, which is ultimately employee-owned, develops and nurtures a strong sense of employee empowerment.
  • Micromanaging employee tasks will get managers nowhere quickly. Putting in the effort to collaboratively define goals that benefit both the organization and the employee will pay off in the long run.
  • Goal setting should not be a cumbersome activity, but an agile, rolling habit that ensures employees are focused, supported, and given appropriate feedback to continue to drive performance.

Impact and Result

  • Managers who have daily meetings to set goals are 17% more successful in terms of employee performance than managers who set goals annually.
  • Managers must be agile goal-setting role models, or risk over a third of their staff being confused about productivity expectations.
  • Managers that allow tracking of goals to be an inhibitor to goal setting are most likely to have a negative effect on employee performance success. In fact, tracking goals should not be a priority in the short-term.

Leverage Agile Goal Setting for Improved Employee Engagement & Performance Research & Tools

Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

1. Learn the agile, short-term goal-setting process

Implement agile goal setting with your team right away and drive performance.

  • Storyboard: Leverage Agile Goal Setting for Improved Employee Engagement & Performance
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Decide What's Important and What Is Less So

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  • byline: Your BIA is your reality. Treat it as such.

Redefining the business impact analysis through the lens of value

The Business Impact Analysis (BIA) is easily one of the most misunderstood processes in the modern enterprise. For many, the term conjures images of dusty binders filled with disaster recovery plans. A compliance checkbox exercise focused solely on what to do when the servers are smoking or the building is flooded. This view, while not entirely incorrect, is dangerously incomplete. It relegates the BIA to a reactive, insurance-policy mindset when it should be a proactive, strategic intelligence tool.

Yes, I got that text from AI. So recognizable. But you know what? There is a kernel of truth in this.

A modern BIA is about understanding and protecting value more than just about planning for disaster. That is the one thing we must keep in mind at all times. The BIA really is a deep dive into the DNA of the organization. It maps the connections between information assets, operational processes, and business outcomes. It answers the critical question, “What matters? And why ? And what is the escalating cost of its absence?”

The Strategic Starting Point: A Top-Down Business Analysis

To answer “what matters,” the process must begin at the highest level: with senior management and, ideally, the board. Defining the organization's core mission and priorities is a foundational governance task, a principle now embedded in European regulations like DORA.

Rank the Business Units

The process begins at the highest level with senior management. I would say, the board. They need to decide what the business is all about. (This is in line with the DORA rules in Europe.) The core business units or departments of the organization are ranked based on their contribution to the company's mission. This ranking is frequently based on revenue generation, but it can also factor in strategic importance, market position, or essential support functions. For example, the “Production” and “Sales” units might be ranked higher than “Internal HR Administration.” This initial ranking provides the foundational context for all subsequent decisions.

I want to make something crystal clear: this ranking is merely a practical assessment. Obviously the HR and well being departments play a pivotal role in the value delivery of the company. Happy employees make for happy customers.  

But, being a bit Wall-Streety about it, the sales department generating the biggest returns is probably only surpassed by the business unit producing the product for those sales. And with that I just said that the person holding the wrench, who knows your critical production machine, is your most valuable HR asset. Just saying.

Identify Critical Functions Within Each Unit

With the business units prioritized, the next step is to drill down into each one and identify its critical operational functions. The focus here is on processes, not technology. For the top-ranked “Sales” unit, critical functions might include:

  • SF-01: Processing New Customer Orders

  • SF-02: Managing the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System

  • SF-03: Generating Sales Quotes

  • SF-04: Closing the Sale

These functions are then rated against each other within the business unit to create a prioritized list of what truly matters for that unit to achieve its goals.

And here I'm going to give you some food for thought. There will be a superficial geographical difference in importance. If you value continuity then new business may not be the top critical department. I can imagine this is completely counter intuitive. But remember that it is cheaper to keep and upsell an existing client than it is to acquire a new one.

Information asset classification is a key component of resilience.

With a clear map of what the business does, the next logical step is to identify what it uses to get it done. This brings us to the non-negotiable foundation of resilience: comprehensive information asset classification.

Without knowing what you have, where it is, and what it's worth, any attempt at risk management is simply guesswork. You risk spending millions protecting low/mid-value data while leaving the crown jewels exposed (I guess your Ciso will have said something 😊). In this article, we will explore how foundational asset classification can evolve into a mature, value-driven impact analysis, offering a blueprint for transforming the BIA from a tactical chore into a strategic imperative.

Before you can determine the effect of losing an asset, you must first understand the asset itself. Information asset classification is the systematic process of inventorying, categorizing, and assigning business value to your organization's data. Now that we have terabyte-scale data on servers, cloud environments, and countless SaaS applications, you have your work cut out for you. It is, however, a most critical investment in the risk management lifecycle.

Classification forces an organization to look beyond the raw data and evaluate it through two primary lenses: criticality and sensitivity.

  • Criticality is a measure of importance. It answers the question: “How much damage would the business suffer if this asset were unavailable or corrupted?” This is directly tied to the operational functions that depend on the asset. The criticality of a customer database, for instance, is determined by the impact on the sales, marketing, and support functions that would grind to a halt without it. This translates to the availability rating. 

  • Sensitivity is a measure of secrecy. It answers the question: “What is the potential harm if this asset were disclosed to unauthorized parties?” This considers reputational damage, competitive disadvantage, legal penalties, and customer privacy violations. This translates to the confidentiality rating.

Without this dual understanding, it's impossible to implement a proportional and cost-effective security program. The alternative is a one-size-fits-all approach, which invariably leads to one of two expensive failures:

  1. Overprotection: Applying the highest level of security controls to all information is prohibitively expensive and creates unnecessary operational friction. It's like putting a bank vault door on a broom closet.

  2. Underprotection: Applying a baseline level of security to all assets leaves your most critical and sensitive information dangerously vulnerable. It exposes your organization to unacceptable risk. Remember assigning an A2 rating to all your infra because it cannot be related to specific business processes? The “we'll take care of it at the higher levels” approach leads to exactly this issue.

By understanding the criticality and sensitivity of assets, organizations can ensure that security efforts are directly tied to business objectives, making the investment in protection proportional to the asset's value. Proportionality is also embedded in new European legislation.

A practical framework for executing classification exercises

While the concept is straightforward, the execution can be complex. A successful classification program requires a methodical framework that moves from high-level policy to granular implementation. in this first stage, we're going to talk about data.

Step 1: Define the Classification Levels

The first step is to establish a simple, intuitive classification scheme. When you complicate it, you lose your people. Most organizations find success with a three- or four-tiered model, which is easy for employees to understand and apply. For example:

  • Public: Information intended for public consumption with no negative impact from disclosure (e.g., marketing materials, press releases).

  • Internal: Information for use within the organization but not overly sensitive. Its disclosure would be inconvenient but not damaging (e.g., internal memos on non-sensitive topics, general project plans).

  • Confidential: Sensitive business information that, if disclosed, could cause measurable damage to the organization's finances, operations, or reputation (e.g., business plans, financial forecasts, customer lists).

  • Restricted or secret: The most sensitive data that could cause severe financial or legal damage if compromised. Access is strictly limited on a need-to-know basis (e.g., trade secrets, source code, PII, M&A details).

Step 2: Tackle the Data Inventory Problem

This is often the most challenging phase: identifying and locating all information assets. You must create a comprehensive inventory and detail not just the data itself but its entire context:

  • Data Owners: The business leader accountable for the data and for determining its classification.

  • Data Custodians: The IT or operational teams responsible for implementing and managing the security controls on the data.

  • Location: Where does the data live? Is it in a specific database, a cloud storage bucket, a third-party application, or a physical filing cabinet?

  • External Dependencies: Crucially, this inventory must extend beyond the company's walls. Which third-party vendors (payroll processors, cloud hosting providers, marketing agencies) handle, store, or transport your data? Their security posture is now part of your risk surface. In Europe, this is now a foundation of your data management through GDPR, DORA, the AI Act and other legislation. 

Step 3: Establish a Lifecycle Approach

Information isn't static. Its value and handling requirements can change over its lifecycle. Your classification process must define clear rules for each stage:

  • Creation: How is data classified when it's first created? How is it marked (e.g., digital watermarks, document headers)?

  • Storage & Use: What security controls apply to each classification level at rest and in transit (e.g., encryption standards, access control rules)? What about legislative initiatives?

  • Archiving & Retention: How long must the data be kept to meet business needs and legal requirements? What about external storage?

  • Destruction: What are the approved methods for securely destroying the data (e.g., cryptographic erasure, physical shredding) once it's no longer required?

Without clear, consistent handling standards for each level, the classification labels themselves are meaningless. The classification directly dictates the required security measures.

The hierarchy of importance.

This dual (business processes and asset classification) top-down approach to determining criticality is often referred to as the 'hierarchy of importance,' which helps in systematically prioritizing assets based on their business value.

Once assets are inventoried, the next step is to systematically determine their criticality. Randomly assigning importance to thousands of assets is futile. A far more effective method is a top-down, hierarchical approach that mirrors the structure of the business itself. This method creates a clear “chain of criticality,” where the importance of a technical asset is directly derived from the value of the business function it supports.

Map the Supporting Assets and Resources

Only now, once you have clearly defined the critical business functions and prioritized them, can you finally map the specific assets and resources they depend on. These are the people, technology, and facilities that enable the function. For the critical function “Processing New Customer Orders,” the supporting assets might include:

  • Application: SAP ERP System (Module SD)

  • Database: Oracle Customer Order Database

  • Hardware: Primary ERP Server Cluster

  • Personnel: Sales team and Order Entry team

The criticality of the “Oracle Customer Order Database” is now clear. It is clearly integrated into the business; it is critically important because it is an essential asset for a top-priority function (SF-01) within a top-ranked business unit (“Sales”). This top-down structure provides a clear, business-justified view of risk that management can easily understand. It allows you to see precisely how a technical risk (e.g., a vulnerability in the Oracle database) can bubble up to impact a core business operation.

From Criticality to Consequence: Master Impact Analysis

With a clear understanding of what's indispensable, the BIA can now finally move to its core purpose: analyzing the tangible and intangible impacts of a disruption over time. A robust impact analysis prevents “impact inflation,” which is the common tendency to focus solely on unrealistic scenarios or self-importance assurances, as this just causes management to discount your findings. That just causes management to discount your findings. A more credible approach uses a range of outcomes that paint a realistic picture of escalating damage over time.

Your analysis should assess the loss of the four core pillars of information security:

  • Loss of Confidentiality: The unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information. The impact can range from legal fines for a data breach to the loss of competitive advantage from a leaked product design.

  • Loss of Integrity: The unauthorized or improper modification of data. This can lead to flawed decision-making based on corrupted reports, financial fraud, or a complete loss of trust in the system.

  • Loss of Availability: The inability to access a system or process. This is the most common focus of traditional BIA, leading to lost productivity, missed sales, and an inability to deliver services.

  • Insecurity around Authenticity: Your ability to ensure you receive data from the expected party. 

This brings us to the CIAA rating, which encompasses Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability, and Authenticity, providing a comprehensive framework for assessing information security impacts.

Qualitative vs. Quantitative Analysis

Impacts can be measured in two ways, and the most effective BIAs use a combination of both:

  • Qualitative Analysis: This uses descriptive scales (e.g., High, Medium, Low) to assess impacts that are difficult to assign a specific monetary value to. This is ideal for measuring things like reputational damage, loss of customer confidence, or employee morale. Its main advantage is prioritizing risks quickly, but it lacks the financial precision needed for a cost-benefit analysis.

  • Quantitative Analysis: This assigns a specific monetary value ($) to the impact. This is used for measurable losses like lost revenue per hour, regulatory fines, or the cost of manual workarounds. The major advantage is that it provides clear financial data to justify security investments. For example, “This outage will cost us $100,000 per hour in lost sales” is a powerful statement when requesting funding for a high-availability solution.

A mature analysis might involve scenario modeling—where we walk through a small set of plausible disruption scenarios with business stakeholders to define a range of outcomes (minimum, maximum, and most likely). This provides a far more nuanced and credible dataset that aligns with how management views other business risks.

The additional lens: The Customer Value Chain Contribution (CVCC)©

To elevate the BIA from an internal exercise to a truly strategic tool, we can apply one more lens: the Customer Value Chain Contribution (CVCC)©. This approach reframes the impact analysis to focus explicitly on the customer. Instead of just asking, “What is the impact on our business?” we ask, “What is the impact on our customer's experience and our ability to deliver value to them?”

The CVCC method involves mapping your critical processes and assets to specific stages of the customer journey. For example:

  • Awareness/Acquisition: A disruption to the company website or marketing automation platform directly impacts your ability to attract new customers.

  • Conversion/Sale: An outage of the e-commerce platform or CRM system prevents customers from making purchases, directly impacting revenue and frustrating users at a key moment.

  • Service Delivery/Fulfillment: A failure in the warehouse management or logistics system means orders can't be fulfilled, breaking promises made to the customer.

  • Support/Retention: If the customer support ticketing system is down, customers with problems can't get help, leading to immense frustration and potential churn.

By analyzing impact through the CVCC lens, the consequences become far more vivid and compelling. “Loss of the CRM system” becomes “a complete inability to process new sales leads or support existing customers, causing direct revenue loss and significant reputational damage.” This framing aligns the BIA directly with the goal of any business: creating and retaining satisfied customers. It transforms the discussion from technical risk to the preservation of the customer relationship and the value chain that supports it.

From document to real value

When you build your BIA on this framework, meaning that it is rooted in sound asset classification, structured by the correct top-down criticality analysis, and enriched by the customer-centric view of impact, then it is no longer a static document. It becomes the dynamic, strategic blueprint for organizational resilience.

These insights generate business decisions:

  • Prioritized risk mitigation: they show exactly where to focus security efforts and resources for the greatest return on investment.

  • Justified security spending: they provide the quantitative and qualitative data needed to make a compelling business case for new security controls, technologies, and processes.

  • Informed recovery planning: they establish clear, business-justified Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPOs) that form the foundation of any effective business continuity and disaster recovery plan.

I'm convinced that this expanded vision of the business impact analysis embeds the right analytical understanding of value and risk into the fabric of the organization. I want you to move beyond the fear of disaster and toward a confident, proactive posture of resilience. Like that, you ensure that in a world of constant change and disruption, the things that truly matter are always understood, always protected, and always available.

Always happy to chat.

Embed Security Into the DevOps Pipeline

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  • Parent Category Name: Secure Cloud & Network Architecture
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  • Your organization is starting its DevOps journey and is looking to you for guidance on how to ensure that the outcomes are secure.
  • Or, your organization may have already embraced DevOps but left the security team behind. Now you need to play catch-up.

Our Advice

Critical Insight

  • Shift security left. Identify opportunities to embed security earlier in the development pipeline.
  • Start with minimum viable security. Use agile methodologies to further your goals of secure DevOps.
  • Treat “No” as a finite resource. The role of security must transition from that of naysayer to a partner in finding the way to “Yes.”

Impact and Result

  • Leverage the CLAIM (Culture, Learning, Automation, Integration, Measurement) Framework to identify opportunities to close the gaps.
  • Collaborate to find new ways to shift security left so that it becomes part of development rather than an afterthought.
  • Start with creating minimum viable security by developing a DevSecOps implementation strategy that focuses initially on quick wins.

Embed Security Into the DevOps Pipeline Research & Tools

Start here – read the Executive Brief

Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should secure the DevOps pipeline, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the ways we can support you in completing this project.

Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

1. Identify opportunities

Brainstorm opportunities to secure the DevOps pipeline using the CLAIM Framework.

  • Embed Security Into the DevOps Pipeline – Phase 1: Identify Opportunities

2. Develop strategy

Assess opportunities and formulate a strategy based on a cost/benefit analysis.

  • Embed Security Into the DevOps Pipeline – Phase 2: Develop Strategy
  • DevSecOps Implementation Strategy Template
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Lead Strategic Decision Making With Service Portfolio Management

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  • Parent Category Name: Service Management
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  • There are no standardized processes for the intake of new ideas and no consistent view of the drivers needed to assess the value of these ideas.
  • IT is spending money on low-value services and doesn’t have the ability to understand and track value in order to prioritize IT investment.
  • CIOs are not trusted to drive innovation.

Our Advice

Critical Insight

  • The service portfolio empowers IT to be a catalyst in business strategy, change, and growth.
  • IT must drive value-based investment by understanding value of all services in the portfolio.
  • Organizations must assess the value of their services throughout their lifecycle to optimize business outcomes and IT spend.

Impact and Result

  • Optimize IT investments by prioritizing services that provide more value to the business, ensuring that you do not waste money on low-value or out-of-date IT services.
  • Ensure that services are directly linked to business objectives, goals, and needs, keeping IT embedded in the strategic vision of the organization.
  • Enable the business to understand the impact of IT capabilities on business strategy.
  • Ensure that IT maintains a strategic and tactical view of the services and their value.
  • Drive agility and innovation by having a streamlined view of your business value context and a consistent intake of ideas.
  • Provide strategic leadership and create new revenue by understanding the relative value of new ideas vs. existing services.

Lead Strategic Decision Making With Service Portfolio Management Research & Tools

Start here – read the Executive Brief

Service portfolio management enables organizations to become strategic value creators by establishing a dynamic view of service value. Understand the driving forces behind the need to manage services through their lifecycles.

Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

1. Establish the service portfolio

Establish and understand the service portfolio process by setting up the Service Portfolio Worksheet.

  • Lead Strategic Decision Making With Service Portfolio Management – Phase 1: Establish the Service Portfolio
  • Service Portfolio Worksheet

2. Develop a value assessment framework

Use the value assessment tool to assess services based on the organization’s context of value.

  • Lead Strategic Decision Making With Service Portfolio Management – Phase 2: Develop a Value Assessment Framework
  • Value Assessment Tool
  • Value Assessment Example Tool

3. Manage intake and assessment of initiatives

Create a centralized intake process to manage all new service ideas.

  • Lead Strategic Decision Making With Service Portfolio Management – Phase 3: Manage Intake and Assessment of Initiatives
  • Service Intake Form

4. Assess active services

Continuously validate the value of the existing service and determine the future of service based on the value and usage of the service.

  • Lead Strategic Decision Making With Service Portfolio Management – Phase 4: Assess Active Services

5. Manage and communicate the service portfolio

Communicate and implement the service portfolio within the organization, and create a mechanism to seek out continuous improvement opportunities.

  • Lead Strategic Decision Making With Service Portfolio Management – Phase 5: Manage and Communicate the Service Portfolio
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Workshop: Lead Strategic Decision Making With Service Portfolio Management

Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

1 Establish the Service Portfolio

The Purpose

Establish and understand the service portfolio process by setting up the Service Portfolio Worksheet.

Understand at a high level the steps involved in managing the service portfolio.

Key Benefits Achieved

Adapt the Service Portfolio Worksheet to organizational needs and create a plan to begin documenting services in the worksheet.

Activities

1.1 Review the Service Portfolio Worksheet.

1.2 Adapt the Service Portfolio Worksheet.

Outputs

Knowledge about the use of the Service Portfolio Worksheet.

Adapt the worksheet to reflect organizational needs and structure.

2 Develop a Value Assessment Framework

The Purpose

Understand the need for a value assessment framework.

Key Benefits Achieved

Identify the organizational context of value through a holistic look at business objectives.

Leverage Info-Tech’s Value Assessment Tool to validate and determine service value.

Activities

2.1 Understand value from business context.

2.2 Determine the governing body.

2.3 Assess culture and organizational structure.

2.4 Complete the value assessment.

2.5 Discuss value assessment score.

Outputs

Alignment on value context.

Clear roles and responsibilities established.

Ensure there is a supportive organizational structure and culture in place.

Understand how to complete the value assessment and obtain a value score for selected services.

Understand how to interpret the service value score.

3 Manage Intake and Assessment of Initiatives

The Purpose

Create a centralized intake process to manage all new service ideas.

Key Benefits Achieved

Encourage collaboration and innovation through a transparent, formal, and centralized service intake process.

Activities

3.1 Review or design the service intake process.

3.2 Review the Service Intake Form.

3.3 Design a process to assess and transfer service ideas.

3.4 Design a process to transfer completed services to the service catalog.

Outputs

Create a centralized process for service intake.

Complete the Service Intake Form for a specific initiative.

Have a process designed to transfer approved projects to the PMO.

Have a process designed for transferring of completed services to the service catalog.

4 Assess Active Services

The Purpose

Continuously validate the value of existing services.

Key Benefits Achieved

Ensure services are still providing the expected outcome.

Clear next steps for services based on value.

Activities

4.1 Discuss/review management of active services.

4.2 Complete value assessment for an active service.

4.3 Determine service value and usage.

4.4 Determine the next step for the service.

4.5 Document the decision regarding the service outcome.

Outputs

Understand how active services must be assessed throughout their lifecycles.

Understand how to assess an existing service.

Place the service on the 2x2 matrix based on value and usage.

Understand the appropriate next steps for services based on value.

Formally document the steps for each of the IRMR options.

5 Manage and Communicate Your Service Portfolio

The Purpose

Communicate and implement the service portfolio within the organization.

Key Benefits Achieved

Obtain buy-ins for the process.

Create a mechanism to identify changes within the organization and to seek out continuous improvement opportunities for the service portfolio management process and procedures.

Activities

5.1 Create a communication plan for service portfolio and value assessment.

5.2 Create a communication plan for service intake.

5.3 Create a procedure to continuously validate the process.

Outputs

Document the target audience, the message, and how the message should be communicated.

Document techniques to encourage participation and promote participation from the organization.

Document the formal review process, including cycle, roles, and responsibilities.

Project Management

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  • Parent Category Name: Project Portfolio Management and Projects
  • Parent Category Link: /ppm-and-projects
  • byline: Right-size the project management body of knowledge for all your IT projects.

The challenge

  • Ill-defined or even lack of upfront project planning will increase the perception that your IT department cannot deliver value because most projects will go over time and budget.
  • The perception is those traditional ways of delivering projects via the PMBOK only increase overhead and do not have value. This is less due to the methodology and more to do with organizations trying to implement best-practices that far exceed their current capabilities.
  • Typical best-practices are too clinical in their approach and place unrealistic burdens on IT departments. They fail to address the daily difficulties faces by staff and are not sized to fit your organization.
  • Take a flexible approach and ensure that your management process is a cultural and capacity fit for your organization. Take what fits from these frameworks and embed them tailored into your company.

Our advice

Insight

  • The feather-touch is often the right touch. Ensure that you have a lightweight approach for most of your projects while applying more rigor to the more complex and high-risk developments.
  • Pick the right tools. Your new project management processes need the right tooling to be successful. Pick a tool that is flexible enough o accommodate projects of all sizes without imposing undue governance onto smaller projects.
  • Yes, take what fits within your company from frameworks, but there is no cherry-picking. Ensure your processes stay in context: If you do not inform for effective decision-making, all will be in vain. Develop your methods such that guide the way to big-picture decision taking and support effective portfolio management.

Impact and results 

  • The right amount of upfront planning is a function of the type of projects you have and your company. The proper levels enable better scope statements, better requirements gathering, and increased business satisfaction.
  • An investment in a formal methodology is critical to projects of all sizes. An effective process results in more successful projects with excellent business value delivery.
  • When you have a repeatable and consistent approach to project planning and execution, you can better communicate between the IT project managers and decision-makers.
  • Better communication improves the visibility of the overall project activity within your company.

The roadmap

Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

Get started.

Read our executive brief to understand why you should tailor project management practices to the type of projects you do and your company and review our methodology. We show you how we can support you.

Lay the groundwork for project management success

Assess your current capabilities to set the right level of governance.

  • Tailor Project Management Processes to Fit Your Projects – Phase 1: Lay the Groundwork for PM Success (ppt)
  • Project Management Triage Tool (xls)
  • COBIT BAI01 (Manage Programs and Projects) Alignment Workbook (xls)
  • Project Level Definition Matrix (xls)
  • Project Level Selection Tool (xls)
  • Project Level Assessment Tool (xls)
  • Project Management SOP Template (doc)

Small project require a lightweight framework

Increase small project's throughput.

  • Tailor Project Management Processes to Fit Your Projects – Phase 2: Build a Lightweight PM Process for Small Initiatives (ppt)
  • Level 1 Project Charter Template (doc)
  • Level 1 Project Status Report Template (doc)
  • Level 1 Project Closure Checklist Template (doc)

Build the standard process medium and large-scale projects

The standard process contains fully featured initiation and planning.

  • Tailor Project Management Processes to Fit Your Projects – Phase 3: Establish Initiation and Planning Protocols for Medium-to-Large Projects (ppt)
  • Project Stakeholder and Impact Assessment Tool (xls)
  • Level 2 Project Charter Template (doc)
  • Level 3 Project Charter Template (doc)
  • Kick-Off Meeting Agenda Template (doc)
  • Scope Statement Template (doc)
  • Project Staffing Plan(xls)
  • Communications Management Plan Template (doc)
  • Customer/Sponsor Project Status Meeting Template (doc)
  • Level 2 Project Status Report Template (doc)
  • Level 3 Project Status Report Template (doc)
  • Quality Management Workbook (xls)
  • Benefits Management Plan Template (xls)
  • Risk Management Workbook (xls)

Build a standard process for the execution and closure of medium to large scale projects

  • Tailor Project Management Processes to Fit Your Projects – Phase 4: Develop Execution and Closing Procedures for Medium-to-Large Projects (ppt)
  • Project Team Meeting Agenda Template (doc)
  • Light Project Change Request Form Template (doc)
  • Detailed Project Change Request Form Template (doc)
  • Light Recommendation and Decision Tracking Log Template (xls)
  • Detailed Recommendation and Decision Tracking Log Template (xls)
  • Deliverable Acceptance Form Template (doc)
  • Handover to Operations Template (doc)
  • Post-Mortem Review Template (doc)
  • Final Sign-Off and Acceptance Form Template (doc)

Implement your project management standard operating procedures (SOP)

Develop roll-out and training plans, implement your new process and track metrics.

  • Tailor Project Management Processes to Fit Your Projects – Phase 5: Implement Your PM SOP (ppt)
  • Level 2 Project Management Plan Template (doc)
  • Project Management Process Costing Tool (xls)
  • Project Management Process Training Plan Template (doc)
  • Project Management Training Monitoring Tool (xls)
  • Project Management Process Implementation Timeline Tool (MS Project)
  • Project Management Process Implementation Timeline Tool (xls)

 

 

Document Your Cloud Strategy

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  • Parent Category Name: Cloud Strategy
  • Parent Category Link: /cloud-strategy

Despite the universally agreed-upon benefit of formulating a coherent strategy, several obstacles make execution difficult:

  • Inconsistent understanding of what the cloud means
  • Inability to come to a consensus on key decisions
  • Ungoverned decision-making
  • Unclear understanding of cloud roles and responsibilities

Our Advice

Critical Insight

A cloud strategy might seem like a big project, but it’s just a series of smaller conversations. The methodology presented here is designed to facilitate those conversations, using a curated list of topics, prompts, participant lists, and sample outcomes. We have divided the strategy into four key areas:

  • Vision and alignment
  • People
  • Governance
  • Technology

Impact and Result

  • A shared understanding of what is necessary to succeed in the cloud
  • An end to ad hoc deployments that solve small problems and create larger ones
  • A unified approach and set of principles that apply to governance, architecture, integration, skills, and roles (and much, much more).

Document Your Cloud Strategy Research & Tools

Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

1. Document Your Cloud Strategy – a phased guide to identifying, validating, and recording the steps you’ll take, the processes you’ll leverage, and the governance you’ll deploy to succeed in the cloud.

This storyboard comprises four phases, covering mission and vision, people, governance, and technology, and how each of these areas requires forethought when migrating to the cloud.

  • Document Your Cloud Strategy – Phases 1-4

2. Cloud Strategy Document Template – a template that allows you to record the results of the cloud strategy exercise in a clear, readable way.

Each section of Document Your Cloud Strategy corresponds to a section in the document template. Once you’ve completed each exercise, you can record your results in the document template, leaving you with an artifact you can share with stakeholders.

  • Cloud Strategy Document Template
[infographic]

Workshop: Document Your Cloud Strategy

Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

1 Document Your Vision and Alignment

The Purpose

Understand and document your cloud vision and its alignment with your other strategic priorities.

Key Benefits Achieved

A complete understanding of your strategy, vision, alignment, and a list of success metrics that will help you find your way.

Activities

1.1 Record your cloud mission and vision.

1.2 Document your cloud strategy’s alignment with other strategic plans.

1.3 Record your cloud guiding principles.

Outputs

Documented strategy, vision, and alignment.

Defined success metrics.

2 Record Your People Strategy

The Purpose

Define how people, skills, and roles will contribute to the broader cloud strategy.

Key Benefits Achieved

Sections of the strategy that highlight skills, roles, culture, adoption, and the creation of a governance body.

Activities

2.1 Outline your skills and roles strategy.

2.2 Document your approach to culture and adoption

2.3 Create a cloud governing body.

Outputs

Documented people strategy.

3 Document Governance Principles

The Purpose

This section facilitates governance in the cloud, developing principles that apply to architecture, integration, finance management, and more.

Key Benefits Achieved

Sections of the strategy that define governance principles.

Activities

3.1 Conduct discussion on architecture.

3.2 Conduct discussion on integration and interoperability.

3.3 Conduct discussion on operations management.

3.4 Conduct discussion on cloud portfolio management.

3.5 Conduct discussion on cloud vendor management.

3.6 Conduct discussion on finance management.

3.7 Conduct discussion on security.

3.8 Conduct discussion on data controls.

Outputs

Documented cloud governance strategy.

4 Formalize Your Technology Strategy

The Purpose

Creation of a formal cloud strategy relating to technology around provisioning, monitoring, and migration.

Key Benefits Achieved

Completed strategy sections of the document that cover technology areas.

Activities

4.1 Formalize organizational approach to monitoring.

4.2 Document provisioning process.

4.3 Outline migration processes and procedures.

Outputs

Documented cloud technology strategy.

Further reading

Document Your Cloud Strategy

Get ready for the cloudy future with a consistent, proven strategy.

Analyst perspective

Any approach is better than no approach

The image contains a picture of Jeremy Roberts

Moving to the cloud is a big, scary transition, like moving from gas-powered to electric cars, or from cable to streaming, or even from the office to working from home. There are some undeniable benefits, but we must reorient our lives a bit to accommodate those changes, and the results aren’t always one-for-one. A strategy helps you make decisions about your future direction and how you should respond to changes and challenges. In Document Your Cloud Strategy we hope to help you accomplish just that: clarifying your overall mission and vision (as it relates to the cloud) and helping you develop an approach to changes in technology, people management, and, of course, governance. The cloud is not a panacea. Taken on its own, it will not solve your problems. But it can be an important tool in your IT toolkit, and you should aim to make the best use of it – whatever “best” happens to mean for you.

Jeremy Roberts

Research Director, Infrastructure and Operations

Info-Tech Research Group

Executive Summary

Your Challenge

The cloud is multifaceted. It can be complicated. It can be expensive. Everyone has an opinion on the best way to proceed – and in many cases has already begun the process without bothering to get clearance from IT. The core challenge is creating a coherent strategy to facilitate your overall goals while making the best use of cloud technology, your financial resources, and your people.

Common Obstacles

Despite the universally agreed-upon benefit of formulating a coherent strategy, several obstacles make execution difficult:

  • Inconsistent understanding of what the cloud means
  • Inability to come to a consensus on key decisions
  • Ungoverned decision making
  • Unclear understanding of cloud roles and responsibilities

Info-Tech’s Approach

A cloud strategy might seem like a big project, but it’s just a series of smaller conversations. The methodology presented here is designed to facilitate those conversations, using a curated list of topics, prompts, participant lists, and sample outcomes. We have divided the strategy into four key areas:

  1. Vision and alignment
  2. People
  3. Governance
  4. Technology

The answers might be different, but the questions are the same

Every organization will approach the cloud differently, but they all need to ask the same questions: When will we use the cloud? What forms will our cloud usage take? How will we manage governance? What will we do about people? How will we incorporate new technology into our environment? The answers to these questions are as numerous as there are people to answer them, but the questions must be asked.

Your challenge

This research is designed to help organizations that are facing these challenges or looking to:

  • Ensure that the cloud strategy is complete and accurately reflects organizational goals and priorities.
  • Develop a consistent and coherent approach to adopting cloud services.
  • Design an approach to mitigate risks and challenges associated with adopting cloud services.
  • Create a shared understanding of the expected benefits of cloud services and the steps required to realize those benefits.

Grappling with a cloud strategy is a top initiative: 43% of respondents report progressing on a cloud-first strategy as a top cloud initiative.

Source: Flexera, 2021.

Definition: Cloud strategy

A document providing a systematic overview of cloud services, their appropriate use, and the steps that an organization will take to maximize value and minimize risk.

Common obstacles

These barriers make this challenge difficult to address for many organizations:

  • The cloud means different things to different people, and creating a strategy that is comprehensive enough to cover a multitude of use cases while also being written to be consumable by all stakeholders is difficult.
  • The incentives to adopt the cloud differ based on the expected benefit for the individual customer. User-led decision making and historically ungoverned deployments can make it difficult to reset expectation and align with a formal strategy.
  • Getting all the right people in a room together to agree on the key components of the strategy and the direction undertaken for each one is often difficult.

Info-Tech’s approach

Define Your Cloud Vision

→

Vision and alignment

  • Mission and vision
  • Alignment to other strategic plans
  • Guiding principles
  • Measuring success
 →

Technology

  • Monitoring
  • Provisioning
  • Migration

Governance

  • Architecture
  • Integration and interoperability
  • Operations management
  • Cloud portfolio management
  • Cloud vendor management
  • Finance management
  • Security
  • Data controls

People

  • Skills and roles
  • Culture and adoption
  • Governing bodies

Info-Tech’s approach

Your cloud strategy will comprise the elements listed under “vision and alignment,” “technology,” “governance,” and “people.” The Info-Tech methodology involves breaking the strategy down into subcomponents and going through a three-step process for each one. Start by reviewing a standard set of questions and understanding the goal of the exercise: What do we need to know? What are some common considerations and best practices? Once you’ve had a chance to review, discuss your current state and any gaps: What has been done? What still needs to be done? Finally, outline how you plan to go forward: What are your next steps? Who needs to be involved?

Review

  • What questions do we need to answer to complete the discussion of this strategy component? What does the decision look like?
  • What are some key terms and best practices we must understand before deciding?

Discuss

  • What steps have we already taken to address this component?
  • Does anything still need to be done?
  • Is there anything we’re not sure about or need further guidance on?

Go forward

  • What are the next steps?
  • Who needs to be involved?
  • What questions still need to be asked/answered?
  • What should the document’s wording look like?

Info-Tech’s methodology for documenting your cloud strategy

1. Document your vision and alignment

2. Record your people strategy

3. Document governance principles

4. Formalize your technology strategy

Phase Steps
  1. Record your cloud mission and vision
  2. Document your cloud strategy’s alignment with other strategic plans
  3. Record your cloud guiding principles
  4. Define success
  1. Outline your skills and roles strategy
  2. Document your approach to culture and adoption
  3. Create a cloud governing body

Document official organizational positions in these governance areas:

  1. Architecture
  2. Integration and interoperability
  3. Operations management
  4. Cloud portfolio management
  5. Cloud vendor management
  6. Finance management
  7. Security
  8. Data controls
  1. Formalize organizational approach to monitoring
  2. Document provisioning process
  3. Outline migration processes and procedures

Phase Outcomes

Documented strategy: vision and alignment

Documented people strategy

Documented cloud governance strategy

Documented cloud technology strategy

Insight summary

Separate strategy from tactics

Separate strategy from tactics! A strategy requires building out the framework for ongoing decision making. It is meant to be high level and achieve a large goal. The outcome of a strategy is often a sense of commitment to the goal and better communication on the topic.

The cloud does not exist in a vacuum

Your cloud strategy flows from your cloud vision and should align with the broader IT strategy. It is also part of a pantheon of strategies and should exist harmoniously with other strategies – data, security, etc.

People problems needn’t preponderate

The cloud doesn’t have to be a great disruptor. If you handle the transition well, you can focus your people on doing more valuable work – and this is generally engaging.

Governance is a means to an end

Governing your deployment for its own sake will only frustrate your end users. Articulate the benefits users and the organization can expect to see and you’re more likely to receive the necessary buy-in.

Technology isn’t a panacea

Technology won’t solve all your problems. Technology is a force multiplier, but you will still have to design processes and train your people to fully leverage it.

Key deliverable

Cloud Strategy Document template

Inconsistency and informality are the enemies of efficiency. Capture the results of the cloud strategy generation exercises in the Cloud Strategy Document template.

The image contains a screenshot of the Cloud Strategy Document Template.
  • Record the results of the exercises undertaken as part of this blueprint in the Cloud Strategy Document template.
  • It is important to remember that not every cloud strategy will look exactly the same, but this template represents an amalgamation of best practices and cloud strategy creation honed over several years of advisory service in the space.
  • You know your audience better than anyone. If you would prefer a strategy delivered in a different way (e.g. presentation format) feel free to adapt the Cloud Vision Executive Presentation into a longer strategy presentation.
  • Emphasis is an area where you should exercise discretion as well. A cost-oriented cloud strategy, or one that prioritizes one type of cloud (e.g. SaaS) at the exclusion of others, may benefit from more focus on some areas than others, or the introduction of relevant subcategories. Include as many of these as you think will be relevant.
  • Parsimony is king – if you can distill a concept to its essence, start there. Include additional detail only as needed. You want your cloud strategy document to be read. If it’s too long or overly detailed, you’ll encounter readability issues.

Blueprint benefits

IT benefits

Business benefits
  • A consistent, well-defined approach to the cloud
  • Consensus on key strategy components, including security, architecture, and integration
  • A clear path forward on skill development and talent acquisition/retention
  • A comprehensive resource for information about the organization’s approach to key strategy components
  • Predictable access to cloud services
  • A business-aligned approach to leveraging the resources available in the cloud
  • Efficient and secure consumption of cloud resources where appropriate to do so
  • Answers to questions about the cloud and how it will be leveraged in the environment

Measure the value of this blueprint

Don’t take our word for it:

  • Document Your Cloud Strategy has been available for several years in various forms as both a workshop and as an analyst-led guided implementation.
  • After each engagement, we send a survey that asks members how they benefited from the experience. Those who have worked through Info-Tech’s cloud strategy material have given overwhelmingly positive feedback.
  • Additionally, members reported saving between 10 and 20 days and an average of $46,499.
  • Measure the value by calculating the time saved as a result of using Info-Tech’s framework vs. a home-brewed cloud strategy alternative and by comparing the overall cost of a guided implementation or workshop with the equivalent offering from another firm. We’re confident you’ll come out ahead.

8.8/10 Average reported satisfaction

13 Days Average reported time savings

$46,499 Average cost savings

Executive Brief Case Study

INDUSTRY: Pharmaceuticals

SOURCE: Info-Tech workshop

Pharmaceutical company

The unnamed pharmaceutical company that is the subject of this case study was looking to make the transition to the cloud. In the absence of a coherent strategy, the organization had a few cloud deployments with no easily discernable overall approach. Representatives of several distinct functions (legal, infrastructure, data, etc.) all had opinions on the uses and abuses of cloud services, but it had been difficult to round everyone up and have the necessary conversations. As a result, the strategy exercise had not proceeded in a speedy or well-governed way. This lack of strategic readiness presented a roadblock to moving forward with the cloud strategy and to work with the cloud implementation partner, tasked with execution.

Results

The company engaged Info-Tech for a four-day workshop on cloud strategy documentation. Over the course of four days, participants drawn from across the organization discussed the strategic components and generated consensus statements and next steps. The team was able to formalize the cloud strategy and described the experience as saving 10 days.

Example output: Document your cloud strategy workshop exercise

The image contains an example of Document your cloud streatgy workshop exercise.

Anything in green, the team was reasonably sure they had good alignment and next steps. Those yellow flags warranted more discussion and were not ready for documentation.

Info-Tech offers various levels of support to best suit your needs

DIY Toolkit

"Our team has already made this critical project a priority, and we have the time and capability, but some guidance along the way would be helpful."

Guided Implementation

"Our team knows that we need to fix a process, but we need assistance to determine where to focus. Some check-ins along the way would help keep us on track."

Workshop

"We need to hit the ground running and get this project kicked off immediately. Our team has the ability to take this over once we get a framework and strategy in place."

Consulting

"Our team does not have the time or the knowledge to take this project on. We need assistance through the entirety of this project."

Diagnostics and consistent frameworks are used throughout all four options.

Guided Implementation

What does a typical GI on this topic look like?

Document your vision and alignment

Record your people strategy

Document governance principles

Formalize your technology strategy

Call #1: Review existing vision/strategy documentation.

Call #2: Review progress on skills, roles, and governance bodies.

Call #3: Work through integration, architecture, finance management, etc. based on reqs. (May be more than one call.)

Call #4: Discuss challenges with monitoring, provisioning, and migration as-needed.

A Guided Implementation (GI) is a series of calls with an Info-Tech analyst to help implement our best practices in your organization. A typical GI is 4 to 6 calls over the course of 1 to 3 months

Workshop Overview

Contact your account representative for more information.

workshops@infotech.com 1-888-670-8889

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Answer
“so what?”

Define the
IT target state

Assess the IT
current state

Bridge the gap and
create the strategy

Next steps and
wrap-up (offsite)

Activities

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Discuss cloud mission and vision

1.3 Discuss alignment with other strategic plans

1.4 Discuss guiding principles

1.5 Define success metrics

2.1 Discuss skills and roles

2.2 Review culture and adoption

2.3 Discuss a cloud governing body

2.4 Review architecture position

2.5 Discuss integration and interoperability

3.1 Discuss cloud operations management

3.2 Review cloud portfolio management

3.3 Discuss cloud vendor management

3.4 Discuss cloud finance management

3.5 Discuss cloud security

4.1 Review and formalize data controls

4.2 Design a monitoring approach

4.3 Document the workload provisioning process

4.4 Outline migration processes and procedures

5.1 Populate the Cloud Strategy Document

Deliverables

Formalized cloud mission and vision, along with alignment with strategic plans, guiding principles, and success metrics

Position statement on skills and roles, culture and adoption, governing bodies, architecture, and integration/interoperability

Position statements on cloud operations management, portfolio management, vendor management, finance management, and cloud security

Position statements on data controls, monitoring, provisioning, and migration

Completed Cloud Strategy Document

Phase 1

Document Your Vision and Alignment

Phase 1

Phase 2

Phase 3

Phase 4

1.1 Document your mission and vision

1.2 Document alignment to other strategic plans

1.3 Document guiding principles

1.4 Document success metrics

2.1 Define approach to skills and roles

2.2 Define approach to culture and adoption

2.3 Define cloud governing bodies

3.1 Define architecture direction

3.2 Define integration approach

3.3 Define operations management process

3.4 Define portfolio management direction

3.5 Define vendor management direction

3.6 Document finance management tactics

3.7 Define approach to cloud security

3.8 Define data controls in the cloud

4.1 Define cloud monitoring strategy

4.2 Define cloud provisioning strategy

4.3 Define cloud migration strategy

This phase will walk you through the following activities:

  1. Record your cloud mission and vision
  2. Document your cloud strategy’s alignment with other strategic plans
  3. Record your cloud guiding principles
  4. Define success

This phase has the following outcome:

  • Documented strategy: vision and alignment

Record your mission and vision

Build on the work you’ve already done

Before formally documenting your cloud strategy, you should ensure that you have a good understanding of your overall cloud vision. How do you plan to leverage the cloud? What goals are you looking to accomplish? How will you distribute your workloads between different cloud service models (SaaS, PaaS, IaaS)? What will your preferred delivery model be (public, private, hybrid)? Will you support your cloud deployment internally or use the services of various consultants or managed service providers?

The answers to these questions will inform the first section of your cloud strategy. If you haven’t put much thought into this or think you could use a deep dive on the fundamentals of your cloud vision and cloud archetypes, consider reviewing Define Your Cloud Vision, the companion blueprint to this one.

Once you understand your cloud vision and what you’re trying to accomplish with your cloud strategy, this phase will walk you through aligning the strategy with other strategic initiatives. What decisions have others made that will impact the cloud strategy (or that the cloud strategy will impact)? Who must be involved/informed? What callouts must be involved at what point? Do users have access to the appropriate strategic documentation (and would they understand it if they did)?

You must also capture some guiding principles. A strategy by its nature provides direction, helping readers understand the decisions they should make and why those decisions align with organizational interests. Creating some top-level principles is a useful exercise because those principles facilitate comprehension and ensure the strategy’s applicability.

Finally, this phase will walk you through the process of measuring success. Once you know where you’d like to go, the principles that underpin your direction, and how your cloud strategy figures into the broader strategic pantheon, you should record what success actually means. If you’re looking to save money, overall cost should be a metric you track. If the cloud is all about productivity, generate appropriate productivity metrics. If you’re looking to expand into new technology or close a datacenter, you will need to track output specific to those overall goals.

Review: mission and vision

The overall organizational mission is a key foundational element of the cloud strategy. If you don’t understand where you’re going, how can you begin the journey to get there? This section of the strategy has four key parts that you should understand and incorporate into the beginning of the strategy document. If you haven’t already, review Define Your Cloud Vision for instructions on how to generate these elements.

1. Cloud vision statement: This is a succinct encapsulation of your overall perspective on the suitability of cloud services for your environment – what you hope to accomplish. The ideal statement includes a scope (who/what does the strategy impact?), a goal (what will it accomplish?), and a key differentiator (what will make it happen?). This is an example: “[Organization] will leverage public cloud solutions and retire existing datacenter and colocation facilities. This transition will simplify infrastructure administration, support and security, while modernizing legacy infrastructure and reducing the need for additional capital expenditure.” You might also consider reviewing your overall cloud archetype (next slide) and including the output of that exercise in the document

2. Service model decision framework: Services can be provided as software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), infrastructure as a service (IaaS), or they can be colocated or remain on premises. Not all cloud service models serve the same purpose or provide equal value in all circumstances. Understanding how you plan to take advantage of these distinct service models is an important component of the cloud strategy. In this section of the strategy, a rubric that captures the characteristics of the ideal workload for each of the named service models, along with some justification for the selection, is essential. This is a core component of Define Your Cloud Vision, and if you would like to analyze individual workloads, you can use the Cloud Vision Workbook for that purpose.

3. Delivery model decision framework: Just as there are different cloud service models that have unique value propositions, there are several unique cloud delivery models as well, distinguished by ownership, operation, and customer base. Public clouds are the purview of third-party providers who make them available to paying customers. Private clouds are built for the exclusive use of a designated organization or group of organizations with internal clients to serve. Hybrid clouds involve the use of multiple, interoperable delivery models (interoperability is the key term here), while multi-cloud deployment models incorporate multiple delivery and service models into a single coherent strategy. What will your preferred delivery model be? Why?

4. Support model decision framework: Once you have a service model nailed down and understand how you will execute on the delivery, the question then becomes about how you will support your cloud deployment going forward. Broadly speaking, you can choose to manage your deployment in house using internal resources (e.g. staff), to use managed service providers for ongoing support, or to hire consultants to handle specific projects/tasks. Each approach has its strengths and weaknesses, and many cloud customers will deploy multiple support models across time and different workloads. A foundational perspective on the support model is a key component of the cloud vision and should appear early in the strategy.

Understand key cloud concepts: Archetype

Once you understand the value of the cloud, your workloads’ general suitability for the cloud, and your proposed risks and mitigations, the next step is to define your cloud archetype. Your organization’s cloud archetype is the strategic posture that IT adopts to best support the organization’s goals. Info-Tech’s model recognizes seven archetypes, divided into three high-level archetypes. After consultation with your stakeholders, and based on the results of the suitability and risk assessment activities, define your archetype. The archetype feeds into the overall cloud vision and provides simple insight into the cloud future state for all stakeholders. The cloud vision itself is captured in a “vision statement,” a short summary of the overall approach that includes the overall cloud archetype.

The image contains an arrow facing vertically up. The pointed end of the arrow is labelled more cloud, and the bottom of the arrow is labelled less cloud.

We can best support the organization’s goals by:

Cloud-Focused

Cloud-Centric

Providing all workloads through cloud delivery.

Cloud-First

Using the cloud as our default deployment model. For each workload, we should ask “why NOT cloud?”

Cloud-Opportunistic

Hybrid

Enabling the ability to transition seamlessly between on-premises and cloud resources for many workloads.

Integrated

Combining cloud and traditional infrastructure resources, integrating data and applications through APIs or middleware.

Split

Using the cloud for some workloads and traditional infrastructure resources for others.

Cloud-Averse

Cloud-Light

Using traditional infrastructure resources and limiting our use of the cloud to when it is absolutely necessary.

Anti-Cloud

Using traditional infrastructure resources and avoiding the use of cloud wherever possible.

IT Project Management Lite

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  • member rating overall impact: N/A
  • member rating average dollars saved: N/A
  • member rating average days saved: N/A
  • Parent Category Name: Project Management Office
  • Parent Category Link: /project-management-office
  • Organizations want reliable project reporting and clear, consistent project management standards, but many are unwilling or unable to allocate time for it.
  • Many IT project managers are given project management responsibilities in addition to other full-time roles – without any formal allocation of time, authority, or training.
  • Most IT project managers and stakeholders actually want clear and consistent standards but resist tools and procedures they believe are too time consuming and inflexible.
  • Standard project management procedures must be “light” enough for project managers to adapt to a wide range of projects without increasing the total time required to manage projects successfully.

Our Advice

Critical Insight

  • Most IT project management advice is focused on the largest 10-20% of projects – projects with large enough budgets to allocate time to project management. This leaves most IT projects (and most people who manage IT projects) in limbo between high-risk ad hoc management and high-cost project management best practices.
  • Project management success doesn’t equate to project success. While formal methodologies are a key ingredient in the success of large, complex projects, most IT projects do not require the same degree of rigorous record-keeping and planning.
  • Consistent, timely, and accurate reporting is the “linchpin” in any sustainable project and portfolio management practice.

Impact and Result

  • Maintain timely and accurate project portfolio reporting with right-sized tools and processes.
  • Establish clear and consistent project management standards that make better use of time already spent managing projects.
  • Enable project managers to manage their projects more successfully with a set of flexible and lightweight tools and templates.

IT Project Management Lite Research & Tools

Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

1. Assess the value of a minimum-viable PMO strategy

Perform a measured value assessment for building and managing a minimum-viable PMO.

  • IT Project Management Lite Storyboard

2. Perform a project and portfolio needs assessment

Focus on the minimum required to maintain accuracy of portfolio reporting and effectiveness in managing projects.

  • Minimum-Viable PMO Needs Assessment

3. Establish standards for realistic, accurate, and consistent portfolio reporting

Emphasize reporting high-level project status as a way to identify and address issues to achieve the best results with the least effort.

  • Minimum-Viable Project and Portfolio Management SOP

4. Create a standard, right-sized project management toolkit

Free PMs to focus on actually managing the project while still delivering accurate portfolio metrics.

  • Zero-Allocation Project Management Workbook

5. Train PMs for zero allocation

Ensure project manager compliance with the portfolio reporting process by incorporating activities that create value.

  • Zero-Allocation Project Manager Development Plan
  • Zero-Allocation Project Management Survival Guide

6. Perform a post-implementation assessment

Evaluate success and identify opportunities for further improvement.

Infographic

Workshop: IT Project Management Lite

Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

1 Preparation

The Purpose

Define goals and success criteria.

Finalize agenda.

Gather information: update project and resource lists (Info-Tech recommends using the Project Portfolio Workbook).

Key Benefits Achieved

More efficiently organized and executed workshop.

Able to better customize and tailor content to your specific needs.

Activities

1.1 Discuss specific pain points with regards to project manager allocations

1.2 Review project lists, tools and templates, and other documents

1.3 Map existing strategies to Info-Tech’s framework

Outputs

Understanding of where efforts must be focused in workshop

Assessment of what existing tools and templates may need to be included in zero-allocation workbook

Revisions that need to be made based on existing strategies

2 Make the Case and Assess Needs

The Purpose

Assess current state (including review of project and resource lists).

Discuss and analyze SWOT around project and portfolio management.

Define target state.

Define standards / SOP / processes for project and portfolio management.

Key Benefits Achieved

Gain perspective on how well your processes match up with the amount of time your project managers have for their PM duties.

Determine the value of the time and effort that your project teams are investing in project management activities.

Begin to define resource optimized processes for zero-allocation project managers.

Ensure consistent implementation of processes across your portfolio.

Establish project discipline and best practices that are grounded in actual project capacity.

Activities

2.1 Perform and/or analyze Minimum-Viable PMO Needs Assessment

2.2 SWOT analysis

2.3 Identify target allocations for project management activities

2.4 Begin to define resource optimized processes for zero-allocation project managers

Outputs

Current state analysis based on Minimum-Viable PMO Needs Assessment

Overview of current strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats

Target state analysis based on Minimum-Viable PMO Needs Assessment

A refined Minimum-Viable Project and Portfolio Management SOP

3 Establish Strategy

The Purpose

Select and customize project and portfolio management toolkit.

Implement (test/pilot) toolkit and processes.

Customize project manager training plan.

Evaluate and refine toolkit and processes as needed.

Key Benefits Achieved

Ensure consistent implementation of processes across your portfolio.

Establish project discipline and best practices that are grounded in actual project capacity.

A customized training session that will suit the needs of your project managers.

Activities

3.1 Customize the Zero-Allocation Toolkit to accommodate the needs of your projects

3.2 Test toolkit on projects currently underway

3.3 Tweak project manager training to suit the needs of your team

Outputs

Customized Zero-Allocation Project Management Workbook

A tested and standardized copy of the workbook

A customized training session for your project managers (to take place on Day 4 of Info-Tech’s workshop)

4 Train Your Zero-Allocation Project Managers

The Purpose

Communicate project and portfolio management SOP to Project Managers.

Deliver project manager training: standards for portfolio reporting and toolkit.

Key Benefits Achieved

Equip project managers to improve their level of discipline and documentation without spending more time in record keeping and task management.

Execute a successful training session that clearly and succinctly communicates your minimal and resource-optimized processes.

Activities

4.1 Project Manager Training, including communication of the processes and standard templates and reports that will be adopted by all project managers

Outputs

Educated and disciplined project managers, aware of the required processes for portfolio reporting

5 Assess Strategy and Next Steps

The Purpose

Debrief from the training session.

Plan for ongoing evaluation and improvement.

Evaluate and refine toolkit and processes if needed.

Answer any remaining questions.

Key Benefits Achieved

Assess portfolio and project manager performance in light of the strategy implemented.

Understanding of how to keep living documents like the workbook and SOP up to date.

Clearly defined next steps.

Activities

5.1 Review the customized tools and templates

5.2 Send relevant documentation to relevant stakeholders

5.3 Schedule review call

5.4 Schedule follow-up call with analysts to discuss progress in six months

Outputs

Finalized workbook and processes

Satisfied and informed stakeholders

Scheduled review call

Scheduled follow-up call

Take Control of Cloud Costs on AWS

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  • member rating overall impact: 9.3/10 Overall Impact
  • member rating average dollars saved: $62,500 Average $ Saved
  • member rating average days saved: 26 Average Days Saved
  • Parent Category Name: Cloud Strategy
  • Parent Category Link: /cloud-strategy
  • Traditional IT budgeting and procurement processes don't work for public cloud services.
  • The self-service nature of the cloud means that often the people provisioning cloud resources aren't accountable for the cost of those resources.
  • Without centralized control or oversight, organizations can quickly end up with massive AWS bills that exceed their IT salary cost.

Our Advice

Critical Insight

  • Most engineers care more about speed of feature delivery and reliability of the system than they do about cost.
  • Often there are no consequences for over architecting or overspending on AWS.
  • Many organizations lack sufficient visibility into their AWS spend, making it impossible to establish accountability and controls.

Impact and Result

  • Define roles and responsibilities.
  • Establish visibility.
  • Develop processes, procedures, and policies.

Take Control of Cloud Costs on AWS Research & Tools

Start here – read the Executive Brief

Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should take control of cloud costs, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

1. Build cost accountability framework

Assess your current state, define your cost allocation model, and define roles and responsibilities.

  • Cloud Cost Management Worksheet
  • Cloud Cost Management Capability Assessment
  • Cloud Cost Management Policy
  • Cloud Cost Glossary of Terms

2. Establish visibility

Define dashboards and reports, and document account structure and tagging requirements.

  • Service Cost Cheat Sheet

3. Define processes and procedures

Establish governance for tagging and cost control, define processes for right-sizing, and define processes for purchasing commitment discounts.

  • Right-Sizing Workflow (Visio)
  • Right-Sizing Workflow (PDF)
  • Commitment Purchasing Workflow (Visio)
  • Commitment Purchasing Workflow (PDF)

4. Build implementation plan

Document process interactions, establish program KPIs, and build implementation roadmap and communication plan.

  • Cloud Cost Management Task List

Infographic

Workshop: Take Control of Cloud Costs on AWS

Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

1 Build Cost Accountability Framework

The Purpose

Establish clear lines of accountability and document roles and responsibilities to effectively manage cloud costs.

Key Benefits Achieved

Chargeback/showback model to provide clear accountability for costs.

Understanding of key areas to focus on to improve cloud cost management capabilities.

Activities

1.1 Assess current state

1.2 Determine cloud cost model

1.3 Define roles and responsibilities

Outputs

Cloud cost management capability assessment

Cloud cost model

Roles and responsibilities

2 Establish Visibility

The Purpose

Establish visibility into cloud costs and drivers of those costs.

Key Benefits Achieved

Better understanding of what is driving costs and how to keep them in check.

Activities

2.1 Develop architectural patterns

2.2 Define dashboards and reports

2.3 Define account structure

2.4 Document tagging requirements

Outputs

Architectural patterns; service cost cheat sheet

Dashboards and reports

Account structure

Tagging scheme

3 Define Processes and Procedures

The Purpose

Develop processes, procedures, and policies to control cloud costs.

Key Benefits Achieved

Improved capability of reducing costs.

Documented processes and procedures for continuous improvement.

Activities

3.1 Establish governance for tagging

3.2 Establish governance for costs

3.3 Define right-sizing process

3.4 Define purchasing process

3.5 Define notification and alerts

Outputs

Tagging policy

Cost control policy

Right-sizing process

Commitment purchasing process

Notifications and Alerts

4 Build Implementation Plan

The Purpose

Document next steps to implement and improve cloud cost management program.

Key Benefits Achieved

Concrete roadmap to stand up and/or improve the cloud cost management program.

Activities

4.1 Document process interaction changes

4.2 Define cloud cost program KPIs

4.3 Build implementation roadmap

4.4 Build communication plan

Outputs

Changes to process interactions

Cloud cost program KPIs

Implementation roadmap

Communication plan

Mandate Data Valuation Before It’s Mandated

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  • member rating overall impact: 8.0/10 Overall Impact
  • member rating average dollars saved: $25,000 Average $ Saved
  • member rating average days saved: 10 Average Days Saved
  • Parent Category Name: Data Management
  • Parent Category Link: /data-management
  • Data can be valuable if used properly or dangerous when mishandled.
  • The organization needs to understand the value of their data before they can establish proper data management practice.
  • Data is not considered a capital asset unless there is a financial transaction (e.g. buying or selling data assets).
  • Data valuation is not easy, and it costs money to collect, store, and maintain data.

Our Advice

Critical Insight

  • Data always outlives people, processes, and technology. They all come and go, while data remains.
  • Oil is a limited resource, data is not. Contrary to oil, data is likely to grow over time.
  • Data is likely to outlast all other current popular financial instruments including currency, assets, or commodities.
  • Data is used internally and externally and can easily be replicated or combined.
  • Data is beyond currency, assets, or commodities and needs to be a category of its own.

Impact and Result

  • Every organization must calculate the value of their data. This will enable organizations to become truly data-driven.
  • Too much time has been spent arguing different methods of valuation. An organization must settle on valuation that is acceptable to all its stakeholders.
  • Align data governance and data management to data valuation. Often organizations struggle to justify data initiatives due to lack of visibility in data valuation.
  • Establish appropriate roles and responsibilities and ensure alignment to a common set of goals as a foundation to get the most accurate future data valuation for your organization.
  • Assess organization data assets and implementation roadmap that considers the necessary competencies and capabilities and their dependencies in moving towards the higher maturity of data assets.

Mandate Data Valuation Before It’s Mandated Research & Tools

Start here – read the Executive Brief

Read our concise Executive Brief to understand the value associated with the organization's data. Review Info-Tech’s methodology for assessing data value and justifying your data initiatives with a value proposition.

Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

1. Demystify data valuation

Understand the benefits of data valuation.

  • Mandate Data Valuation Before It’s Mandated – Phase 1: Demystify Data Valuation

2. Data value chain

Learn about the data value chain framework and preview the step-by-step guide to start collecting data sources.

  • Mandate Data Valuation Before It’s Mandated – Phase 2: Data Value Chain

3. Data value assessment

Mature your data valuation by putting in the valuation dimensions and metrics. Establish documented results that can be leveraged to demonstrate value in your data assets.

  • Mandate Data Valuation Before It’s Mandated – Phase 3: Data Value Assessment
[infographic]

Workshop: Mandate Data Valuation Before It’s Mandated

Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

1 Understand the Value of Data Valuation

The Purpose

Explain data valuation approach and value proposition.

Key Benefits Achieved

A clear understanding and case for data valuation.

Activities

1.1 Review common business data sources and how the organization will benefit from data valuation assessment.

1.2 Understand Info-Tech’s data valuation framework.

Outputs

Organization data valuation priorities

2 Capture Organization Data Value Chain

The Purpose

Capture data sources and data collection methods.

Key Benefits Achieved

A clear understanding of the data value chain.

Activities

2.1 Assess data sources and data collection methods.

2.2 Understand key insights and value proposition.

2.3 Capture data value chain.

Outputs

Data Valuation Tool

3 Data Valuation Framework

The Purpose

Leverage the data valuation framework.

Key Benefits Achieved

Capture key data valuation dimensions and align with data value chain.

Activities

3.1 Introduce data valuation framework.

3.2 Discuss key data valuation dimensions.

3.3 Align data value dimension to data value chain.

Outputs

Data Valuation Tool

4 Plan for Continuous Improvement

The Purpose

Improve organization’s data value.

Key Benefits Achieved

Continue to improve data value.

Activities

4.1 Capture data valuation metrics.

4.2 Define data valuation for continuous monitoring.

4.3 Create a communication plan.

4.4 Define a plan for continuous improvements.

Outputs

Data valuation metrics

Data Valuation Communication Plan

Explore the Secrets of Oracle Cloud Licensing

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  • member rating overall impact: 9.5/10 Overall Impact
  • member rating average dollars saved: 5 Average Days Saved
  • member rating average days saved: After each Info-Tech experience, we ask our members to quantify the real-time savings, monetary impact, and project improvements our research helped them achieve.
  • Parent Category Name: Licensing
  • Parent Category Link: /licensing
  • Organizations are considering moving workloads to the cloud; however, they often struggle to understand Oracle's licensing and services models.
  • Complexity of licensing and high price tags can make the renewal process an overwhelming experience.
  • Oracle’s SaaS applications are the most mature, but Oracle’s on-premises E-Business Suite still has functionality gaps in comparison to Oracle’s cloud apps.

Our Advice

Critical Insight

  • Understand the Oracle agenda. Oracle has established a unique approach to their cloud offerings – they want all of your workloads on the Red Stack.
  • Communicate effectively. Be aware that Oracle will reach out to members at your organization at various levels. Having your executives on the same page is critical to successfully managing Oracle.
  • Negotiate hard. Oracle needs the deal more than the customer. Oracle's top leaders are heavily incentivized to drive massive cloud adoption and increase Oracle's share price. Use this to your advantage.

Impact and Result

  • Conducting business with Oracle is not typical compared to other vendors. To emerge successfully from a commercial transaction with Oracle, customers must learn the “Oracle way” of conducting business, which includes a best-in-class sales structure, highly unique contracts, and license use policies coupled with a hyper-aggressive compliance function.
  • Leverage cloud spend to retire support on shelf-ware licenses, or gain virtualization rights for an on-premises environment.
  • Map out the process of how to negotiate from a position of strength, examining terms and conditions, discount percentages, and agreement pitfalls.
  • Carefully review key clauses in the Oracle Cloud Services Agreement to avoid additional spend and compliance risks.

Explore the Secrets of Oracle Cloud Licensing Research & Tools

Start here – read the Executive Brief

Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should explore the secrets of Oracle Cloud licensing, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

1. Evaluate licensing requirements

Review current licensing options and models to determine which cloud products will most appropriately fit the organization's environment.

  • Oracle Cloud Services Agreement Terms and Conditions Evaluation Tool
[infographic]

Secrets of SAP S-4HANA Licensing

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  • member rating overall impact: 9.0/10 Overall Impact
  • member rating average dollars saved: $25,000 Average $ Saved
  • member rating average days saved: 10 Average Days Saved
  • Parent Category Name: Vendor Management
  • Parent Category Link: /vendor-management
  • With the relatively slow uptake of the S/4HANA platform, the pressure is immense for SAP to maintain revenue growth.
  • SAP’s definitions and licensing rules are complex and vague, making it extremely difficult to purchase with confidence while remaining compliant.
  • Aggressive audit tactics may be used to speed up the move to HANA.

Our Advice

Critical Insight

  • Mapping SAP products to HANA can be highly complex, leading to overspending and an inability to reduce future spend.
  • The deployment model chosen will directly impact commercial pathways forward.
  • Beware of digital (indirect) access licensing and compliance concerns.
  • Without having a holistic negotiation strategy, it is easy to hit a common obstacle and land into SAP’s playbook, requiring further spend.

Impact and Result

  • Build a business case to evaluate S/4HANA.
  • Understand the S/4HANA roadmap and map current functionality to ensure compatibility.
  • Understand negotiating pricing and commercial terms.
  • Learn the “SAP way” of conducting business, which includes a best-in-class sales structure, unique contracts, and license use policies combined with a hyper-aggressive compliance function.

Secrets of SAP S/4HANA Licensing Research & Tools

Start here – read the Executive Brief

Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should explore the secrets of SAP S/4HANA licensing, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

1. Establish requirements

Determining SAP’s fit within your organization is critical. Start off by building a business case to assess overarching drivers and justification for change, any net new business benefits and long-term sustainability. Oftentimes the ROI is negative, but the investment sets the stage for long-term growth.

2. Evaluate licensing options

Your deployment model is more important than you think. Selecting a deployment model will dictate your licensing options followed by your contractual pathways forward.

  • SAP License Summary and Analysis Tool
  • SAP Digital Access Licensing Pricing Tool

3. Negotiation and license management

Know what’s in the contract. Each customer agreement is different and there may be existing terms that are beneficial. Depending on how much is spent, anything can be up for negation.

  • SAP S/4HANA Terms and Conditions Evaluator
[infographic]

Change Management

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  • Download01-Title: Change Management Executive Brief
  • Download-01: Visit Link
  • member rating overall impact: 9.6/10
  • member rating average dollars saved: $35,031
  • member rating average days saved: 34
  • Parent Category Name: Infra and Operations
  • Parent Category Link: /infra-and-operations
  • byline: Optimize your change management
Every company needs some change management. Both business and IT teams benefit from knowing what changes when.

incident, problem, problemchange

Switching Software Vendors Overwhelmingly Drives Increased Satisfaction

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  • Parent Category Name: Selection & Implementation
  • Parent Category Link: /selection-and-implementation

Organizations risk being locked in a circular trap of inertia from auto-renewing their software. With inertia comes complacency, leading to a decrease in overall satisfaction. Indeed, organizations are uniformly choosing to renew their software – even if they don’t like the vendor!

Our Advice

Critical Insight

Renewal is an opportunity cost. Switching poorly performing software substantially drives increased satisfaction, and it potentially lowers vendor costs in the process. To realize maximum gains, it’s essential to have a repeatable process in place.

Impact and Result

Realize the benefits of switching by using Info-Tech’s five action steps to optimize your vendor switching processes:

  1. Identify switch opportunities.
  2. Evaluate your software.
  3. Build the business case.
  4. Optimize selection method.
  5. Plan implementation.

Switching Software Vendors Overwhelmingly Drives Increased Satisfaction Research & Tools

Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

1. Why you should consider switching software vendors

Use this outline of key statistics to help make the business case for switching poorly performing software.

  • Switching Existing Software Vendors Overwhelmingly Drives Increased Satisfaction Storyboard

2. How to optimize your software vendor switching process

Optimize your software vendor switching processes with five action steps.

[infographic]

Create a Customized Big Data Architecture and Implementation Plan

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  • member rating overall impact: 10.0/10 Overall Impact
  • member rating average dollars saved: After each Info-Tech experience, we ask our members to quantify the real-time savings, monetary impact, and project improvements our research helped them achieve.
  • member rating average days saved: Read what our members are saying
  • Parent Category Name: Data Management
  • Parent Category Link: /data-management
  • Big data architecture is different from traditional data for several key reasons, including:
    • Big data architecture starts with the data itself, taking a bottom-up approach. Decisions about data influence decisions about components that use data.
    • Big data introduces new data sources such as social media content and streaming data.
    • The enterprise data warehouse (EDW) becomes a source for big data.
    • Master data management (MDM) is used as an index to content in big data about the people, places, and things the organization cares about.
    • The variety of big data and unstructured data requires a new type of persistence.
  • Many data architects have no experience with big data and feel overwhelmed by the number of options available to them (including vendor options, storage options, etc.). They often have little to no comfort with new big data management technologies.
  • If organizations do not architect for big data, there are a couple of main risks:
    • The existing data architecture is unable to handle big data, which will eventually result in a failure that could compromise the entire data environment.
    • Solutions will be selected in an ad hoc manner, which can cause incompatibility issues down the road.

Our Advice

Critical Insight

  • Before beginning to make technology decisions regarding the big data architecture, make sure a strategy is in place to document architecture principles and guidelines, the organization’s big data business pattern, and high-level functional and quality of service requirements.
  • The big data business pattern can be used to determine what data sources should be used in your architecture, which will then dictate the data integration capabilities required. By documenting current technologies, and determining what technologies are required, you can uncover gaps to be addressed in an implementation plan.
  • Once you have identified and filled technology gaps, perform an architectural walkthrough to pull decisions and gaps together and provide a fuller picture. After the architectural walkthrough, fill in any uncovered gaps. A proof-of-technology project can be started as soon as you have evaluation copies (or OSS) products and at least one person who understands the technology.

Impact and Result

  • Save time and energy trying to fix incompatibilities between technology and data.
  • Allow the Data Architect to respond to big data requests from the business more quickly.
  • Provide the organization with valuable insights through the analytics and visualization technologies that are integrated with the other building blocks.

Create a Customized Big Data Architecture and Implementation Plan Research & Tools

Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

1. Recognize the importance of big data architecture

Big data is centered on the volume, variety, velocity, veracity, and value of data. Achieve a data architecture that can support big data.

  • Storyboard: Create a Customized Big Data Architecture and Implementation Plan

2. Define architectural principles and guidelines while taking into consideration maturity

Understand the importance of a big data architecture strategy. Assess big data maturity to assist with creation of your architectural principles.

  • Big Data Maturity Assessment Tool
  • Big Data Architecture Principles & Guidelines Template

3. Build the big data architecture

Come to accurate big data architecture decisions.

  • Big Data Architecture Decision Making Tool

4. Determine common services needs

What are common services?

5. Plan a big data architecture implementation

Gain business satisfaction with big data requests. Determine what steps need to be taken to achieve your big data architecture.

  • Big Data Architecture Initiative Definition Tool
  • Big Data Architecture Initiative Planning Tool

Infographic

Workshop: Create a Customized Big Data Architecture and Implementation Plan

Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

1 Recognize the Importance of Big Data Architecture

The Purpose

Set expectations for the workshop.

Recognize the importance of doing big data architecture when dealing with big data.

Key Benefits Achieved

Big data defined.

Understanding of why big data architecture is necessary.

Activities

1.1 Define the corporate strategy.

1.2 Define big data and what it means to the organization.

1.3 Understand why doing big data architecture is necessary.

1.4 Examine Info-Tech’s Big Data Reference Architecture.

Outputs

Defined Corporate Strategy

Defined Big Data

Reference Architecture

2 Design a Big Data Architecture Strategy

The Purpose

Identification of architectural principles and guidelines to assist with decisions.

Identification of big data business pattern to choose required data sources.

Definition of high-level functional and quality of service requirements to adhere architecture to.

Key Benefits Achieved

Key Architectural Principles and Guidelines defined.

Big data business pattern determined.

High-level requirements documented.

Activities

2.1 Discuss how maturity will influence architectural principles.

2.2 Determine which solution type is best suited to the organization.

2.3 Define the business pattern driving big data.

2.4 Define high-level requirements.

Outputs

Architectural Principles & Guidelines

Big Data Business Pattern

High-Level Functional and Quality of Service Requirements Exercise

3 Build a Big Data Architecture

The Purpose

Establishment of existing and required data sources to uncover any gaps.

Identification of necessary data integration requirements to uncover gaps.

Determination of the best suited data persistence model to the organization’s needs.

Key Benefits Achieved

Defined gaps for Data Sources

Defined gaps for Data Integration capabilities

Optimal Data Persistence technology determined

Activities

3.1 Establish required data sources.

3.2 Determine data integration requirements.

3.3 Learn which data persistence model is best suited.

3.4 Discuss analytics requirements.

Outputs

Data Sources Exercise

Data Integration Exercise

Data Persistence Decision Making Tool

4 Plan a Big Data Architecture Implementation

The Purpose

Identification of common service needs and how they differ for big data.

Performance of an architectural walkthrough to test decisions made.

Group gaps to form initiatives to develop an Initiative Roadmap.

Key Benefits Achieved

Common service needs identified.

Architectural walkthrough completed.

Initiative Roadmap completed.

Activities

4.1 Identify common service needs.

4.2 Conduct an architectural walkthrough.

4.3 Group gaps together into initiatives.

4.4 Document initiatives on an initiative roadmap.

Outputs

Architectural Walkthrough

Initiative Roadmap

Build a Better Manager

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  • member rating overall impact: N/A
  • member rating average dollars saved: N/A
  • member rating average days saved: N/A
  • Parent Category Name: Train & Develop
  • Parent Category Link: /train-and-develop
  • Management skills training is needed, but organizations are struggling to provide training that makes a long-term difference in the skills managers actually use in their day to day.
  • Many training programs are ineffective because they offer the wrong content, deliver it in a way that is not memorable, and are not aligned with the IT department’s business objectives.

Our Advice

Critical Insight

  • More of the typical manager training is not enough to solve the problem of underprepared first-time IT managers.
  • You must overcome the key pitfalls of ineffective training to deliver training that is better than the norm.
  • Offer tailored training that focuses on skill building and is aligned with measurable business goals to make your manager training a tangible success.

Impact and Result

Use Info-Tech’s tactical, practical training materials to deliver training that is:

  • Specifically tailored to first-time IT managers.
  • Designed around practical application of new skills.
  • Aligned with your department’s business goals.

Build a Better Manager Research & Tools

Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

1. Build a Better Manager Capstone Deck – This deck will guide you through identifying the critical skills your managers need to succeed and planning out a training program tailored to your team and organization.

This deck presents a behind-the-scenes explanation for the training materials, enabling a facilitator to deliver the training.

  • Build a Better Manager – Phases 1-3

2. Facilitation Guides – These ready-to-deliver presentation decks span 8 modules. Each module covers a key management skill. The modules can be delivered independently or as a series.

The modules are complete with presentation slides, speaker’s notes, and accompanying participant workbooks and provide everything you need to deliver the training to your team.

  • Accountability Facilitation Guide
  • Coaching and Feedback Facilitation Guide
  • Communicate Effectively Facilitation Guide
  • Manage Conflict Constructively Facilitation Guide
  • Your Role in Decision Making Facilitation Guide
  • Master Time Facilitation Guide
  • Performance Management Facilitation Guide
  • Your Role in the Organization Facilitation Guide

3. Participant Workbooks and Supporting Materials – Each training module comes with a corresponding participant workbook to help trainees record insights and formulate individual skill development plans.

Each workbook is tailored to the presentation slides in its corresponding facilitation guide. Some workbooks have additional materials, such as role play scenarios, to aid in practice. Every workbook comes with example entries to help participants make the most of their training.

  • Communicate Effectively Participant Workbook
  • Performance Management Participant Workbook
  • Coaching and Feedback Participant Workbook
  • Effective Feedback Training Role Play Scenarios
  • Your Role in the Organization Participant Workbook
  • Your Role in Decision Making Participant Workbook
  • Decision Making Case Study
  • Manage Conflict Constructively Participant Workbook
  • Conflict Resolution Role Play Scenarios
  • Master Time Participant Workbook
  • Accountability Participant Workbook
[infographic]

Workshop: Build a Better Manager

Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

1 Build a Better Manager

The Purpose

Attend training on the specific topics necessary for each individual management team.

Each workshop consists of four days, one 3-hour training session per day. One module is delivered per day, selecting from the following pool of topics:

Master Time

Accountability

Your Role in the Organization

Your Role in Decision Making

Manage Conflict Constructively

Effective Communication

Performance Management

Coaching & Feedback

Key Benefits Achieved

Managers learn about best practices, practice their application, and formulate individual skill development plans.

Activities

1.1 Training on one topic per day, for four days (selected from a pool of eight possible topics)

Outputs

Completed workbook and action plan

Further reading

Build a Better Manager

Support IT success with a solid management foundation.

Analyst Perspective

Training that delivers results.

Jane Koupstova.

Ninety-eight percent of managers say they need more training, but 93% of managers already receive some level of manager training. Unfortunately, the training typically provided, although copious, is not working. More of the same will never get you better outcomes.

How many times have you sat through training that was so long, you had no hope of implementing half of it?

How many times have you been taught best practices, with zero guidance on how to apply them?

To truly support our managers, we need to rethink manager training. Move from fulfilling an HR mandate to providing truly trainee-centric instruction. Teach only the right skills – no fluff – and encourage and enable their application in the day to day.

Jane Kouptsova
Research Director, People & Leadership
Info-Tech Research Group

Executive Summary

Your Challenge

Common Obstacles

Info-Tech’s Approach

IT departments often promote staff based on technical skill, resulting in new managers feeling unprepared for their new responsibilities in leading people.

The success of your organization hinges on managers’ ability to lead their staff; by failing to equip new managers adequately, you are risking the productivity of your entire department.

Despite the fact that $14 billion is spent annually on leadership training in the US alone (Freedman, 2016), only one in ten CIOs believe their department is very effective at leadership, culture, and values (Info-Tech, 2019).

Training programs do not deliver results due to trainee overwhelm, ineffective skill development, and a lack of business alignment.

Use Info-Tech’s tactical, practical approach to management training to deliver training that:

  • Is specifically tailored to first-time IT managers.
  • Is designed around practical application of new skills.
  • Is aligned with your department’s business goals.
  • Equips your new managers with essential skills and foundational competencies

Info-Tech Insight

When it comes to manager training, more is not more. Attending training is not equal to being trained. Even good information is useless when it doesn’t get applied. If your role hasn’t required you to use your training within 48 hours, you were not trained on the most relevant skills.

Effective managers drive effective departments by engaging their teams

The image contains a screenshot to demonstrate effective managers.

Engaged teams are:

  • 52% more willing to innovate*
  • 70% more likely to be at the organization a year from now**
  • 57% more likely to exceed their role’s expectations**

Engaged teams are driven by managers:

  • 70% of team-level engagement is accounted for by managers***
*McLean & Company; N=3,395; **McLean & Company; N=5,902; ***Gallup, 2018

Despite the criticality of their role, IT organizations are failing at supporting new managers

87% of middle managers wish they had more training when they were first promoted

98% of managers say they need more training

Source: Grovo, 2016

IT must take notice:

IT as an industry tends to promote staff on the basis of technical skill. As a result, new managers find themselves suddenly out of their comfort zone, tasked with leading teams using management skills they have not been trained in and, more often than not, having to learn on the job. This is further complicated because many new IT managers must go from a position of team member to leader, which can be a very complex transition.

The truth is, many organizations do try and provide some degree of manager training, it just is not effective

99% of companies offer management training*

93% of managers attend it*

$14 billion spent annually in the US on leadership training**

Fewer than one in ten CIOs believe their IT department is highly effective at leadership, culture, and values.

The image contains a screenshot of a pie chart that demonstrates the effectiveness of the IT department at leadership, culture, and values.
*Grovo, 2016; **Chief Executive, 2016
Info-Tech’s Management & Governance Diagnostic, N=337 CIOs

There are three key reasons why manager training fails

1. Information Overload

Seventy-five percent of managers report that their training was too long to remember or to apply in their day to day (Grovo, 2016). Trying to cover too much useful information results in overwhelm and does not deliver on key training objectives.

2. Limited Implementation

Thirty-three percent of managers find that their training had insufficient follow-up to help them apply it on the job (Grovo, 2016). Learning is only the beginning. The real results are obtained when learning is followed by practice, which turns new knowledge into reliable habits.

3. Lack of departmental alignment

Implementing training without a clear link to departmental and organizational objectives leaves you unable to clearly communicate its value, undermines your ability to secure buy-in from attendees and executives, and leaves you unable to verify that the training is actually improving departmental effectiveness.

Overcome those common training pitfalls with tactical solutions

MOVE FROM

TO

1. Information Overload

Timely, tailored topics

The more training managers attend, the less likely they are to apply any particular element of it. Combat trainee overwhelm by offering highly tactical, practical training that presents only the essential skills needed at the managers’ current stage of development.

2. Limited Implementation

Skills-focused framework

Many training programs end when the last manager walks out of the last training session. Ensure managers apply their new knowledge in the months and years after the training by relying on a research-based framework that supports long-term skill building.

3. Lack of Departmental Alignment

Outcome-based measurement

Setting organizational goals and accompanying metrics ahead of time enables you to communicate the value of the training to attendees and stakeholders, track whether the training is delivering a return on your investment, and course correct if necessary.

This research combats common training challenges by focusing on building habits, not just learning ideas

Manager training is only useful if the skills it builds are implemented in the day-to-day.

Research supports three drivers of successful skill building from training:

Habits

Organizational Support

The training modules include committing to implementing new skills on the job and scheduling opportunities for feedback.

Learning Structure

Training activities are customizable, flexible, and accompanied by continuous learning self-evaluation.

Personal Commitment

Info-Tech’s methodology builds in activities that foster accountability and an attitude of continuous improvement.

Learning

Info-Tech Insight

When it comes to manager training, stop thinking about learning, and start thinking about practice. In difficult situations, we fall back on habits, not theoretical knowledge. If a manager is only as good as their habits, we need to support them in translating knowledge into practice.

This research focuses on building good management habits to drive enterprise success

Set up your first-time managers for success by leveraging Info-Tech’s training to focus on three key areas of management:

  • Managing people as a team
  • Managing people as individuals
  • Managing yourself as a developing leader

Each of these areas:

  • Is immediately important for a first-time manager
  • Includes practical, tactical skills that can be implemented quickly
  • Translates to departmental and organizational benefits

Info-Tech Insight

There is no such thing as “effective management training.” Various topics will be effective at different times for different roles. Delivering only the highest-impact learning at strategic points in your leadership development program will ensure the learning is retained and translates to results.

This blueprint covers foundational training in three key domains of effective management

Effective Managers

  • Self
    • Conflict & Difficult Conversations
    • Your Role in the Organization
    • Your Role in Decisions
  • Team
    • Communication
    • Feedback & Coaching
    • Performance Management
  • People
    • Master Time
    • Delegate
    • Accountability

Each topic corresponds to a module, which can be used individually or as a series in any order.

Choose topics that resonate with your managers and relate directly to their day-to-day tasks. Training on topics that may be useful in the future, while interesting, is less likely to generate lasting skill development.

Info-Tech Best Practice

This blueprint is not a replacement for formal leadership or management certification. It is designed as a practical, tactical, and foundational introduction to key management capabilities.

Info-Tech’s training tools guide participants through successful skill building

Practical facilitation guides equip you with the information, activities, and speaker’s notes necessary to deliver focused, tactical training to your management team.

The participant’s workbook guides trainees through applying the three drivers of skill building to solidify their training into habits.

Measure the effectiveness of your manager training with outcomes-focused metrics

Linking manager training with measurable outcomes allows you to verify that the program is achieving the intended benefits, course correct as needed, and secure buy-in from stakeholders and participants by articulating and documenting value.

Use the metrics suggested below to monitor your training program’s effectiveness at three key stages:

Program Metric

Calculation

Program enrolment and attendance

Attendance at each session / Total number enrolled in session

First-time manager (FTM) turnover rate

Turnover rate: Number of FTM departures / Total number of FTMs

FTM turnover cost

Number of departing FTMs this year * Cost of replacing an employee

Manager Effectiveness Metric

Calculation

Engagement scores of FTM's direct reports

Use Info-Tech's Employee Engagement surveys to monitor scores

Departures as a result of poor management

Number of times "manager relationships" is selected as a reason for leaving on an exit survey / Total number of departures

Cost of departures due to poor management

Number of times "manager relationships" is selected as a reason for leaving on an exit survey * Cost associated with replacing an employee

Organizational Outcome Metric

Calculation

On-target delivery

% projects completed on-target = (Projects successfully completed on time and on budget / Total number of projects started) * 100

Business stakeholder satisfaction with IT

Use Info-Tech’s business satisfaction surveys to monitor scores

High-performer turnover rate

Number of permanent, high-performing employee departures / Average number of permanent, high-performing employees

Info-Tech offers various levels of support to best suit your needs

DIY Toolkit

Guided Implementation

Workshop

Consulting
“Our team has already made this critical project a priority, and we have the time and capability, but some guidance along the way would be helpful.” “Our team knows that we need to fix a process, but we need assistance to determine where to focus. Some check-ins along the way would help keep us on track.” “We need to hit the ground running and get this project kicked off immediately. Our team has the ability to take this over once we get a framework and strategy in place.” “Our team does not have the time or the knowledge to take this project on. We need assistance through the entirety of this project.”

Diagnostics and consistent frameworks used throughout all four options

Guided Implementation

What does a typical GI on this topic look like?

Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3

Call #1: Scope requirements, objectives, and your specific challenges.

Call #2: Review selected modules and discuss training delivery.

Call #3: Review training delivery, discuss lessons learned. Review long-term skill development plan.

A Guided Implementation (GI) is a series

of calls with an Info-Tech analyst to help implement our best practices in your organization.

A typical GI is 1 to 3 calls over the course of several months, depending on training schedule.

Workshop Overview

Contact your account representative for more information.
workshops@infotech.com 1-888-670-8889

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4

3-Hour Training Session

3-Hour Training Session

3-Hour Training Session

3-Hour Training Session
Activities

Training on topic 1 (selected from a pool of 8 possible topics)

Training on topic 2 (selected from a pool of 8 possible topics)

Training on topic 3 (selected from a pool of 8 possible topics)

Training on topic 4 (selected from a pool of 8 possible topics)
Deliverables

Completed workbook and action plan

Completed workbook and action plan

Completed workbook and action plan

Completed workbook and action plan

Pool of topics:

  • Master Time
  • Accountability
  • Your Role in the Organization
  • Your Role in Decision Making
  • Manage Conflict Constructively
  • Effective Communication
  • Performance Management
  • Coaching & Feedback

Phase 1

Prepare to facilitate training

Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3
  • Select training topics
  • Customize the training facilitation guide for your organization
  • Deliver training modules
  • Confirm skill development action plan with trainees
  • Secure organizational support from trainees' supervisors

Outcomes of this phase:

  • Training facilitation deck customized to organizational norms
  • Training workbook distributed to participants
  • Training dates and facilitator finalized

1.1 Select training modules

1-3 hours

  1. Review the module descriptions on the following slides.
  2. Identify modules that will address managers’ most pressing development needs.
    To help make this decision, consult the following:
    • Trainees’ development plans
    • Trainees’ supervisors
Input Output
  • Module descriptions
  • Trainees’ development goals and needs
  • Prioritized list of training modules
Materials Participants
  • Prioritized list of training modules
  • Training sponsor
  • Trainees’ supervisors

Effective Communication

Effective communication is the cornerstone of good management

Effective communication can make or break your IT team’s effectiveness and engagement and a manager’s reputation in the organization. Effective stakeholder management and communication has a myriad of benefits – yet this is a key area where IT leaders continue to struggle.


There are multiple ways in which you communicate with your staff. The tactics you will learn in this section will help you to:

  1. Understand communication styles. Every staff member has a predisposition in terms of how they give, receive, and digest information. To drive effective communication new managers need to understand the profiles of each of their team members and adjust their communicate style to suit.
  2. Understand what your team members want communicated to them and how. Communication is highly personal, and a good manager needs to clearly understand what their team wants to be informed about, their desired interactions, and when they need to be involved in decision making. They also must determine the appropriate channels for communication exchanges.
  3. Make meetings matter. Many new managers never receive training on what differentiates a good and bad meeting. Effective meetings have a myriad of benefits, but more often than not meetings are ineffective, wasting both the participants’ and organizer’s time. This training will help you to ensure that every team meeting drives a solid outcome and gets results.

Benefits:

  • Better buy-in, understanding, and communication.
  • Improved IT reputation with the organization.
  • Improved team engagement.
  • Improved stakeholder satisfaction.
  • Better-quality decision making.
  • Improved transparency, trust, and credibility.
  • Less waste and rework.
  • Greater ability to secure support and execute the agenda.
  • More effective cooperation on activities, better quality information, and greater value from stakeholder input.
  • Better understanding of IT performance and contribution.

Effective Communication

Effective manager communication has a direct impact on employee engagement

35% Of organizations say they have lost an employee due to poor internal communication (project.co, 2021).

59% Of business leaders lose work time to mistakes caused by poor communication (Grammarly, 2022).

$1.2 trillion Lost to US organizations as a result of poor communication (Grammarly, 2022).

Effective Communication

Effective communication is crucial to all parts of the business

Operations

Human Resources

Finance

Marketing

Increases production by boosting revenue.

Reduces the cost of litigation and increases revenue through productivity improvements.

Reduces the cost of failing to comply with regulations.

Increases attraction and retention of key talent.

Effective Communication

The Communicate Effectively Facilitation Guide covers the following topics:

  • Understand Communication Styles
  • Tailor Communication Methods to Activities
  • Make Meetings Matter

Learning outcomes:

Main goal: Become a better communicator across a variety of personal styles and work contexts.

Key objectives:

  • Reaffirm why effective communication matters.
  • Work with people with different communication styles.
  • Communicate clearly and effectively within a team.
  • Make meetings more effective.

Info-Tech Insight

First-time IT managers face specific communication challenges that come with managing people for the first time: learning to communicate a greater variety of information to different kinds of people, in a variety of venues. Tailored training in these areas helps managers focus and fast-track critical skill development.

Performance Management

Meaningful performance measures drive employee engagement, which in turn drives business success

Meaningful performance measures help employees understand the rationale behind business decisions, help managers guide their staff, and clarify expectations for employees. These factors are all strong predictors of team engagement:

The image contains a screenshot to demonstrate the relationship and success between performance measures and employee engagement.

Performance Management

Clear performance measures benefit employees and the organization

Talent Management Outcomes

Organizational Outcomes

Performance measure are key throughout the talent management process.

Candidates:

  • Want to know how they will be assessed
  • Rely on measures to become productive as soon as possible

Employees:

  • Benefit from training centered on measures that are aligned with business outcomes
  • Are rewarded, recognized, and compensated based on measurable guidelines

Promotions and Evaluations:

  • Are more effective when informed by meaningful performance measures that align with what leadership believes is important

Performance measures benefit the organization by:

  • Helping employees know the steps to take to improve their performance
  • Ensuring alignment between team objectives and organizational goals
  • Providing a standardized way to support decision making related to compensation, promotions, and succession planning
  • Reducing “gaming” of metrics, when properly structured, thereby reducing risk to the organization
  • Affording legal defensibility by providing an objective basis for decision making

Performance Management

The Performance Management Facilitation Guide covers the following topics:

  • Develop Meaningful Goals
  • Set Meaningful Metrics

Learning outcomes:

Main goal: Become proficient in setting, tracking, and communicating around performance management goals.

Key objectives:

  • Understand the role of managers and employees in the performance management process.
  • Learn to set SMART, business-aligned goals for your team.
  • Learn to help employees set useful individual goals.
  • Learn to set meaningful, holistic metrics to track goal progression.
  • Understand the relationship between goals, metrics, and feedback.

Info-Tech Insight

Goal and metric development holds special significance for first-time IT managers because it now impacts not only their personal performance, but that of their employees and their team collectively. Training on these topics with a practical team- and employee-development approach is a focused way to build these skills.

Coaching & Feedback

Coaching and feedback are effective methods to influence employees and drive business outcomes

COACHING is a conversation in which a manager asks an employee questions to guide them to solve problems themselves, instead of just telling them the answer.

Coaching increases employee happiness, and decreases turnover.1

Coaching promotes innovation.2

Coaching increases employee engagement, effort and performance.3

FEEDBACK is information about the past, given in the present, with the goal of influencing behavior or performance for the future. It includes information given for reinforcement and redirection.

Honest feedback enhances team psychological safety.4

Feedback increases employee engagement.5

Feedback boosts feelings of autonomy and drives innovation.6
1. Administrative Sciences, 2022
2. International Review of Management and Marketing, 2020
3. Current Psychology, 2021
4. Quantum Workplace, 2021
5. Issues and Perspectives in Business and Social Sciences, 2022
6. Sustainability, 2021

Coaching & Feedback

The Coaching & Feedback Facilitation Guide covers the following topics:

  • The 4 A’s of Coaching
  • Effective Feedback

Learning outcomes:

Main goal: Get prepared to coach and offer feedback to your staff as appropriate.

Key objectives:

  • Understand the difference between coaching and feedback and when to apply each one.
  • Learn the importance of a coaching mindset.
  • Learn effective coaching via the 4 A’s framework.
  • Understand the actions that make up feedback and the factors that make it successful.
  • Learn to deal with resistance to feedback.

Info-Tech Insight

First-time managers often shy away from giving coaching and feedback, stalling their team’s performance. A focused and practical approach to building these skills equips new managers with the tools and confidence to tackle these challenges as soon as they arise.

Your Role in the Organization

IT managers who understand the business context provide more value to the organization

Managers who don’t understand the business cannot effect positive change. The greater understanding that IT managers have of business context, the more value they provide to the organization as seen by the positive relationship between IT’s understanding of business needs and the business’ perception of IT value.

The image contains a screenshot of a scatter plot grid demonstrating business satisfaction with IT Understanding of Needs across Overall IT Value.

Source: Info-Tech Research Group

Your Role in the Organization

Knowing your stakeholders is key to understanding your role in the business and providing value to the organization

To understand your role in the business, you need to know who your stakeholders are and what value you and your team provide to the organization. Knowing how you help each stakeholder meet their wants needs and goals means that you have the know-how to balance experience and outcome-based behaviors. This is the key to being an attentive leader.


The tactics you will learn in this section will help you to:

  1. Know your stakeholders. There are five key stakeholders the majority of IT managers have: management, peers, direct reports, internal users, and external users or customers. Managers need to understand the goals, needs, and wants of each of these groups to successfully provide value to the organization.
  2. Understand the value you provide to each stakeholder. Stakeholder relationship management requires IT managers to exhibit drive and support behaviors based on the situation. By knowing how you drive and support each stakeholder, you understand how you provide value to the organization and support its mission, vision, and values.
  3. Communicate the value your team provides to the organization to your team. Employees need to understand the impact of their work. As an IT manager, you are responsible for communicating how your team provides value to the organization. Mission statements on how you provide value to each stakeholder is an easy way to clearly communicate purpose to your team.

Benefits:

  • Faster and higher growth.
  • Improved team engagement.
  • Improved stakeholder satisfaction.
  • Better quality decision making.
  • More innovation and motivation to complete goals and tasks.
  • Greater ability to secure support and execute on goals and tasks.
  • More effective cooperation on activities, better quality information, and greater value from stakeholder input.
  • Better understanding of IT performance and contribution.

Your Role in the Organization

The Your Role in the Organization Facilitation Guide covers the following topics:

  • Know Your Stakeholders
  • Understand the Value You Provide to the Organization
  • Develop Learnings Into Habits

Learning outcomes:

Main goal: Understand how your role and the role of your team serves the business.

Key objectives:

  • Learn who your stakeholders are.
  • Understand how you drive and support different stakeholder relationships.
  • Relate your team’s tasks back to the mission, vision, and values of the organization.
  • Create a mission statement for each stakeholder to bring back to your team.

Info-Tech Insight

Before training first-time IT managers, take some time as the facilitator to review how you will serve the wants and needs of those you are training and your stakeholders in the organization.

Decision Making

Bad decisions have tangible costs, so managers must be trained in how to make effective decisions

To understand your role in the decision-making process, you need to know what is expected of you and you must understand what goes into making a good decision. The majority of managers report they have no trouble making decisions and that they are good decision makers, but the statistics say otherwise. This ease at decision making is due to being overly confident in their expertise and an inability to recognize their own ignorance.1


The tactics you will learn in this section will help you to:

  1. Effectively communicate decisions. Often, first-time managers are either sharing their decision recommendations with their manager or they are communicating a decision down to their team. Managers need to understand how to have these conversations so their recommendations provide value to management and top-down decisions are successfully implemented.
  2. Provide valuable feedback on decisions. Evaluating decisions is just as critical as making decisions. If decisions aren’t reviewed, there is no data or feedback to discover why a decision was a success or failure. Having a plan in place before the decision is made facilitates the decision review process and makes it easier to provide valuable feedback.
  3. Avoid common decision-making mistakes. Heuristics and bias are common decision pitfalls even senior leaders are susceptible to. By learning what the common decision-making mistakes are and being able to recognize them when they appear in their decision-making process, first-time managers can improve their decision-making ability.

20% Of respondents say their organizations excel at decision making (McKinsey, 2018).

87% “Diverse teams are 87% better at making decisions” (Upskillist, 2022).

86% of employees in leadership positions blame the lack of collaboration as the top reason for workplace failures (Upskillist, 2022).

Decision Making

A decision-making process is imperative, even though most managers don’t have a formal one

  1. Identify the Problem and Define Objectives
  2. Establish Decision Criteria
  3. Generate and Evaluate Alternatives
  4. Select an Alternative and Implement
  5. Evaluate the Decision

Managers tend to rely on their own intuition which is often colored by heuristics and biases. By using a formal decision-making process, these pitfalls of intuition can be mitigated or avoided. This leads to better decisions.

First-time managers are able to apply this framework when making decision recommendations to management to increase their likelihood of success, and having a process will improve their decisions throughout their career and the financial returns correlated with them.

Decision Making

Recognizing personal heuristics and bias in the decision-making process improves more than just decision results

Employees are able to recognize bias in the workplace, even when management can’t. This affects everything from how involved they are in the decision-making process to their level of effort and productivity in implementing decisions. Without employee support, even good decisions are less likely to have positive results. Employees who perceive bias:

Innovation
  • Hold back ideas and solutions
  • Intentionally fail to follow through on important projects and tasks

Brand Reputation
  • Speak negatively about the company on social media
  • Do not refer open positions to qualified persons in their network

Engagement
  • Feel alienated
  • Actively seek new employment
  • Say they are not proud to work for the company

Decision Making

The Decision Making Facilitation Guide covers the following topics:

  • Effectively Communicate Decisions
  • Provide Valuable Feedback on Decisions
  • Avoid Common Decision-Making Mistakes

Learning outcomes:

Main goal: Understand how to successfully perform your role in the decision process.

Key objectives:

  • Understand the decision-making process and how to assess decisions.
  • Learn how to communicate with your manager regarding your decision recommendations.
  • Learn how to effectively communicate decisions to your team.
  • Understand how to avoid common decision-making errors.

Info-Tech Insight

Before training a decision-making framework, ensure it is in alignment with how decisions are made in your organization. Alternatively, make sure leadership is on board with making a change.

Manage Conflict Constructively

Enable leaders to resolve conflicts while minimizing costs

If you are successful in your talent acquisition, you likely have a variety of personalities and diverse individuals within your IT organization and in the business, which means that conflict is inevitable. However, conflict does not have to be negative – it can take on many forms. The presence of conflict in an organization can actually be a very positive thing: the ability to freely express opinions and openly debate can lead to better, more strategic decisions being made.

The effect that the conflict is having on individuals and the work environment will determine whether the conflict is positive or counterproductive.

As a new manager you need to know how to manage potential negative outcomes of conflict by managing difficult conversations and understanding how to respond to conflict in the workplace.


The tactics you will learn in this section will help you to:

  1. Apply strategies to prepare for and navigate through difficult conversations.
  2. Expand your comfort level when handling conflict, and engage in constructive conflict resolution approaches.

Benefits:

  • Relieve stress for yourself and your co-workers.
  • Save yourself time and energy.
  • Positively impact relationships with your employees.
  • Improve your team dynamic.
  • Remove roadblocks to your work and get things done.
  • Save the organization money.
  • Improve performance.
  • Prevent negative issues from reoccurring.

Manage Conflict Constructively

Addressing difficult conversations is beneficial to you, your people, and the organization

When you face a difficult conversation you…

  • Relieve stress on you and your co-workers.
  • Save yourself time and energy.
  • Positively impact relationships with your employees.
  • Improve your team dynamic.
  • Remove roadblocks to your work
  • Save the organization money.
  • Improve performance.
  • Prevent negative issues from reoccurring.

40% Of employees who experience conflict report being less motivated as a result (Acas, 2021).

30.6% Of employees report coming off as aggressive when trying to resolve a conflict
(Niagara Institute, 2022).

Manage Conflict Constructively

The Manage Conflict Constructively Facilitation Guide covers the following topics:

  • Know Your Ideal Time Mix
  • Calendar Diligence
  • Effective Delegation
  • Limit Interruptions

Learning outcomes:

Main goal: Effectively manage your time and know which tasks are your priority and which tasks to delegate.

Key objectives:

  • Understand common reasons for difficult conversations.
  • Learn Info-Tech’s six-step process to best to prepare for difficult conversations.
  • Follow best practices to approach difficult conversations.
  • Learn the five approaches to conflict management.
  • Practice conflict management skills.

Info-Tech Insight

Conflict does not have to be negative. The presence of conflict in an organization can actually be a very positive thing: the ability to freely express opinions and openly debate can lead to better, more strategic decisions being made.

Master Time

Effective leaders spend their time in specific ways

How effective leaders average their time spent across the six key roles:

Leaders with effective time management skills spend their time across six key manager roles: strategy, projects, management, operations, innovation, and personal. While there is no magic formula, providing more value to the business starts with little practices like:

  • Spending time with the right stakeholders and focusing on the right priorities.
  • Evaluating which meetings are important and productive.
  • Benchmarking yourself against your peers in the industry so you constantly learn from them and improve yourself.


The keys to providing this value is time management and delegation. The tactics in this section will help first-time managers to:

  1. Discover your ideal time. By analyzing how you currently spend your time, you can see which roles you are under/over using and, using your job description and performance metrics, discover your ideal time mix.
  2. Practice calendar diligence. Time blocking is an effective way to use your time, see your week, and quickly understand what roles you are spending your time in. Scheduling priority tasks first gives insight into which tasks should be delegated.
  3. Effectively delegation. Clear expectations and knowing the strengths of your team are the cornerstone to effective delegation. By understanding the information you need to communicate and identifying the best person on your team to delegate to, tasks and goals will be successfully completed.
  4. Limit interruptions. By learning how to limit interruptions from your team and your manager, you are better able to control your time and make sure your tasks and goals get completed.

Strategy

23%

Projects

23%

Management

19%

Operations

19%

Innovation

13%

Personal

4%

Source: Info-Tech, N=85

Master Time

Signs you struggle with time management

Too many interruptions in a day to stay focused.

Too busy to focus on strategic initiatives.

Spending time on the wrong things.

The image contains a screenshot of a bar graph that demonstrates struggle with time management.

Master Time

The Master Time Facilitation Guide covers the following topics:

  • Understand Communication Styles
  • Tailor Communication Methods to Activities
  • Make Meetings Matter

Learning outcomes:

Main goal: Become a better communicator across a variety of personal styles and work contexts.

Key objectives:

  • Understand how you spend your time.
  • Learn how to use your calendar effectively.
  • Understand the actions to take to successfully delegate.
  • Learn how to successfully limit interruptions.

Info-Tech Insight

There is a right and wrong way to manage your calendar as a first-time manager and it has nothing to do with your personal preference.

Accountability

Accountability creates organizational and team benefits

Improves culture and innovation

Improves individual performance

Increases employee engagement

Increases profitability

Increases trust and productivity

Enables employees to see how they contribute

Increases ownership employees feel over their work and outcomes

Enables employees to focus on activities that drive the business forward
Source: Forbes, 2019

Accountability

Accountability increases employee empowerment

Employee empowerment is the number one driver of employee engagement. The extent to which you can hold employees accountable for their own actions and decisions is closely related to how empowered they are and how empowered they feel; accountability and empowerment go hand in hand. To feel empowered, employees must understand what is expected of them, have input into decisions that affect their work, and have the tools they need to demonstrate their talents.

The image contains a screenshot to demonstrate how accountability increases employee empowerment.

Source: McLean & Company Engagement Database, 2018; N=71,794

Accountability

The Accountability Facilitation Guide covers the following topics:

  • Create Clarity and Transparency
  • Articulate Expectations and Evaluation
  • Help Your Team Remove Roadblocks
  • Clearly Introduce Accountability to Your Team

Learning outcomes:

Main goal: Create a personal accountability plan and learn how to hold yourself and your team accountable.

Key objectives:

  • Understand why accountability matters.
  • Learn how to create clarity and transparency.
  • Understand how to successfully hold people accountable through clearly articulating expectations and evaluation.
  • Know how to remove roadblocks to accountability for your team.

Info-Tech Insight

Accountability is about focusing on the results of a task, rather than just completing the task. Create team accountability by keeping the team focused on the result and not “doing their jobs.” First-time managers need to clearly communicate expectations and evaluation to successfully develop team accountability.

Use the Build a Better Manager Participant Workbooks to help participants set accountabilities and track their progress

A key feature of this blueprint is built-in guidance on transferring your managers’ new knowledge into practical skills and habits they can fall back on when their job requires it.

The Participant Workbooks, one for each module, are structured around the three key principles of learning transfer to help participants optimally structure their own learning:

  • Track your learning. This section guides participants through conducting self-assessments, setting learning goals, recording key insights, and brainstorming relapse-prevention strategies
  • Establish your personal commitment. This section helps participants record the actions they personally commit to taking to continually practice their new skills
  • Secure organizational support. This section guides participants in recording the steps they will take to seek out support from their supervisor and peers.

The image contains a screenshot of the Build a Better Manager Participant Workbooks.

Info-Tech Insight

Participants should use this workbook throughout their training and continue to review it for at least three months after. Practical skills take an extended amount of time to solidify, and using the workbook for several months will ensure that participants stay on track with regular practice and check-ins.

Set your trainees up for success by reviewing these training best practices

Cultural alignment

It is critical that the department leadership team understand and agree with the best practices being presented. Senior team leads should be comfortable coaching first-time managers in implementing the skills developed through the training. If there is any question about alignment with departmental culture or if senior team leads would benefit from a refresher course, conduct a training session for them as well.

Structured training

Ensure the facilitator takes a structured approach to the training. It is important to complete all the activities and record the outputs in the workbook where appropriate. The activities are structured to ensure participants successfully use the knowledge gained during the workshop to build practical skills.

Attendees

Who should attend the training? Although this training is designed for first-time IT managers, you may find it helpful to run the training for the entire management team as a refresher and to get everyone on the same page about best practices. It is also helpful for senior leadership to be aware of the training because the attendees may come to their supervisors with requests to discuss the material or coaching around it.

Info-Tech Insight

Participants should use this workbook throughout their training and continue to review it for at least three months after. Practical skills take an extended amount of time to solidify, and using the workbook for several months will ensure that participants stay on track with regular practice and check-ins.

1.2 Customize the facilitation guides

1-3 hours

Prior to facilitating your first session, ensure you complete the following steps:

  1. Read through all the module content, including the speaker’s notes, to familiarize yourself with the material and ensure the tactics presented align with your department’s culture and established best practices.
  2. Customize the slides with a pencil icon with information relevant to your organization.
  3. Ensure you are comfortable with all material to be presented and are prepared to answer questions. If you require clarification on any of the material, book a call with your Info-Tech analyst for guidance.
  4. Ensure you do not delete or heavily customize the self-assessment activities and the activities in the Review and Action Plan section of the module. These activities are structured around a skill building framework and designed to aid your trainees in applying their new knowledge in their day to day. If you have any concerns about activities in these sections, book a call with your Info-Tech analyst for guidance.
Input Output
  • List of selected modules
  • Customized facilitation guides
Materials Participants
  • Facilitation guides from selected modules
  • Training facilitator

1.3 Prepare to deliver training

1-3 hours

Complete these steps in preparation for delivering the training to your first-time managers:

  1. Select a facilitator.
    • The right person to facilitate the meeting depends on the dynamics within your department. Having a senior IT leader can lend additional weight to the training best practices but may not be feasible in a large department. In these cases, an HR partner or external third party can be asked to facilitate.
  2. Distribute the workbooks to attendees before the first training session.
    • Change the header on the workbook templates to your own organization’s, if desired.
    • Email the workbooks to attendees prior to the first session. There is no pre-work to be completed.
Input Output
  • List of selected modules
  • Facilitator selected
  • Workbook distributed
Materials Participants
  • Workbooks from selected modules
  • Training sponsor
  • Training facilitator

Phase 2

Deliver training

Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3
  • Select training topics
  • Customize the training facilitation guide for your organization
  • Deliver training modules
  • Confirm skill development action plan with trainees
  • Secure organizational support from trainees' supervisors

Outcomes of this phase:

  • Training delivered
  • Development goals set by attendees
  • Action plan created by attendees

2.1 Deliver training

3 hours

When you are ready, deliver the training. Ensure you complete all activities and that participants record the outcomes in their workbooks.

Tips for activity facilitation:

  • Encourage and support participation from everyone. And be sure no one on the team dismisses anyone’s thoughts or opinions – they present the opportunity for further discussion and deeper insight.
  • Debrief after each activity, outlining any lessons learned, action items, and next steps.
  • Encourage participants to record all outcomes, key insights, and action plans in their workbooks.
Input Output
  • Facilitation guides and workbooks for selected modules
  • Training delivered
  • Workbooks completed
Materials Participants
  • Facilitation guides and workbooks for selected modules
  • Training facilitator
  • Trainees

Phase 3

Enable long-term skill development

Phase 1Phase 2Phase 3
  • Select training topics
  • Customize the training facilitation guide for your organization
  • Deliver training modules
  • Confirm skill development action plan with trainees
  • Secure organizational support from trainees' supervisors

Outcomes of this phase:

  • Attendees reminded of action plan and personal commitment
  • Supervisors reminded of the need to support trainees' development

3.1 Email trainees with action steps

0.5 hours

After the training, send an email to attendees thanking them for participating and summarizing key next steps for the group. Use the template below, or write your own:

“Hi team,

I want to thank you personally for attending the Communicate Effectively training module. Our group led some great discussion.

A reminder that the next time you will reconvene as a group will be on [Date] to discuss your progress and challenges to date.

Additionally, your manager is aware and supportive of the training program, so be sure to follow through on the commitments you’ve made to secure the support you need from them to build your new skills.

I am always open for questions if you run into any challenges.

Regards,

[Your name]”

InputOutput
  • The date of participants’ next discussion meeting
  • Attendees reminded of next meeting date and encouraged to follow through on action plan
MaterialsParticipants
  • Training facilitator

3.2 Secure support from trainees’ supervisors

0.5 hours

An important part of the training is securing organizational support, which includes support from your trainees’ supervisors. After the trainees have committed to some action items to seek support from their supervisors, it is important to express your support for this and remind the supervisors of their role in guiding your first-time managers. Use the template below, or write your own, to remind your trainees’ supervisors of this at the end of training (if you are going through all three modules in a short period of time, you may want to wait until the end of the entire training to send this email):

“Hi team,

We have just completed Info-Tech’s first-time manager training with our new manager team. The trainees will be seeking your support in developing their new skills. This could be in the form of coaching, feedback on their progress, reviewing their development plan, etc.

Supervisor support is a crucial component of skill building, so I hope I can count on all of you to support our new managers in their learning. If you are not sure how to handle these requests, or would like a refresher of the material our trainees covered, please let me know.

I am always open for questions if you run into any challenges.

Regards,

[Your name]”

InputOutput
  • List of trainees’ direct supervisors
  • Supervisors reminded to support trainees’ skill practice
MaterialsParticipants
  • Training facilitator

Contributors

Brad Armstrong

Brad Armstrong, Senior Engineering Manager, Code42 Software

I am a pragmatic engineering leader with a deep technical background, now focused on building great teams. I'm energized by difficult, high-impact problems at scale and with the cloud technologies and emerging architectures that we can use to solve them. But it's the power of people and organizations that ultimately lead to our success, and the complex challenge of bringing all that together is the work I find most rewarding.

We thank the expert contributors who chose to keep their contributions anonymous.

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Tollet, Francoise. “Distracted? Learn how to (re)focus.” Business Digest, 12 July 2021. Podcast.

Tonhauser, Cornelia, and Laura Buker. Determinants of Transfer of Training: A Comprehensive Literature Review, p. 40.

Towers Watson. “Clear Direction in a Complex World: How Top Companies Create Clarity, Confidence and Community to Build Sustainable Performance.” Change and Communication ROI Study Report, 2011-2012. Web.

Trudel, Natalie. “Improve Your Coaching Skills by Understanding the Psychology of Feedback.” TLNT, 12 July 2017. Web.

“Understanding When to Give Feedback.” Harvard Business Review, Dec. 2014. Web.

Vacassin, Daniel. “There are no 'good' performance management systems – there are just good line managers.” LinkedIn, 4 Oct. 2016. Web.

van der Locht, Martijn, et al. “Getting the Most of Management Training: The Role of Identical Elements for Training Transfer.” Personnel Review, vol. 42, no. 4, May 2013, pp. 422–39. Crossref, doi:10.1108/PR-05-2011-0072.

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Woolum, Janet, and Brent Stockwell. Aligning Performance Measurement to Mission, Goals, and Strategy Workbook. Arizona State University, Jan. 2016. Web.

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Zenger, Jack, and Joe Folkman. “Feedback: The Leadership Conundrum.” Talent Quarterly: The Feedback Issue, 2015. Web.

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Integrate Threat Intelligence Into Your Security Operations

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  • Parent Category Name: Threat Intelligence & Incident Response
  • Parent Category Link: /threat-intelligence-incident-response
  • Organizations have limited visibility into their threat landscape, and as such are vulnerable to the latest attacks, hindering business practices, workflow, revenue generation, and damaging their public image.
  • Organizations are developing ad hoc intelligence capabilities that result in operational inefficiencies, the misalignment of resources, and the misuse of their security technology investments.
  • It is difficult to communicate the value of a threat intelligence solution when trying to secure organizational buy-in and the appropriate resourcing.
  • There is a vast array of “intelligence” in varying formats, often resulting in information overload.

Our Advice

Critical Insight

  1. Information alone is not actionable. A successful threat intelligence program contextualizes threat data, aligns intelligence with business objectives, and then builds processes to satisfy those objectives.
  2. Your security controls are diminishing in value (if they haven’t already). As technology in the industry evolves, threat actors will inevitably adopt new tools, tactics, and procedures; a threat intelligence program can provide relevant situational awareness to stay on top of the rapidly-evolving threat landscape.
  3. Your organization might not be the final target, but it could be a primary path for attackers. If you exist as a third-party partner to another organization, your responsibility in your technology ecosystem extends beyond your own product/service offerings. Threat intelligence provides visibility into the latest threats, which can help you avoid becoming a backdoor in the next big data breach.

Impact and Result

  • Assess the needs and intelligence requirements of key stakeholders.
  • Garner organizational buy-in from senior management.
  • Identify organizational intelligence gaps and structure your efforts accordingly.
  • Understand the different collection solutions to identify which best supports your needs.
  • Optimize the analysis process by leveraging automation and industry best practices.
  • Establish a comprehensive threat knowledge portal.
  • Define critical threat escalation protocol.
  • Produce and share actionable intelligence with your constituency.
  • Create a deployment strategy to roll out the threat intelligence program.
  • Integrate threat intelligence within your security operations.

Integrate Threat Intelligence Into Your Security Operations Research & Tools

Start here – read the Executive Brief

Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should implement a threat intelligence program, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

1. Plan for a threat intelligence program

Assess current capabilities and define an ideal target state.

  • Integrate Threat Intelligence Into Your Security Operations – Phase 1: Plan for a Threat Intelligence Program
  • Security Pressure Posture Analysis Tool
  • Threat Intelligence Maturity Assessment Tool
  • Threat Intelligence Project Charter Template
  • Threat Intelligence RACI Tool
  • Threat Intelligence Management Plan Template
  • Threat Intelligence Policy Template

2. Design an intelligence collection strategy

Understand the different collection solutions to identify which best supports needs.

  • Integrate Threat Intelligence Into Your Security Operations – Phase 2: Design an Intelligence Collection Strategy
  • Threat Intelligence Prioritization Tool
  • Threat Intelligence RFP MSSP Template

3. Optimize the intelligence analysis process

Begin analyzing and acting on gathered intelligence.

  • Integrate Threat Intelligence Into Your Security Operations – Phase 3: Optimize the Intelligence Analysis Process
  • Threat Intelligence Malware Runbook Template

4. Design a collaboration and feedback program

Stand up an intelligence dissemination program.

  • Integrate Threat Intelligence Into Your Security Operations – Phase 4: Design a Collaboration and Feedback Program
  • Threat Intelligence Alert Template
  • Threat Intelligence Alert and Briefing Cadence Schedule Template
[infographic]

Build an Application Department Strategy

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  • Parent Category Name: Architecture & Strategy
  • Parent Category Link: /architecture-and-strategy
  • Application delivery has modernized. There are increasing expectations on departments to deliver on organizational and product objectives with increasing velocity.
  • Application departments produce many diverse, divergent products, applications, and services with expectations of frequent updates and changes based on rapidly changing landscapes

Our Advice

Critical Insight

  • There is no such thing as a universal “applications department.” Unlike other domains of IT, there are no widely accepted frameworks that clearly outline universal best practices of application delivery and management.
  • Different software needs and delivery orientations demand a tailored structure and set of processes, especially when managing a mixed portfolio or multiple delivery methods.

Impact and Result

Understand what your department’s purpose is through articulating its strategy in three steps:

  • Determining your application department’s values, principles, and orientation.
  • Laying out the goals, objectives, metrics, and priorities of the department.
  • Building a communication plan to communicate your overall department strategy.

Build an Application Department Strategy Research & Tools

Start here – read the Executive Brief

Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should build an application department strategy, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

1. Take stock of who you are

Consider and record your department’s values, principles, orientation, and capabilities.

  • Build an Application Department Strategy – Phase 1: Take Stock of Who You Are
  • Application Department Strategy Supporting Workbook

2. Articulate your strategy

Define your department’s strategy through your understanding of your department combined with everything that you do and are working to do.

  • Build an Application Department Strategy – Phase 2: Articulate Your Strategy
  • Application Department Strategy Template

3. Communicate your strategy

Communicate your department’s strategy to your key stakeholders.

  • Build an Application Department Strategy – Phase 3: Communicate Your Strategy

Infographic

Workshop: Build an Application Department Strategy

Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

1 Take Stock of Who You Are

The Purpose

Understand what makes up your application department beyond the applications and services provided.

Key Benefits Achieved

Articulating your guiding principles, values, capabilities, and orientation provides a foundation for expressing your department strategy.

Activities

1.1 Identify your team’s values and guiding principles.

1.2 Define your department’s orientation.

Outputs

A summary of your department’s values and guiding principles

A clear view of your department’s orientation and supporting capabilities

2 Articulate Your Strategy

The Purpose

Lay out all the details that make up your application department strategy.

Key Benefits Achieved

A completed application department strategy canvas containing everything you need to communicate your strategy.

Activities

2.1 Write your application department vision statement.

2.2 Define your application department goals and metrics.

2.3 Specify your department capabilities and orientation.

2.4 Prioritize what is most important to your department.

Outputs

Your department vision

Your department’s goals and metrics that contribute to achieving your department’s vision

Your department’s capabilities and orientation

A prioritized roadmap for your department

3 Communicate Your Strategy

The Purpose

Lay out your strategy’s communication plan.

Key Benefits Achieved

Your application department strategy presentation ready to be presented to your stakeholders.

Activities

3.1 Identify your stakeholders.

3.2 Develop a communication plan.

3.3 Wrap-up and next steps

Outputs

List of prioritized stakeholders you want to communicate with

A plan for what to communicate to each stakeholder

Communication is only the first step – what comes next?

Embed Privacy and Security Culture Within Your Organization

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  • Parent Category Name: Governance, Risk & Compliance
  • Parent Category Link: /governance-risk-compliance

Engagement with privacy and security within organizations has not kept pace with the increasing demands from regulations. As a result, organizations often find themselves saying they support privacy and security engagement but struggling to create behavioral changes in their staff.

However, with new privacy and security requirements proliferating globally, we can’t help but wonder how much longer we can carry on with this approach.

Our Advice

Critical Insight

To truly take hold, privacy and security engagement must be supported by senior leadership, aligned with business objectives, and embedded within each of the organization’s operating groups and teams.

Impact and Result

  • Develop a defined structure for privacy and security in the context of your organization, your obligations, and your objectives.
  • Align your business goals and strategy with privacy and security to obtain support from your senior leadership team.
  • Identify and implement a set of metrics to monitor the success of each of the six engagement enablers amongst your team.

Embed Privacy and Security Culture Within Your Organization Research & Tools

Start here – read the Executive Brief

Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should develop a culture of privacy and security at your organization, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

1. Define privacy and security in the context of the organization

Use the charter template to document the primary outcomes and objectives for the privacy and security engagement program within the organization and map the organizational structure to each of the respective roles to help develop a culture of privacy and security.

  • Privacy and Security Engagement Charter

2. Map your privacy and security enablers

This tool maps business objectives and key strategic goals to privacy and security objectives and attributes identified as a part of the overall engagement program. Leverage the alignment tool to ensure your organizational groups are mapped to their corresponding enablers and supporting metrics.

  • Privacy and Security Business Alignment Tool

3. Identify and track your engagement indicators

This document maps out the organization’s continued efforts in ensuring employees are engaged with privacy and security principles, promoting a strong culture of privacy and security. Use the playbook to document and present the organization’s custom plan for privacy and security culture.

  • Privacy and Security Engagement Playbook

Infographic

Workshop: Embed Privacy and Security Culture Within Your Organization

Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

1 Determine Drivers and Engagement Objectives

The Purpose

Understand the current privacy and security landscape in the organization.

Key Benefits Achieved

Targeted set of drivers from both a privacy and security perspective

Activities

1.1 Discuss key drivers for a privacy and security engagement program.

1.2 Identify privacy requirements and objectives.

1.3 Identify security requirements and objectives.

1.4 Review the business context.

Outputs

Understanding of the role and requirements of privacy and security in the organization

Privacy drivers and objectives

Security drivers and objectives

Privacy and security engagement program objectives

2 Align Privacy and Security With the Business

The Purpose

Ensure that your privacy and security engagement program is positioned to obtain the buy-in it needs through business alignment.

Key Benefits Achieved

Direct mappings between a culture of privacy and security and the organization’s strategic and business objectives

Activities

2.1 Review the IT/InfoSec strategy with IT and the InfoSec team and map to business objectives.

2.2 Review the privacy program and privacy strategic direction with the Privacy/Legal/Compliance team and map to business objectives.

2.3 Define the four organizational groupings and map to the organization’s structure.

Outputs

Privacy and security objectives mapped to business strategic goals

Mapped organizational structure to Info-Tech’s organizational groups

Framework for privacy and security engagement program

Initial mapping assessment within Privacy and Security Business Alignment Tool

3 Map Privacy and Security Enablers to Organizational Groups

The Purpose

Make your engagement plan tactical with a set of enablers mapped to each of the organizational groups and privacy and security objectives.

Key Benefits Achieved

Measurable indicators through the use of targeted enablers that customize the organization’s approach to privacy and security culture

Activities

3.1 Define the privacy enablers.

3.2 Define the security enablers.

3.3 Map the privacy and security enablers to organizational structure.

3.4 Revise and complete Privacy and Security Business Alignment Tool inputs.

Outputs

Completed Privacy and Security Engagement Charter.

Completed Privacy and Security Business Alignment Tool.

4 Identify and Select KPIs and Metrics

The Purpose

Ensure that metrics are established to report on what the business wants to see and what security and privacy teams have planned for.

Key Benefits Achieved

End-to-end, comprehensive program that ensures continued employee engagement with privacy and security at all levels of the organization.

Activities

4.1 Segment KPIs and metrics based on categories or business, technical, and behavioral.

4.2 Select KPIs and metrics for tracking privacy and security engagement.

4.3 Assign ownership over KPI and metric tracking and monitoring.

4.4 Determine reporting cadence and monitoring.

Outputs

KPIs and metrics identified at a business, technical, and behavioral level for employees for continued growth

Completed Privacy and Security Engagement Playbook

Avoid Project Management Pitfalls

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  • Parent Category Name: Program & Project Management
  • Parent Category Link: /program-and-project-management
  • IT organizations seem to do everything in projects, yet fewer than 15% successfully complete all deliverables on time and on budget.
  • Project managers seem to succumb to the relentless pressure from stakeholders to deliver more, more quickly, with fewer resources, and with less support than is ideal.
  • To achieve greater likelihood that your project will stay on track, watch out for the four big pitfalls: scope creep, failure to obtain stakeholder commitment, inability to assemble a team, and failure to plan.

Our Advice

Critical Insight

  • While many project managers worry about proper planning as the key to project success, skilled management of the political factors around a project has a much greater impact on success.
  • Alone, combating scope creep can improve your likelihood of success by a factor of 2x.
  • A strong project sponsor will be key to fighting the inevitable battles to control scope and obtain resources.

Impact and Result

  • Take steps to avoid falling into common project pitfalls.
  • Assess which pitfalls threaten your project in its current state and take appropriate steps to avoid falling into them.
  • Avoiding pitfalls will allow you to deliver value on time and on budget, creating the perception of success in users’ and managers’ eyes.

Avoid Project Management Pitfalls Research & Tools

Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

1. Learn about common PM pitfalls and the strategies to avoid them

Consistently meet project goals through enhanced PM knowledge and awareness.

  • Storyboard: Avoid Project Management Pitfalls
  • None

2. Detect project pitfalls

Take action and mitigate a pitfall before it becomes a problem.

  • Project Pitfall Detection & Mitigation Tool

3. Document and report PM issues

Learn from issues encountered to help map PM strategies for future projects.

  • Project Management Pitfalls Issue Log
[infographic]

Explore the Secrets of IBM Software Contracts to Optimize Spend and Reduce Compliance Risk

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  • Parent Category Name: Licensing
  • Parent Category Link: /licensing
  • IBM customers want to make effective use of their paid-up licenses to avoid overspending and stay compliant with agreements.
  • Each IBM software product is subject to different rules.
  • Clients control and have responsibility for aligning usage and payments. Over time, the usage of the software may be out of sync with what the client has paid for, resulting in either overspending or violation of the licensing agreement.
  • IBM audits software usage in order to generate revenue from non-compliant customers.

Our Advice

Critical Insight

  • You have a lot of work to do if you haven’t been paying attention to your IBM software.
  • Focus on needs first. Conduct and document a thorough requirements assessment. Well-documented needs will be your core asset in negotiation.
  • Know what’s in IBM’s terms and conditions. Failure to understand these can lead to major penalties after an audit.
  • Review your agreements and entitlements quarterly. IBM may have changed the rules, and you have almost certainly changed your usage.

Impact and Result

  • Establish clear licensing requirements.
  • Maintain an effective process for managing your IBM license usage and compliance.
  • Identify any cost-reduction opportunities.
  • Prepare for penalty-free IBM audits.

Explore the Secrets of IBM Software Contracts to Optimize Spend and Reduce Compliance Risk Research & Tools

Start here – read the Executive Brief

Read this Executive Brief to understand why you need to invest effort in managing usage and licensing of your IBM software.

Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

1. Review terms and conditions for your IT contract

Use Info-Tech’s licensing best practices to avoid the common mistakes of overspending on IBM licensing or failing an IBM audit.

  • IBM Passport Advantage Software RFQ Template
  • IBM 3-Year Bundled Price Analysis Tool
[infographic]

Develop a Business Continuity Plan

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  • Parent Category Name: DR and Business Continuity
  • Parent Category Link: /business-continuity
  • Recent crises have increased executive awareness and internal pressure to create a business continuity plan (BCP).
  • Industry and government-driven regulations require evidence of sound business continuity practices.
  • Customers demand their vendors provide evidence of a workable BCP prior to signing a contract.
  • IT leaders, because of their cross-functional view and experience with incident management and DR, are often asked to lead BCP efforts.

Our Advice

Critical Insight

  • BCP requires input from multiple departments with different and sometimes conflicting objectives. There are typically few, if any, dedicated resources for BCP, so it can't be a full-time, resource-intensive project.
  • As an IT leader you have the skill set and organizational knowledge to lead a BCP project, but ultimately business leaders need to own the BCP – they know their processes, and therefore, their requirements to resume business operations better than anyone else.
  • The traditional approach to BCP is a massive project that most organizations can’t execute without hiring a consultant. To execute BCP in-house, carve up the task into manageable pieces as outlined in this blueprint.

Impact and Result

  • Implement a structured and repeatable process that you apply to one business unit at a time to keep BCP planning efforts manageable.
  • Use the results of the pilot to identify gaps in your recovery plans and reduce overall continuity risk while continuing to assess specific risks as you repeat the process with additional business units.
  • Enable business leaders to own the BCP going forward. Develop a template that the rest of the organization can use.
  • Leverage BCP outcomes to refine IT DRP recovery objectives and achieve DRP-BCP alignment.

Develop a Business Continuity Plan Research & Tools

Start here – read the Executive Brief

Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should develop a business continuity plan, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

1. Identify BCP maturity and document process dependencies

Assess current maturity, establish a team, and choose a pilot business unit. Identify business processes, dependencies, and alternatives.

  • BCP Maturity Scorecard
  • BCP Pilot Project Charter Template
  • BCP Business Process Workflows Example (Visio)
  • BCP Business Process Workflows Example (PDF)

2. Conduct a BIA to determine acceptable RTOs and RPOs

Define an objective impact scoring scale, estimate the impact of downtime, and set recovery targets.

  • BCP Business Impact Analysis Tool

3. Document the recovery workflow and projects to close gaps

Build a workflow of the current steps for business recovery. Identify gaps and risks to recovery. Brainstorm and prioritize solutions to address gaps and mitigate risks.

  • BCP Tabletop Planning Template (Visio)
  • BCP Tabletop Planning Template (PDF)
  • BCP Project Roadmap Tool
  • BCP Relocation Checklists

4. Extend the results of the pilot BCP and implement governance

Present pilot project results and next steps. Create BCMS teams. Update and maintain BCMS documentation.

  • BCP Pilot Results Presentation
  • BCP Summary
  • Business Continuity Teams and Roles Tool

5. Appendix: Additional BCP tools and templates

Use these tools and templates to assist in the creation of your BCP.

  • BCP Recovery Workflow Example (Visio)
  • BCP Recovery Workflow Example (PDF)
  • BCP Notification, Assessment, and Disaster Declaration Plan
  • BCP Business Process Workarounds and Recovery Checklists
  • Business Continuity Management Policy
  • Business Unit BCP Prioritization Tool
  • Industry-Specific BIA Guidelines
  • BCP-DRP Maintenance Checklist
  • Develop a COVID-19 Pandemic Response Plan Storyboard
[infographic]

Workshop: Develop a Business Continuity Plan

Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

1 Define BCP Scope, Objectives, and Stakeholders

The Purpose

Define BCP scope, objectives, and stakeholders.

Key Benefits Achieved

Prioritize BCP efforts and level-set scope with key stakeholders.

Activities

1.1 Assess current BCP maturity.

1.2 Identify key business processes to include in scope.

1.3 Flowchart key business processes to identify business processes, dependencies, and alternatives.

Outputs

BCP Maturity Scorecard: measure progress and identify gaps.

Business process flowcharts: review, optimize, and allow for knowledge transfer of processes.

Identify workarounds for common disruptions to day-to-day continuity.

2 Define RTOs and RPOs Based on Your BIA

The Purpose

Define RTOs and RPOs based on your BIA.

Key Benefits Achieved

Set recovery targets based business impact, and illustrate the importance of BCP efforts via the impact of downtime.

Activities

2.1 Define an objective scoring scale to indicate different levels of impact.

2.2 Estimate the impact of downtime.

2.3 Determine acceptable RTO/RPO targets for business processes based on business impact.

Outputs

BCP Business Impact Analysis: objective scoring scale to assess cost, goodwill, compliance, and safety impacts.

Apply the scoring scale to estimate the impact of downtime on business processes.

Acceptable RTOs/RPOs to dictate recovery strategy.

3 Create a Recovery Workflow

The Purpose

Create a recovery workflow.

Key Benefits Achieved

Build an actionable, high-level, recovery workflow that can be adapted to a variety of different scenarios.

Activities

3.1 Conduct a tabletop exercise to determine current recovery procedures.

3.2 Identify and prioritize projects to close gaps and mitigate recovery risks.

3.3 Evaluate options for command centers and alternate business locations (i.e. BC site).

Outputs

Recovery flow diagram – current and future state

Identify gaps and recovery risks.

Create a project roadmap to close gaps.

Evaluate requirements for alternate business sites.

4 Extend the Results of the Pilot BCP and Implement Governance

The Purpose

Extend the results of the pilot BCP and implement governance.

Key Benefits Achieved

Outline the actions required for the rest of your BCMS, and the required effort to complete those actions, based on the results of the pilot.

Activities

4.1 Summarize the accomplishments and required next steps to create an overall BCP.

4.2 Identify required BCM roles.

4.3 Create a plan to update and maintain your overall BCP.

Outputs

Pilot BCP Executive Presentation

Business Continuity Team Roles & Responsibilities

3. Maintenance plan and BCP templates to complete the relevant documentation (BC Policy, BCP Action Items, Recovery Workflow, etc.)

Further reading

Develop a Business Continuity Plan

Streamline the traditional approach to make BCP development manageable and repeatable.

Analyst Perspective

A BCP touches every aspect of your organization, making it potentially the most complex project you’ll take on. Streamline this effort or you won’t get far.

None of us needs to look very far to find a reason to have an effective business continuity plan.

From pandemics to natural disasters to supply chain disruptions to IT outages, there’s no shortage of events that can disrupt your complex and interconnected business processes. How in the world can anyone build a plan to address all these threats?

Don’t try to boil the ocean. Use these tactics to streamline your BCP project and stay on track:

  • Focus on one business unit at a time. Keep the effort manageable, establish a repeatable process, and produce deliverables that provide a starting point for the rest of the organization.
  • Don’t start with an extensive risk analysis. It takes too long and at the end you’ll still need a plan to resume business operations following a disruption. Rather than trying to predict what could cause a disruption, focus on how to recover.
  • Keep your BCP documentation concise. Use flowcharts, checklists, and diagrams instead of traditional manuals.

No one can predict every possible disruption, but by following the guidance in this blueprint, you can build a flexible continuity plan that allows you to withstand the threats your organization may face.

Frank Trovato

Research Director,
IT Infrastructure & Operations Practice
Info-Tech Research Group

Andrew Sharp

Senior Research Analyst,
IT Infrastructure & Operations Practice
Info-Tech Research Group

Executive Summary

Your Challenge

  • Recent crises have increased executive awareness and internal pressure to create a BCP.
  • Industry- and government-driven regulations require evidence of sound business continuity practices.
  • Customers demand their vendors provide evidence of a workable BCP prior to signing a contract.

IT leaders, because of their cross-functional view and experience with incident management and DR, are often asked to lead BCP efforts.

Common Obstacles

  • IT managers asked to lead BCP efforts are dealing with processes and requirements beyond IT and outside of their control.
  • BCP requires input from multiple departments with different and sometimes conflicting objectives.
  • Typically there are few, if any, dedicated resources for BCP, so it can't be a full-time, resource-intensive project.

Info-Tech’s Approach

  • Focus on implementing a structured and repeatable process that can be applied to one business unit at a time to avoid BCP from becoming an overwhelming project.
  • Enable business leaders to own the BCP going forward by establishing a template that the rest of the organization can follow.
  • Leverage BCP outcomes to refine IT DRP recovery objectives and achieve DRP-BCP alignment.

Info-Tech Insight

As an IT leader you have the skill set and organizational knowledge to lead a BCP project, but you must enable business leaders to own their department’s BCP practices and outputs. They know their processes and, therefore, their requirements to resume business operations better than anyone else.

Use this research to create business unit BCPs and structure your overall BCP

A business continuity plan (BCP) consists of separate but related sub-plans, as illustrated below. This blueprint enables you to:

  • Develop a BCP for a selected business unit (as a pilot project), and thereby establish a methodology that can be repeated for remaining business units.
  • Through the BCP process, clarify requirements for an IT disaster recovery plan (DRP). Refer to Info-Tech’s Disaster Recovery Planning workshop for instructions on how to create an IT DRP.
  • Implement ongoing business continuity management to govern BCP, DRP, and crisis management.

Overall Business Continuity Plan

IT Disaster Recovery Plan

A plan to restore IT application and infrastructure services following a disruption.

Info-Tech’s disaster recovery planning blueprint provides a methodology for creating the IT DRP. Leverage this blueprint to validate and provide inputs for your IT DRP.

BCP for Each Business Unit

A set of plans to resume business processes for each business unit. This includes:

  • Identifying business processes and dependencies.
  • Defining an acceptable recovery timeline based on a business impact analysis.
  • Creating a step-by-step recovery workflow.

Crisis Management Plan

A plan to manage a wide range of crises, from health and safety incidents to business disruptions to reputational damage.

Info-Tech’s Implement Crisis Management Best Practices blueprint provides a framework for planning a response to any crisis, from health and safety incidents to reputational damage.

IT leaders asked to develop a BCP should start with an IT Disaster Recovery Plan

It’s a business continuity plan. Why should you start continuity planning with IT?

  1. IT services are a critical dependency for most business processes. Creating an IT DRP helps you mitigate a key risk to continuity quicker than it takes to complete your overall BCP, and you can then focus on other dependencies such as people, facilities, and suppliers.
  2. A BCP requires workarounds for IT failures. But it’s difficult to plan workarounds without a clear understanding of the potential IT downtime and data loss. Your DRP will answer those questions, and without a DRP, BCP discussions can get bogged down in IT discussions. Think of payroll as an example: if downtime might be 24 hours, the business might simply wait for recovery; if downtime might be a week, waiting it out is not an option.
  3. As an IT manager, you can develop an IT DRP primarily with resources within your control. That makes it an easier starting point and puts IT in a better position to shift responsibility for BCP to business leaders (where it should reside) since essentially the IT portion is done.

Create a Right-Sized Disaster Recovery Plan today.

Modernize the BCP

If your BCP relies heavily on paper-based processes as workarounds, it’s time to update your plan.

Back when transactions were recorded on paper and then keyed into the mainframe system later, it was easier to revert to deskside processes. There is very little in the way of paper-based processes anymore, and as a result, it is increasingly difficult to resume business processes without IT.

Think about your own organization. What IT system(s) are absolutely critical to business operations? While you might be able to continue doing business without IT, this requires regular preparation and training. It’s likely a completely offline process and won’t be a viable workaround for long even if staff know how to do the work. If your data center and core systems are down, technology-enabled workarounds (such as collaboration via mobile technologies or cloud-based solutions) could help you weather the outage, and may be more flexible and adaptable for day-to-day work.

The bottom line:

Technology is a critical dependency for business processes. Consider the role IT systems play as process dependencies and as workarounds as part of continuity planning.

Info-Tech’s approach

The traditional approach to BCP takes too long and produces a plan that is difficult to use and maintain.

The Problem: You need to create a BCP, but don’t know where to start.

  • BCP is being demanded more and more to comply with regulations, mitigate business risk, meet customer demands, and obtain insurance.
  • IT leaders are often asked to lead BCP.

The Complication: A traditional BCP process takes longer to show value.

  • Traditional consultants don’t usually have an incentive to accelerate the process.
  • At the same time, self-directed projects with no defined process go months without producing useful deliverables.
  • The result is a dense manual that checks boxes but isn’t maintainable or usable in a crisis.

A pie chart is separated into three segments, Internal Mandates 43%, Customer Demands 23%, and Regulatory Requirements 34%. The bottom of the image reads Source: Info-Tech Research Group.

The Info-Tech difference:

Use Info-Tech’s methodology to right-size and streamline the process.

  • Reduce required effort. Keep the work manageable and maintain momentum by focusing on one business unit at a time; allow that unit to own their BCP.
  • Prioritize your effort. Evaluate the current state of your BCP to identify the steps that are most in need of attention.
  • Get valuable results faster. Functional deliverables and insights from the first business unit’s BCP can be leveraged by the entire organization (e.g. communication, assessment, and BC site strategies).

Expedite BCP development

Info-Tech’s Approach to BCP:

  • Start with one critical business unit to manage scope, establish a repeatable process, and generate deliverables that become a template for remaining business units.
  • Resolve critical gaps as you identify them, generating early value and risk mitigation.
  • Create concise, practical documentation to support recovery.

Embed training and awareness throughout the planning process.

BCP for Business Unit A:

Scope → Pilot BIA → Response Plan → Gap Analysis

→ Lessons Learned:

  • Leverage early results to establish a BCM framework.
  • Take action to resolve critical gaps as they are identified.
  • BCP for Business Units B through N.
  • Scope→BIA→Response Plan→Gap Analysis

= Ongoing governance, testing, maintenance, improvement, awareness, and training.

By comparison, a traditional BCP approach takes much longer to mitigate risk:

  • An extensive, upfront commitment of time and resources before defining incident response plans and mitigating risk.
  • A “big bang” approach that makes it difficult to predict the required resourcing and timelines for the project.

Organizational Risk Assessment and Business Impact Analysis → Solution Design to Achieve Recovery Objectives → Create and Validate Response Plans

Case Study

Continuity Planning Supports COVID-19 Response

Industry: Non-Profit
Source: Info-Tech Advisory Services

A charitable foundation for a major state university engaged Info-Tech to support the creation of their business continuity plan.

With support from Info-Tech analysts and the tools in this blueprint, they worked with their business unit stakeholders to identify recovery objectives, confirm recovery capabilities and business process workarounds, and address gaps in their continuity plans.

Results

The outcome wasn’t a pandemic plan – it was a continuity plan that was applicable to pandemics. And it worked. Business processes were prioritized, gaps in work-from-home and business process workarounds had been identified and addressed, business leaders owned their plan and understood their role in it, and IT had clear requirements that they were able and ready to support.

“The work you did here with us was beyond valuable! I wish I could actually explain how ready we really were for this…while not necessarily for a pandemic, we were ready to spring into action, set things up, the priorities were established, and most importantly some of the changes we’ve made over the past few years helped beyond words! The fact that the groups had talked about this previously almost made what we had to do easy.“ -- VP IT Infrastructure

Download the BCP Case Study

Project Overview: BCP

Phases Phase 1: Identify BCP Maturity and Document Process Dependencies Phase 2: Conduct a BIA to Determine Acceptable RTOs and RPOs Phase 3: Document the Recovery Workflow and Projects to Close Gaps Phase 4: Extend the Results of the Pilot BCP and Implement Governance
Steps 1.1 Assess current BCP maturity 2.1 Define an objective impact scoring scale 3.1 Determine current recovery procedures 4.1 Consolidate BCP pilot insights to support an overall BCP project plan
1.2 Establish the pilot BCP team 2.2 Estimate the impact of downtime 3.2 Identify and prioritize projects to close gaps 4.2 Outline a business continuity management (BCM) program
1.3 Identify business processes, dependencies, and alternatives 2.3 Determine acceptable RTO/RPO targets 3.3 Evaluate BC site and command center options 4.3 Test and maintain your BCP
Tools and Templates

BCP Business Impact Analysis Tool

Results Presentation

BCP Maturity Scorecard

Tabletop Planning Template

BCP Summary

Pilot Project Charter

Recovery Workflow Examples

Business Continuity Teams and Roles

Business Process Workflows Examples

BCP Project Roadmap

Blueprint deliverables

Each step of this blueprint is accompanied by supporting deliverables to help you accomplish your goals:

BCP Business Impact Analysis Tool: Conduct and document a business impact analysis using this document.

BCP Recovery Workflows Example: Model your own recovery workflows on this example.

BCP Project Roadmap: Use this tool to prioritize projects that can improve BCP capabilities and mitigate gaps and risks.

BCP Relocation Checklists: Plan for and manage a site relocation – whether to an alternate site or work from home.

Key deliverable:

BCP Summary Document

Summarize your organization's continuity capabilities and objectives in a 15-page, easy-to-consume template.

This document consolidates data from the supporting documentation and tools to the right.

Download Info-Tech’s BCP Summary Document

Insight summary

Focus less on risk, and more on recovery

Avoid focusing on risk and probability analysis to drive your continuity strategy. You never know what might disrupt your business, so develop a flexible plan to enable business resumption regardless of the event.

Small teams = good pilots

Choose a small team for your BCP pilot. Small teams are better at trialing new techniques and finding new ways to think about problems.

Calculate downtime impact

Develop and apply a scoring scale to develop a more-objective assessment of downtime impact for the organization. This will help you prioritize recovery.

It’s not no, but rather not now…

You can’t address all the organization’s continuity challenges at once. Prioritize high value, low effort initiatives and create a long-term roadmap for the rest.

Show Value Now

Get to value quickly. Start with one business unit with continuity challenges, and a small, focused project team who can rapidly learn the methodology, identify continuity gaps, and define solutions that can also be leveraged by other departments right away.

Lightweight Testing Exercises

Outline recovery capabilities using lightweight, low risk tabletop planning exercises. Our research shows tabletop exercises increase confidence in recovery capabilities almost as much as live exercises, which carry much higher costs and risks.

Blueprint benefits

Demonstrate compliance with demands from regulators and customers

  • Develop a plan that satisfies auditors, customers, and insurance providers who demand proof of a continuity plan.
  • Demonstrate commitment to resilience by identifying gaps in current capabilities and projects to overcome those gaps.
  • Empower business users to develop their plans and perform regular maintenance to ensure plans don’t go stale.
  • Establish a culture of business readiness and resilience.

Leverage your BCP to drive value (Business Benefits)

  • Enable flexible, mobile, and adaptable business operations that can overcome disruptions large and small. This includes making it easier to work remotely in response to pandemics or facility disruptions.
  • Clarify the risk of the status quo to business leaders so they can make informed decisions on where to invest in business continuity.
  • Demonstrate to customers your ability to overcome disruptions and continue to deliver your services.

Info-Tech Advisory Services lead to Measurable Value

Info-Tech members told us they save an average of $44,522 and 23 days by working with an Info-Tech analyst on BCP (source: client response data from Info-Tech's Measured Value Survey).

Why do members report value from analyst engagement?

  1. Expert advice on your specific situation to overcome obstacles and speed bumps.
  2. Structure the project and stay on track.
  3. Review project deliverables and ensure the process is applied properly.

Info-Tech offers various levels of support to best suit your needs

DIY Toolkit

"Our team has already made this critical project a priority, and we have the time and capability, but some guidance along the way would be helpful."

Guided Implementation

“Our team knows that we need to fix a process, but we need assistance to determine where to focus. Some check-ins along the way would help keep us on track.”

Workshop

“We need to hit the ground running and get this project kicked off immediately. Our team has the ability to take this over once we get a framework and strategy in place.”

Consulting

“Our team does not have the time or the knowledge to take this project on. We need assistance through the entirety of this project.”

Diagnostic and consistent frameworks are used throughout all four options.

Guided Implementation

Your Trusted Advisor is a call away.

A Guided Implementation (GI) is series of calls with an Info-Tech analyst to help implement our best practices in your organization.

A typical GI is between eight to twelve calls over the course of four to six months.

Scoping

Call 1: Scope requirements, objectives, and stakeholders. Identify a pilot BCP project.

Business Processes and Dependencies

Calls 2 - 4: Assess current BCP maturity. Create business process workflows, dependencies, alternates, and workarounds.

Conduct a BIA

Calls 5 – 7: Create an impact scoring scale and conduct a BIA. Identify acceptable RTO and RPO.

Recovery Workflow

Calls 8 – 9: Create a recovery workflow based on tabletop planning.

Documentation & BCP Framework

Call 10: Summarize the pilot results and plan next steps. Define roles and responsibilities. Make the case for a wider BCP program.

Workshop Overview

Contact your account representative for more information.

workshops@infotech.com | 1-888-670-8889

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5
Identify BCP Maturity, Key Processes, and Dependencies Conduct a BIA to Determine Acceptable RTOs and RPOs Document the Current Recovery Workflow and Projects to Close Gaps Identify Remaining BCP Documentation and Next Steps Next Steps and Wrap-Up (offsite)
Activities

1.1 Assess current BCP maturity.

1.2 Identify key business processes to include in scope.

1.3 Create a flowchart for key business processes to identify business processes, dependencies, and alternatives.

2.1 Define an objective scoring scale to indicate different levels of impact.

2.2 Estimate the impact of a business disruption on cost, goodwill, compliance, and health & safety.

2.3 Determine acceptable RTOs/RPOs for selected business processes based on business impact.

3.1 Review tabletop planning – what is it, how is it done?

3.2 Walk through a business disruption scenario to determine your current recovery timeline, RTO/RPO gaps, and risks to your ability to resume business operations.

3.3 Identify and prioritize projects to close RTO/RPO gaps and mitigate recovery risks.

4.1 Assign business continuity management (BCM) roles to govern BCP development and maintenance, as well as roles required to execute recovery.

4.2 Identify remaining documentation required for the pilot business unit and how to leverage the results to repeat the methodology for remaining business units.

4.3 Workshop review and wrap-up.

5.1 Finalize deliverables for the workshop.

5.2 Set up review time for workshop outputs and to discuss next steps.

Deliverables
  1. Baseline BCP maturity status
  2. Business process flowcharts
  3. Business process dependencies and alternatives recorded in the BIA tool
  1. Potential impact of a business disruption quantified for selected business processes.
  2. Business processes criticality and recovery priority defined
  3. Acceptable RTOs/RPOs defined based on business impact
  1. Current-state recovery workflow and timeline.
  2. RTO/RPO gaps identified.
  3. BCP project roadmap to close gaps
  1. BCM roles and responsibilities defined
  2. Workshop results deck; use this to communicate pilot results and next steps
  1. Finalized deliverables

Phase 1

Identify BCP Maturity and Document Process Dependencies

Phase 1

1.1 Assess Current BCP Maturity

1.2 Establish the pilot BCP team

1.3 Identify business processes, dependencies, and alternatives

Insights & Outcomes

Define the scope for the BCP project: assess the current state of the plan, create a pilot project team and pilot project charter, and map the business processes that will be the focus of the pilot.

Participants

  • BCP Coordinator
  • BCP Executive Sponsor
  • Pilot Business Unit Manager & Process SMEs

Step 1.1

Assess current BCP Maturity

This step will walk you through the following activities:

  • Complete Info-Tech’s BCP Maturity Scorecard

This step involves the following participants:

  • Executive Sponsor
  • BCP Coordinator

You'll use the following tools & templates:

Outcomes & Insights

Establish current BCP maturity using Info-Tech’s ISO 22301-aligned BCP Maturity Scorecard.

Evaluate the current state of your continuity plan

Use Info-Tech’s Maturity Scorecard to structure and accelerate a BCP maturity assessment.

Conduct a maturity assessment to:

  • Create a baseline metric so you can measure progress over time. This metric can also drive buy-in from senior management to invest time and effort into your BCP.
  • Understand the scope of work to create a complete business continuity plan.
  • Measure your progress and remaining gaps by updating your assessment once you’ve completed the activities in this blueprint.

This blueprint primarily addresses the first four sections in the scorecard, which align with the creation of the core components of your business continuity plan.

Info-Tech’s BCP Maturity Scorecard

Info-Tech’s maturity scorecard is aligned with ISO 22301, the international standard that describes the key elements of a functioning business continuity management system or program – the overarching set of documents, practices, and controls that support the ongoing creation and maintenance of your BCP. A fully functional BCMS goes beyond business continuity planning to include crisis management, BCP testing, and documentation management.

Audit tools tend to treat every bullet point in ISO 22301 as a separate requirement – which means there’s almost 400 lines to assess. Info-Tech’s BCP Maturity Scorecard has synthesized key requirements, minimizing repetition to create a high-level self-assessment aligned with the standard.

A high score is a good indicator of likely success with an audit.

Download Info-Tech's BCP Maturity Scorecard

Tool: BCP Maturity Scorecard

Assess your organization’s BCP capabilities.

Use Info-Tech’s BCP Maturity Scorecard to:

  • Assess the overall completeness of your existing BCP.
  • Track and demonstrate progress towards completion as you work through successive planning iterations with additional business units.
  1. Download a copy of the BCP Maturity Scorecard. On tab 1, indicate the percent completeness for each item using a 0-10 scale (0 = 0% complete, 10 = 100% complete).
  2. If you anticipate improvements in a certain area, make note of it in the “Comments” column.
  3. Review a visual representation of your overall scores on tab 2.

Download Info-Tech's BCP Maturity Scorecard

"The fact that this aligns with ISO is huge." - Dr. Bernard Jones MBCI, CBCP

Step 1.2

Establish the pilot BCP team

This step will walk you through the following activities:

  • Assign accountability, responsibility, and roles.
  • Develop a project charter.
  • Identify dependencies and alternates for those dependencies.

This step involves the following participants:

  • Executive Sponsor
  • BCP Coordinator

In this step, you’ll use these tools and templates:

Outcomes & Insights

Assign roles and responsibilities for the BCP pilot project. Set milestones and timelines for the pilot.

Take a pilot approach for BCP

Limit the scope of an initial BCP project to get to value faster.

Pilot Project Goals

  • Establish a repeatable methodology that fits your organization and will accelerate BCP development, with tangible deliverables that provide a template for the rest of the business.
  • Identify high-priority business continuity gaps for the pilot business unit, many of which will also apply to the overall organization.
  • Identify initiatives to start addressing gaps now.
  • Enable business users to learn the BCP methodology and toolset so they can own and maintain their business unit BCPs.

Accomplishments expected:

  • Define key business processes and process dependencies, and alternatives if dependencies are not available.
  • Classify key business processes by criticality for one business unit, using an objective impact scoring scale.
  • Set recovery objectives for these key processes.
  • Document workarounds and recovery plans.
  • Identify gaps in recovery plans and list action items to mitigate risks.
  • Develop a project plan to structure a larger continuity project.

What not to expect from a pilot project:

  • A complete organizational BCP (the pilot is a strong starting point).
  • Implemented solutions to all BCP gaps (proposed solutions will need to be evaluated first).

Structure IT’s role in continuity planning

Clearly define IT’s role in the pilot BCP project to deliver a successful result that enables business units to own BCP in the future.

Though IT is a critical dependency for most processes, IT shouldn’t own the business continuity plan. IT should be an internal BCP process consultant, and each business unit must own their plan.

IT should be an internal BCP consultant.

  • IT departments interact with all business units, which gives IT leaders at least a high-level understanding of business operations across the organization.
  • IT leaders typically also have at least some knowledge of disaster recovery, which provides a foundation for tackling BCP.
  • By contrast, business leaders often have little or no experience with disaster recovery, and don’t have the same level of experience as IT when it comes to working with other business units.

Why shouldn’t IT own the plan?

  • Business unit managers have the authority to direct resources in their department to participate in the BCP process.
  • Business users are the experts in their processes, and are in the best position to identify dependencies, downtime impacts, recovery objectives, and viable solutions (e.g., acceptable alternate sites or process workarounds).
  • Ultimately, business unit managers and executives must decide whether to mitigate, accept, or transfer risks.

Info-Tech Insight

A goal of the pilot is to seed success for further planning exercises. This is as much about demonstrating the value of continuity planning to the business unit, and enabling them to own it, as it is about implementing the methodology successfully.

Create a RACI matrix for the pilot

Assemble a small, focused team for the pilot project empowered to discover, report, and present possible solutions to continuity planning challenges in your organization.

Outline roles and responsibilities on the pilot team using a “RACI” exercise. Remember, only one party can be ultimately accountable for the work being completed.

Example Pilot BCP Project RACI

Board Executive Team BCP Executive Sponsor BCP Team Leader BCP Coordinator Pilot Bus. Unit Manager Expert Bus. Unit Staff IT Manager
Communicate BCP project status I I I A R C C I
Assign resources to pilot BCP project A R C R C R
Conduct continuity planning activities I A/R R R R R
Create pilot BCP deliverables I A R R C C C
Manage BCP documentation I A C R I C C
Integrate results into BCMS I I A R R I C C
Create overall BCP project plan I I A R C C

R: Responsible for doing the work.

A: Accountable to ensure the activity/work happens.

C: Consulted prior to decision or action.

I: Informed of the decision/action once it’s made.

"Large teams excel at solving problems, but it is small teams that are more likely to come up with new problems for their more sizable counterparts to solve." – Wang & Evans, 2019

Info-Tech Insight

Small teams tend to be better at trialing new techniques and finding new ways to think about problems, both of which are needed for a BCP pilot project.

Choose one business unit for the pilot

Many organizations begin their BCP project with a target business unit in mind. It’s still worth establishing whether this business unit meets the criteria below.

Good candidates for a pilot project:

  • Business processes are standardized and documented.
  • Management and staff are motivated to improve business continuity.
  • The business unit is sufficiently well resourced to spare time (e.g. a few hours a week) to dedicate to the BCP process.
  • If the business unit doesn’t meet these criteria, consider addressing shortfalls before the pilot (e.g. via stakeholder management or business process analysis) or selecting another unit.
  • Many of the decisions will ultimately require input and support from the business unit’s manager(s). It is critical that they are bought into and engaged with the project.
  • The leader of the first business unit will be a champion for BCP within the executive team.
  • Sometimes, there’s no clear place to start. If this is the case for you, consider using Info-Tech’s Business Unit BCP Prioritization Tool to determine the order in which business units should undergo BCP development.

Create role descriptions for the pilot project

Use these role descriptions and your RACI chart to define roles for the pilot.

These short descriptions establish the functions, expectations, and responsibilities of each role at a more granular level.

The Board and executives have an outsized influence on the speed at which the project can be completed. Ensure that communication with these stakeholders is clear and concise. Avoid involving them directly in activities and deliverable creation, unless it’s required by their role (e.g. as a business unit manager).

Project Role Description
Board & Executive Team
  • Will receive project status updates but are not directly involved in deliverable creation.
Executive Sponsor
  • Liaison with the executive team.
  • Accountable to ensure the pilot BCP is completed.
  • Set project goals and approve resource allocation and funding.
Pilot Business Unit Manager
  • Drive the project and assign required resources.
  • Delegate day-to-day project management tasks to the BCP Coordinator.
BCP Coordinator
  • Function as the project manager. This includes scheduling activities, coordinating resources, reporting progress, and managing deliverables.
  • Learn and apply the BCP methodology to achieve project goals.
Expert Business Unit Staff
  • Pilot business unit process experts to assist with BCP development for that business unit.
IT Manager
  • Provide guidance on IT capabilities and recovery options.
Other Business Unit Managers
  • Consulted to validate or provide input to the business impact analysis and RTOs/RPOs.

Identify a suitable BCP Coordinator

A skilled and committed coordinator is critical to building an effective and durable BCP.

  • Coordinating the BC planning effort requires a perspective that’s informed by IT, but goes beyond IT.
  • For example, many IT professionals only see business processes where they intersect with IT. The BCP Coordinator needs to be able to ask the right questions to help the business units think through dependencies for critical processes.
  • Business analysts can thrive in this role, which requires someone effective at dissecting business processes, working with business users, identifying requirements, and managing large projects.

Structure the role of the BCP Coordinator

The BCP Coordinator works with the pilot business unit as well as remaining business units to provide continuity and resolve discrepancies as they come up between business units.

Specifically, this role includes:

  • Project management tasks (e.g. scheduling, assigning tasks, coordinating resources, and reporting progress).
  • Learning the BCP methodology (through the pilot) so that this person can lead remaining business units through their BCP process. This enables the IT leader who had been assigned to guide BCP development to step back into a more appropriate consulting role.
  • Managing the BCP workflow.

"We found it necessary to have the same person work with each business unit to pass along lessons learned and resolve contingency planning conflicts for common dependencies." – Michelle Swessel, PM and IT Bus. Analyst, Wisconsin Compensation Rating Bureau (WCRB)

Template: Pilot Project Charter

Formalize participants, roles, milestones, risks for the pilot project.

Your charter should:

  1. Define project parameters, including drivers, objectives, deliverables, and scope.
  2. Identify the pilot business unit.
  3. Assign a BCP pilot team, including a BCP Coordinator, to execute the methodology.
  4. Define before-and-after metrics to enable the team to measure pilot success.
  5. Set achievable, realistic target dates for specific project milestones.
  6. Document risks, assumptions, and constraints.

Download Info-Tech’s BCP Pilot Project Charter Template

Step 1.3

Identify business processes, dependencies, and alternatives

This step will walk you through the following activities:

  • Identify key business processes.
  • Document the process workflow.
  • Identify dependencies and alternates for those dependencies.

This step involves the following participants:

  • BCP Coordinator
  • Pilot Business Unit Manager
  • Expert Business Unit Staff

You'll use the following tools & templates:

Outcomes & Insights

Documented workflows, process dependencies, and workarounds when dependencies are unavailable.

Flowchart business processes

Workflows help you visually identify process dependencies and optimization opportunities.

  • Business continuity planning is business process focused. You need to document business processes, dependencies, and downtime workarounds.
  • Process documentation is a basic BCP audit requirement, but it will also:
    • Keep discussions about business processes well-scoped and focused – by documenting the process, you also clarify for everyone what you’re actually talking about.
    • Remind participants of process dependencies and workarounds.
    • Make it easier to spot possible process breakdowns or improvements.
    • Capture your work, which can be used to create or update SOP documentation.
  • Use flowcharts to capture process workflows. Flowcharts are often quicker to create, take less time to update, and are ultimately more usable than a dense manual.

Info-Tech Insight

Process review often results in discovering informal processes, previously unknown workarounds or breakdowns, shadow IT, or process improvement opportunities.

1.3.1 Prioritize pilot business unit processes

Input

  • List of key business unit processes.

Output

  • List of key business unit processes, now prioritized (at a high-level)

Materials

  • Whiteboard/flip charts
  • BCP Business Impact Analysis Tool

Participants

  • BCP Coordinator (leads the discussion)
  • Pilot Business Unit Manager

30 minutes

  1. Create a list of all formal and informal business processes executed by the pilot business unit.
  2. Discuss the impact of process downtime, and do a quick assessment whether impact of downtime for each process would be high, medium, or low across each of these criteria:
    • Revenue or costs (e.g. supports sales, billing, or productivity)
    • Goodwill (e.g. affects internal or external reputation)
    • Compliance (e.g. affects legal or industry requirements)
    • Health or safety (e.g. affects employee/public health & safety)

Note: A more in-depth analysis will be conducted later to refine priorities. The goal here is a high-level order of priority for the next steps in the planning methodology (identify business processes and dependencies).

  1. In the BCP Business Impact Analysis Tool, Processes and Dependencies tab, record the following:
    • The business processes in rough order of criticality.
    • For each process, provide a brief description that focuses on purpose and impact.
    • For each process, name a process owner (i.e. accountable for process completion – could be a manager or senior staff, not necessarily those executing the process).

1.3.2 Review process flows & identify dependencies

Input

  • List of key business unit processes (prioritized at a high level in Activity 1.3.1).
  • Business process flowcharts.

Output

  • Business process flowcharts

Materials

  • Whiteboard/flip charts
  • Microsoft Visio, or other flowcharting software
  • BCP Business Impact Analysis Tool

Download Info-Tech’s Business Process Workflows Example

1.5 hours

  1. Use a whiteboard to flowchart process steps. Collaborate to clarify process steps and dependencies. If processes are not documented, use this as an opportunity to create standard operating procedures (SOPs) to drive consistency and process optimization, as described in the Info-Tech blueprint, Create Visual SOP Documents that Drive Process Optimization, Not Just Peace of Mind.
  2. Record the dependencies in tab 1 of the BCP Business Impact Analysis Tool in the appropriate columns:
    • People – Anyone involved in the process, from providing guidance to executing the steps.
    • IT Applications – Core IT services (e.g. ERP, CRM) required for this process.
    • End-user devices & equipment – End-user devices, locally-installed apps, IoT, etc.
    • Facility – Any special requirements beyond general office space.
    • Suppliers & Service Providers – Third-parties who support this process.

Info-Tech Insight

Policies and procedures manuals, if they exist, are often out of date or incomplete. Use these as a starting point, but don’t stop there. Identify the go-to staff members who are well versed in how a process works.

1.3.3 Document workarounds

Input

  • Business process flowcharts.
  • List of process dependencies.

Output

  • Workarounds and alternatives in the event dependencies aren’t available.

Materials

  • BCP Business Impact Analysis Tool

Participants

  • BCP Coordinator (facilitates the activity)
  • Pilot Business Unit Manager
  • Business Process Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)

1.5 hours

Identify alternatives to critical dependencies to help you create contingency plans.

  1. For each business process, identify known alternatives for each primary dependency. Ignore for the moment how long the workaround or alternate would be feasible.
  2. Record alternatives in the Business Continuity Business Impact Analysis Tool, Processes and Dependencies tab, Alternatives columns (a separate column for each category of dependency):
    • People – Can other staff execute the process steps? (Example: managers can step in if needed.)
    • IT Applications – Is there a manual workaround or other alternative while enterprise technology services are unavailable? (Example: database is down, but data is stored on physical forms.)
    • End-User Devices and Equipment – What alternatives exist to the usual end-user technologies, such as workstations and desk phones? (Example: some staff have cell phones.)
    • Facility Location and Requirements – Is there an alternate location where this work can be conducted? (Example: work from home, or from another building on the campus.)
    • Suppliers and External Services – Is there an alternative source for key suppliers or other external inputs? (Example: find alternate suppliers for key inputs.)
    • Additional Inputs or Requirements – What workarounds exist for additional artifacts that enable process steps (e.g. physical inventory records, control lists)? (Example: if hourly pay information is missing, run the same payroll as the previous run and reconcile once that information is available.)

Phase 2

Conduct a BIA to Determine Acceptable RTOs and RPOs

Phase 2

2.1 Define an objective impact scoring scale

2.2 Estimate the impact of downtime

2.3 Determine acceptable RTO/RPO targets

Insights & Outcomes

Assess the impact of business process downtime using objective, customized impact scoring scales. Sort business processes by criticality and by assigning criticality tiers, recovery time, and recovery point objectives.

Participants

  • BCP Coordinator
  • Pilot Business Unit Manager
  • Business Process SMEs

Step 2.1

Define an objective scoring scale

This step will walk you through the following activities:

  • Identify impact criteria that are relevant to your business.
  • Create a scale that defines a range of impact for relevant criteria.

This step involves the following participants:

  • BCP Coordinator
  • Pilot Business Unit Manager
  • Expert Business Unit Staff

In this step, you’ll use these tools and templates:

Outcomes & Insights

Define an impact scoring scale relevant to your business, which allows you to more-objectively assess the impact of business process downtime.

Set appropriate recovery objectives

Recovery time and recovery point objectives should align with business impact.

The activities in Phase 2 will help you set appropriate, acceptable recovery objectives based on the business impact of process downtime.

  • The recovery time objective (RTO) and recovery point objective (RPO) are the recovery goals set for individual processes and dependencies to ensure your business unit meets its overall acceptable recovery timeline.

For example:

  • An RTO of four hours means staff and other required resources must be available to support the business processes within four hours of an incident (e.g. relocate to an alternate worksite if necessary, access needed equipment, log-in to needed systems, get support for completing the process from alternate staff, etc.)
  • An RPO of four hours for a customer database means the most recent secondary copy of the data must never be more than four hours old – e.g. running a backup every four hours or less.

Conduct a Business Impact Analysis (BIA)

Create Impact Scoring Scales→Assess the impact of process downtime→Review overall impact of process downtime→Set Criticality Tiers→Set Recovery Time and Recovery Point Objectives

Create financial impact scales

Identify maximum cost and revenue impacts to build financial impact scales to measure the financial impact of process downtime.

Work with the Business Unit Manager and Executive Sponsor to identify the maximum impact in each category to the entire business. Use a worst-case scenario to estimate the maximum for each scale. In the future, you can use this scoring scale to estimate the impact of downtime for other business units.

  • Loss of Revenue: Estimate the upper bound for this figure from the previous year, and divide that by the number of business days in the year. Note: Some organizations may choose to exclude revenue as a category where it won’t be lost (e.g. public-sector organizations).
  • Loss of Productivity: Proxy for lost workforce productivity using payroll numbers. Use the fully loaded payroll for the company, divided by the number of working days in the year as the maximum.
  • Increased Operating Costs: Isolate this to known additional costs resulting from a disruption. Does the interruption itself increase operating costs (e.g. if using timesheets for hourly/contract employees and that information is lost or unavailable, do you assume a full work week)?
  • Financial Penalties: If there are known financial penalties (e.g. due to failure to meet SLAs or other contractual obligations), include those values in your cost estimates.

Info-Tech Insight

Cost estimates are like hand grenades and horseshoes: you don’t need to be exact. It’s much easier to get input and validation from other stakeholders when you have estimates. Even weak estimates are far better than a blank sheet.

Create goodwill, compliance, and safety impact scales

Create a quantitative, more-objective scoring scale for goodwill, compliance and safety by following the guidance below.

  • Impact on Customers: By default, the customer impact scale is based on the percent of your total customer base impacted. You can also modify this scale to include severity of impact or alter it to identify the maximum number of customers that would be impacted.
  • Impact on Staff: Consider staff that are directly employed by the organization or its subsidiaries.
  • Impact on Business Partners: Which business partners would be affected by a business disruption?
  • Impact on Health & Safety: Consider the extent to which process downtime could increase the risk of the health & safety of staff, customers, and the general public. In addition, degradation of health & safety services should be noted.
  • Impact on Compliance: Set up the scale so that you can capture the impact of any critical regulatory requirements that might not be met if a particular process was down for 24 hours. Consider whether you expect to receive leeway or a grace period from the governance body that requires evidence of compliance.

Info-Tech Best Practice

Use just the impact scales that are relevant to your organization.

Tool: Impact Scoring Scales

  • Define 4-point scoring scales in the BCP business impact analysis tool for a more objective assessment than gut-feel rankings.
  • You don’t need to include every category, if they aren’t relevant to your organization.
  • Refine the scoring scale as needed through the pilot project.
  • Use the same scoring scale for impact analyses with additional business units in the future.

An image depicting the Business Impact Analysis Tool. A note pointing to the Level of Impact and Direct Cost Impact Scales columns states: Add the maximum cost impacts across each of the four impact scales to the tool. The rest of the scale will auto-populate based on the criteria outlined in the “Level of Impact” column. A note pointing to the column headers states: Change the names of the column headers in this tab. The changes to column headers will populate across the rest of the tool. Indicate exclusions from the scale here. A note pointing to the Goodwill Impact Scales columns reads: Update the Goodwill impact scales. For example, perhaps a critical impact on customers could be defined as “a significant impact on all customers using the organization’s services in a 24-hour period.” A note pointing to the Compliance, Heath and Safety Impact Scales columns reads: Review the compliance and safety impact scales, and update as required.

Step 2.2

Estimate the impact of downtime

This step will walk you through the following activities:

  • Apply the scoring scale developed in step 2.1 to assess the impact of downtime for specific business processes.

This step involves the following participants:

  • BCP Coordinator
  • Pilot Business Unit Manager
  • Expert Business Unit Staff

In this step, you’ll use these tools and templates:

Outcomes & Insights

Develop an objective view of the impact of downtime for key business processes.

2.2.1 Estimate the impact of downtime

1.5 hours

Input

  • List of business processes, dependencies, and workarounds, all documented in the BIA tool.

Output

  • Impact of downtime scores for key business unit processes.

Materials

  • BCP Business Impact Analysis Tool

Participants

  • BCP Coordinator (facilitates the discussion)
  • Business Process Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)
  • Pilot Business Unit Manager
  1. Print a copy of the Scoring Criteria tab to use as a reference, or have it open on another screen. In tab 3 of the BCP Business Impact Analysis Tool use the drop-down menu to assign a score of 0 to 4 based on levels of impact defined in the Scoring Criteria tab.
  2. Work horizontally across all categories for a single process. This will set a benchmark, familiarize you with the scoring system, and allow you to modify any scoring scales if needed. In general, begin with the process that you know to be most critical.
    • For example, if call center sales operations are down:
      • Loss of Revenue would be the portion of sales revenue generated through the call center. This might score a 2 or 3 depending on the proportion of sales generated through the call center.
      • The Impact on Customers might be a 1 or 2 depending on the extent that existing customers might be using the call center to purchase new products or services.
      • The Legal/Regulatory Compliance and Health or Safety Risk might be a 0.
  3. Next, work vertically across all processes within a single category. This will allow you to compare scores within the category as you create them.

Tool: Impact Analysis

  • The goal of the exercise is to arrive at a defensible ranking of process criticality, based on the impact of downtime.
  • Make sure participants can see the scores you’re assigning during the exercise (e.g. by writing out the scores on a whiteboard, or displaying the tool on a projector or screen) and can reference the scoring scales tab to understand what the scores mean.
  • Take notes to record the rationale behind the impact scores. Consider assigning note-taking duties to one of the participants.

An image of the Impact Analysis Tool. A note pointing to the column headings states: Any customized column headings from tab 2, Scoring Criteria are automatically ported to this tab. A note pointing to the Impact on Goodwill columns reads: Score each application across each scoring scale from 0 to 4. Be sure to refer back to the scoring scale defined in tab 2. Have the scoring scale printed out, written on a whiteboard, or displayed on a separate screen. A note pointing to the tool's dropdown boxes states: Score categories using the drop-down boxes. A note pointing to the centre columns reads: Ignore scoring for categories you choose to exclude. You can hide these columns to clean up the tool if needed.

2.2.2 Sort processes into Criticality Tiers

30 minutes

Input

  • Processes, with assigned impact scores (financial impact, goodwill impact, compliance and safety impact).

Output

  • Business processes sorted into criticality tiers, based on the impact of downtime.

Materials

  • BCP Business Impact Analysis Tool

Participants

  • BCP Coordinator (facilitates the discussion)
  • Business Process Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)
  • Pilot Business Unit Manager
  1. In general, consider the Total Impact on Goodwill, Compliance, and Safety first.
    • An effective tactic to start the process is to assign a tier 1 rating to all processes with a Goodwill, Compliance, and Safety score that’s 50% or more of the highest total score, tier 2 where scores are between 25% and 50%, and tier 3 where scores are below 25% (see table below for an example).
    • In step 2.3, you’ll align recovery time objectives with the criticality tiers. So, Tier 1 processes will target recovery before Tier 2 processes, and Tier 2 processes will target recovery before Tier 3 processes.
  2. Next, consider the Total Cost of Downtime.
  • The Total Cost is calculated by the tool based on the Scoring Criteria in tab 2 and the estimates in the BIA.
  • Consider whether the total cost impact justifies changing the criticality rating. “Smoke test” categorization with participants. Are there any surprises (processes more or less critical than expected)?
  • If the categorization doesn’t seem right, check that the scoring scale was applied consistently.

    • Example: Highest total Goodwill, Compliance, and Safety impact score is 18.

    Tier Score Range % of high score
    Tier 1 - Gold 9-18 50-100%
    Tier 2 - Silver 5 to 9 25-50%
    Tier 3 - Bronze 0 to 5 0-25%

    Step 2.3

    Determine acceptable RTO and RPO targets

    This step will walk you through the following activities:

    • Identify acceptable Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPOs) for business processes.

    This step involves the following participants:

    • BCP Coordinator
    • Pilot Business Unit Manager
    • Expert Business Unit Staff

    In this step, you’ll use these tools and templates:

    Outcomes and Insights

    Right-size recovery objectives based on business impact.

    Right-size recovery objectives

    Acceptable RTOs and RPOs must be right-sized to the impact of downtime.

    Rapid recovery typically requires more investment.

    The impact of downtime for most business processes tends to look something like the increasing impact curve in the image to the right.

    In the moments after a disruption, impact tends to be minimal. Imagine, for example, that your organization was suddenly unable to pay its suppliers (don’t worry about the reason for the disruption, for the moment). Chances are, this disruption wouldn’t affect many payees if it lasted just a few minutes, or even a few hours. But if the disruption were to continue for days, or weeks, the impact of downtime would start to spiral out of control.

    In general, we want to target recovery somewhere between the point where impact begins, and the point where impact is intolerable. We want to balance the impact of downtime with the investment required to make processes more resilient.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Account for hard copy files as well as electronic data. If that information is lost, is there a backup? BCP can be the driver to remove the last resistance to paperless processes, allowing IT to apply appropriate data protection.

    Set recovery time objectives and recovery point objectives in the “Debate Space”

    A graph with the X axis labelled as: Increasing downtime/data loss and the Y-axis labelled Increasing Impact. The graph shows a line rising as impact and downtime/data loss increase, with the lowest end of the line (on the left) labelled as minimal impact, and the highest point of the line (on the right) labelled maximum tolerance. The middle section of the line is labelled as the Debate Space, and a note reads: Acceptable RTO/RPO must be between Low Impact and Maximum Tolerance

    2.3.1 Define process-level recovery objectives

    1 hour

    Input

    • Processes, ranked by criticality.

    Output

    • Initial business-defined recovery objectives for each process.

    Materials

    • BCP Business Impact Analysis Tool

    Participants

    • BCP Coordinator (facilitates the discussion)
    • Business Process Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)
    • Pilot Business Unit Manager
    1. Review the “Debate Space” diagram (shown in previous section) with all participants.
    2. Ask business participants for each process: how much downtime is tolerable, acceptable, or appropriate? How much data loss is tolerable?
      • If participants aren’t yet comfortable setting recovery objectives, identify the point at which downtime and data loss first becomes noticeable and the point at which downtime and data loss becomes intolerable.
      • Choose an RTO and RPO for each process that falls within the range set by these two extremes.

    RTOs and RPOs are business-defined, impact-aligned objectives that you may not be able to achieve today. It may require significant investments of time and capital to enable the organization to meet RTO and RPO.

    2.3.2 Align RTOs within and across criticality tiers

    1 hour

    Input

    • Results from pilot BCP impact analysis.

    Output

    • Initial business-defined recovery objectives for each process.

    Materials

    • BCP Business Impact Analysis Tool
    • Whiteboard/ flipchart

    Participants

    • BCP Coordinator
    • BCP Project Sponsor
    • Business Process Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)
    • Pilot Business Unit Manager (optional)

    Set a range for RTO for each Tier.

    1. Start with your least critical/Tier 3 processes. Use the filter in the “Criticality Rating” column in the Impact Analysis tab of the BIA tool to show only Tier 3 processes.
      • What range of RTOs did the group assign for processes in this Tier? Does the group agree that these targets are appropriate for these processes?
      • Record the range of RTOs on the whiteboard or flipchart.
    2. Next, look at Tier 2 processes. Use the same filter to show just Tier 2 processes.
      • Record the range of RTOs, confirm the range with the group, and ensure there’s no overlap with the Tier 3 range.
      • If the RTOs in one Tier overlap with RTOs in another, you’ll need to adjust RTOs or move processes between Tiers (if the impact analysis justifies it).
    Tier RTO
    Tier 1 4 hrs- 24 hrs
    Tier 2 24 hrs - 72 hrs
    Tier 3 72 hrs - 120 hrs

    Phase 3

    Document the Recovery Workflow and Projects to Close Gaps

    3.1 Determine current recovery procedures

    3.2 Identify and prioritize projects to close gaps

    3.3 Evaluate business continuity site and command center options

    Insights & Outcomes

    Outline business recovery processes. Highlight gaps and risks that could hinder business recovery. Brainstorm ideas to address gaps and risks. Review alternate site and business relocation options.

    Participants

    • BCP Coordinator
    • Pilot Business Unit Manager
    • Business Process SMEs

    Step 3.1

    Determine current recovery procedures

    This step will walk you through the following activities:

    • Create a step-by-step, high-level recovery workflow.
    • Highlight gaps and risks in the recovery workflow.
    • Test the workflow against multiple scenarios.

    This step involves the following participants:

    • BCP Coordinator
    • Crisis Management Team
    • Pilot Business Unit Manager
    • Expert Business Unit Staff

    In this step, you’ll use these tools and templates:

    Outcomes & Insights

    Establish steps required for business recovery and current recovery timelines.

    Identify risks & gaps that could delay or obstruct an effective recovery.

    Conduct a tabletop planning exercise to draft business recovery plans

    Tabletop exercises are the most effective way to test and increase business confidence in business recovery capabilities.

    Why is tabletop planning so effective?

    • It enables you play out a wider range of scenarios than technology-based testing (e.g. full-scale, parallel) due to cost and complexity factors.
    • It is non-intrusive, so it can be executed more frequently than other testing methodologies.
    • It provides a thorough test of your recovery workflow since the exercise is, essentially, paper-based.
    • After you have a BCP in place, this exercise can continue to be a valuable testing exercise for BCP to capture changes in your recovery process.

    A graph titled: Tabletop planning had the greatest impact on respondent confidence in meeting recovery objectives. The graph shows that the relative importance of Tabletop Planning is 57%, compared to 33% for Unit Testing, 3% for Simulation Testing, 6% for Parallel Testing, and 2% for Full-Scale Testing. The source for the graph is Info-Tech Research Group.

    Step 2 - 2 hours
    Establish command center.

    Step 2: Risks

    • Command center is just 15 miles away from primary site.

    Step 2: Gaps

    • Confirm what’s required to set up the command center.
    • Who has access to the EOC?
    • Does the center have sufficient bandwidth, workstations, phones, telephone lines?

    3.1.1 Choose a scenario for your first tabletop exercise

    30 minutes

    Input

    • List of past incidents.
    • Risks to business continuity that are of high concern.

    Output

    • Scenario for the tabletop exercise.

    Materials

    • N/A

    Participant

    • BCP Coordinator (facilitates the exercise)
    • Business Process Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)
    • Pilot business unit manager

    At the business unit level, the goal is to define a plan to resume business processes after an incident.

    A good scenario is one that helps the group focus on the goal of tabletop planning – to discuss and document the steps required to recover business processes. We suggest choosing a scenario for your first exercise that:

    • Disrupts many process dependencies (i.e. facilities, staff, IT services, suppliers).
    • Does not result in major property damage, harm, or loss of life. Business resumption is the focus of this exercise, not emergency response.
    • Has happened in the past, or is of concern to the business.

    An example: a gas leak at company HQ that requires the area to be cordoned off and power to be shut down. The business must resume processes from another location without access to materials, equipment, or IT services at the primary location.

    A plan that satisfies the gas leak scenario should meet the needs of other scenarios that affect your normal workspace. Then use BCP testing to validate that the plan meets a wider range of incidents.

    3.1.2 Define the BCP activation process

    1 hour

    Input

    • Any existing crisis management, incident response or emergency response plans.
    • BC Scenario.

    Output

    • High level incident notification, assessment, and declaration workflow.

    Materials

    • Cue cards, sticky notes, whiteboard and markers, or Visio template.

    Participants

    • BCP Coordinator
    • Crisis Management Team (if one exists)
    • Business Process SMEs
    • Pilot Business Unit Manager

    Answer the questions below to structure your notification, assessment, and BCP activation procedures.

    Notification

    How will you be notified of a disaster event? How will this be escalated to leadership? How will the team responsible for making decisions coordinate (if they can’t meet on-site)? What emergency response plans are in place to protect health and safety? What additional steps are involved if there’s a risk to health and safety?

    Assessment

    Who’s in charge of the initial assessment? Who may need to be involved in the assessment? Who will coordinate if multiple teams are required to investigate and assess the situation? Who needs to review the results of the assessment, and how will the results of the assessment be communicated (e.g. phone bridge, written memo)? What happens if your primary mode of communication is unavailable (e.g. phone service is down)?

    Declaration

    Who is responsible today for declaring a disaster and activating business continuity plans? What are the organization’s criteria for activating continuity plans, and how will BCP activation be communicated? Establish a crisis management team to guide the organization through a wide range of crises by Implementing Crisis Management Best Practices.

    3.1.3 Document the business recovery workflow

    1 hour

    Input

    • Pilot BIA.
    • Any existing crisis management, incident response, or emergency response plans.
    • BC Scenario

    Output

    • Outline of your BCP declaration and business recovery plan.

    Materials

    • Cue cards, sticky notes, whiteboard and markers, or Visio template.

    Participants

    • BCP Coordinator (facilitates the exercise)
    • Business Process Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)
    • Pilot Business Unit Manager

    Do the following:

    1. Create separate flows for facility, IT, and staff disruptions. Include additional workflows as needed.
      • We suggest you outline the recovery process at least to the point where business processes are restored to a minimum viable functional level.
    2. On white cue cards:
      1. Record the step.
      2. Indicate the task owner.
      3. Estimate how long the step will take.
    3. On yellow cue cards, document gaps in people, process, and technology requirements to complete the step.
    4. On red cue cards, indicate risks (e.g. no backup person for a key staff member).

    Info-Tech Best Practice

    Tabletop planning is most effective when you keep it simple.

    • Be focused; stay on task and on time.
    • Revisit each step and record risks and mitigation strategies.
    • Discuss each step from start to finish.
    • Revise the plan with key task owners.
    • Don’t get weighed down by tools.
    • Simple tools, like cue cards or whiteboards, can be very effective.

    Tool: BCP Recovery Workflow

    Document the steps you identified in the tabletop to create your draft recovery workflow.

    Why use a flowchart?

    • Flowcharts provide an at-a-glance view, are ideal for crisis scenarios where pressure is high and effective, and where timely communication is necessary.
    • For experienced managers and staff, a high-level reminder of process flows or key steps is sufficient.
    • Where more detail is required, include links to supporting documentation (which could include checklists, vendor documentation/contracts, other flowcharts, etc.)

    Create one recovery workflow for all scenarios.

    Traditional planning calls for separate plans for different “what-if” scenarios. This is challenging not just because it’s a lot more documentation – and maintenance – but because it’s impossible to predict every possible incident. Use the template, aligned to recovery of process dependencies, to create one recovery workflow for each business unit that can be used in and tested against different scenarios.

    Download Info-Tech’s BCP Recovery Workflow Example

    "We use flowcharts for our declaration procedures. Flowcharts are more effective when you have to explain status and next steps to upper management." – Assistant Director-IT Operations, Healthcare Industry

    "Very few business interruptions are actually major disasters. It’s usually a power outage or hardware failure, so I ensure my plans address ‘minor’ incidents as well as major disasters."- BCP Consultant

    3.1.4 Document achievable recovery metrics (RTA/RPA)

    30 minutes

    Input

    • Pilot BCP BIA.
    • Draft recovery workflow.

    Output

    • RTA and RPA for each business process.

    Materials

    • Pilot BCP BIA.

    Participants

    • BCP Coordinator (facilitates the exercise)
    • Business Process Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)
    • Pilot Business Unit Manager

    Add the following data to your copy of the BCP Business Impact Analysis Tool.

    1. Estimate the recovery time achievable (RTA) for each process based on the required time for the process to be restored to a minimum acceptable functional level. Review your recovery workflow to identify this timeline. For example, if the full process from notification, assessment, and declaration to recovery and relocation would take a full day, set the RTA to 24 hours.
    2. Estimate the recovery point achievable (RPA) for each process based on the maximum amount of data that could be lost. For example, if data on a particular system is backed up offsite once per day, and the onsite system was destroyed just before that backup began, the entire day’s data could be lost and the achievable RPO is 24 hours. Note: Enter a value of 9999 to indicate that data is unrecoverable.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Operating at a minimum acceptable functional level may not be feasible for more than a few days or weeks. Develop plans for immediate continuity first, then develop further plans for long-term continuity processes as required. Recognize that for longer term outages, you will evolve your plans in the crisis to meet the needs of the situation.

    3.1.5 Test the workflow of other scenarios

    1 hour

    Input

    • Draft recovery workflow.

    Output

    • Updated draft recovery workflow.

    Materials

    • Draft recovery workflow.
    • Projector or screen.

    Participants

    • BCP Coordinator (facilitates the exercise)
    • Business Process Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)
    • Pilot Business Unit Manager

    Work from and update the soft copy of your recovery workflow.

    1. Would any steps change if the scenario changes? If yes, capture the different flow with a decision diamond. See the example Recovery Workflow for a workflow that uses decision diamonds. Identify any new gaps or risks you encounter with red and yellow cards.
    2. Make sure the decision diamonds are as generalized as possible. For example, instead of creating a separate response plan for each scenario that would require you to relocate from your existing building, create one response plan for relocation and one response plan for remaining in place.
    3. See the next section for some examples of different types of scenarios that you may include in your recovery workflow.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Remember that health and safety risks must be dealt with first in a crisis. The business unit recovery workflow will focus on restoring business operations after employees are no longer at risk (e.g. the risk has been resolved or employees have been safely relocated). See Implement Crisis Management Best Practices for ideas on how to respond to and assess a wide range of crises.

    Not all scenarios will have full continuity plans

    Risk management is a business decision. Business continuity planning can help decision makers understand and decide on whether to accept or mitigate high impact, low probability risks.

    For some organizations, it’s not practical or possible to invest in the redundancy that would be necessary to recover in a timely manner from certain major events.

    Leverage existing risk management practices to identify key high impact events that could present major business continuity challenges that could cause catastrophic disruptions to facility, IT, staffing, suppliers, or equipment. If you don’t have a risk register, review the scenarios on the next slide and brainstorm risks with the working group.

    Work through tabletop planning to identify how you might work through an event like this, at a high level. In step 3.2, you can estimate the effort, cost, and benefit for different ideas that can help mitigate the damage to the business to help decision makers choose between investment in mitigation or accepting the risk.

    Document any scenarios that you identify as outside the scope of your continuity plans in the “Scope” section of your BCP Summary document.

    For example:

    A single location manufacturing company is creating a BCP.

    The factory is large and contains expensive equipment; it’s not possible to build a second factory for redundancy. If the factory is destroyed, operations can’t be resumed until the factory is rebuilt. In this case, the BCP outlines how to conduct an orderly business shutdown while the factory is rebuilt.

    Contingency planning to resume factory operations after less destructive events, as well as a BCP for corporate services, is still practical and necessary.

    Considerations for other BCP scenarios

    Scenario Type Considerations
    Local hazard (gas leak, chemical leak, criminal incident, etc.)
    • Systems might be accessible remotely, but hands-on maintenance will be required eventually. “Work from home” won’t be a long-term solution.
    • An alternate site is required for service continuity. Can be within normal commuting distance.
    Equipment/building damage (fire, roof collapse, etc.)
    • Equipment will need repair or replacement (vendor involvement).
    • An alternate site is required for service continuity. Can be nearby.
    Regional natural disasters
    • Utilities may be affected (power, running water, etc.).
    • Expect staff to take care of their families first before work.
    • A geographically distant alternate site is required for service continuity.
    Supplier failure (IT provider outage, disaster at supplier, etc.)
    • Service-level agreements are important to establish recovery timelines. Review contracts and master services agreements.
    Staff (lottery win, work stoppage, pandemic/quarantine)
    • Staff are suddenly unavailable. Expect that no warm handoff to alternates is possible and that time to ramp up on the process is accounted for.
    • In a pandemic scenario, work from home, remote toolsets, and digital/contactless workflows become critical.

    Step 3.2

    Identify and prioritize projects to close gaps

    This step will walk you through the following activities:

    • Brainstorm solutions to identified gaps and risks.
    • Prioritize projects and action items to close gaps and risks.
    • Assess the impact of proposed projects on the recovery workflow.

    This step involves the following participants:

    • BCP Coordinator
    • Pilot Business Unit Manager
    • Expert Business Unit Staff

    In this step, you’ll use these tools and templates:

    Outcomes & Insights

    Identify and prioritize projects and action items that can improve business continuity capabilities.

    3.2.1 Brainstorm solutions to address risks and gaps

    1 hour

    Input

    • Draft recovery workflow.
    • Known continuity risks and gaps.

    Output

    • Ideas for action items and projects to improve business continuity.

    Materials

    • Flipchart

    Participants

    • BCP Coordinator (facilitates the exercise)
    • Business Process Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)
    • Pilot Business Unit Manager
    1. Review each of the risk and gap cards from the tabletop exercise.
    2. As a group, brainstorm ideas to address gaps, mitigate risks, and improve resiliency. Write the list of ideas on a whiteboard or flip chart paper. The solutions can range from quick-wins and action items to major capital investments. The following slides can help you seed ideas to support brainstorming and idea generation.

    Info-Tech Best Practice

    Try to avoid debates about feasibility at this point. The goal is to get ideas on the board.

    When you’re brainstorming solutions to problems, don’t stop with the first idea, even if the solution seems obvious. The first idea isn’t always the best or only solution – other ideas can expand on it and improve it.

    Step 4: No formal process to declare a disaster and invoke business continuity.

    Step 7: Alternate site could be affected by the same regional event as the main office.

    Step 12: Need to confirm supplier service-level agreements (SLAs).

    1. Continue to create BCP documentation.
    2. Identify a third location for regional disasters.
    3. Contact suppliers to confirm SLAs and validate alignment with RTOs/RPOs.
    4. Add BCP requirements collection to service procurement process?

    Discuss your remote work capabilities

    With COVID-19, most organizations have experience with mass work-from-home.

    Review the following case studies. Do they reflect your experience during the COVID-19 pandemic?

    Unacceptable risk

    • A small insurance company provided laptops to staff so they could work remotely.
    • Complication: Cheque and print stock is a dependency and no plan was made to store check stock offsite in a secure fashion.

    Key dependencies missing

    • A local government provided laptops to key staff so they could work remotely.
    • Complication: The organization didn’t currently own enough Citrix licenses for every user to be online concurrently.

    Unable to serve customers

    • The attestation and land services department of a local government agency provided staff with remote access to key apps.
    • Complication: Their most critical business processes were designed to be in-person – they had no plan to execute these processes from home.

    Consider where your own work-from-home plans fell short.

    • Were your collaboration and communication solutions too difficult for users to use effectively?
    • Did legacy infrastructure affect performance or limit capabilities? Were security concerns appropriately addressed?
    • What challenges did IT face supporting business users on break-fix and new requests?
    • Were there logistical needs (shipping/receiving, etc.) that weren’t met?
    • Develop an updated plan to support work-from-home using Info-Tech’s BCP Relocation Checklists and Home Office Survey template, and integrate these into your overall BCP documentation. Stakeholders can easily appreciate the value of this plan since it’s relevant to recent experience.

    Identify opportunities to improve continuity plans

    What gaps in your continuity response could be addressed with better planning?

    People

    • Alternates are not identified
    • Roles in a disaster are not formalized
    • No internal/external crisis comm. strategy

    →

    Site & Facilities

    • No alternate place of business or command center identified
    • No formal planning or exercises to test alternate site viability

    →

    • Identify a viable secondary site and/or work-from-home plan, and develop a schedule for testing activities. Review in Step 3.3 of the Develop a Business Continuity Plan blueprint.

    External Services & Suppliers

    • Contingency plans for a disruption not planned or formalized
    • No formal review of service-level agreements (SLAs)

    →

    • Contact key suppliers and vendors to establish SLAs, and ensure they meet requirements.
    • Review supplier continuity plans.

    Technology & Physical Assets

    • No secondary site or redundancy for critical IT systems
    • No documented end-to-end IT DR plan

    →

    Tool: BCP Project Roadmap

    Prioritize and visualize BCP projects to present options to decision makers.

    Not all BCP projects can be tackled at once. Enable decision makers to defer, rather than outright reject, projects that aren’t feasible at this time.

    1. Configure the tool in Tab 1. Setup. Adjust criteria and definitions for criteria. Note that shaded columns are required for reporting purposes and can’t be modified.
    2. Add projects and action items in Tab 2. Data Entry. Fields highlighted in red are all required for the dashboard to populate. All other fields are optional but will provide opportunities to track more detailed data on project ideas.
    3. To generate the dashboard in Tab 3. Roadmap, open the Data ribbon and under Queries and Connections click Refresh All. You can now use the slicers on the right of the sheet.

    Download Info-Tech’s BCP Project Roadmap Tool

    Demonstrate BCP project impacts

    Illustrate the benefits of proposed projects.

    1. Review your recovery workflow.
    2. Make updates to a second copy of the high-level outline to illustrate how the business response to a disaster scenario will change once proposed projects are complete.
    • Remove steps that have been made unnecessary.
    • Remove any risks or gaps that have been mitigated or addressed.
    • Verify that proposed projects close gaps between acceptable and achievable recovery capabilities in the BIA tool.
  • The visual impact of a shorter, less-risky recovery workflow can help communicate the benefits of proposed projects to decision makers.

    • Step 3.3

    Evaluate business continuity site and command center options

    This step will walk you through the following activities:

    • Take a deep dive on the requirements for working from an alternate location.
    • Assess different options for an alternate location.

    This step involves the following participants:

    • BCP Coordinator
    • Pilot Business Unit Manager
    • Expert Business Unit Staff

    In this step, you’ll use these tools and templates:

    Outcomes & Insights

    Identify requirements for an alternate business site.

    Tool: Relocation Checklists

    An alternate site could be another company building, a dedicated emergency operations center, or work-from-home. Use this tool to guide and prepare for any relocation exercise.

    • Coordinate your response with the pre-populated checklists in Tabs 1 & 2, identify who’s responsible for items on the checklists, and update your recovery workflows to reflect new steps. When reviewing the checklist, consider what can be done to prepare ahead of a crisis.
      • For example, you may wish to create crisis communication templates to streamline crisis communications during a disaster.
    • Calculate the effort required to provision equipment for relocated users in Tabs 3 & 4.
    • Evaluate your options for alternate sites with the requirements matrix in Tab 5. Use your evaluation to identify how the organization could address shortcomings of viable options either ahead of time or at the time of an incident.

    Download Info-Tech’s BCP Relocation Checklists

    Create a checklist of requirements for an alternate site

    Leverage the roll-up view, in tab 3, of dependencies required to create a list of requirements for an alternate site in tab 4.

    1. The table on Tab 5 of the relocation checklists is pre-populated with some common requirements. Modify or replace requirements to suit your needs for an alternate business/office site. Be sure to consider distance, transportation, needed services, accessibility, IT infrastructure, security, and seating capacity at a minimum.
    2. Don’t assume. Verify. Confirm anything that requires permissions from the site owner. What network providers have a presence in the building? Can you access the site 24/7 and conduct training exercises? What facilities and services are available? Are you guaranteed the space if needed?

    "There are horror stories about organizations that assumed things about their alternate site that they later found out they weren’t true in practice." – Dr. Bernard Jones, MBCI CBCP

    Info-Tech Insight

    If you choose a shared location as a BCP site, a regional disaster may put you in competition with other tenants for space.

    Identify a command center

    For command center and alternate worksite selection, remember that most incidents are local and short term. Identify an onsite and an offsite command center.

    1. For events where the building is not compromised, identify an onsite location, ideally with remote conferencing capabilities and planning and collaboration tools (projectors, whiteboards, flipcharts). The onsite location can also be used for BCM and crisis management meetings. Remember, most business continuity events are not regional or massively destructive.
    2. For the offsite command center, select a location that is sufficiently far away from your normal business location to maintain separation from local incidents while minimizing commute time. However, consider a geographically distant option (e.g. more than 50 miles away) identified for those scenarios where it is a regional disaster, or plan to leverage online tools to create a virtual command center (see the Insight box below).
    3. The first members of the Emergency Response Team to be notified of the incident will determine which location to use or whether a third alternative is required.

    Info-Tech Insight

    For many organizations, a dedicated command center (TVs on the wall, maps and charts in filing cabinets) isn’t necessary. A conference bridge and collaboration tools allowing everyone to work remotely can be an acceptable offsite command center as long as digital options can meet your command center requirements.

    Create a plan for a return to normal

    Operating in continuity mode for an extended period of time tends to result in higher costs and reduced business capabilities. It’s important to restore normal operations as soon as possible.

    Advance planning can minimize risks and delays in returning to normal operations.

    Leverage the methodology and tools in this blueprint to define your return to normal (repatriation) procedures:

    1. Repeat the tabletop planning exercise to determine the repatriation steps and potential gaps. How will you return to the primary site from your alternate site? Does data need to be re-entered into core systems if IT services are down? Do you need to transfer job duties back to primary staff?
    2. What needs to be done to address the gaps in the return to normal workflow? Are there projects or action items that could make return to normal easier?

    For more on supporting a business move back to the office from the IT perspective, see Responsibly Resume IT Operations in the Office

    Potential business impacts of ongoing operations at a failover site

    • The cost of leasing alternate business worksites.
    • Inability to deliver on strategic initiatives while in emergency/interim operations mode, resulting in lost business opportunities.
    • A growing backlog of work that falls outside of emergency operations mode.
    • Travel and accommodation costs if the alternate site is geographically remote.
    • Additional vendor licensing and contract costs.

    Phase 4

    Extend the Results of the Pilot BCP and Implement Governance

    Phase 4

    4.1 Consolidate BCP pilot insights to support an overall BCP project plan

    4.2 Outline a business continuity management (BCM) program

    4.3 Test and maintain your BCP

    Insights & Outcomes

    Summarize and consolidate your initial insights and documentation. Create a project plan for overall BCP. Identify teams, responsibilities, and accountabilities, and assign documentation ownership. Integrate BCP findings in DR and crisis management practices. Set guidelines for testing, plan maintenance, training, and awareness.

    Participants

    • BCP Coordinator
    • Pilot Business Unit Manager
    • BCP Executive Sponsor

    Step 4.1

    Consolidate BCP pilot insights to support an overall BCP project plan

    This step will walk you through the following activities:

    • Summarize and consolidate outputs and key insights from the BCP pilot.
    • Identify outputs from the pilot that can be re-used for the overall BCP.
    • Create a project charter for an overall BCP.

    This step involves the following participants:

    • BCP Coordinator
    • Pilot Business Unit Manager
    • BCP Executive Sponsor

    In this step, you’ll use these tools and templates:

    Outcomes & Insights

    Present results from the pilot BCP, and outline how you’ll use the pilot process with other business units to create an overall continuity program.

    Structure the overall BCP program.

    Template: BCP Pilot Results Presentation

    Highlight key findings from the BCP pilot to make the case for next steps.

    • Highlight critical gaps or risks identified, any potential process improvements, and progress made toward improving overall BCP maturity through the pilot project. Summarize the benefits of the pilot project for an executive audience.
    • Review process recovery objectives (RTO/RPO). Provide an overview of recovery capabilities (RTA/RPA). Highlight any significant gaps between objectives and capabilities.
    • Propose next steps, including an overall BCP project and program, and projects and action items to remediate gaps and risks.
    • Develop a project plan to estimate resource requirements for an overall BCP project prior to delivering this presentation. Quantifying required time and resources is a key outcome as it enables the remaining business units to properly scope and resource their BCP development activities and can help managers overcome the fear of the unknown.

    Download Info-Tech’s BCP Pilot Results Presentation

    Tool: BCP Summary

    Sum up information from completed BCP documents to create a high-level BCP overview for auditors and executives.

    The BCP Summary document is the capstone to business unit continuity planning exercises. It consolidates your findings in a short overview of your business continuity requirements, capabilities, and maintenance procedures.

    Info-Tech recommends embedding hyperlinks within the Summary to the rest of your BCP documentation to allow the reader to drill down further as needed. Leverage the following documents:

    • Business Impact Analysis
    • BCP Recovery Workflows
    • Business Process Workflows
    • BCP Project Roadmap
    • BCP Relocation Checklists
    • Business Continuity Policy

    Download Info-Tech’s BCP Summary Document

    Reuse templates for additional exercises

    The same methodology described in this blueprint can be repeated for each business unit. Also, many of the artifacts from the BCP pilot can be reused or built upon to give the remaining business units a head start. For example:

    • BCP Pilot Project Charter Template. Make a copy to use as a base for the next business unit’s BCP project charter, and update the stakeholders/roles and milestone dates. The rest of the content can remain the same in most cases.
    • BCP Reference Workbook. This tool contains information common to all business units and can be updated as needed.
    • BCP Business Impact Analysis Tool. You may need to start a separate copy for each business unit to allow enough space to capture all business processes. However, use the same scoring scale to drive consistent assessments. In addition, the scoring completed by the pilot business unit provides an example and benchmark for assessing other business processes.
    • BCP Recovery Workflow. The notification, assessment, and declaration steps can be standardized so remaining business units can focus primarily on recovery after a disaster is declared. Similarly, many of the steps related to alternate sites and IT workarounds will also apply to other business units.
    • BCP Project Roadmap Tool. Many of the projects identified by the pilot business unit will also apply to other business units – update the list as needed.
    • The Business Unit BCP Prioritization Tool, BCP Executive Presentation, and Business Continuity Policy Template do not need to be updated for each business unit.

    Info-Tech Best Practice

    You may need to create some artifacts that are site specific. For example, relocation plans or emergency plans may not be reusable from one site to another. Use your judgement to reuse as much of the templates as you can – similar templates simplify audit, oversight, and plan management.

    Create an Overall BCP Project Charter

    Modify the pilot project charter to encompass the larger BCP project.

    Adjust the pilot charter to answer the following questions:

    • How much time and effort should the rest of the project take, based on findings from the pilot? When do you expect to meet certain milestones? What outputs and outcomes are expected?
    • In what order should additional business units complete their BCP? Who needs to be involved?
    • What projects to address continuity gaps were identified during the pilot? What investments will likely be required?
    • What additional documentation is required? This section and the appendix include templates to document your BCM Policy, Teams & Contacts, your notification procedures, and more.
    • How does this integrate with the other areas of business resilience and continuity (IT disaster recovery planning and crisis management planning)?
    • What additional activities, such as testing, are required?

    Prioritize business units for further BCP activities.

    As with the pilot, choose a business unit, or business units, where BCP will have the greatest impact and where further BCP activities will have the greatest likelihood of success. Prioritize business units that are critical to many areas of the business to get key results sooner.

    Work with one business unit at a time if:

    • Required resources from the business unit are available to focus on BCP full-time over a short period (one to two weeks).
    • More hands-on guidance (less delegation) is needed.
    • The business unit is large or has complex processes.

    Work with several business units at the same time if:

    • Required resources are only available sporadically over a longer period of time.
    • Less guidance (more delegation) is possible.
    • All business units are small and have well-documented processes.

    Download Info-Tech’s Business Unit BCP Prioritization Tool

    Step 4.2

    Outline a Business Continuity Management (BCM) Program

    This step will walk you through the following activities:

    • Identify teams and roles for BCP and business continuity management.
    • Identify individuals to fill key roles.

    This step involves the following participants:

    • BCP Coordinator
    • Executive Sponsor

    In this step, you’ll use these tools and templates:

    Outcomes & Insights

    Document BCP teams, roles, and responsibilities.

    Document contact information, alternates, and succession rules.

    Outline a Business Continuity Management Program

    A BCM program, also known as a BCM system, helps structure business continuity activities and practices to deliver long-term benefits to your business.

    A BCM program should:

    • Establish who is responsible and accountable for BCP practices, activities, and documentation, and set documentation management practices.
    • Define a process to improve plans. Review and update continuity requirements, suggest enhancements to recovery capabilities, and measure progress and improvements to the plan over time.
    • Coordinate disaster recovery, business continuity, and crisis management planning outputs and practices.
    • Communicate the value of the continuity program to the organization.

    Develop a Business Continuity Management Program

    Phase 4 of this blueprint will focus on the following elements of a business continuity management program:

    • BCM Roles, Responsibilities, and Accountabilities
    • BCM Document Management Practices
    • Integrate BC, IT DR, Crisis Management, and Emergency Management
    • Business Continuity Plan maintenance and testing
    • Training and awareness

    Schedule a call with an Info-Tech Analyst for help building out these core elements, and for advice on developing the rest of your BCM program.

    Create BCM teams

    Include a mix of strong leaders and strong planners on your BC management teams.

    BC management teams (including the secondary teams such as the emergency response team) have two primary roles:

    1. Preparation, Planning, and Governance: Conduct and consolidate business impact analyses. Review, and support the development of recovery workflows, including emergency response plans and business unit recovery workflows. Organize testing and training. Report on the state of the continuity plan.
    2. Leadership During a Crisis: Coordinate and support the execution of business recovery processes. To meet these goals, each team needs a mix of skill sets.

    Crisis leaders require strong crisis management skills:

    • Ability to make quick decisions under pressure with incomplete information.
    • Excellent verbal communication skills.
    • Strong leadership skills. Calm in stressful situations.
    • Team leaders are ideally, but not necessarily, those with the most senior title on each team. It’s more important that the team leader has the appropriate skill set.

    Collectively, the team must include a broad range of expertise as well as strong planning skills:

    • Diverse expertise to be able to plan for and respond to a wide range of potential incidents, from health and safety to reputational damage.
    • Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail.
    • Excellent written communication skills.

    Note: For specific BC team roles and responsibilities, including key resources such as Legal, HR, and IT SMEs required to prepare for and execute crisis management plans, see Implement Crisis Management Best Practices.

    Structure the BCM Team

    Create a hierarchy of teams to govern and coordinate business continuity planning and crisis management.

    BCM Team: Govern business continuity, DR, and crisis management planning. Support the organization’s response to a crisis, including the decision to declare a disaster or emergency.

    Emergency Response Teams: Assist staff and BC teams during a crisis, with a focus first on health and safety. There’s usually one team per location. Develop and maintain emergency response plans.

    Emergency Response Teams: Assist staff and BC teams during a crisis, with a focus first on health and safety. There’s usually one team per location. Develop and maintain emergency response plans.

    IT Disaster Recovery Team: Manage the recovery of IT services and data following an incident. Develop and maintain the IT DRP.

    Business Unit BCP Teams: Coordinate business process recovery at the business unit level. Develop and maintain business unit BCPs.

    “Planning Mode”

    Executive Team → BC Management Team ↓

    • Emergency Response Teams (ERT)
    • Crisis Management Team
    • IT DR Management Team
    • Business Unit BCP Teams

    “Crisis Mode”

    Executive Team ↔Crisis Management Team↓ ↔ Emergency Response Teams (ERT)

    • BC Management Team
    • IT DR Management Team
    • Business Unit BCP Teams

    For more details on specific roles to include on these teams, as well as more information on crisis management, review Info-Tech’s blueprint, Implement Crisis Management Best Practices.

    Tool: BCM Teams, Roles, Contacts, and Vendors

    Track teams, roles, and contacts in this template. It is pre-populated with roles and responsibilities for business continuity, crisis management, IT disaster recovery, emergency response, and vendors and suppliers critical to business operations.

    • Expect overlap across teams. For example, the BC Management Team will include representation from each secondary team to ensure plans are in sync. Similarly, both the Crisis Communication Team and BC Management Team should include a representative from your legal team to ensure legal issues are considered in communications as well as overall crisis management.
    • Clarify spending and decision authority for key members of each team during a crisis.

    Track contact information in this template only if you don’t have a more streamlined way of tracking it elsewhere.

    Download Info-Tech’s Business Continuity Teams and Roles Tool

    Manage key vendors

    Review supplier capabilities and contracts to ensure they meet your requirements.

    Suppliers and vendors might include:

    • Material shipments
    • IT/telecoms service providers
    • Integrators and business process outsourcing providers
    • Independent contractors
    • Utilities (power, water, etc.)

    Supplier RTOs and RPOs should align with the acceptable RTOs and RPOs defined in the BIA. Where they do not, explore options for improvement.

    Confirm the following:

    1. The supplier’s own BC/DR capabilities – how they would recover their own operations in a disaster scenario.
    2. Any continuity services the supplier provides – how they can help you recover your operations in a disaster scenario.
    3. Their existing contractual obligations for service availability (e.g. SLAs).

    Download Info-Tech’s BCP Supplier Evaluation Questionnaire

    Organize your BCMS documentation

    Your BCP isn’t any one document. It’s multiple documents that work together.

    Continue to work through any additional required documentation. Build a repository where master copies of each document will reside and can be updated as required. Assign ownership of document management to someone with an understanding of the process (e.g. the BCP Coordinator).

    Governance Recovery
    BCMS Policy BCP Summary Core BCP Recovery Workflows
    Business Process Workflows Action Items & Project Roadmap BCP Recovery Checklists
    BIA Teams, Roles, Contact Information BCP Business Process Workarounds and Recovery Checklists
    BCP Maturity Scorecard BCP Project Charter Additional Recovery Workflows
    Business Unit Prioritization Tool BCP Presentation

    Info-Tech Best Practice

    Recovery documentation has a different audience, purpose, and lifecycle than governance documentation, and keeping the documents separate can help with content management. Disciplined document management keeps the plan current and accessible.

    Align your IT DRP with your BCP

    Use the following BCP outputs to inform your DRP:

    • Business process technology dependencies. This includes technology not controlled by IT (e.g. cloud-based services).
    • RTOs and RPOs for business processes.
    • Technology projects identified by the business to improve resilience (e.g. improved mobility support).
    PCP Outputs DRP Activities
    Business processes defined Identify critical applications

    Dependencies identified:

    • People
    • Enterprise tech
    • Personal devices
    • Workspace and facilities
    • Services and other inputs

    ↗

    →

    Identify IT dependencies:

    • Infrastructure
    • Secondary applications

    Recovery objectives defined:

    • BIA and RTOs/RPOs
    • Recovery workflows
    		→

    Identify recovery objectives:

    • BIA and RTOs/RPOs
    • IT Recovery workflows

    Projects identified to close gaps:

    • Resourcing changes (e.g. training secondary staff)
    • Process changes (e.g. optimize processes and define interim processes)
    • Technology changes (e.g. improving mobility)
    		→

    Identify projects to close gaps:

    • Projects to improve DR capability (e.g. data replication, standby systems).
    • Projects to improve resiliency (e.g. redundant components)

    Info-Tech Insight

    Don’t think of inconsistencies between your DRP and BCP as a problem. Discrepancies between the plans are part of the discovery process, and they’re an opportunity to have a conversation that can improve alignment between IT service capabilities and business needs. You should expect that there will be discrepancies – managing discrepancies is part of the ongoing process to refine and improve both plans.

    Schedule activities to keep BC and DR in sync

    BC/DR Planning Workflow

    1. Collect BCP outputs that impact IT DRP (e.g. technology RTOs/RPOs).

    2. As BCPs are done, BCP Coordinator reviews outputs with IT DRP Management Team.

    3. Use the RTOs/RPOs from the BCPs as a starting point to determine IT recovery plans.

    4. Identify investments required to meet business-defined RTOs/RPOs, and validate with the business.

    5. Create a DR technology roadmap to meet validated RTOs/RPOs.

    6. Review and update business unit BCPs to reflect updated RTOs/RPOs.

    Find and address shadow IT

    Reviewing business processes and dependencies can identify workarounds or shadow IT solutions that weren’t visible to IT and haven’t been included in IT’s DR plan.

    • If you identify technology process dependencies that IT didn’t know about, it can be an opportunity to start a conversation about service support. This can be a “teachable moment” to highlight the risks of adopting and implementing technology solutions without consulting IT.
    • Highlight the possible impact of using technology services that aren’t supported by IT. For example:
      • RTOs and RPOs may not be in line with business requirements.
      • Costs could be higher than supported solutions.
      • Security controls may not be in line with compliance requirements.
      • IT may not be able to offer support when the service breaks or build new features or functionality that might be required in the future.
    • Make sure that if IT is expected to support shadow IT solutions, these systems are included in the IT DRP and that the risks and costs of supporting the non-core solution are clear to all parties and are compared to an alternative, IT-recommended solutions.

    Shadow IT can be a symptom of larger service support issues. There should be a process for requesting and tracking non-standard services from IT with appropriate technical, security, and management oversight.

    Review and reprioritize BC projects to create an overall BC project roadmap

    Assign the BCP Coordinator the task of creating a master list of BC projects, and then work with the BC management team to review and reprioritize this list, as described below:

    1. Build a list of BC projects as you work with each business unit.
      1. Add proposed projects to a master copy of the BCP Project Roadmap Tool
      2. For each subsequent business unit, copy project names, scoring, and timelines into the master roadmap tool.
    2. Work with the Executive Sponsor, the IT BCM representative, and the BCM team to review and reprioritize projects.
      1. In the master BCP Project Roadmap Tool, review and update project scoring, taking into account the relative importance of each project within the overall list. Rationalize the list (e.g. eliminate duplicate projects).
    3. The project roadmap is a suggested list of projects at this stage. Assign a project sponsor and project manager (from the BC management team or appropriate delegates) to each project to take it through your organization’s normal project scoping and approval process.

    Improving business continuity capabilities is a marathon, not a sprint. Change for the better is still change and introduces risk – massive changes introduce massive risk. Incremental changes help minimize disruption. Use Info-Tech research to deliver organizational change.

    "Developing a BCP can be like solving a Rubik’s Cube. It’s a complex, interdepartmental concern with multiple and sometimes conflicting objectives. When you have one side in place, another gets pushed out of alignment." – Ray Mach, BCP Expert

    Step 4.3

    Test and maintain your BCP

    This step will walk you through the following activities:

    • Create additional documentation to support your business continuity plan.
    • Create a repository for documentation, and assign ownership for BCP documentation.

    This step involves the following participants:

    • BCP Coordinator

    In this step, you’ll use these tools and templates:

    Outcomes & Insights

    Create a plan to maintain the BCP.

    Iterate on your plan

    Tend your garden, and pull the weeds.

    Mastery comes through practice and iteration. Iterating on and testing your plan will help you keep up to date with business changes, identify plan improvements, and help your organization’s employees develop a mindset of continuity readiness. Maintenance drives continued success; don’t let your plan become stagnant, messy, and unusable.

    Your BCM program should structure BCP reviews and updates by answering the following:

    1. When do we review the plan?
    2. What are the goals of a review?
    3. Who must lead reviews and update BCP documents?
    4. How do we track reviews, tests, and updates?

    Structure plan reviews

    There are more opportunities for improvements than just planned reviews.

    At a minimum, review goals should include:

    1. Identify and document changes to BCP requirements.
    2. Identify and document changes to BCP capabilities.
    3. Identify gaps and risks and ways to remediate risks and close gaps.

    Who leads reviews and updates documents?

    The BCP Coordinator is likely heavily involved in facilitating reviews and updating documentation, at least at first. Look for opportunities to hand off document ownership to the business units over time.

    How do we track reviews, tests, and updates?

    Keep track of your good work by keeping a log of document changes. If you don’t have one, you can use the last tab on the BCP-DRP Maintenance Checklist.

    When do we review the plan?

    1. Scheduled reviews: At a minimum, plan reviews once a year. Plan owners should review the documents, identify needed updates, and notify the coordinator of any changes to their plan.
    2. As-needed reviews: Project launches, major IT upgrades, office openings or moves, organizational restructuring – all of these should trigger a BCP review.
    3. Testing exercises: Schedule controlled exercises to test and improve different aspects of your continuity plan, and ensure that lessons learned become part of plan documentation.
    4. Retrospectives: Take the opportunity to learn from actual continuity events and crises by conducting retrospectives to evaluate your response and brainstorm improvements.

    Conduct a retrospective after major incidents

    Use a retrospective on your COVID-19 response as a starting point. Build on the questions below to guide the conversation.

    • If needed, how did we set up remote work for our users? What worked, and what didn’t?
    • Did we discover any long-term opportunities to improve business processes?
    • Did we use any continuity plans we have documented?
    • Did we effectively prioritize business processes for recovery?
    • Were expectations from our business users in line with our plans?
    • What parts of our plan worked, and where can we improve the plan?
    1. Gather stakeholders and team members
    2. Ask:
      1. What happened?
      2. What did we learn?
      3. What did we do well?
      4. What should we have done differently?
      5. What gaps should we take action to address?
    3. Prepare a plan to take action

    Outcomes and benefits

    • Confirm business priorities.
    • Validate that business recovery solutions and procedures are effective in meeting business requirements (i.e. RTOs and RPOs).
    • Identify gaps in continuity resources, procedures, or documentation, and options to close gaps.
    • Build confidence in the response team and recovery capabilities.

    Tool: Testing and Maintenance Schedule

    Build a light-weight maintenance schedule for your BCP and DRP plans.

    This tool helps you set a schedule for plan update activities, identify document and exercise owners, and log updates for audit and governance purposes.

    • Add the names of your documents and brainstorm update activities.
    • Activities (document updates, testing, etc.) might be scheduled regularly, as-needed, or both. If they happen “as needed,” identify the trigger for the activity.
    • Start tracking past activities and resulting changes in Tab 3. You can also track crises that tested your continuity capabilities on this tab.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Everyone gets busy. If there’s a meeting you can schedule months in advance, schedule it months in advance! Then send reminders closer to the date. As soon as you’re done the pilot BCP, set aside time in everyone’s calendar for your first review session, whether that’s three months, six months, or a year from now.

    Appendix

    Additional BCP Tools and Templates

    Template Library: Business Continuity Policy

    Create a high-level policy to govern BCP and clarify BCP requirements.

    Use this template to:

    • Outline the organizational commitment to BCM.
    • Clarify the mandate to prepare, validate, and maintain continuity plans that align with business requirements.
    • Define specific policy statements that signatories to the policy are expected to uphold.
    • Require key stakeholders to review and sign off on the template.

    Download Info-Tech’s Business Continuity Policy template

    Template Library: Workarounds & Recovery Checklists

    Capture the step-by-step details to execute workarounds and steps in the business recovery process.

    If you require more detail to support your recovery procedures, you can use this template to:

    • Record specific steps or checklists to support specific workarounds or recovery procedures.
    • Identify prerequisites for workarounds or recovery procedures.

    Download Info-Tech’s BCP Process Workarounds & Recovery Checklists Template

    Template Library: Notification, Assessment, Declaration

    Create a procedure that outlines the conditions for assessing a disaster situation and invoking the business continuity plan.

    Use this template to:

    • Guide the process whereby the business is notified of an incident, assesses the situation, and declares a disaster.
    • Set criteria for activating business continuity plans.
    • Review examples of possible events, and suggest options on how the business might proceed or react.

    Download Info-Tech’s BCP Notification, Assessment, and Disaster Declaration Plan template

    Template Library: BCP Recovery Workflow Example

    Review an example of BCP recovery workflows.

    Use this template to:

    • Generate ideas for your own recovery processes.
    • See real examples of recovery processes for warehousing, supply, and distribution operations.
    • Review an example of working BCP documentation.

    Download Info-Tech’s BCP Recovery Workflows Example

    Create a Pandemic Response Plan

    If you’ve been asked to build a pandemic-specific response plan, use your core BCP findings to complete these pandemic planning documents.

    • At the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, IT departments were asked to rapidly ramp up work-from-home capabilities and support other process workarounds.
    • IT managers already knew that obstacles to working from home would go beyond internet speed and needing a laptop. Business input is critical to uncover unexpected obstacles.
    • IT needed to address a range of issues from security risk to increased service desk demand from users who don’t normally work from home.
    • Workarounds to speed the process up had to be balanced with good IT practices and governance (Asset Management, Security, etc.)
    • If you’ve been asked to update your Pandemic Response Plan, use this template and your core BCP deliverables to deliver a set of streamlined documentation that draws on lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Structure HR’s role in the pandemic plan

    Leverage the following materials from Info-Tech’s HR-focused sister company, McLean & Company.

    These HR research resources live on the website of Info-Tech’s sister company, McLean & Company. Contact your Account Manager to gain access to these resources.

    Summary of Accomplishment

    Knowledge Gained

    This blueprint outlined:

    • The streamlined approach to BCP development.
    • A BIA process to identify acceptable, appropriate recovery objectives.
    • Tabletop planning exercises to document and validate business recovery procedures.

    Processes Optimized

    • Business continuity development processes were optimized, from business impact analysis to incident response planning.
    • In addition, pilot business unit processes were identified and clarified to support BCP development, which also provided the opportunity to review and optimize those processes.

    Key Deliverables Completed

    • Core BCP deliverables for the pilot business unit, including a business impact analysis, recovery workflows, and a project roadmap.
    • BCP Executive Presentation to communicate pilot results as well as a summary of the methodology to the executive team.
    • BCP Summary to provide a high-level view of BCP scope, objectives, capabilities, and requirements.

    If you would like additional support, have our analysts guide you through other phases as part of an Info-Tech workshop.

    Contact your account representative for more information.

    workshops@infotech.com

    1-888-670-8889

    Research Contributors and Experts

    Dr. Bernard A. Jones, MBCI, CBCP

    Professor and Continuity Consultant Berkeley College

    Dr. Jones is a professor at Berkeley College within the School of Professional Studies teaching courses in Homeland Security and Emergency Management. He is a member of the National Board of Directors for the Association of Continuity Professionals (ACP) as well as the Information & Publications Committee Chair for the Garden State Chapter of the ACP. Dr. Jones earned a doctorate degree in Civil Security Leadership, Management & Policy from New Jersey City University where his research focus was on organizational resilience.

    Kris L. Roberson

    Disaster Recovery Analyst Veterans United Home Loans

    Kris Roberson is the Disaster Recovery Analyst for Veterans United Home Loans, the #1 VA mortgage lender in the US. Kris oversees the development and maintenance of the Veterans United Home Loans DR program and leads the business continuity program. She is responsible for determining the broader strategies for DR testing and continuity planning, as well as the implementation of disaster recovery and business continuity technologies, vendors, and services. Kris holds a Masters of Strategic Leadership with a focus on organizational change management and a Bachelors in Music. She is a member of Infragard, the National Association of Professional Women, and Sigma Alpha Iota, and holds a Project+ certification.

    Trevor Butler

    General Manager of Information Technology City of Lethbridge

    As the General Manager of Information Technology with the City of Lethbridge, Trevor is accountable for providing strategic management and advancement of the city’s information technology and communications systems consistent with the goals and priorities of the corporation while ensuring that corporate risks are appropriately managed. He has 15+ years of progressive IT leadership experience, including 10+ years with public sector organizations. He holds a B.Mgt. and PMP certification along with masters certificates in both Project Management and Business Analysis.

    Robert Miller

    Information Services Director Witt/Kieffer

    Bob Miller is the Information Services Director at Witt/Kieffer. His department provides end-user support for all company-owned devices and software for Oak Brook, the regional offices, home offices, and traveling employees. The department purchases, implements, manages, and monitors the infrastructure, which includes web hosting, networks, wireless solutions, cell phones, servers, and file storage. Bob is also responsible for the firm’s security planning, capacity planning, and business continuity and disaster preparedness planning to ensure that the firm has functional technology to conduct business and continue business growth.

    Related Info-Tech Research

    Create a Right-Sized Disaster Recovery Plan

    Close the gap between your DR capabilities and service continuity requirements.

    Create Visual SOP Documents that Drive Process Optimization, Not Just Peace of Mind

    Go beyond satisfying auditors to drive process improvement, consistent IT operations, and effective knowledge transfer.

    Select the Optimal Disaster Recovery Deployment Model

    Determine which deployment models, including hybrid solutions, best meet your DR requirements.

    Bibliography

    “Business Continuity Planning.” IT Examination HandBook. The Federal Financial Institution Examination Council (FFIEC), February 2015. Web.

    “Business Continuity Plans and Emergency Contact Information.” FINRA, 12 February 2015. Web.

    “COBIT 5: A Business Framework for the Governance and Management of Enterprise IT.” ISACA, n.d. Web.

    Disaster Resource GUIDE. Emergency Lifeline Corporation, n.d. Web.

    “DR Rules & Regulations.” Disaster Recovery Journal, March 2017. Web.

    “Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA).” Homeland Security, 2014. Web.

    FEMA. “Planning & Templates.” FEMA, n.d. Web.

    “FINRA-SEC-CFTC Joint Advisory (Regulatory Notice 13-25).” FINRA, August 2013. Web.

    Gosling, Mel and Andrew Hiles. “Business Continuity Statistics: Where Myth Meets Fact.” Continuity Central, 24 April 2009. Web.

    Hanwacker, Linda. “COOP Templates for Success Workbook.” The LSH Group, 2016. Web.

    Potter, Patrick. “BCM Regulatory Alphabet Soup – Part Two.” RSA Link, 28 August 2012. Web.

    The Good Practice Guidelines. Business Continuity Institute, 2013. Web.

    Wang, Dashun and James A. Evans. “When Small Teams are Better than Big Ones.” Harvard Business Review, 21 February 2019. Web.

    Make Your IT Governance Adaptable

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    • Parent Category Name: IT Governance, Risk & Compliance
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    • People don’t understand the value of governance, seeing it as a hindrance to productivity and efficiency.
    • Governance is delegated to people and practices that don’t have the ability or authority to make these decisions.
    • Decisions are made within committees that don’t meet frequently enough to support business velocity.
    • It is difficult to allocate time and resources to build or execute governance effectively.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • IT governance applies not just to the IT department but to all uses of information and technology.
    • IT governance works against you if it no longer aligns with or supports your organizational direction, goals, and work practices.
    • Governance doesn’t have to be bureaucratic or control based.
    • Your governance model should be able to adapt to changes in the organization’s strategy and goals, your industry, and your ways of working.
    • Governance can be embedded and automated into your practices.

    Impact and Result

    • You will produce more value from IT by developing a governance framework optimized for your current needs and context, with the ability to adapt as your needs shift.
    • You will create the foundation and ability to delegate and empower governance to enable agile delivery.
    • You will identify areas where governance does not require manual oversight and can be embedded into the way you work.

    Make Your IT Governance Adaptable Research & Tools

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Make Your IT Governance Adaptable Deck – A document that walks you through how to design and implement governance that fits the context of your organization and can adapt to change.

    Our dynamic, flexible, and embedded approach to governance will help drive organizational success. The three-phase methodology will help you identify your governance needs, select and refine your governance model, and embed and automate governance decisions.

    • Make Your IT Governance Adaptable – Phases 1-3

    2. Adaptive and Controlled Governance Model Templates and Workbook – Documents that gather context information about your organization to identify the best approach for governance.

    Use these templates and workbook to identify the criteria and design factors for your organization and the design triggers to maintain fit. Upon completion this will be your new governance framework model.

    • Controlled Governance Models Template
    • IT Governance Program Overview
    • Governance Workbook

    3. Implementation Plan and Workbook – Tools that help you build and finalize your approach to implement your new or revised governance model.

    Upon completion you will have a finalized implementation plan and a visual roadmap.

    • Governance Implementation Plan
    • Governance Roadmap Workbook

    4. Governance Committee Charter Templates – Base charters that can be adapted for communication.

    Customize these templates to create the committee charters or terms of reference for the committees developed in your governance model.

    • IT PMO Committee Charter
    • IT Risk Committee Charter for Controlled Governance
    • IT Steering Committee Charter for Controlled Governance
    • Program Governance Committee Charter
    • Architecture Review Board Charter
    • Data Governance Committee Charter
    • Digital Governance Committee Charter

    5. Governance Automation Criteria Checklist and Worksheet – Tools that help you determine which governance decisions can be automated and work through the required logic and rules.

    The checklist is a starting point for confirming which activities and decisions should be considered for automation or embedding. Use the worksheet to develop decision logic by defining the steps and information inputs involved in making decisions.

    • Governance Automation Criteria Checklist
    • Governance Automation Worksheet

    Infographic

    Workshop: Make Your IT Governance Adaptable

    Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

    1 Develop Your Guiding Star

    The Purpose

    Establish the context for your governance model.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Core understanding of the context that will enable us to build an optimal model

    Activities

    1.1 Confirm mission, vision, and goals.

    1.2 Define scope and principles.

    1.3 Adjust for culture and finalize context.

    Outputs

    Governance principles

    Governance context and goals

    2 Define the Governance Model

    The Purpose

    To select and adapt a governance model based on your context.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    A selected and optimized governance model

    Activities

    2.1 Select and refine governance model.

    2.2 Confirm and adjust the structure.

    2.3 Review and adapt governance responsibilities and activities.

    2.4 Validate governance mandates and membership.

    Outputs

    IT governance model and adjustment triggers

    IT governance structure, responsibilities, membership, and cadence

    Governance committee charters

    3 Build Governance Process and Policy

    The Purpose

    Refine your governance practices and associate policies properly.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    A completed governance model that can be implemented with clear update triggers and review timing

    Policy alignment with the right levels of authority

    Activities

    3.1 Update your governance process.

    3.2 Align policies to mandate.

    3.3 Adjust and confirm your model.

    3.4 Identify and document update triggers and embed into review cycle.

    Outputs

    IT governance process and information flow

    IT governance policies

    Finalized governance model

    4 Embed and Automate Governance

    The Purpose

    Identify options to automate and embed governance activities and decisions.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Simply more consistent governance activities and automate them to enhance speed and support governance delegation and empowerment

    Activities

    4.1 Identify decisions and standards that can be automated. Develop decision logic.

    4.2 Plan verification and validation approach.

    4.3 Build implementation plan.

    4.4 Develop communication strategy and messaging.

    Outputs

    Selected automation options, decision logic, and business rules

    Implementation and communication plan

    Further reading

    Make Your IT Governance Adaptable

    Governance isn't optional, so keep it simple and make it flexible.

    Table of Contents

    4 Analyst Perspective

    5 Executive Summary

    13 Governance Stages

    14 Info-Tech’s IT Governance Thought Model

    19 Info-Tech’s Approach

    23 Insight Summary

    30 Phase 1: Identify Your Governance Needs

    54 Phase 2: Select and Refine Your Governance Model

    76 Phase 3: Embed and Automate

    94 Summary of Accomplishment

    95 Additional Support

    97 Contributors

    98 Bibliography

    Make Your IT Governance Adaptable

    Governance isn't optional, so keep it simple and make it flexible.

    EXECUTIVE BRIEF

    Analyst Perspective

    Governance will always be part of the fabric of your organization. Make it adaptable so it doesn’t constrain your success.

    Photo of Valence Howden, Principal Research Director, Info-Tech Research Group

    Far too often, the purpose of information and technology (I&T) governance is misunderstood. Instead of being seen as a way to align the organization’s vision to its investment in information and technology, it has become so synonymous with compliance and control that even mentioning the word “governance” elicits a negative reaction.

    Success in modern digital organizations depends on their ability to adjust for velocity and uncertainty, requiring a dynamic and responsive approach to governance – one that is embedded and automated in your organization to enable new ways of working, innovation, and change.

    Evolutionary theory describes adaptability as the way an organism adjusts to fit a new environment, or changes to its existing environment, to survive. Applied to organizations, adaptable governance is critical to the ability to survive and succeed.

    If your governance doesn’t adjust to enable your changing business environment and customer needs, it will quickly become misaligned with your goals and drive you to failure.

    It is critical that people build an approach to governance that is effective and relevant today while building in adaptability to keep it relevant tomorrow.

    Valence Howden
    Principal Research Director, Info-Tech Research Group

    Executive Summary

    Your Challenge

    • People don’t understand the value of governance, seeing it as a hindrance to productivity and efficiency.
    • Governance is delegated to people and practices that don’t have the ability or authority to make decisions.
    • Decisions are made within committees that don’t meet frequently enough to support business velocity.
    • It is difficult to allocate time and resources to build or execute governance effectively

    Common Obstacles

    • You are unable to clearly communicate how governance adds value to your organization.
    • Your IT governance approach no longer aligns with or supports your organizational direction, goals, and work practices.
    • Governance is seen and performed as a bureaucratic control-based exercise.
    • Governance activities are not transparent.
    • The governance committee gets too deeply involved with project deep dives and daily management, derailing its effectiveness and ability to produce value.

    Info-Tech’s Approach

    • Use Info-Tech’s IT governance models to identify a base model similar to the way you are organized. Confirm your current and future placement in governance execution.
    • Adjust the model based on industry needs, your principles, regulatory requirements, and your future direction.
    • Identify where to embed or automate decision making and compliance and what is required to do so effectively.
    • Implement your governance model for success.

    Info-Tech Insight

    IT governance must be embedded and automated, where possible, to effectively meet the needs and velocity of digital organizations and modern practices and to drive success and value.

    What is governance?

    IT governance is a critical and embedded practice that ensures that information and technology investments, risks, and resources are aligned in the best interests of the organization and produce business value.

    Effective governance ensures that the right technology investments are made at the right time to support and enable your organization’s mission, vision, and goals.

    5 KEY OUTCOMES OF GOOD GOVERNANCE
    STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT

    Technology investments and portfolios are aligned with the organization's strategic objectives.

    		RISK OPTIMIZATION

    Organizational risks are understood and addressed to minimize impact and optimize opportunities.

    		VALUE DELIVERY

    IT investments and initiatives deliver their expected benefits.

    		RESOURCE OPTIMIZATION

    Resources (people, finances, time) are appropriately allocated across the organization to optimal organizational benefit.

    		PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT

    The performance of technology investments is monitored and used to determine future courses of action and to confirm achievement of success.

    ‹–EVALUATE–DIRECT–MONITOR–›

    Why is this necessary?

    • Governance is not simply a committee or an activity that you perform at a specific point in time; it is a critical and continuously active practice that drives the success of your organization. It is part of your organization’s DNA and is just as unique, with some attributes common to all (IT governance elements), some specific to your family (industry refinements), and some specific to you (individual organization).
    • Your approach to governance needs to change over time in order to remain relevant and continue to enable value and success, but organizations rarely want to change governance once it’s in place.
    • To meet the speed and flow of practices like Lean, DevOps, and Agile, your IT governance needs to be done differently and become embedded into the way your organization works. You must adjust your governance model based on key moments of change – organizational triggers – to maintain the effectiveness of your model.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Build an optimal model quickly and implement the core elements using an iterative approach to ensure the changes provide the most value.

    The Technology Value Trinity

    Delivery of Business Value & Strategic Needs

    • DIGITAL & TECHNOLOGY STRATEGY
      The identification of objectives and initiatives necessary to achieve business goals.
    • IT OPERATING MODEL
      The model for how IT is organized to deliver on business needs and strategies.
    • INFORMATION & TECHNOLOGY GOVERNANCE
      The governance to ensure the organization and its customers get maximum value from the use of information and technology.

    All three elements of the Technology Value Trinity work in harmony to deliver business value and meet strategic needs. As one changes, the others need to change as well.

    • Digital and IT Strategy tells you what you need to achieve to be successful.
    • IT Operating Model and Organizational Design is the alignment of resources to deliver on your strategy and priorities.
    • Information & Technology Governance is the confirmation that IT’s goals and strategy align with the business’ strategy. It is the mechanism by which you continuously prioritize work to ensure that what you deliver is in line with the strategy. This oversight involves evaluating, directing, and monitoring the delivery of outcomes to ensure that the use of resources results in achieving the organization’s goals.

    Too often strategy, operating model and organizational design, and governance are considered separate practices. As a result, “strategic documents” end up being wish lists, and projects continue to be prioritized based on who shouts the loudest rather than on what is in the best interest of the organization.

    Where information & technology governance fits within an organization

    An infographic illustrating where Governance fits within an organization. The main section is titled 'Enterprise Governance and Strategy' and contains 'Value Outcomes', 'Mission and Vision', 'Goals and Objectives', and 'Guiding Principles'. These all feed into the highlighted 'Information & Technology Governance', which then contributes to 'IT Strategy', which lies outside the main section.

    I&T governance hasn’t achieved its purpose

    Governance is the means by which IT ensures that information and technology delivery and spend is aligned to business goals and delivers business outcomes. However, most CEOs continue to perceive IT as being poorly aligned to the business’ strategic goals, which indicates that governance is not implemented or executed properly.

    For I&T governance to be effective you need a clear understanding of the things that drive your organization and its success. This understanding becomes your guiding star, which is critical for effective governance. It also requires participation by all parts of the organization, not just IT.

    Info-Tech CIO/CEO Alignment Diagnostics (N=124)

    43% of CEOs believe that business goals are going unsupported by IT.

    60% of CEOs believe that improvement is required around IT’s understanding of business goals.

    80% of CIOs/CEOs are misaligned on the target role for IT.

    30% of business stakeholders are supporters (N=32,536) of their IT departments

    Common causes of poor governance

    Key causes of poor or misaligned governance

    1. Governance and its value to your organization is not well understood, often being confused or integrated with more granular management activities.
    2. Business executives fail to understand that IT governance is a function of the business and not the IT department.
    3. Poor past experiences have made “governance” a bad word in the organization. People see it as a constraint and barrier that must be circumvented to get work done.
    4. There is misalignment between accountability and authority throughout the organization, and the wrong people are involved in governance practices.
    5. There is an unwillingness to change a governance approach that has served the organization well in the past, leading to challenges when the organization starts to change practices and speed of delivery.
    6. There is a lack of data and data-related capabilities required to support good decision making and the automation of governance decisions.
    7. The goals and strategy of the organization are not known or understood, leaving nothing for IT governance to orient around.

    Key symptoms of ineffective governance committees

    1. No actions or decisions are generated. The committee produces no value and makes no decisions after it meets. The lack of value output makes the usefulness of the committee questionable.
    2. Resources are overallocated. There is a lack of clear understanding of capacity and value in work to be done, leading to consistent underestimation of required resources and poor resource allocation.
    3. Decisions are changed outside of committee. Decisions made or initiatives approved by the committee are later changed when the proper decision makers are involved or the right information becomes available.
    4. Governance decisions conflict with organizational direction. This shows an obvious lack of alignment and behavioral disconnect that work against organizational success. It is often due to not accounting for where power really exists within the structure.
    5. Consistently poor outcomes are produced from governance direction. Committee members’ lack of business acumen, relevant data, or understanding of organizational goals results in decisions that fail to drive successful measured outcomes.

    Mature your governance by transitioning from ad hoc to automated

    Organizations should look to progress in their governance stages. Ad hoc and controlled governance practices tend to be more rigid, making these a poor fit for organizations requiring higher velocity delivery or using more agile and adaptive practices.

    The goal as you progress through these stages is to delegate governance and empower teams based on your fit and culture, enabling teams where needed to make optimal decisions in real time, ensuring that they are aligned with the best interests of the organization.

    Automate governance for optimal velocity while mitigating risks and driving value.

    This puts your organization in the best position to be adaptive, able to react effectively to volatility and uncertainty.

    A graph illustrating the transition from Ad Hoc to Automated. The y-axis is 'Process Integration' and x-axis is 'Trust & Empowerment'. 'Ad Hoc: Inconsistent Decision Making' lies close to the origin, ranking low on both axes' values. 'Controlled: Authoritarian, Highly Structured' ranks slightly higher on both axes. 'Agile: Distributed & Empowered' ranks 2nd highest on both axes. 'Automated: High Velocity, Embedded & Flexible' ranks highest on both axes.

    Stages of governance

    Adaptive
    Data-Centric

    ˆ


    ˆ


    ˆ


    ˆ


    ˆ
    Traditional
    (People- and Document-Centric)

    4

    		 Automated Governance
    • Entrenched into organizational processes and product/service design
    • Empowered and fully delegated to maintain fit and drive organizational success and survival

    3

    		 Agile Governance
    • Flexible enough to support different needs in the organization and respond quickly to change
    • Driven by principles and delegated throughout the company

    2

    		 Controlled Governance
    • Focused on compliance and hierarchy-based authority
    • Levels of authority defined and often driven by regulatory requirements

    1

    		 Ad Hoc Governance
    • Not well defined or understood within the organization
    • Occurs out of necessity but often not done by the right people or bodies

    Make Governance Adaptable and Automated to Drive Success and Value

    Governance adaptiveness ensures the success of digital organizations and modern practice implementation.

    THE PROBLEM

    • The wrong people are making decisions.
    • Organizations don't understand what governance is or why it's done.
    • Governance scope and design is a bad fit, damaging the organization.
    • People think governance is optional.

    THE SOLUTION

    ESTABLISH YOUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES

    Define and establish the guiding principle that drive your organization toward success.

    • Mission & Vision
    • Business Goals & Success Criteria
    • Operating Model & Work Practices
    • Governance Scope
    • Principles
    SELECT AND REFINE YOUR MODEL

    Use Info-Tech's IT Governance Models to identify a base model similar to the way you are organized. Confirm your current and future placement in governance execution.

    IDENTIFY MODEL UPDATE TRIGGERS

    Adjust the model based on industry needs, your principles, regulatory requirements, and future direction.

    • Principles
      Select principles that allow the organization to be adaptive while still ensuring the governance continues to stay on course with pursuing its guiding star.
    • Responsibilities
      Decide on the governance responsibilities related to Oversight Level, Strategic Alignment, Value Delivery, Risk Optimization, Resource Optimization, and Performance Management.
    • Structure
      Determine at which structured level governance is appropriate: Enterprise, Strategic, Tactical, or Operational.
    • Processes
      Establish processes that will enable governance to occur such as: Embed the processes required for successful governance.
    • Membership
      Identify the Responsibility & Accountability of those who should be involved in governance processes, policies, guidelines, and responsibilities.
    • Policies
      Confirm any governing policies that need to be adhered to and considered to manage risk.
    DETERMINE AUTOMATION OPTIONS AND DECISION RULES

    Identify where to embed or automate decision making and compliance and what is required to do so effectively.

    STAGES OF GOVERNANCE

      Traditional (People- and document-centric)
    1. AD HOC GOVERNANCE
      Governance that is not well defined or understood within the organization. It occurs out of necessity but often not by the right people or bodies.
    2. CONTROLLED GOVERNANCE
      Governance focused on compliance and hierarchy-based, authority-driven control of decisions. Levels of Authority are defined and often driven by regulatory requirements.
      3. Adaptive (Data Centric)
    3. AGILE GOVERNANCE
      Governance that is flexible to support different needs and quick responses in the organization. Driven by principles and delegated throughout the company.
    4. AUTOMATED GOVERNANCE
      Governance that is entrenched and automated into the organizational processes and product/service design. Empowered and fully delegated governance to maintain fit and drive organizational success and survival.

    KEY INSIGHT

    Governance must actively adapt to changes in your organization, environment, and practices or it will drive you to failure.

    Developing governance principles

    Governance principles support the move from controlled to automated governance by providing guardrails that guide your decisions. They provide the ethical boundaries and cultural perspectives that contextualize your decisions and keep you in line with organizational values. Determining principles are global in nature.

    CONTROLLED CHANGE ACTIONS AND RATIONALE AUTOMATED
    Disentangle governance and management Move from governance focused on evaluating, directing, and monitoring strategic decisions around information and technology toward defining and automating rules and principles for decision making into processes and practices, empowering the organization and driving adaptiveness. Delegate and empower
    Govern toward value Move from identifying the organization’s mission, goals, and key drivers toward orienting IT to align with those value outcomes and embedding value outcomes into design and delivery practices. Deliver to defined outcomes
    Make risk-informed decisions Move from governance bodies using risk information to manually make informed decisions based on their defined risk tolerance toward having risk information and attestation baked into decision making across all aspects and layers of the IT organization – from design to sustainment. Embed risk decision making into processes and practices
    Measure to drive improvement Move from static lagging metrics that validate that the work being done is meeting the organization’s needs and guide future decision making toward automated governance with more transparency driven by data-based decision making and real-time data insights. Trust through real-time reporting
    Enforce standards and behavior Move from enforcing standards and behavior and managing exceptions to ensure that there are consistent outcomes and quality toward automating standards and behavioral policies and embedding adherence and changes in behavior into the organization’s natural way of working. Automate standards through automated decision rules, verification, and validation

    Find your guiding star

    MISSION AND VISION –› GOALS AND OBJECTIVES –› GUIDING PRINCIPLES –›

    VALUE
    Why your organization exists and what value it aims to provide. The purpose you build a strategy to achieve. What your organization needs be successful at to fulfill its mission. Key propositions and guardrails that define and guide expected organizational behavior and beliefs.

    Your mission and vision define your goals and objectives. These are reinforced by your guiding principles, including ethical considerations, your culture, and expected behaviors. They provide the boundaries and guardrails for enabling adaptive governance, ensuring you continue to move in the right direction for organizational success.

    To paraphrase Lewis Carroll, “If you don't know where you want to get to, it doesn't much matter which way you go.” Once you know what matters, where value resides, and which considerations are necessary to make decisions, you have consistent directional alignment that allows you to delegate empowered governance throughout the organization, taking you to the places you want to go.

    Understand governance versus management

    Don’t blur the lines between governance and management; each has a unique role to play. Confusing them results in wasted time and confusion around ownership.

    Governance

    I&T governance defines WHAT should be done and sets direction through prioritization and decision making, monitoring overall IT performance.

    Governance aligns with the mission and vision of the organization to guide IT.

    		A cycle of processes split into two halves, 'Governance Processes' and 'Management Processes'. Beginning on the Management side, the processes are 'Plan', 'Build', 'Run', 'Monitor', then to the Governance side, 'Evaluate', 'Direct', 'Monitor', and back to the beginning.

    Management

    Management focuses on HOW to do things to achieve the WHAT. It is responsible for executing on, operating, and monitoring activities as determined by I&T governance.

    Management makes decisions for implementation based on governance direction.

    Data is critical to automating governance

    Documents and subjective/non-transparent decisions do not create sufficient structure to allow for the true automation of governance. Data related to decisions and aggregated risk allow you to define decision logic and rules and algorithmically embed them into your organization.

    People- and Document-Centric

    Governance drives activities through specific actors (individuals/committees) and unstructured data in processes and documents that are manually executed, assessed, and revised. There are often constraints caused by gaps or lack of adequate and integrated information in support of good decisions.

    Data-Centric

    Governance actors provide principles, parameters, and decision logic that enable the creation of code, rulesets, and algorithms that leverage organizational data. Attestation is automatic – validated and managed within the process, product, or service.

    Info-Tech’s Approach

    Define your context and build your model

    ESTABLISH YOUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES

    Define and establish the guiding principle that drive your organization toward success.

    • Mission & Vision
    • Business Goals & Success Criteria
    • Operating Model & Work Practices
    • Governance Scope
    • Principles
    SELECT AND REFINE YOUR MODEL

    Use Info-Tech's IT Governance Models to identify a base model similar to the way you are organized. Confirm your current and future placement in governance execution.

    MODEL UPDATE TRIGGERS

    Adjust the model based on industry needs, your principles, regulatory requirements, and future direction.

    • Principles
      Select principles that allow the organization to be adaptive while still ensuring the governance continues to stay on course with pursuing its guiding star.
    • Responsibilities
      Decide on the governance responsibilities related to Oversight Level, Strategic Alignment, Value Delivery, Risk Optimization, Resource Optimization, and Performance Management.
    • Structure
      Determine at which structured level governance is appropriate: Enterprise, Strategic, Tactical, or Operational.
    • Processes
      Establish processes that will enable governance to occur such as: Embed the processes required for successful governance.
    • Membership
      Identify the Responsibility & Accountability of those who should be involved in governance processes, policies, guidelines, and responsibilities.
    • Policies
      Confirm any governing policies that need to be adhered to and considered to manage risk.
    AUTOMATION OPTIONS AND DECISION RULES

    Identify where to embed or automate decision making and compliance and what is required to do so effectively.

    The Info-Tech Difference

    Define your context and build your model

    1. Quickly identify the organizational needs driving governance and your guiding star.
    2. Select and refine a base governance model based on our templates.
    3. Define and document the key changes in your organization that will trigger a need to update or revise your governance.
    4. Determine where you might be able to automate aspects of your governance.
    5. Design your decision rules where appropriate to support automated and adaptive governance.

    How to use this research

    Where are you in your governance optimization journey?

    MY GOVERNANCE IS AD HOC AND WE’RE STARTING FROM SCRATCH I NEED TO BUILD A NEW GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE OUR GOVERNANCE APPROACH IS INEFFECTIVE AND NEEDS IMPROVEMENT I NEED TO LOOK AT OPTIONS FOR AUTOMATING GOVERNANCE PRACTICES
    Step 1.1: Define Your Governance Context Step 1.2: Structure Your IT Governance Phase 2: Select and Refine Your Model Phase 3: Embed and Automate

    IT governance is about ensuring that the investment decisions made around information and technology drive the optimal organizational value, not about governing the IT department.

    In this section we will clarify your organizational context for governance and define your guiding star to orient your governance design and inform your structure.

    There is no need to start from scratch! Start with Info-Tech’s best-practice IT governance models and customize them based on your organizational context.

    The research in this section will help you to select the right base model to work from and provide guidance on how to refine it.

    Governance practices eventually stop being a good fit for a changing organization, and things that worked before become bottlenecks.

    Governing roles and committees don’t adjust well, don’t have consistent practices, and lack the right information to make good decisions.

    The research in this section will help you improve and realign your governance practices.

    Once your governance is controlled and optimized you are ready to investigate opportunities to automate.

    This phase of the blueprint will help you determine where it’s feasible to automate and embed governance, understand key governance automation practices, and develop governing business rules to move your journey forward.

    Related Research:

    If you are looking for details on specific associated practices, please see our related research:

    1. I need to establish data governance.
    2. I need to manage my project portfolio, from intake to confirmation of value.
    3. I need better risk information to support decision making.
    4. I need to ensure I am getting the expected outcomes and benefits from IT spend.
    5. I need to prioritize my product backlog or service portfolio.

    Info-Tech’s methodology for building and embedding adaptive governance

    1. Identify Your Governance Needs 2. Select and Refine Your Governance Model 3. Embed and Automate
    Phase Steps
    1. Confirm Mission, Vision, and Goals
    2. Define Scope and Principles
    3. Adjust for Culture and Finalize Context
    1. Select and Refine Your Governance Model
    2. Identify and Document Your Governance Triggers
    3. Build Your Implementation Plan
    1. Identify Decisions to Embed and Automate
    2. Plan Validation and Verification
    3. Update Implementation Plan
    Phase Outcomes
    • Governance context, guiding star, and principles
    • Completed governance model with associated decisions and policies
    • Implementation plan
    • List of automation options
    • Decision logic, rules, and rulesets
    • Validation and verification approach
    • Finalized implementation plan

    Insight summary

    Value

    To remain valuable, I&T governance must actively adapt to changes in your organization, environment, and practices, or it will drive you to failure instead of success.

    Focus

    I&T governance does not focus on the IT department. Rather, its intent is to ensure your organization makes sound decisions around investment in and use of information and technology.

    Maturity

    Your governance approach progresses in stages from ad hoc to automated as your organization matures. Your stage depends on your organizational needs and ways of working.

    Good governance

    Good governance does not equate to control and does not stifle innovation.

    Automation

    Automating governance must be done in stages, based on your capabilities, level of maturity, and amount of usable data.

    Strategy

    Establish the least amount of governance required to allow you to achieve your goals.

    Guiding star

    If you don’t establish a guiding star to align the different stakeholders in your organization, governance practices will create conflict and confusion.

    Blueprint deliverables

    Each step of this blueprint is accompanied by supporting deliverables to help you accomplish your goals:

    Key Deliverable:
    Governance Framework Model

    The governance framework model provides the design of your new governance model and the organizational context to retain stakeholder alignment and organizational satisfaction with governance.

    The model includes the structures, practices, and responsibilities to drive effective governance in your organization.

    Sample of the key blueprint deliverable 'Governance Framework Model'.

    Governance Implementation Plan

    This roadmap lays out the changes required to implement the governance model, the cultural items that need to be addressed, and anticipated timing.

    Sample of the blueprint deliverable 'Governance Implementation Plan'.

    Governance Committee Charters

    Develop a detail governance charter or term of reference for each governing body. Outline the mandate, responsibilities, membership, process, and associated policies for each.

    Sample of the blueprint deliverable 'Governance Committee Charters'.

    Blueprint benefits

    IT Benefits

    • Stronger, traceable alignment of IT decisions and initiatives to business needs.
    • Improved ability for IT to meet the changing demands and velocity of the business.
    • Better support and enablement of innovation – removing constraints and barriers.
    • Optimized governance that supports and enables modern work practices.
    • Increased value generation from IT initiatives and optimal use of IT resources.
    • Designed adaptability to ensure you remain in alignment as your business and IT environments change.

    Business Benefits

    • Clear transparent focus of IT initiatives on generating strategic business value.
    • Improved ability to measure the value and contribution of IT to business goals.
    • Alignment and integration of business/IT strategy.
    • Optimized development and use of IT capabilities to meet business needs.
    • Improved integration with corporate/enterprise governance.

    Executive Brief Case Study

    INDUSTRY Manufacturing
    SOURCE Info-Tech analyst experience

    Improving the governance approach and delegating decision making to support a change in business operation

    Challenge

    The large, multi-national organization has locations across the world but has two primary headquarters, in Europe and the United States.

    Market shifts drove an organizational shift in strategy, leading to a change in operating models, a product focus, and new work approaches across the organization.

    Much of the implementation and execution was done in isolation, and effectiveness was slowed by poor integration and conflicting activities that worked against each other.

    The product owner role was not well defined.

    Solution

    After reviewing the organization’s challenges and governance approach, we redefined and realigned its organizational and regional goals and identified outcomes that needed to be driven into their strategies.

    We also reviewed their span of control and integration requirements and properly defined decisions that could be made regionally versus globally, so that decisions could be made to support new work practices.

    We defined the product and service owner roles and the decisions each needed to make.

    Results

    We saw an improvement in the alignment of organizational activities and the right people and bodies making decisions.

    Work and practices were aimed at the same key outcomes and alignment between teams toward organizational goal improved.

    Within one year, the success rate of the organization’s initiatives increased by 22%, and the percentage of product-related decisions made by product owners increased by 50%.

    Info-Tech offers various levels of support to best suit your needs

    DIY Toolkit

    Guided Implementation

    Workshop

    Consulting
    "Our team has already made this critical project a priority, and we have the time and capability, but some guidance along the way would be helpful." "Our team knows that we need to fix a process, but we need assistance to determine where to focus. Some check-ins along the way would help keep us on track." "We need to hit the ground running and get this project kicked off immediately. Our team has the ability to take this over once we get a framework and strategy in place." "Our team does not have the time or the knowledge to take this project on. We need assistance through the entirety of this project."

    Diagnostics and consistent frameworks used throughout all four options

    Guided Implementation

    A Guided Implementation (GI) is a series of calls with an Info-Tech analyst to help implement our best practices in your organization.

    A typical GI is between 5 and 8 calls over the course of 2 to 3 months.

    What does a typical GI on this topic look like?

      Phase 1: Identify Your Governance Needs

    • Call #1: Confirm your organization’s mission and vision and review your strategy and goals.
    • Call #2: Identify considerations and governance needs. Develop your guiding star and governing principles.

      • Phase 2: Select and Refine Your Model

    • Call #3: Select your base model and optimize it to meet your governance needs.
    • Call #4: Define your adjustment triggers and develop your implementation plan.

      • Phase 3: Embed and Automate

    • Call #5: Identify decisions and standards you can automate and where to embed them.
    • Call #6: Confirm levels of authority and data requirements. Establish your approach and update the implementation plan.

    Workshop Overview

    Contact your account representative for more information.
    workshops@infotech.com1-888-670-8889

    Session 1 Session 2 Session 3 Session 4 Session 5
    Activities
    Develop Your Guiding Star

    1.1 Confirm mission, vision, and goals

    1.2 Define scope and principles

    1.3 Adjust for culture and finalize context

    Define the Governance Model

    2.1 Select and refine governance model

    2.2 Confirm and adjust the structure

    2.3 Review and adapt governance responsibilities and activities

    2.4 Validate governance mandates and membership

    Build Governance Process and Policy

    3.1 Update your governance process

    3.2 Align policies to mandate

    3.3 Adjust and confirm your governance model

    3.4 Identify and document your update triggers

    3.5 Embed triggers into review cycle

    Embed and Automate Governance

    4.1 Identify decisions and standards to automate

    4.2 Plan verification and validation approach

    4.3 Build implementation plan

    4.4 Develop communication strategy and messaging

    Next Steps and Wrap-Up

    5.1 Complete in-progress outputs from previous four sessions

    5.2 Set up review time for workshop outputs and to discuss next steps

    Outcomes
    1. Governance context and goals
    2. Governance principles
    1. IT governance model and adjustment triggers
    2. IT governance structure, responsibilities, membership, and cadence
    3. Governance committee charters
    1. IT governance process and information flow
    2. IT governance policies
    3. Finalized governance model
    1. Selected automation options, decision logic, and business rules
    2. Implementation and communication plan
    1. Governance context and principles
    2. Finalized governance model and charters
    3. Finalized implementation plan

    Make Your IT Governance Adaptable

    Phase 1

    Identify your Governance Needs

    Phase 1

    • 1.1 Define Your Guiding Star
    • 1.2 Define Scope and Principles
    • 1.3 Adjust for Culture and Finalize Context
      •

    Phase 2

    • 2.1 Choose and Adapt Your Model
    • 2.2. Identify and Document Your Governance Triggers
    • 2.3 Build Your Implementation Approach

    Phase 3

    • 3.1 Identify Decisions to Embed and Automate
    • 3.2 Plan Validation and Verification
    • 3.3 Update Implementation Plan

    This phase will walk you through the following activities:

    Identify the organization’s goals, mission, and vision that will guide governance.

    Define the scope of your governance model and the principles that will guide how it works.

    Account for organizational attitudes, behaviors, and culture related to governance and finalize your context.

    This phase involves the following participants:

    • Senior IT leadership
    • Governance leads

    Step 1.1

    Define Your Guiding Star

    Activities
    • 1.1.1 Document and interpret your strategy, mission, and vision
    • 1.1.2 Document and interpret the business and IT goals and outcomes
    • 1.1.3 Identify your operating model and work processes

    This step will walk you through the following activities:

    Review your business and IT strategy, mission, and vision to ensure understanding of organizational direction.

    Identify the business and IT goals that governance needs to align.

    Confirm your operating model and any work practices that need to be accounted for in your model.

    This step involves the following participants:

    • Senior IT leadership
    • Governance leads

    Outcomes of this step

    Identified guiding star outcomes to align governance outcomes with

    Defined operating model type and work style that impact governance design

    Identify Your Governance Needs

    Step 1.1 – Define your Guiding Star Step 1.2 – Define Scope and Principles Step 1.3 – Adjust for Culture and Finalize Context

    Govern by intent

    Find the balance for your designed governance approach

    Organic governance occurs during the formation of an organization and shifts with challenges, but it is rarely transparent and understood. It changes your culture in uncontrolled ways. Intentional governance is triggered by changes in organizational needs, working approaches, goals, and structures. It is deliberate and changes your culture to enable success.
    Stock photo of a weight scale.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Your approach to governance needs to be designed, even if your execution of governance is adaptable and delegated.

    What is your guiding star?

    Your guiding star is a combination of your organization’s mission, vision, and strategy and the goals that have been defined to meet them.

    It provides you with a consistent focal point around which I&T-related activities and projects orbit, like planets around a star.

    It generates the gravity that governance uses to keep things from straying too far away from the goal of achieving relevant value.

    1. Mission & Vision
    2. Business Goals & Success Criteria
    3. Operating Model & Work Practices
    4. Governance Scope
    5. Principles

    1.1.1 Document and interpret your strategy, mission, and vision

    30 minutes

    Input: Business strategy, IT strategy, Mission and vision statements

    Output: Updated Governance Workbook, Documented strategic outcomes and organizational aims that governance needs to achieve

    Materials: Whiteboard/flip charts, Governance Workbook

    Participants: IT senior leadership

    1. Gather your available business, digital, and IT strategy, mission, and vision information and document everything in your Governance Workbook. It’s ok if you don’t have all of it.
    2. Review and your mission and vision as a group. Discuss and document key points, including:
      • Which activities do you perform as an organization that embody your vision?
      • What key decisions and behaviors are required to ensure that your mission and vision are achievable?
      • What do you require from leadership to enable you to govern effectively?
      • What are the implications of the mission and vision on how the organization needs to work? What are the implications on decisions around opportunities and risks?

    Download the Governance Workbook

    1.1.2 Document and interpret the business and IT goals and outcomes

    60 minutes

    Input: Business strategy, Business and IT goals and related initiatives

    Output: Required success outcomes for goals, Links between IT and business goals that governance needs to align

    Materials: Whiteboard/flip charts

    Participants: IT senior leadership

    1. Document the business and IT goals that have been created to achieve the mission and vision.
    2. Discuss if there are any gaps between the goals and the mission and vision. Ask yourself – if we accomplish these goals will we have successfully achieved the mission?
    3. For each goal, define what successful achievement of the goal looks like. Starting with one goal or objective, ask:
      • How would I know I am on the right path and how will I know I have gotten there?
      • How would I know if I am not on the right path and what does a bad result look like?
      4. Document your success criteria.
    4. Brainstorm some examples of decisions that support or constrain the achievement of your goals.
    5. Repeat this exercise for your remaining goals.
    6. As a group, map IT goals to business goals.

    What is your operating model and why is it important?

    An IT operating model is a visual representation of the way your IT organization needs to be designed and the capabilities it requires to deliver on the business mission, strategic objectives, and technological ambitions.

    The model is critical in the optimization and alignment of the IT organization’s structure in order to deliver the capabilities required to achieve business goals. It is a key determinant of how governance needs to be designed and where it is implemented.

    Little visualizations of different operating models: 'Centralized', 'Decentralized', and 'Hybrid'.

    1.1.3 Identify your operating model and work practices

    60 minutes

    Input: Organizational structure, Operating model (if available)

    Output: Confirmed operating approach, Defined work practices

    Materials: Whiteboard/flip charts

    Participants: IT senior leadership

    1. Identify the way your organization functions:
      • How do we currently operate? Are we centralized, decentralized or a hybrid? Are we focused on delivering products and services? Do we provide service ourselves or do we use vendors for delivery?
      • Can we achieve our mission, goals, and strategies, if we continue to operate this way? What would we have to change in how we operate to be successful in the future?
    2. Identify your governance needs. Do we need to be more structured or more flexible to support our future ways of working?
      • If you operate in a more traditional way, consider whether you are implementing or moving toward more modern practices (e.g. Agile, DevOps, enterprise service management). Do you need to make more frequent but lower-risk decisions?
      • Is your organization ready to delegate governance culturally and in terms of business understanding? Is there enough available information to support adaptive decisions and actions?
    3. Document your operating style, expected changes in work style, and cultural readiness. You will need to consider the implications on design.

    Step 1.2

    Define Scope and Principles

    Activities
    • 1.2.1 Determine the proper scope for your governance
    • 1.2.2 Confirm your determining governing principles
    • 1.2.3 Develop your specific governing principles

    This step will walk you through the following activities:

    Identify what is included and excluded within the scope of your governance.

    Develop the determining and specific principles that provide guardrails for governance activities and decisions.

    This step involves the following participants:

    • Senior IT leadership
    • Governance leads

    Outcomes of this step

    Documented governance scope and principles to apply

    Identify Your Governance Needs

    Step 1.1 – Define your Guiding Star Step 1.2 – Define Scope and Principles Step 1.3 – Adjust for Culture and Finalize Context

    Define the context for governance

    Based on the goals and principles you defined and the operating model you selected, confirm where oversight will be necessary and at what level. Focus on the necessity to expedite and clear barriers to the achievement of goals and on the ownership of risks and compliance. Some key considerations:

    • Where in the organization will you need to decide on work that needs to be done?
    • What type of work will you need to do?
    • In what areas could there be conflicts in prioritization/resource allocation to address?
    • Who is accountable for risks to the organization and its objectives?
    • Where are your regional or business-unit-specific concerns that require focused local attention?
    • Are we using more agile, rapid delivery methods to produce work?

    Understand your governance scope

    Your governance scope helps you define the boundaries of what your governance model and practices will cover. This includes key characteristics of your organization that impact what governance needs to address.

    Sample Considerations

    • Organizational Span
      • The geographical area the organization operates within. Regional laws and requirements will affect governance delegation and standards/policy development.
    • Level of Regulation
      • Higher levels of regulation create more standards and controls for risk and compliance, impacting how authority can be delegated or automated.
    • Sourcing Model
      • Changing technology sourcing introduces additional vendor governance requirements and may impact compliance and audit.
    • Risk Posture
      • The appetite for risk organizationally, and in pockets, impacts the level of uncertainty you are willing to work within and impact decision-making authority positioning.
    • Size
      • The size of your organization impacts the approach to governance, practice implementation, and delegation of authority.
    • What Is Working Today?
      • Which elements of your current governance approach should be retained, and what are the biggest pain points that need to be addressed?
    (Source: COBIT 2019)

    1.2.1 Determine the proper scope for your governance

    60 minutes

    Input: Context information from Activity 1.1, Scoping areas

    Output: Defined scope and span of control

    Materials: Whiteboard/flip charts

    Participants: IT senior leadership

    1. Determine the scope/span of control required for your governance by:
      • Reviewing your key IT capabilities. Identify the ones where the responsibilities and decisions require oversight to ensure they meet the needs of the organization.
      • Identify what works well or poorly in your current governance approach.
      • Discuss and document the level and type of knowledge and business understanding required.
      • Identify and document any regulations, standards, or laws that apply to your organization/industry and how broadly they have to be applied.
      • Identify the organization’s risk appetite, where known, and areas where acceptable thresholds of risk have been defined. Where are key risk and opportunity decisions made? Who owns risk in your organization?
      • Identify and document the perceived role of the IT group in your organization (e.g. support, innovator, partner) and sourcing model (e.g. insource, outsource).
      • Is there sufficient information and data available in your organization to support effective decision making?

    How should your governance be structured?

    Organizations often have too many governance bodies, creating friction without value. Where that isn’t the case, the bodies are often inefficient, with gaps or overlaps in accountability and authority. Structure your governance to optimize its effectiveness, designing with the intent to have the fewest number of governing bodies to be effective, but no less than is necessary.

    Start with your operating model.

    • Understand what’s different about your governance based on whether your organization in centralized, distributed, or a different model (e.g. hybrid, product).
    • Identify and include governance structures that are mandatory due to regulation or industry.
    • Based on your context, identify how many of your governance activities should be performed together.

    Determine whether your governance should be controlled or adaptive.

    • Do you have the capability to distribute governance and is your organization empowered enough culturally?
    • Do you have sufficient standards and data to leverage? Do you have the tools and capabilities?
    • Identify governance structures that are required due to regulation or industry.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Your approach to governance needs to be designed and structured, even if your execution of governance is adaptable and delegated.

    Identify and Refine your Principles

    Confirm your defining principles based on your selection of controlled or adaptive governance. Create specific principles to clarify boundaries or provide specific guidance for teams within the organization.

    Controlled Adaptive
    Disentangle governance and management Delegate and empower
    Govern toward value Deliver to defined outcomes
    Make risk-informed decisions Embed risk into decision making
    Measure to drive improvement Trust though real-time reporting
    Enforce standards and behavior Automate decision making though established standards

    Determining Principle: Delegate and empower.

    Specific Principle: Decisions should be made at the lowest reasonable level of the organization with clarity.

    Rationale: To govern effectively with the velocity required to address business needs, governance needs to be executed deeper into the organization and organizational goals need to be clearly understood everywhere.

    Implication: Decision making needs to be delegated throughout the organization, so information and data requirements need to be identified, decision-making approach and principles need to be shared, and authority needs to be delegated clearly.

    1.2.2 Confirm your determining governance principles

    30-45 minutes

    Input: Governance Framework Model– Governance Principles

    Output: Governance workbook - Finalized list of determining principles

    Materials: Whiteboard/flip charts, Governance Workbook

    Participants: IT senior leadership

    1. Review the IT governance principles in your Governance Workbook.
    2. Within your IT senior leadership team (or IT governance working group) assign one or two principles to teams of two to three participants. Have each team identify what this would mean for your organization. Answering the questions:
      • In what ways do our current governance practices support this?
      • What are some examples of changes that would need to be made to make this a reality?
      • How would applying this principle improve your governance?
    3. Have each team present their results and compile the findings and implications in the Governance Workbook to use for future communication of the change.

    Specific governing principles

    Specific governing principles are refined principles derived from a determining principle, when additional specificity and detail is necessary. It allows you to define an approach for specific behaviors and activities. Multiple specific principles may underpin the determining one.

    A visualization of a staircase with stairs labelled, bottom to top, 'Determining Principle', 'Rationale', 'Implications', 'Specific Principles'.

    Specific Principles – Related principles that may be required to ensure the implications of the determining principal are addressed within the organization. They may be specific to individual areas and may be addressed in policies.

    Implications – The implications of this principle on the organization, specific to how and where governance is executed and the level of information and authority that would be necessary.

    Rationale – The reason(s) driving the determining principle.

    Determining Principle – A core overarching principle – a defining aspect of your governance model.

    1.2.3 Develop your specific governing principles

    30 minutes

    Input: Updated determining principles

    Output: List of specific principles linked to determining principles

    Materials: Whiteboard/flip charts, Governance Workbook

    Participants: IT senior leadership

    1. Confirm the determining principles for your governance model based on your previous discussions.
    2. Identify where to apply the principles. This is based on:
      1. Your governance scope (how much is within your span of control)
      2. The amount of data you have available
      3. Your cultural readiness for delegation
    3. Create specific principles to support the determining principles:
      1. Document the rationale driving the determining principles.
      2. Identify the implications.
      3. Create specific principles that will support the success in achieving the goals of each determining principle.
    4. Document all information on the “Governance guiding star” slide in the Governance Workbook.

    Download the Governance Workbook

    Step 1.3

    Adjust for Culture and Finalize Context

    Activities
    • 1.3.1 Identify and address the impact of attitude, behavior, and culture
    • 1.3.2 Finalize your context

    This step will walk you through the following activities:

    Identify your organizational attitude, behavior, and culture related to governance.

    Identify positives that can be leveraged and develop means to address negatives.

    Finalize the context that your model will leverage and align to.

    This step involves the following participants:

    • Senior IT leadership
    • Governance leads

    Outcomes of this step

    Downloaded tool ready to select the base governance model for your organization

    Identify Your Governance Needs

    Step 1.1 – Define your Guiding Star Step 1.2 – Define Scope and Principles Step 1.3 – Adjust for Culture and Finalize Context

    Understanding attitude, behavior, and culture

    A

    		 ttitude

    What people think and feel. It can be seen in their demeanor and how they react to change initiatives, colleagues, and users. This manifests in the belief that governance is a constraint that needs to be avoided or ignored – often with unintended consequences.

    A stock photo of a lightbulb over a person's head and a blackboard behind them reading 'New Mindset - data-verified= New Results'.">

    Any form of organizational change involves adjusting people’s attitudes to create buy-in and commitment.

    You need to identify and address attitudes that can lead to negative behaviors and actions or that are counter-productive.

    Understanding attitude, behavior, and culture

    B

    		 ehavior

    What people do. This is influenced by attitude and the culture of the organization. In governance, this manifests as people’s willingness to be governed, who pushes back, and who tries to bypass it.

    A stock photo of someone walking up a set of stairs into the distant sunlight.

    To implement change within IT, especially at a tactical and strategic level, organizational behavior needs to change.

    This is relevant because people gravitate toward stability and will resist change in an active or passive way unless you can sell the need, value, and benefit of changing their behavior and way of working.

    Understanding attitude, behavior, and culture

    C

    		 ulture

    The accepted and understood ways of working in an organization. The values and standards that people find normal and what would be tacitly identified to new resources. In governance terms, this is how decisions are really made and where responsibility really exists rather than what is identified formally.

    A stock photo of a compass pointing to 'VALUES'.

    The impact of the organizational or corporate “attitude” on employee behavior and attitude is often not fully understood.

    Culture is an invisible element, which makes it difficult to identify, but it has a strong impact and must be addressed to successfully embed governance models. In the case of automating governance, cultural readiness for automation is a critical success factor.

    1.3.1 Identify and address the impact of attitude, behavior, and culture

    45 minutes

    Input: Senior leadership knowledge

    Output: Updated Governance Workbook

    Materials: Governance Workbook

    Participants: IT senior leadership

    1. Break into three groups. Each group will discuss and document the positive and negative aspects of one of attitude, behavior, or culture related to governance in your organization.
    2. Each group will present and explain their list to the group.
    3. Add any additional suggestions in each area that are identified by the other groups.
    4. Identify the positive elements of attitude, behavior, and culture that would help with changing or implementing your updated governance model.
    5. Identify any challenges that will need to be addressed for the change to be successful.
    6. As a group, brainstorm some mitigations or solutions to these challenges. Document them in the Governance Workbook to be incorporated into the implementation plan.

    Download the Governance Workbook

    Attitude, behavior, and culture

    Evaluate the organization across the three contexts. The positive items represent opportunities for leveraging these characteristics with the implementation of the governance model, while the negative items must be considered and/or mitigated.

    Attitude Behavior Culture
    Positive
    Negative
    Mitigation

    1.3.2 Finalize your governance context

    30 minutes

    Input: Documented governance principles and scope from previous exercises

    Output: Finalized governance context in the Governance Workbook

    Materials: Whiteboard/flip charts, Governance Workbook

    Participants: IT senior leadership

    1. Use the information that has been gathered throughout this section to update and finalize your IT governance context.
    2. Document it in your Governance Workbook.

    Download the Governance Workbook

    Make Your IT Governance Adaptable

    Phase 2

    Select and Refine Your Governance Model

    Phase 1

    • 1.1 Define Your Guiding Star
    • 1.2 Define Scope and Principles
    • 1.3 Adjust for Culture and Finalize Context

    Phase 2

    • 2.1 Choose and Adapt Your Model
    • 2.2. Identify and Document Your Governance Triggers
    • 2.3 Build Your Implementation Approach
      •

    Phase 3

    • 3.1 Identify Decisions to Embed and Automate
    • 3.2 Plan Validation and Verification
    • 3.3 Update Implementation Plan

    This phase will walk you through the following activities:

    Select a base governance model and refine it to suit your organization.

    Identify scenarios and changes that will trigger updates to your governance model.

    Build your implementation plan.

    This phase involves the following participants:

    • Senior IT leadership
    • Governance resources

    Step 2.1

    Choose and Adapt Your Model

    Activities
    • 2.1.1 Choose your base governance model
    • 2.1.2 Confirm and adjust the structure of your model
    • 2.1.3 Define the governance responsibilities
    • 2.1.4 Validate the governance mandates and membership
    • 2.1.5 Update your committee processes
    • 2.1.6 Adjust your associated policies
    • 2.1.7 Adjust and confirm your governance model

    This step will walk you through the following activities:

    Review and selecting your base governance model.

    Adjust the structure, responsibilities, policies, mandate, and membership to best support your organization.

    This step involves the following participants:

    • Senior IT leadership
    • Governance leads

    Outcomes of this step

    Downloaded tool ready to select the base governance model for your organization

    Select and Refine Your Governance Model

    Step 2.1 – Choose and Adapt Your Model Step 2.2 – Identify and Document Your Governance Triggers Step 2.3 – Build Implementation Approach

    Your governance framework has six key components

    GOVERNANCE FRAMEWORK

    • GUIDELINES
      The key behavioral factors that ground your governance framework
    • MEMBERSHIP
      Formalization of who has authority and accountability to make specific governance decisions
    • RESPONSIBILITIES
      The definition of which decisions and outcomes your governance structure and each governance body is accountable for
    • STRUCTURE
      Which governance bodies and roles are in place to articulate where decisions are made in the organization
    • PROCESS
      Identification of the how your governance will be executed, how decisions are made, and the inputs, outputs, and connections to related processes
    • POLICY
      Set of principles established to address risk and drive expected and required behavior

    4 layers of governance bodies

    There are traditionally 4 layers of governance in an enterprise, and organizations have governing bodies or individuals at each level

    RESPONSIBILITIES AND TYPICAL MEMBERSHIP
    ENTERPRISE Defines organizational goals. Directs or regulates the performance and behavior of the enterprise, ensuring it has the structure and capabilities to achieve its goals.

    Membership: Business executives, Board

    STRATEGIC Ensures IT initiatives, products, and services are aligned to organizational goals and strategy and provide expected value. Ensure adherence to key principles.

    Membership: Business executives, CIO, CDO

    TACTICAL Ensures key activities and planning are in place to execute strategic initiatives.

    Membership: Authorized division leadership, related IT leadership

    OPERATIONAL Ensures effective execution of day-to-day functions and practices to meet their key objectives.

    Membership: Service/product owners, process owners, architecture leadership, directors, managers

    2.1.1 Choose your base governance model

    30 minutes

    Input: Governance models templates

    Output: Selected governance model

    Materials: Whiteboard/flip charts

    Participants: IT senior leadership

    1. Download Info-Tech’s base governance models (Controlled Governance Models Template and IT Governance Program Overview) and review them to find a template that most closely matches your context from Phase 1. You can start with a centralized, decentralized, or product/service hybrid IT organization. Remove unneeded models.
    2. If you do not have documented governance today, start with a controlled model as your foundation. Continue working through this phase if you have a documented governance framework you wish to optimize using our best practices or move to Phase 3 if you are looking to automate or embed your governance activities.

    Controlled Governance Models Template

    Adaptive Governance Models Template

    2.1.2 Confirm and adjust the structure of your model

    30-45 minutes

    Input: Selected base governance model, Governance context/scope

    Output: Updated governance bodies and relationships

    Materials: Whiteboard/flip charts

    Participants: IT senior leadership

    1. Validate your selected governance body structural model.
      • Are there any governing bodies you must maintain that should replace the ones listed? In part or in full?
      • Are there any missing bodies? Look at alternative committees for examples.
      • Document the adjustments.
    2. Are there any governing bodies that are not required?
      • Based on your size and needs, can they be done within one committee?
      • Is the capability or data not in place to perform the work?
      • Document the required changes.

    There are five key areas of governance responsibility

    A cyclical visualization of the five keys areas of governance responsibility, 'Strategic Alignment', 'Value Delivery', 'Risk Management', 'Resource Management', and 'Performance Measurement'.

    STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT
    Ensures that technology investments and portfolios are aligned with the organization’s needs.

    VALUE DELIVERY
    Reviews the outcomes of technology investments and portfolios to ensure benefits realization.

    RISK MANAGEMENT
    Defines and owns the risk thresholds and register to ensure that decisions made are in line with the posture of the organization.

    RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
    Ensures that people, financial knowledge, and technology resources are appropriately allocated across the organization.

    PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT
    Monitors and directs the performance or technology investments to determine corrective actions and understand successes.

    2.1.3 Define the governance responsibilities

    Ensure you have the right responsibilities in the right place

    45-60 minutes

    Input: Selected governance base model, Governance context

    Output: Updated responsibilities and activities, Updated activities for selected governance bodies, New or removed governing bodies

    Materials: Whiteboard/flip charts

    Participants: IT senior leadership

    1. Based on your context and model, review the responsibilities identified for each committee and confirm that they align with the mandate and the stated outcome.
    2. Identify and highlight any responsibilities and activities that would not be involved in informing and enabling the mandate of the committee.
    3. Adjust the wording of confirmed responsibilities and activities to reflect your organizational language.
    4. Review each highlighted “bad fit” activity and move it to a committee whose mandate it would support or remove it if it’s not performed in your organization.
    5. If an additional committee is required, define the mandate and scope, then include any additional responsibilities that might have been a bad fit elsewhere

    2.1.4 Validate the governance mandates and membership

    30 minutes

    Input: Selected governance base model, Updated structure and responsibilities

    Output: Adjusted mandates and refined committee membership

    Materials: Whiteboard/flip charts

    Participants: IT senior leadership

    1. Review the mandate and membership slides in your selected governance model.
    2. Adjust the mandate to ensure that it aligns to and conveys:
      1. The outcome that the committee is meant to generate for the organization.
      2. Its scope/span of control.
    3. Discuss the type of information members would require for the committee to be successful in achieving its mandate.
    4. Document the member knowledge requirement in the mandate slide of the model template.

    Determine the right membership for your governance

    One of the biggest benefits of governance committees is the perspective provided by people from various parts of the organization, which helps to ensure technology investments are aligned with strategic goals. However, having too many people – or the wrong people – involved prevents the committee from being effective. Avoid this by following these principles.

    Three principles for selecting committee membership

    1. Determine membership based on responsibilities and required knowledge.
      Organizations often make the mistake of creating committees and selecting members before defining what they will do. This results in poor governance because members don’t have the knowledge required to make decisions. Define the mandate of the committee to determine which members are the right fit.
    2. Ensure members are accountable and authorized to make the decisions.
      Effective governance requires the members to have the authority and accountability to make decisions. This ensures meetings achieve their outcome and produce value, which improves the committee’s chances of survival.
    3. Select leaders who see the big picture.
      Often committee decisions and responsibilities become tangled in the web of organizational politics. Include people, often C-level, whose attendance is critical and who have the requisite knowledge, mindset, and understanding to put business needs ahead of their own.

    2.1.5 Update your committee processes

    20 minutes

    Input: Selected governance base model, Updated structure and responsibilities

    Output: Updated committee processes

    Materials: Whiteboard/flip charts

    Participants: IT senior leadership

    1. Review the committee details based on the changes you have made in goals, mandate, and responsibilities.
    2. Identify and document changes required to the committee outputs (outcomes) and adjust the consumer of the outputs to match.
    3. Review the high-level process steps required to get to the modified output. Add required activities or remove unnecessary ones. Review the process flow. Does it make sense? Are there unnecessary steps?
    4. Review and update inputs required for the process steps and update the information/data sources.
    5. Adjust the detailed process steps to reflect the work that needs to be done to support each high-level process step that changed.

    2.1.6 Adjust your associated policies

    20 minutes

    Input: Selected governance base model, Updated structure and responsibilities

    Output: Adjusted mandates and refined committee membership

    Materials: Whiteboard/flip charts

    Participants: IT senior leadership

    1. Review the policies associated with the governing bodies in your base model. Identify the policies that apply to your organization, those that are missing, and those that are not necessary.
    2. Confirm the policies that you require.
    3. Make sure the policies and policy purposes (or risks and related behaviors the policy addresses) are matched to the governance committee that has responsibilities in that area. Move policies to the right committee.

    2.1.7 Adjust and confirm your governance model

    1. Confirm the adjustment of governance bodies, structure, and input/output linkages.
    2. Confirm revisions to decisions and responsibilities.
    3. Confirm policy and regulation/standards associations.
    4. Select related governance committee charters from the provided set and revise the charters to reflect the elements defined in your updated model.
    5. Finalize your governance model.

    Samples of slides related to adjusting and confirming governance models in the Governance Workbook.

    Step 2.2

    Identify and Document Your Governance Triggers

    Activities
    • 2.2.1 Identify and document update triggers
    • 2.2.2 Embed triggers into the review cycle

    This step will walk you through the following activities:

    Identify scenarios that will create a need to review or change your governance model.

    Update your review/update approach to receiving trigger notifications.

    This step involves the following participants:

    • Senior IT leadership
    • Governance leads

    Outcomes of this step

    Downloaded tool ready to select the base governance model for your organization

    Select and Refine Your Governance Model

    Step 2.1 – Choose and Adapt Your Model Step 2.2 – Identify and Document Your Governance Triggers Step 2.3 – Build Implementation Approach

    What are governance triggers

    Governance triggers are organizational or environmental changes within or around an organization that are inflection points that start the review and revision of governance models to maintain their fit with the organization. This is the key to adaptive governance design.

    A target with five arrows sticking out of the bullseye, 'Operating Model', 'Business Strategy', 'Mandate Change', 'Management Practices', and 'Digital Transformation'.

    2.2.1 Identify and document update triggers

    30 minutes

    Input: Governance Workbook

    Output: Updated workbook with defined and documented governance triggers, points of origin, and integration

    Materials: Whiteboard/flip charts

    Participants: IT senior leadership

    1. Open the Governance Workbook to the “Triggers” slides.
    2. Review the list of governance triggers. Retain the ones that apply to your organization, remove those you feel are unnecessary, and add any change scenarios you feel should be included.
    3. Identify where you would receive notifications of these changes and the related processes or activities that would generate these notifications, if applicable.
    4. Document any points of integration required between governance processes and the source process. Highlight any where the integration is not currently in place.

    Sample of the 'Triggers' slide in the Governance Workbook.

    2.2.2 Embed triggers into the review cycle

    30 minutes

    Input: Governance model

    Output: Review cycle update

    Materials: Whiteboard/flip charts

    Participants: IT senior leadership

    1. Identify which triggers impact the entire governance model and which impact specific committees.
    2. Add an activity for triggered review of the impacted governance model into your governance committee process.

    Step 2.3

    Build Your Implementation Approach

    Activities
    • 2.3.1 Identify and document your implementation plan
    • 2.3.2 Build your roadmap
    • 2.3.3 Build your sunshine diagram

    This step will walk you through the following activities:

    Transfer changes to the Governance Implementation Plan Template.

    Determine the timing for the implementation phases.

    This step involves the following participants:

    • Senior IT leadership
    • Governance process owner

    Outcomes of this step

    Implementation plan for adaptive governance framework model

    Select and Refine Your Governance Model
    Step 2.1 – Choose and Adapt Your Model Step 2.2 – Identify and Document Your Governance Triggers Step 2.3 – Build Implementation Approach

    2.3.1 Identify and document your implementation plan

    60 minutes

    Input: Governance model, Guiding principles, Update triggers, Cultural factors and mitigations

    Output: Implementation roadmap

    Materials: Whiteboard/flip charts

    Participants: IT senior leadership

    1. As a group, discuss the changes required to implement the governance model, the cultural items that need to be addressed, and the anticipated timing.
    2. Document the implementation activities and consolidate them into groupings/themes based on similarities or shared outcomes.
    3. Name the grouped themes for clarity and identify key dependencies between activities in each area and across themes.
    4. Identify and document your approach (e.g. continuous, phased) and high-level timeline for implementation.
    5. Document the themes and initiatives in the Governance Implementation Plan.

    Download the Governance Implementation Plan

    Illustrate the implementation plan using roadmaps

    Info-Tech recommends two different methods to roadmap the initiatives in your Governance Implementation Plan.

    Gantt Chart
    Sample of a Gantt Chart.

    This type of roadmap depicts themes, related initiatives, the associated goals, and exact start and end dates for each initiative. This diagram is useful for outlining a larger number of activities and initiatives and has an easily digestible and repeatable format.

    		Sunshine Diagram
    Sample of a Sunshine Diagram.

    This type of roadmap depicts themes and their associated initiatives. The start and end dates for the initiatives are approximated based on years or phases. This diagram is useful for highlighting key initiatives on one page.

    2.3.2 Build your roadmap

    30 minutes

    Input: Governance themes and initiatives

    Output: roadmap visual

    Materials: Governance Roadmap Workbook, Governance Workbook

    Participants: CIO, IT senior leadership

    1. Open the Governance Implementation Plan and review themes and initiatives.
    2. Open the Governance Roadmap Workbook.
    3. Discuss whether the implementation roadmap should be developed as a Gantt chart, a sunshine diagram, or both.
      For the Gantt chart:
      • Input the roadmap start year and date.
      • Change the months and year in the Gantt chart to reflect the same roadmap start year.
      • Input and populate the planned start and end dates for the list of high-priority initiatives.

    Develop your Gantt chart in the Governance Roadmap Workbook

    2.3.3 Build your sunshine diagram

    30 minutes

    Input: Governance themes and initiatives

    Output: Sunshine diagram visual

    Materials: Whiteboard/flip charts, Markers, Governance Implementation Plan

    Participants: CIO, IT senior leadership

    1. Review your list of themes and initiatives.
    2. Build a model with “rays” radiating out from a central theme or objective.
    3. Using curved arcs, break the grid into timeline periods or phases.
    4. Complete your sunshine diagram in the Governance Implementation Plan.

    Customize your sunshine diagram in the Governance Implementation Plan

    Make Your IT Governance Adaptable

    Phase 3

    Embed and Automate

    Phase 1

    • 1.1 Define Your Guiding Star
    • 1.2 Define Scope and Principles
    • 1.3 Adjust for Culture and Finalize Context

    Phase 2

    • 2.1 Choose and Adapt Your Model
    • 2.2. Identify and Document Your Governance Triggers
    • 2.3 Build Your Implementation Approach

    Phase 3

    • 3.1 Identify Decisions to Embed and Automate
    • 3.2 Plan Validation and Verification
    • 3.3 Update Implementation Plan
      •

    This phase will walk you through the following activities:

    Identify which decisions you are ready to automate.

    Identify standards and policies that can be embedded and automated.

    Identify integration points.

    Confirm data requirements to enable success.

    This phase involves the following participants:

    • IT senior leadership
    • Governance process owner
    • Product and service owners
    • Policy owners

    Step 3.1

    Identify Decisions to Embed and Automate

    Activities
    • 3.1.1 Review governance decisions and standards and the required level of authority
    • 3.1.2 Build your decision logic
    • 3.1.3 identify constraints and mitigation approaches
    • 3.1.4 Develop decision rules and principles

    This step will walk you through the following activities:

    Identify your key decisions.

    Develop your decision logic.

    Confirm decisions that could be automated.

    Identify and address constraints.

    Develop decision rules and principles.

    This step involves the following participants:

    • IT senior leadership

    Outcomes of this step

    Developed decision rules, rulesets, and principles that can be leveraged to automate governance

    Defined integration points

    Embed and Automate

    Step 3.1 – Identify Decisions to Embed and Automate Step 3.2 – Plan Validation and Verification Step 3.3 – Update Implementation Plan

    What is decision automation?

    Decision automation is the codifying of rules that connect the logic of how decisions are made with the data required to make those decisions. This is then embedded and automated into processes and the design of products and services.

    • It is well suited to governance where the same types of decisions are made on a recurring basis, using the same set of data. It requires clean, high-quality data to be effective.
    • Improvements in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have allowed the creation of scenarios where a hybrid of rules and learning can improve decision outcomes.

    Key Considerations

    • Data Availability
    • Legality
    • Contingencies
    • Decision Transparency
    • Data Quality
    • Auditability

    How complexity impacts decisions

    Decision complexity impacts the type of rule(s) you create and the amount of data required. It also helps define where or if decisions can be automated.

    1. SIMPLE
      Known and repeatable with consistent and familiar outcomes – structured, causal, and easy to standardize and automate.
    2. COMPLICATED
      Less known and outcomes are not consistently repeatable. Expertise can drive standards and guidelines that can be used to automate decisions.
    3. COMPLEX
      Unknown and new, highly uncertain in terms of outcomes, impact, and data. Requires more exploration and data. Difficult to automate but can be built into the design of products and services.
    4. CHAOTIC
      Unstructured and unknown situation. Requires adaptive and immediate action without active data – requires retained human governance
      5. (Based on Dave Snowden’s Cynefin framework)

    Governance Automation Criteria Checklist

    The Governance Automation Criteria Checklist provides a view of key considerations for determining whether a governing activity or decision is a good candidate for automation.

    The criteria identify key qualifiers/disqualifiers to make it easier to identify eligibility.

    Sample of the Governance Automation Criteria Checklist.

    Download the Governance Automation Criteria Checklist

    Governance Automation Worksheet

    Sample of the Governance Automation Worksheet.

    The Governance Automation Worksheet provides a way to document your governance and systematically identify information about the decisions to help determine if automation is possible.

    From there, decision rules, logic, and rulesets can be designed in support of building a structure flow to allow for automation.

    Download the Governance Automation Worksheet

    3.1.1 Review governance decisions and standards and the required level of authority

    30 minutes

    Input: Automation Criteria Checklist, Governance Automation Worksheet, Updated governance model

    Output: Documented decisions and related authority, Selected options for automation, Updated Governance Automation Worksheet

    Materials: Whiteboard/flip charts, Governance Automation Worksheet

    Participants: IT senior leadership

    1. Identify the decisions that are made within each committee in your updated governance model and document them in the Governance Automation Worksheet.
    2. Confirm the level of authority required to make each decision.
    3. Review the automation checklist to confirm whether each decision is positioned well for automation.
    4. Select and document the decisions that are the strongest options for automation/embedding and document them in the Governance Automation Worksheet.

    What are decision rules?

    Decision rules provide specific instructions and constraints that must be considered in making decisions and are critical for automating governance.

    They provide the logical path to assess governance inputs to make effective decisions with positive business outputs.

    Inputs would include key information such as known risks, your defined prioritization matrix, portfolio value scoring, and compliance controls.

    Individual rules can be leveraged in different places.

    Some decision rule types are listed here.

    1. Statement Rules
      Natural expression of logical progression, written through logical elements
    2. Decision Tree Rules
      Decision tree with two axes that overlap to generate a decision
    3. Sequential Rules
      A sequence of decisions that move from one step to the next
    4. Expression Rule
      A particular set of rules triggered by a particular rule condition being met
    5. Truth table rules
      Combines many decision factors into one place; produces different outputs

    What are decision rulesets

    Rulesets are created to make complex decisions. Individual rule types are combined to create rulesets that are applied together to generate effective decisions. One rule will provide contextual information required for additional rules to execute in a Rule-Result-Rule-Result-Rule-Decision flow.

    A visualization of two separate rulesets made up of the decision rules on the previous slide. 'Ruleset 1' contains '1) Statement Rules', '2) Decision Tree Rules', and 5) Truth Table Rules'. 'Ruleset 2' contains '3) Sequential Rules' and '4) Expression Rule'.

    3.1.2 Build your decision logic

    30 minutes

    Input: Governance Automation Worksheet

    Output: Documented decision logic to support selected decision types and data requirements

    Materials: Whiteboard/flip charts

    Participants: IT senior leadership

    1. For each selected decision, identify the principles that drive the considerations around the decision.
    2. For each decision, develop the decision logic by defining the steps and information inputs involved in making the decision and documenting the flow from beginning to end.
    3. Determine whether this is one specific decision or a combination of different decisions (in sequence or based on decisions).
    4. Name your decision rule.

    Sample of the Governance Automation Worksheet.

    3.1.3 Identify constraints and mitigation approaches

    60 minutes
    1. Document constraints to automation of decisions related to:
      • Availability of decision automation tools
      • Decision authority change requirements
      • Data constraints
      • Knowledge requirements
      • Process adjustment requirements
      • Product/service design levels
    2. Brainstorm and identify approaches to mitigate constraints and score based on likelihood of success.
    3. Identify mitigation owners and initial timeline expectations.
    4. Document the constraints and mitigations in the Governance Workbook on the constraints and mitigations slide.

    Sample of the 'Constraints and mitigations' slide of the 'Governance Workbook'.

    3.1.4 Develop decision rules and principles

    1.5-2 hours

    Input: Governance Automation Worksheet

    Output: Defined decision integration points, Confirmed data availability sets, Decision rules, rulesets, and principles with control indicators

    Materials: Whiteboard/flip charts, Governance Automation Worksheet

    Participants: IT senior leadership

    1. Review the decision logic for those decisions that you have confirmed for automation. Identify the processes where the decision should be executed.
    2. Associate each decision with specific process steps or stages or how it would be included in software/product design.
    3. For each selected decision, identify the availability of data required to support the decision logic and the level of complexity and apply governing principles.
    4. Create the decision rules and identify data gaps.
    5. Define the decision flow and create rulesets as needed.
    6. Confirm automation requirements and define control indicators.

    Step 3.2

    Plan Validation and Verification

    Activities
    • 3.2.1 Define verification approach for embedded and automated governance
    • 3.2.2 Define validation approach for embedded and automated governance

    This step will walk you through the following activities:

    Define how decision outcomes will be measured.

    Determine how the effectiveness of automated governance will be reported.

    This step involves the following participants:

    • IT senior leadership

    Outcomes of this step

    Tested and verified automation of decisions

    Embed and Automate

    Step 3.1 – Identify Decisions to Embed and Automate Step 3.2 – Plan Validation and Verification Step 3.3 – Update Implementation Plan

    Decision rule relationship through to verification

    1. Rules

    Focus on clear decision logic

    Often represented in simple statement types and supported by data:

    IF – THEN

    IF – AND – THEN

    IF – AND NOT – THEN

    		2. Rulesets

    Aggregate rules for more complex decisions

    Integrated flows between different required rules:
    Rule 1:
    (Output 1) – Rule 2
    (Output 2) – Rule 6
    Rule 6: (Output 1) – Rule 7     		3. Rule Attestation

    Verify success of automated decisions

    Attestation of embedded and automated rules with key control indicators embedded within process and products.

    Principles embedded into automated software controls.

    3.2.1 Define verification approach for embedded and automated governance

    60 minutes

    Input: Governance rules and rulesets as defined in the Governance Automation Worksheet, Defined decision outcomes

    Output: A defined measurement of effective decision outcomes, Approach to automate and/or report the effectiveness of automated governance

    Materials: Whiteboard/flip charts

    Participants: IT senior leadership

    Verify

    1. Confirm expected outcome of rules.
    2. Select a sampling of new required decisions or recently performed decisions related to areas of automation.
    3. Run the decisions through the decision rules or rule groupings that were developed and compare to parallel decisions made using the traditional approach. (These must be segregated activities.)
    4. Review the outcome of the rules and adjust based on the output. Identify areas of adjustment. Confirm that the automation meets your requirements.

    3.2.2 Define validation approach for embedded and automated governance

    60 minutes

    Input: Governance rules and rulesets as defined in the Governance Automation Worksheet, Defined decision outcomes

    Output: Defined assurance and attestation requirements, Key control indicators that can be automated

    Materials: Whiteboard/flip charts

    Participants: IT senior leadership

    Validate

    1. Develop an approach to measure automated decisions. Align success criteria to current governance KPIs and metrics.
    2. If no such metrics exist, define expected outcome. Define key risk indicators based on the expected points of automation.
    3. Establish quality assurance checkpoints within the delivery lifecycles to adjust for variance.
    4. Create triggers back to rule owners to drive changes and improvements to rules and rule groupings.

    Step 3.3

    Update Implementation Plan

    Activities
    • 3.3.1 Finalize the implementation plan

    This step will walk you through the following activities:

    Review implications and mitigations to make sure all have been considered.

    Finalize the implementation plan and roadmap.

    This step involves the following participants:

    • Senior IT leadership

    Outcomes of this step

    Completed Governance implementation plan and roadmap

    Embed and Automate

    Step 3.1 – Identify Decisions to Embed and Automate Step 3.2 – Plan Validation and Verification Step 3.3 – Update Implementation Plan

    3.3.1 Finalize the implementation plan

    30 minutes

    Input: Governance workbook, Updated governance model, Draft implementation plan and roadmap

    Output: Finalized implementation plan and roadmap

    Materials: Whiteboard/flip charts, Governance Implementation Plan

    Participants: IT senior leadership

    1. Document automation activities within phases in a governance automation theme in the Governance Implementation Plan.
    2. Review timelines in the implementation plan and where automation fits within the roadmap.
    3. Updated the implementation plan and roadmap.

    Governance Implementation Plan

    Summary of Accomplishment

    Problem Solved

    Through this project we have:

    • Improved your governance model to ensure a better fit for your organization, while creating adaptivity for the future.
    • Ensured your governance operates as an enabler of success with the proper bodies and levels of authority established.
    • Established triggers to ensure your governance model is actively adjusted to maintain its fit.
    • Developed a plan to embed and automate governance.
    • Created decision rules and principles and identified where to embed them within your practices.

    If you would like additional support, have our analysts guide you through other phases as part of an Info-Tech workshop.

    Contact your account representative for more information.

    workshops@infotech.com 1-888-670-8889

    Additional Support

    If you would like additional support, have our analysts guide you through other phases as part of an Info-Tech workshop.

    Photo of Valence Howden.

    Contact your account representative for more information.

    workshops@infotech.com 1-888-670-8889

    To accelerate this project, engage your IT team in an Info-Tech workshop with an Info-Tech analyst team.

    Info-Tech analysts will join you and your team at your location or welcome you to Info-Tech’s historic Toronto office to participate in an innovative onsite workshop.

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    Research contributors and experts

    Photo of Sidney Hodgson, Senior Director, Industry, Info-Tech Research Group. Sidney Hodgson
    Senior Director, Industry
    Info-Tech Research Group
    • Sidney has over 30 years of experience in IT leadership roles as CIO of three organizations in Canada and the US as well as international consulting experience in the US and Asia.
    • Sid has a breadth of knowledge in IT governance, project management, strategic and operational planning, enterprise architecture, business process re-engineering, IT cost reduction, and IT turnaround management.
    		 Photo of David Tomljenovic, Principal Research Advisor, Industry, Info-Tech Research Group. David Tomljenovic
    Principal Research Advisor, Industry
    Info-Tech Research Group
    • David brings extensive experience from the Financial Services sector, having worked 25 years on Bay Street. Most recently he was a Corporate Finance and Strategy Advisor for Infiniti Labs (Toronto/Hong Kong), Automotive, and Smart City Accelerator, where he provided financial and mergers & acquisitions advisory services to accelerator participants with a focus on early-stage fundraising activities.

    Research contributors and experts

    Photo of Cole Cioran, Practice Lead, Applications and Agile Development, Info-Tech Research Group. Cole Cioran
    Practice Lead, Applications and Agile Development
    Info-Tech Research Group
    • Over the past 25 years, Cole has developed software; designed data, infrastructure, and software solutions; defined systems and enterprise architectures; delivered enterprise-wide programs; and managed software development, infrastructure, and business systems analysis practices.
    		 Photo of Crystal Singh, Research Director, Applications – Data and Information Management, Info-Tech Research Group. Crystal Singh
    Research Director, Applications – Data and Information Management
    Info-Tech Research Group
    • Crystal brings a diverse and global perspective to her role, drawing from her professional experiences in various industries and locations. Prior to joining Info-Tech, Crystal led the Enterprise Data Services function at Rogers Communications, one of Canada’s leading telecommunications companies.

    Research contributors and experts

    Photo of Carlene McCubbin, Practice Lead, CIO, Info-Tech Research Group. Carlene McCubbin
    Practice Lead, CIO
    Info-Tech Research Group
    • Carlene covers key topics in organization and leadership and specializes in governance, organizational design, relationship management, and human capital development. She led the development of Info-Tech’s Organization and Leadership practice.
    		 Photo of Denis Goulet, Senior Workshop Director, Info-Tech Research Group. Denis Goulet
    Senior Workshop Director
    Info-Tech Research Group
    • Denis is a transformational leader and experienced strategist who focuses on helping clients communicate, relate, and adapt for success. Having developed Governance Model and IT strategies in organizations ranging from small to billion-dollar multi-nationals, he firmly believes in a collaborative value-driven approach to work.

    Bibliography

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    Chang, Charlotte. “Accelerating Agile through effective governance.” Medium, 22 Sept. 2020. Web.

    “COBIT 5: Enabling Processes.” ISACA, 2012. Web. Oct. 2016.

    COBIT 2019. ISACA, Dec. 2018. Web.

    Curtis, Blake. “The Value of IT Governance.” ISACA, 29 June 2020. Accessed 15 Nov. 2020.

    De Smet, Aaron. “Three Keys to Faster, Better Decisions.” McKinsey & Company, 1 May 2019. Accessed 15 Nov. 2020.

    “Decision Rules and Decision Analysis.” Navex Global, 2020. Web.

    “Decisions Automation with Business Rules Management Solution.” Sumerge, 4 Feb. 2020. Accessed 15 Nov. 2020.

    “DevGovOps – Key factors for IT governance for enterprises in a DevOps world.” Capgemini, 27 Sept. 2019. Web.

    Eisenstein, Lena. “IT Governance Checklist.” BoardEffect, 19 Feb. 2020. Accessed 15 Nov. 2020.

    “Establishing Effective IT and Data Governance.” Chartered Professional Accountants Canada, n.d. Accessed 15 Nov. 2020.

    Gandzeichuk, Ilya. “Augmented Analytics: From Decision Support To Intelligent Decision-Making.” Forbes, 8 Jan. 2020. Accessed 15 Nov. 2020.

    Georgescu, Vlad. “What Is IT Governance? Understanding From First Principles.” Plutora, 18 Oct. 2019. Web.

    Goodwin, Bill. “IT Governance in the Era of Shadow IT.” ComputerWeekly, 5 Aug. 2014. Accessed 15 Nov. 2020.

    “Governance of IT, OT and IOT.” ISACA Journal, 2019. Web.

    Gritsenko, Daria, and Matthew Wood. “Algorithmic Governance: A Modes of Governance Approach.” Regulation & Governance, 10 Nov. 2020. Web.

    Hansert, Philipp. “Adaptive IT Governance with Clausmark’s Bee4IT.” Bee360, 25 Oct. 2019. Accessed 15 Nov. 2020.

    Havelock, Kylie. “What Does Good Product Governance Look Like?” Medium. 8 Jan. 2020. Web.

    Haven, Dolf van der. “Governance of IT with ISO 38500 - A More Detailed View” LinkedIn article, 24 Oct. 2016. Accessed 15 Nov. 2020.

    Hong, Sounman, and Sanghyun Lee. “Adaptive Governance and Decentralization: Evidence from Regulation of the Sharing Economy in Multi-Level Governance.” Government Information Quarterly, vol. 35, no. 2, April 2018, pp. 299–305. Web.

    ISACA. “Monthly Seminar & Networking Dinner: CIO Dashboard.” Cvent, Feb. 2012. Accessed 15 Nov. 2020.

    ISO/IEC 38500, ISO, 2018 and ongoing.

    “IT Governance.” Kenway Consulting, n.d. Accessed 15 Nov. 2020.

    “IT Governance in the Age of COVID 19.” Union of Arab Banks Webinar, 19-21 Oct. 2020. Accessed 15 Nov. 2020.

    Jaffe, Dennis T. “Introducing the Seven Pillars of Governance.” Triple Pundit, 15 Nov. 2011. Accessed 15 Nov. 2020.

    Janssen, Marijn, and Haiko van der Voort. “Agile and Adaptive Governance in Crisis Response: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic.” International Journal of Information Management, vol. 55, December 2020. Web.

    Jodya, Tiffany. “Automating Enterprise Governance within Delivery Pipelines.” Harness.io, 14 May 2020. Web.

    Kumar, Sarvesh. “AI-Based Decision-Making Automation.” Singular Intelligence, 17 June 2019. Web.

    “Lean IT Governance.” Disciplined Agile, n.d. Accessed 15 Nov. 2020.

    Lerner, Mark. “Government Tech Projects Fail by Default. It Doesn’t Have to Be This Way.” Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, 21 Oct. 2020. Accessed 15 Nov. 2020.

    Levstek, Aleš, Tomaž Hovelja, and Andreja Pucihar. “IT Governance Mechanisms and Contingency Factors: Towards an Adaptive IT Governance Model.” Organizacija, vol. 51, no. 4, Nov. 2018. Web.

    Maccani, Giovanni, et al. “An Emerging Typology of IT Governance Structural Mechanisms in Smart Cities.” Government Information Quarterly, vol. 37, no. 4, Oct. 2020. Web.

    Magowan, Kirstie. “IT Governance vs IT Management: Mastering the Differences.” BMC Blogs, 18 May 2020. Accessed 15 Nov. 2020.

    Mazmanian, Adam. “Is It Time to Rethink IT Governance? ” Washington Technology, 26 Oct. 2020. Accessed 15 Nov. 2020.

    Mukherjee, Jayanto. “6 Components of an Automation (DevOps) Governance Model.” Sogeti, n.d. Accessed 15 Nov. 2020.

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    Pearson, Garry. “Agile or Adaptive Governance Required?” Taking Care of the Present (blog), 30 Oct. 2020. Accessed 15 Nov. 2020.

    Peregrine, Michael, et al. “The Long-Term Impact of the Pandemic on Corporate Governance.” Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, 16 July 2020. Web.

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    Westland, Jason. “IT Governance: Definitions, Frameworks and Planning.” ProjectManager.com, 17 Dec. 2019. Web.

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    Measure IT Project Value

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    • Parent Category Name: Portfolio Management
    • Parent Category Link: /portfolio-management
    • People treat benefits as a box to tick on the business case, deflating or inflating them to facilitate project approval.
    • Even if benefits are properly defined, they are usually forgotten once the project is underway.
    • Subsequent changes to project scope may impact the viability of the project’s business benefits, resulting in solutions that do not deliver expected value.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • It is rare for project teams or sponsors to be held accountable for managing and/or measuring benefits. The assumption is often that no one will ask if benefits have been realized after the project is closed.
    • The focus is largely on the project’s schedule, budget, and scope, with little attention paid to the value that the project is meant to deliver to the organization.
    • Without an objective stakeholder to hold people accountable for defining benefits and demonstrating their delivery, benefits will continue to be treated as red tape.
    • Sponsors will not take the time to define benefits properly, if at all. The project team will not take the time to ensure they are still achievable as the project progresses. When the project is complete, no one will investigate actual project success.

    Impact and Result

    • The project sponsor and business unit leaders must own project benefits; IT is only accountable for delivering the solution.
    • IT can play a key role in this process by establishing and supporting a benefits realization process. They can help business unit leaders and sponsors define benefits properly, identify meaningful metrics, and report on benefits realization effectively.
    • The project management office is ideally suited to facilitate this process by providing tools and templates, and a consistent and comparable view across projects.
    • Project managers are accountable for delivering the project, not for delivering the benefits of the project itself. However, they must ensure that changes to project scope are assessed for impact on benefits viability.

    Measure IT Project Value Research & Tools

    Start here – read the Executive Brief

    Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should establish a benefits legitimacy practice, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Establish benefits legitimacy during portfolio Intake

    This phase will help you define a benefits management process to help support effective benefits definition during portfolio intake.

    • Deliver Project Value With a Benefits Legitimacy Initiative – Phase 1: Establish Benefits Legitimacy During Portfolio Intake
    • Project Sponsor Role Description Template
    • Benefits Commitment Form Template
    • Right-Sized Business Case Template

    2. Maintain benefits legitimacy throughout project planning and execution

    This phase will help you define a process for effective benefits management during project planning and the execution intake phase.

    • Deliver Project Value With a Benefits Legitimacy Initiative – Phase 2: Maintain Benefits Legitimacy Throughout Project Planning and Execution
    • Project Benefits Documentation Workbook
    • Benefits Legitimacy Workflow Template (PDF)
    • Benefits Legitimacy Workflow Template (Visio)

    3. Close the deal on project benefits

    This phase will help you define a process for effectively tracking and reporting on benefits realization post-project.

    • Deliver Project Value With a Benefits Legitimacy Initiative – Phase 3: Close the Deal on Project Benefits
    • Portfolio Benefits Tracking Tool
    • Benefits Lag Report Template
    • Benefits Legitimacy Handbook Template
    [infographic]

    Workshop: Measure IT Project Value

    Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

    1 Analyze the Current State of Benefits Management

    The Purpose

    Assess the current state of benefits management at your organization and establish a realistic target state.

    Establish project and portfolio baselines for benefits management.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Set achievable workshop goals and align stakeholder expectations.

    Establish a solid foundation for benefits management success.

    Activities

    1.1 Introductions and overview.

    1.2 Discuss attendee expectations and goals.

    1.3 Complete Info-Tech’s PPM Current State Scorecard.

    1.4 Perform right-wrong-confusing-missing analysis.

    1.5 Define target state for benefits management.

    1.6 Refine project levels.

    Outputs

    Info-Tech’s PPM Current State Scorecard report

    Right-wrong-confusing-missing analysis

    Stakeholder alignment around workshop goals and target state

    Info-Tech’s Project Intake Classification Matrix

    2 Establish Benefits Legitimacy During Portfolio Intake

    The Purpose

    Establish organizationally specific benefit metrics and KPIs.

    Develop clear roles and accountabilities for benefits management.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    An articulation of project benefits and measurements.

    Clear checkpoints for benefits communication during the project are defined.

    Activities

    2.1 Map the current portfolio intake process.

    2.2 Establish project sponsor responsibilities and accountabilities for benefits management.

    2.3 Develop organizationally specific benefit metrics and KPIs.

    2.4 Integrate intake legitimacy into portfolio intake processes.

    Outputs

    Info-Tech’s Project Sponsor Role Description Template

    Info-Tech’s Benefits Commitment Form Template

    Intake legitimacy process flow and RASCI chart

    Intake legitimacy SOP

    3 Maintain Benefits Legitimacy Throughout Project Planning and Execution

    The Purpose

    Develop a customized SOP for benefits management during project planning and execution.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Ensure that all changes to the project have been recorded and benefits have been updated in preparation for deployment.

    Updated benefits expectations are included in the final sign-off package.

    Activities

    3.1 Map current project management process and audit project management documentation.

    3.2 Identify appropriate benefits control points.

    3.3 Customize project management documentation to integrate benefits.

    3.4 Develop a deployment legitimacy process flow.

    Outputs

    Customized project management toolkit

    Info-Tech’s Project Benefits Documentation Workbook

    Deployment of legitimacy process flow and RASCI chart

    Deployment of legitimacy SOP

    4 Close the Deal on Project Benefits

    The Purpose

    Develop a post-project benefits realization process.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Clear project sponsorship accountabilities for post-project benefits tracking and reporting.

    A portfolio level benefits tracking tool for reporting on benefits attainment.

    Activities

    4.1 Identify appropriate benefits control points in the post-project process.

    4.2 Configure Info-Tech’s Portfolio Benefits Tracking Tool.

    4.3 Define a post-project benefits reporting process.

    4.4 Formalize protocol for reporting on, and course correcting, benefit lags.

    4.5 Develop a post-project legitimacy process flow.

    Outputs

    Info-Tech’s Portfolio Benefits Tracking Tool

    Post-Project legitimacy process flow and RASCI chart

    Post-Project Legitimacy SOP

    Info-Tech’s Benefits Legitimacy Handbook

    Info-Tech’s Benefits Legitimacy Workflow Template

    Establish a Foresight Capability

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    • Parent Category Name: Innovation
    • Parent Category Link: /innovation
    • To be recognized and validated as a forward-thinking CIO, you must establish a structured approach to innovation that considers external trends as well as internal processes.
    • The CEO is expecting an investment in IT innovation to yield either cost reduction or revenue growth, but growth cannot happen without opportunity identification.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • Technological innovation is disrupting business models – and it’s happening faster than organizations can react.
    • Smaller, more agile organizations have an advantage because they have less resources tied to existing operations and can move faster.

    Impact and Result

    • Be the disruptor, not the disrupted. This blueprint will help you plan proactively and identify opportunities before your competitors.
    • Strategic foresight gives you the tools you need to effectively process the signals in your environment, build an understanding of relevant trends, and turn this understanding into action.

    Establish a Foresight Capability Research & Tools

    Start here – read the Executive Brief

    Read our concise Executive Brief to find out how to effectively apply strategic foresight, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Signal gathering

    Develop a better understanding of your external environment and build a database of signals.

    • Establish a Foresight Capability – Phase 1: Signal Gathering
    • Foresight Process Tool

    2. Trends and drivers

    Select and analyze trends to uncover drivers.

    • Establish a Foresight Capability – Phase 2: Trends and Drivers

    3. Scenario building

    Use trends and drivers to build plausible scenarios and brainstorm strategic initiatives.

    • Establish a Foresight Capability – Phase 3: Scenario Building

    4. Idea selection

    Apply the wind tunneling technique to assess strategic initiatives and determine which are most likely to succeed in the face of uncertainty.

    • Establish a Foresight Capability – Phase 4: Idea Selection
    [infographic]

    Workshop: Establish a Foresight Capability

    Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

    1 Pre-workshop – Gather Signals and Build a Repository

    The Purpose

    Note: this is preparation for the workshop and is not offered onsite.

    Gather relevant signals that will inform your organization about what is happening in the external competitive environment.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    A better understanding of the competitive landscape.

    Activities

    1.1 Gather relevant signals.

    1.2 Store signals in a repository for quick and easy recall during the workshop.

    Outputs

    A set of signal items ready for analysis

    2 Identify Trends and Uncover Drivers

    The Purpose

    Uncover trends in your environment and assess their potential impact.

    Determine the causal forces behind relevant trends to inform strategic decisions.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    An understanding of the underlying causal forces that are influencing a trend that is affecting your organization.

    Activities

    2.1 Cluster signals into trends.

    2.2 Analyze trend impact and select a key trend.

    2.3 Perform causal analysis.

    2.4 Select drivers.

    Outputs

    A collection of relevant trends with a key trend selected

    A set of drivers influencing the key trend with primary drivers selected

    3 Build Scenarios and Ideate

    The Purpose

    Leverage your understanding of trends and drivers to build plausible scenarios and apply them as a canvas for ideation.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    A set of potential responses or reactions to trends that are affecting your organization.

    Activities

    3.1 Build scenarios.

    3.2 Brainstorm potential strategic initiatives (ideation).

    Outputs

    Four plausible scenarios for ideation purposes

    A potential strategic initiative that addresses each scenario

    4 Apply Wind Tunneling and Select Ideas

    The Purpose

    Assess the various ideas based on which are most likely to succeed in the face of uncertainty.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    An idea that you have tested in terms of risk and uncertainty.

    An idea that can be developed and pitched to the business or stored for later use. 

    Activities

    4.1 Assign probabilities to scenarios.

    4.2 Apply wind tunneling.

    4.3 Select ideas.

    4.4 Discuss next steps and prototyping.

    Outputs

    A strategic initiative (idea) that is ready to move into prototyping

    Enable Omnichannel Commerce That Delights Your Customers

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    • member rating overall impact: 9.5/10 Overall Impact
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    • Parent Category Name: Customer Relationship Management
    • Parent Category Link: /customer-relationship-management
    • Today’s customers expect to be able to transact with you in the channels of their choice. The proliferation of e-commerce, innovations in brick-and-mortar retail, and developments in mobile commerce and social media selling mean that IT organizations are managing added complexity in drafting a strategy for commerce enablement.
    • The right technology stack is critical in order to support world-class e-commerce and brick-and-mortar interactions with customers.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • Support the right transactional channels for the right customers: there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach to commerce enablement – understand your customers to drive selection of the right transactional channels.
    • Don’t assume that “traditional” commerce channels have stagnated: IoT, customer analytics, and blended retail are reinvigorating brick-and-mortar selling.
    • Don’t buy best-of-breed; buy best-for-you. Base commerce vendor selection on your requirements and use cases, not on the vendor’s overall performance.

    Impact and Result

    • Leverage Info-Tech’s proven, road-tested approach to using personas and scenarios to build strong business drivers for your commerce strategy.
    • Before selecting and deploying technology solutions, create a cohesive channel matrix outlining which channels your organization will support with transactional capabilities.
    • Understand evolving trends in the commerce solution space, such as AI-driven product recommendations and integration with other essential enterprise applications (i.e. CRM and marketing automation platforms).
    • Understand and apply operational best practices such as content optimization and dynamic personalization to improve the conversion rate via your e-commerce channels.

    Enable Omnichannel Commerce That Delights Your Customers Research & Tools

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Enable Omnichannel Commerce Deck – A deck outlining the importance of creating a cohesive omnichannel framework to improve your customer experience.

    E-commerce channels have proliferated, and traditional brick-and-mortar commerce is undergoing reinvention. In order to provide your customers with a strong experience, it's imperative to create a strategy – and to deploy the right enabling technologies – that allow for robust multi-channel commerce. This storyboard provides a concise overview of how to do just that.

    • Enable Omnichannel Commerce That Delights Your Customers – Phases 1-2

    2. Create Personas to Drive Omnichannel Requirements Template – A template to identify key customer personas for e-commerce and other channels.

    Customer personas are archetypal representations of your key audience segments. This template (and populated examples) will help you construct personas for your omnichannel commerce project.

    • Create Personas to Drive Omnichannel Requirements Template
    [infographic]

    Further reading

    Enable Omnichannel Commerce That Delights Your Customers

    Create a cohesive, omnichannel framework that supports the right transactions through the right channels for the right customers.

    Analyst Perspective

    A clearly outlined commerce strategy is a necessary component of a broader customer experience strategy.

    This is a picture of Ben Dickie, Research Lead, Research – Applications at Info-Tech Research Group

    Ben Dickie
    Research Lead, Research – Applications
    Info-Tech Research Group

    “Your commerce strategy is where the rubber hits the road, converting your prospects into paying customers. To maximize revenue (and provide a great customer experience), it’s essential to have a clearly defined commerce strategy in place.

    A strong commerce strategy seeks to understand your target customer personas and commerce journey maps and pair these with the right channels and enabling technologies. There is not a “one-size-fits-all” approach to selecting the right commerce channels: while many organizations are making a heavy push into e-commerce and mobile commerce, others are seeking to differentiate themselves by innovating in traditional brick-and-mortar sales. Hybrid channel design now dominates many commerce strategies – using a blend of e-commerce and other channels to deliver the best-possible customer experience.

    IT leaders must work with the business to create a succinct commerce strategy that defines personas and scenarios, outlines the right channel matrix, and puts in place the right enabling technologies (for example, point-of-sale and e-commerce platforms).”

    Stop! Are you ready for this project?

    This Research Is Designed For:

    • IT leaders and business analysts supporting their commercial and marketing organizations in developing and executing a technology enablement strategy for e-commerce or brick-and-mortar commerce.
    • Any organization looking to develop a persona-based approach to identifying the right channels for their commerce strategy.

    This Research Will Help You:

    • Identify key personas and customer journeys for a brick-and-mortar and/or e-commerce strategy.
    • Select the right channels for your commerce strategy and build a commerce channel matrix to codify the results.
    • Review the “art of the possible” and new developments in brick-and-mortar and e-commerce execution.

    This Research Will Also Assist:

    • Sales managers, brand managers, and any marketing professional looking to build a cohesive commerce strategy.
    • E-commerce or POS project teams or working groups tasked with managing an RFP process for vendor selection.

    This Research Will Help Them:

    • Build a persona-centric commerce strategy.
    • Understand key technology trends in the brick-and-mortar and e-commerce space.

    Executive Summary

    Your Challenge

    Today’s customers expect to be able to transact with you in the channels of their choice.

    The proliferation of e-commerce, innovations in brick-and-mortar retail, and developments in mobile commerce and social media selling mean that IT organizations are managing added complexity in drafting a strategy for commerce enablement.

    The right technology stack is critical to support world-class e-commerce and brick-and-mortar interactions with customers.

    Common Obstacles

    Many organizations do not define strong, customer-centric drivers for dictating which channels they should be investing in for transactional capabilities.

    As many retailers look to move shopping experiences online during the pandemic, the impetus for having a strong e-commerce suite has markedly increased. The proliferation of commerce vendors has made it difficult to identify and shortlist the right solution, while the pandemic has also highlighted the importance of adopting new vendors quickly and efficiently: companies need to understand the top players in different commerce market landscapes.

    IT is receiving a growing number of commerce platform requests and must be prepared to speak intelligently about requirements and the “art of the possible.”

    Info-Tech’s Approach

    • Leverage Info-Tech’s proven, road-tested approach to using personas and scenarios to build strong business drivers for your commerce strategy.
    • Before selecting and deploying technology solutions, create a cohesive channel matrix outlining which channels your organization will support with transactional capabilities.
    • Understand evolving trends in the commerce solution space, such as AI-driven product recommendations and integration with other essential enterprise applications (i.e. customer relationship management [CRM] and marketing automation platforms).
    • Understand and apply operational best practices such as content optimization and dynamic personalization to improve the conversion rate via your e-commerce channels.

    Info-Tech Insight

    • Support the right transactional channels for the right customers: there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach to commerce enablement – understand your customers to drive selection of the right transactional channels.
    • Don’t assume that “traditional” commerce channels have stagnated: IoT, customer analytics, and blended retail are reinvigorating brick-and-mortar selling.
    • Don’t buy best-of-breed; buy best-for-you: base commerce vendor selection on your requirements and use cases, not on the vendor’s overall performance.

    A strong commerce strategy is an essential component of a savvy approach to customer experience management

    A commerce strategy outlines an organization’s approach to selling its products and services. A strong commerce strategy identifies target customers’ personas, commerce journeys that the organization wants to support, and the channels that the organization will use to transact with customers.

    Many commerce strategies encompass two distinct but complementary branches: a commerce strategy for transacting through traditional channels and an e-commerce strategy. While the latter often receives more attention from IT, it still falls on IT leaders to provide the appropriate enabling technologies to support traditional brick-and-mortar channels as well. Traditional channels have also undergone a digital renaissance in recent years, with forward-looking companies capitalizing on new technology to enhance customer experiences in their stores.

    Traditional Channels

    • Physical Stores (Brick and Mortar)
    • Kiosks or Pop-Up Stores
    • Telesales
    • Mail Orders
    • EDI Transactions

    E-Commerce Channels

    • E-Commerce Websites
    • Mobile Commerce Apps
    • Embedded Social Shopping
    • Customer Portals
    • Configure Price Quote Tool Sets (CPQ)
    • Hybrid Retail

    Info-Tech Insight

    To better serve their customers, many companies position themselves as “click-and-mortar” shops – allowing customers to transact at a store or online.

    Customers’ expectations are on the rise: meet them!

    Today’s consumers expect speed, convenience, and tailored experiences at every stage of the customer lifecycle. Successful organizations strive to support these expectations.

    58%
    of retail customers admitted that their expectations now are higher than they were a year ago (FinancesOnline).

    70%
    of consumers between the ages of 18 and 34 have increasing customer expectations year after year (FinancesOnline).

    69%
    of consumers now expect store associates to be armed with a mobile device to deliver value-added services, such as looking up product information and checking inventory (V12).

    73%
    of support leaders agree that customer expectations are increasing, but only…

    42%
    of support leaders are confident that they’re actually meeting those expectations.

    How can you be sure that you are meeting your customers’ expectations?

    1. Offer more personalization throughout the entire customer journey
    2. Practice quality customer service – ensure staff have up-to-date knowledge and offer quick resolution time for complaints
    3. Focus on offering low-effort experiences and easy-to-use platforms (i.e. “one-click buying”)
    4. Ensure your products and services perform well and do what they’re meant to do
    5. Ensure omnichannel availability – 9 in 10 consumers want a seamless omnichannel experience

    Info-Tech Insight

    Customers expect to interact with organizations through the channels of their choice. Now more than ever, you must enable your organization to provide tailored commerce and transactional experiences.

    Omnichannel commerce is the way of the future

    Create a strategy that embraces this reality with the right tools!

    Get ahead of the competition by doing omnichannel right! Devise a strategy that allows you to create and maintain a consistent, seamless commerce experience by optimizing operations with an omnichannel framework. Customers want to interact with you on their own terms, and it falls to IT to ensure that applications are in place to support and manage both traditional and e-commerce channels. There must also be consistency of copy, collateral, offers, and pricing between commerce channels.

    71%
    of consumers want a consistent experience across all channels, but only…

    29%
    say that they actually get it.

    (Source: Business 2 Community, 2020)

    Omnichannel is a “multichannel approach that aims to provide customers with a personalized, integrated, and seamless shopping experience across diverse touchpoints and devices.”
    Source: RingCentral, 2021

    IT is responsible for providing technology enablement of the commerce strategy: e-commerce platforms are a cornerstone

    An e-commerce platform is an enterprise application that provides end-to-end capabilities for allowing customers to purchase products or services from your company via an online channel (e.g. a traditional website, a mobile application, or an embedded link in a social media post). Modern e-commerce platforms are essential for delivering a frictionless customer journey when it comes to purchasing online.

    $6.388
    trillion dollars worth of sales will be conducted online by 2024 (eMarketer, 14 Jan. 2021).

    44%
    of all e-commerce transactions are expected to be completed via a mobile device by 2024 (Insider).

    21.8%
    of all sales will be made from online purchases by 2024 (eMarketer, 14 Jan. 2021).

    Strong E-Commerce Platforms Enable a Wide Range of Functional Areas:

    • Product Catalog Management
    • Web Content Delivery
    • Product Search Engine
    • Inventory Management
    • Shopping Cart Management
    • Discount and Coupon Management
    • Return Management and Reverse Logistics
    • Dynamic Personalization
    • Dynamic Promotions
    • Predictive Re-Targeting
    • Predictive Product Recommendations
    • Transaction Processing
    • Compliance Management
    • Commerce Workflow Management
    • Loyalty Program Management
    • Reporting and Analytics

    An e-commerce solution boosts the effectiveness and efficiency of your operations and drives top-line growth

    Take time to learn the capabilities of modern e-commerce applications. Understanding the “art of the possible” will help you to get the most out of your e-commerce platform.

    An e-commerce platform helps marketers and sales staff in three primary ways:

    1. It allows the organization to effectively and efficiently operate e-commerce operations at scale.
    2. It allows commercial staff to have a single system for managing and monitoring all commercial activity through online channels.
    3. It allows the organization to improve the customer-facing e-commerce experience, boosting conversions and top-line sales.

    A dedicated e-commerce platform improves the efficiency of customer-commerce operations

    • Workflow automation reduces the amount of time spent executing dynamic e-commerce campaigns.
    • The use of internal or third-party data increases conversion effectiveness from customer databases across the organization.

    Info-Tech Insight

    A strong e-commerce provides marketers with the data they need to produce actionable insights about their customers.

    Case Study

    INDUSTRY - Retail
    SOURCE - Salesforce (a)

    PetSmart improves customer experience by leveraging a new commerce platform in the Salesforce ecosystem

    PetSmart

    PetSmart is a leading retailer of pet products, with a heavy footprint across North America. Historically, PetSmart was a brick-and-mortar retailer, but it has placed a heavy emphasis on being a true multi-channel “click-and-mortar” retailer to ensure it maintains relevance against competitors like Amazon.

    E-Commerce Overhaul Initiative

    To improve its e-commerce capabilities, PetSmart recognized that it needed to consolidate to a single, unified e-commerce platform to realize a 360-degree view of its customers. A new platform was also required to power dynamic and engaging experiences, with appropriate product recommendations and tailored content. To pursue this initiative, the company settled on Salesforce.com’s Commerce Cloud product after an exhaustive requirements definition effort and rigorous vendor selection approach.

    Results

    After platform implementation, PetSmart was able to effortlessly handle the massive transaction volumes associated with Black Friday and Cyber Monday and deliver 1:1 experiences that boosted conversion rates.

    PetSmart standardized on the Commerce Cloud from Salesforce to great effect.

    This is an image of the journey from Discover & Engage to Retain & Advocate.

    Case Study

    Icebreaker exceeds customer expectations by using AI to power product recommendations

    INDUSTRY - Retail
    SOURCE - Salesforce (b)

    Icebreaker

    Icebreaker is a leading outerwear and lifestyle clothing company, operating six global websites and owning over 5,000 stores across 50 countries. Icebreaker is focused on providing its shoppers with accurate, real-time product suggestions to ensure it remains relevant in an increasingly competitive online market.

    E-Commerce Overhaul Initiative

    To improve its e-commerce capabilities, Icebreaker recognized that it needed to adopt a predictive recommendation engine that would offer its customers a more personalized shopping experience. This new system would need to leverage relevant data to provide both known and anonymous shoppers with product suggestions that are of interest to them. To pursue this initiative, Icebreaker settled on using Salesforce.com’s Commerce Cloud Einstein, a fully integrated AI.

    Results

    After integrating Commerce Cloud Einstein on all its global sites, Icebreaker was able to cross-sell and up-sell its merchandise more effectively by providing its shoppers with accurate product recommendations, ultimately increasing average order value.

    IT must also provide technology enablement for other channels, such as point-of-sale systems for brick-and-mortar

    Point-of-sale systems are the “real world” complement to e-commerce platforms. They provide functional capabilities for selling products in a physical store, including basic inventory management, cash register management, payment processing, and retail analytics. Many firms struggle with legacy POS environments that inhibit a modern customer experience.

    $27.338
    trillion dollars in retail sales are expected to be made globally in 2022 (eMarketer, 2022).

    84%
    of consumers believe that retailers should be doing more to integrate their online and offline channels (Invoca).

    39%
    of consumers are unlikely or very unlikely to visit a retailer’s store if the online store doesn’t provide physical store inventory information (V12).

    Strong Point-of-Sale Platforms Enable a Wide Range of Functional Areas:

    • Product Catalog Management
    • Discount Management
    • Coupon Management and Administration
    • Cash Management
    • Cash Register Reconciliation
    • Product Identification (Barcode Management)
    • Payment Processing
    • Compliance Management
    • Basic Inventory Management
    • Commerce Workflow Management
    • Exception Reporting and Overrides
    • Loyalty Program Management
    • Reporting and Analytics

    E-commerce and POS don’t live in isolation

    They’re key components of a well-oiled customer experience ecosystem!

    Integrate commerce solutions with other customer experience applications – and with ERP or logistics systems – to handoff transactions for order fulfilment.

    Having a customer master database – the central place where all up-to-the-minute data on a customer profile is stored – is essential for traditional and e-commerce success. Typically, the POS or e-commerce platform is not the system of record for the master customer profile: this information lives in a CRM platform or customer data warehouse. Conceptually, this system is at the center of the customer-experience ecosystem.

    Strong POS and e-commerce solutions orchestrate transactions but typically do not do the heavy lifting in terms of order fulfilment, shipping logistics, economic inventory management, and reverse logistics (returns). In an enterprise-grade environment, these activities are executed by an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution – integrating your commerce systems with a back-end ERP solution is a crucial step from an application architecture point of view.

    This is an example of a customer experience ecosystem. Core Apps (CRM, ERP): MMS Suite; E-Commerce; POS; Web CMS; Data Marts/BI Tools; Social Media Platforms

    Case Study

    INDUSTRY - Retail
    SOURCES - Amazon, n.d. CNET, 2020

    Amazon is creating a hybrid omnichannel experience for retail by introducing innovative brick-and-mortar stores

    Amazon

    Amazon began as an online retailer of books in the mid-1990s, and rapidly expanded its product portfolio to nearly every category imaginable. Often hailed as the foremost success story in online commerce, the firm has driven customer loyalty via consistently strong product recommendations and a well-designed site.

    Bringing Physical Retail Into the Digital Age

    Beginning in 2016 (and expanding in 2018), Amazon introduced Amazon Go, a next-generation grocery retailer, to the Seattle market. While most firms that pursue an e-commerce strategy traditionally come from a brick-and-mortar background, Amazon upended the usual narrative: the world’s largest online retailer opening physical stores to become a true omnichannel, “click-and-mortar” vendor. From the get-go, Amazon Go focused on innovating the physical retail experience – using cameras, IoT capabilities, and mobile technologies to offer “checkout-free” virtual shopping carts that automatically know what products customers take off the shelves and bill their Amazon accounts accordingly.

    Results

    Amazon received a variety of industry and press accolades for re-inventing the physical store experience and it now owns and operates seven separate store brands, with more still on the horizon.

    Case Study

    INDUSTRY - Retail
    SOURCES - Glossy, 2020

    Old Navy

    Old Navy is a clothing and accessories retail company that owns and operates over 1,200 stores across North America and China. Typically, Old Navy has relied on using traditional marketing approaches, but recently it has shifted to producing more digitally focused campaigns to drive revenue.

    Bringing Physical Retail Into the Digital Age

    To overcome pandemic-related difficulties, including temporary store closures, Old Navy knew that it had to have strong holiday sales in 2020. With the goal of stimulating retail sales growth and maximizing its pre-existing omnichannel capabilities, Old Navy decided to focus more of its holiday campaign efforts online than in years past. With this campaign centered on connected TV platforms, such as Hulu, and social media channels including Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, Old Navy was able to take a more unique, fun, and good-humored approach to marketing.

    Results

    Old Navy’s digitally focused campaign was a success. When compared with third quarter sales figures from 2019, third quarter net sales for 2020 increased by 15% and comparable sales increased by 17%.

    Info-Tech offers various levels of support to best suit your needs

    DIY Toolkit

    “Our team has already made this critical project a priority, and we have the time and capability, but some guidance along the way would be helpful.”

    Guided Implementation

    “Our team knows that we need to fix a process, but we need assistance to determine where to focus. Some check-ins along the way would help keep us on track.”

    Workshop

    “We need to hit the ground running and get this project kicked off immediately. Our team has the ability to take this over once we get a framework and strategy in place.”

    Consulting

    “Our team does not have the time or the knowledge to take this project on. We need assistance through the entirety of this project.”

    Diagnostics and consistent frameworks used throughout all four options

    Guided Implementation

    What does a typical GI on this topic look like?

    Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 Phase 5

    Call #1: Scope requirements, objectives, and your specific challenges.

    Call #2: Assess current maturity.

    Call #4: Identify relationship between current initiatives and capabilities.

    		Call #6: Identify strategy risks.

    Call #8: Identify and prioritize improvements.

    Call #3: Identify target-state capabilities.

    Call #5: Create initiative profiles.

    Call #7: Identify required budget.

    Call #9: Summarize results and plan next steps.

    A Guided Implementation (GI) is a series of calls with an Info-Tech analyst to help implement our best practices in your organization.

    A typical GI is between 8 to 12 calls over the course of 4 to 6 months.

    Enable Omnichannel Commerce That Delights Your Customers – Project Overview

    1. Identify Critical Drivers for Your Omnichannel Commerce Strategy 2. Map Drivers to the Right Channels and Technologies
    Best Practice Toolkit

    1.1 Assess Personas and Scenarios

    1.2 Create Key Drivers and Metrics

    2.1 Build the Commerce Channel Matrix

    2.2 Review Technology and Trends Primer
    Guided Implementations
    • Validate customer personas.
    • Validate commerce scenarios.
    • Review key drivers and metrics.
    • Build the channel matrix.
    • Discuss technology and trends.
    Onsite Workshop

    Module 1:

    Module 2:

    Identify Critical Drivers for Your Omnichannel Commerce Strategy

    Map Drivers to the Right Channels and Technologies

    Phase 1 Outcome:

    Phase 2 Outcome:

    An initial shortlist of customer-centric drivers for your channel strategy and supporting metrics.

    A completed commerce channel matrix tailored to your organization, and a snapshot of enabling technologies and trends.

    Phase 1

    Identify Critical Drivers for Your Omnichannel Commerce Strategy

    1.1 Assess Personas and Scenarios

    1.2 Create Key Drivers and Metrics

    Enable Omnichannel Commerce That Delights Your Customers

    Step 1.1

    Assess Personas and Scenarios

    This step will walk you through the following activities:

    1.1.1 Build key customer personas for your commerce strategy.

    1.1.2 Create commerce scenarios (journey maps) that you need to enable.

    Identify Critical Drivers for Your Omnichannel Commerce Strategy

    This step involves the following participants:

    • Business stakeholders (Sales, Marketing)
    • IT project team

    Outcomes of this step:

    • Critical customer personas
    • Key traditional and e-commerce scenarios

    Use customer personas to picture who will be using your commerce channels and guide scenario design and key drivers

    What Are Personas?

    Personas are detailed descriptions of the targeted audience of your e-commerce presence. Effective personas:

    • Express and focus on the major needs and expectations of the most important user groups.
    • Give a clear picture of the typical user’s behavior.
    • Aid in uncovering universal features and functionality.
    • Describe real people with backgrounds, goals, and values.

    Source: Usability.gov, n.d.

    Why Are Personas Important?

    Personas help:

    • Focus the development of commerce platform features on the immediate needs of the intended audience.
    • Detail the level of customization needed to ensure content is valuable to the user.
    • Describe how users may behave when certain audio and visual stimulus are triggered from the website.
    • Outline the special design considerations required to meet user accessibility needs.

    Key Elements of a Persona:

    • Persona Group (e.g. executives)
    • Demographics (e.g. nationality, age, language spoken)
    • Purpose of Using Commerce Channels (e.g. product search versus ready to transact)
    • Typical Behaviors and Tendencies (e.g. goes to different websites when cannot find products in 20 seconds)
    • Technological Environment of User (e.g. devices, browsers, network connection)
    • Professional and Technical Skills and Experiences (e.g. knowledge of websites, area of expertise)

    Use Info-Tech’s guidelines to assist in the creation of personas

    How many personas should I create?

    The number of personas that should be created is based on the organizational coverage of your commerce strategy. Here are some questions you should ask:

    • Do the personas cover a majority of your revenues or product lines?
    • Is the number manageable for your project team to map out?

    How do I prioritize which personas to create?

    The identified personas should generate the most revenue – or provide a significant opportunity – for your business. Here are some questions that you should ask:

    • Are the personas prioritized based on the revenue they generate for the business?
    • Is the persona prioritization process considering both the present and future revenues the persona is generating?

    Sample: persona for e-commerce platform

    Example

    Persona quote: “After I call the company about the widget, I would usually go onto the company’s website and look at further details about the product. How am I supposed to do so when it is so hard to find the company’s website on everyday search engines, such as Google, Yahoo, or Bing?”

    Michael is a middle-aged manager working in the financial district. He wants to buy the company’s widgets for use in his home, but since he is distrusting of online shopping, he prefers to call the company’s call center first. Afterwards, if Michael is convinced by the call center representative, he will look at the company’s website for further research before making his purchase.

    Michael does not have a lot of free time on his hands, and tries to make his free time as relaxing as possible. Due to most of his work being client-facing, he is not in front of a computer most of the time during his work. As such, Michael does not consider himself to be skilled with technology. Once he makes the decision to purchase, Michael will conduct online transactions and pay most delivery costs due to his shortage of time.

    Needs:

    • Easy-to-find website and widget information.
    • Online purchasing and delivery services.
    • Answer to his questions about the widget.
    • To maintain contact post-purchase for easy future transactions.

    Info-Tech Tip

    The quote attached to a persona should be from actual quotes that your customers have used when you reviewed your voice of the customer (VoC) surveys or focus groups to drive home the impact of their issues with your company.

    1.1.1 Activity: Build personas for your key customers that you’ll need to support via traditional and e-commerce channels

    1 hour

    1. In two to four groups, list all the major, target customer personas that need to be built. In doing so, consider the people who interact with your e-commerce site (or other channels) most often.
    2. Build a demographic profile for each customer persona. Include information such as age, geographic location, occupation, and annual income.
    3. Augment the persona with a psychographic profile. Consider the goals and objectives of each customer persona and how these might inform buyer behaviors.
    4. Introduce your group’s personas to the entire group, in a round-robin fashion, as if you are introducing your persona at a party.
    5. Summarize the personas in a persona map. Rank your personas according to importance and remove any duplicates.
    6. Use Info-Tech’s Create Personas to Drive Omnichannel Requirements Template to assist.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Persona building is typically used for understanding the external customer; however, if you need to gain a better understanding of the organization’s internal customers (those who will be interacting with the e-commerce platform), personas can also be built for this purpose. Examples of useful internal personas are sales managers, brand managers, and customer service directors.

    1.1.1 Activity: Build personas for your key customers that you’ll need to support via traditional and e-commerce channels (continued)

    Input

    • Customer demographics and psychographics

    Output

    • List of prioritized customer personas

    Materials

    • Whiteboard
    • Markers

    Participants

    • Project team

    Build use-case scenarios to model the transactional customer journey and inform drivers for your commerce strategy

    A use-case scenario is a story or narrative that helps explore the set of interactions that a customer has with an organization. Scenario mapping will help identify key business and technology drivers as well as more granular functional requirements for POS or e-commerce platform selection.

    A GOOD SCENARIO…

    • Describes specific task(s) that need to be accomplished.
    • Describes user goals and motivations.
    • Describes interactions with a compelling but not overwhelming amount of detail.
    • Can be rough, as long as it provokes ideas and discussion.

    SCENARIOS ARE USED TO...

    • Provide a shared understanding about what a user might want to do and how they might want to do it.
    • Help construct the sequence of events that are necessary to address in your user interface(s).

    TO CREATE GOOD SCENARIOS…

    • Keep scenarios high level, not granular, in nature.
    • Identify as many scenarios as possible. If you’re time constrained, try to develop two to three key scenarios per persona.
    • Sketch each scenario out so that stakeholders understand the goal of the scenario.

    1.1.2 Exercise: Build commerce user scenarios to understand what you want your customers to do from a transactional viewpoint

    1 hour

    Example

    Simplified E-Commerce Workflow Purchase Products

    This image contains an example of a Simplified E-Commerce Workflow Purchase Products

    Step 1.2

    Create Key Drivers and Metrics

    This step will walk you through the following activities:

    • Create the business drivers you need to enable with your commerce strategy.
    • Enumerate metrics to track the efficacy of your commerce strategy.

    Identify Critical Drivers for Your Omnichannel Commerce Strategy

    This step involves the following participants:

    • Business stakeholders (Sales, Marketing)
    • IT project team

    Outcomes of this step:

    • Business drivers for the commerce strategy
    • Metrics and key performance indicators for the commerce strategy

    1.2 Finish elaboration of your scenarios and map them to your personas: identify core business drivers for commerce

    1.5 hours

    1. List all commerce scenarios required to satisfy the immediate needs of your personas.
      1. Does the use-case scenario address commonly felt user challenges?
      2. Can the scenario be used by those with changing behaviors and tendencies?
    2. Look for recurring themes in use-case scenarios (for example, increasing average transaction cost through better product recommendations) and identify business drivers: drivers are common thematic elements that can be found across multiple scenarios. These are the key principles for your commerce strategy.
    3. Prioritize your use cases by leveraging the priorities of your business drivers.

    Example

    This is an example of how step 1.2 can help you identify business drivers

    1.2 Finish elaboration of your scenarios and map them to your personas: identify core business drivers for commerce (continuation)

    Input

    • User personas

    Output

    • List of use cases
    • Alignment of use cases to business objectives

    Materials

    • Whiteboard
    • Markers

    Participants

    • Business Analyst
    • Developer
    • Designer

    Show the benefits of commerce solution deployment with metrics aimed at both overall efficacy and platform adoption

    The ROI and perceived value of the organization’s e-commerce and POS solutions will be a critical indication of the success of the suite’s selection and implementation.

    Commerce Strategy and Technology Adoption Metrics

    EXAMPLE METRICS

    Commerce Performance Metrics

    Average revenue per unique transaction

    Quantity and quality of commerce insights

    Aggregate revenue by channel

    Unique customers per channel

    Savings from automated processes

    Repeat customers per channel

    User Adoption and Business Feedback Metrics

    User satisfaction feedback

    User satisfaction survey with technology

    Business adoption rates

    Application overhead cost reduction

    Info-Tech Insight

    Even if e-commerce metrics are difficult to track right now, the implementation of a dedicated e-commerce platform brings access to valuable customer intelligence from data that was once kept in silos.

    Phase 2

    Map Drivers to the Right Channels and Technologies

    2.1 Build the Commerce Channel Matrix

    2.2 Review Technology and Trends Primer

    Enable Omnichannel Commerce That Delights Your Customers

    Step 2.1

    Build the Commerce Channel Matrix

    This step will walk you through the following activities:

    • Based on your business drivers, create a blended mix of e-commerce channels that will suit your organization’s and customers’ needs.

    Map Drivers to the Right Channels and Technologies

    This step involves the following participants:

    • Business stakeholders (Sales, Marketing)
    • IT project team

    Outcomes of this step:

    • Commerce channel map

    Pick the transactional channels that align with your customer personas and enable your target scenarios and drivers

    Traditional Channels

    E-Commerce Channels

    Hybrid Channels

    Physical stores (brick and mortar) are the mainstay of retailers selling tangible goods – some now also offer intangible service delivery.

    E-commerce websites as exemplified by services like Amazon are accessible by a browser and deliver both goods and services.

    Online ordering/in-store fulfilment is a model whereby customers can place orders online but pick the product up in store.

    Telesales allows customers to place orders over the phone. This channel has declined in favor of mobile commerce via smartphone apps.

    Mobile commerce allows customers to shop through a dedicated, native mobile application on a smartphone or tablet.

    IoT-enabled smart carts/bags allow customers to shop in store, but check-out payments are handled by a mobile application.

    Mail order allows customers to send (”snail”) mail orders. A related channel is fax orders. Both have diminished in favor of e-commerce.

    Social media embedded shopping allows customers to order products directly through services such as Facebook.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Your channel selections should be driven by customer personas and scenarios. For example, social media may be extensively employed by some persona types (i.e. millennials) but see limited adoption in other demographics or use cases (i.e. B2B).

    2.1 Activity: Build your commerce channel matrix

    30 minutes

    1. Inventory which transactional channels are currently used by your firm (segment by product lines if variation exists).
    2. Interview product leaders, sales leaders, and marketing managers to determine if channels support transactional capabilities or are used for marketing and service delivery.
    3. Review your customer personas, scenarios, and drivers and assess which of the channels you will use in the future to sell products and services. Document below.

    Example: Commerce Channel Map

    Product Line A Product Line B Product Line C
    Currently Used? Future Use? Currently Used? Future Use? Currently Used? Future Use?
    Store Yes Yes No No No No
    Kiosk Yes No No No No No
    E-Commerce Site/Portal No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
    Mobile App No No Yes Yes No Yes
    Embedded Social Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

    Input

    • Personas, scenarios, and driver

    Output

    • Channel map

    Materials

    • Whiteboard
    • Markers

    Participants

    • Project team

    Step 2.2

    Review Technology and Trends Primer

    This step will walk you through the following activities:

    • Review the scope of e-commerce and POS solutions and understand key drivers impacting e-commerce and traditional commerce.

    Map Drivers to the Right Channels and Technologies

    This step involves the following participants:

    • Business stakeholders (Sales, Marketing)
    • IT project team

    Outcomes of this step:

    • Understanding of key technologies
    • Understanding of key trends

    Application spotlight: e-commerce platforms

    How It Enables Your Strategy

    • Modern e-commerce platforms provide capabilities for end-to-end orchestration of online commerce experiences, from product site deployment to payment processing.
    • Some e-commerce platforms are purpose-built for business-to-business (B2B) commerce, emphasizing customer portals and EDI features. Other e-commerce vendors place more emphasis on business-to-consumer (B2C) capabilities, such as product catalog management and executing transactions at scale.
    • There has been an increasing degree of overlap between traditional web experience management solutions and the e-commerce market; for example, in 2018, Adobe acquired Magento to augment its overall web experience offering within Adobe Experience Manager.
    • E-commerce platforms typically fall short when it comes to order fulfilment and logistics; this piece of the puzzle is typically orchestrated via an ERP system or logistics management module.
    • This research provides a starting place for defining e-commerce requirements and selection artefacts.

    Key Trends

    • E-commerce vendors are rapidly supporting a variety of form factors and integration with other channels such as social media. Mobile is sufficiently popular that some vendors and industry commentators refer to it as “m-commerce” to differentiate app-based shopping experiences from those accessed through a traditional browser.
    • Hybrid commerce is driving more interplay between e-commerce solutions and POS.

    E-Commerce KPIs

    Strong e-commerce applications can improve:

    • Bounce Rates
    • Exit Rates
    • Lead Conversion Rates
    • Cart Abandonment Rates
    • Re-Targeting Efficacy
    • Average Cart Size
    • Average Cart Value
    • Customer Lifetime Value
    • Aggregate Reach/Impressions

    Familiarize yourself with the e-commerce market

    How it got here

    Initial Traction as the Dot-Com Era Came to Fruition

    Unlike some enterprise application markets, such as CRM, the e-commerce market appeared almost overnight during the mid-to-late nineties as the dot-com explosion fueled the need to have reliable solutions for executing transactions online.

    Early e-commerce solutions were less full-fledged suites than they were mediums for payment processing and basic product list management. PayPal and other services like Digital River were pioneers in the space, but their functionality was limited vis-à-vis tools such as web content management platforms, and their ability to amalgamate and analyze the data necessary for dynamic personalization and re-targeting was virtually non-existent.

    Rapidly Expanding Scope of Functional Capabilities as the Market Matured

    As marketers became more sophisticated and companies put an increased focus on customer experience and omnichannel interaction, the need arose for platforms that were significantly more feature rich than their early contemporaries. In this context, vendors such as Shopify and Demandware stepped into the limelight, offering far richer functionality and analytics than previous offerings, such as asset management, dynamic personalization, and the ability to re-target customers who abandoned their carts.

    As the market has matured, there has also been a series of acquisitions of some players (for example, Demandware by Salesforce) and IPOs of others (i.e. Shopify). Traditional payment-oriented services like PayPal still fill an important niche, while newer entrants like Square seek to disrupt both the e-commerce market and point-of-sale solutions to boot.

    Familiarize yourself with the e-commerce market

    Where it’s going

    Support for a Proliferation of Form Factors and Channels

    Modern e-commerce solutions are expanding the number of form factors (smartphones, tablets) they support via both responsive design and in-app capabilities. Many platforms now also support embedded purchasing options in non-owned channels (for example, social media). With the pandemic leading to a heightened affinity for online shopping, the importance of fully using these capabilities has been further emphasized.

    AI and Machine Learning

    E-commerce is another customer experience domain ripe for transformation via the potential of artificial intelligence. Machine learning algorithms are being used to enhance the effectiveness of dynamic personalization of product collateral, improve the accuracy of product recommendations, and allow for more effective re-targeting campaigns of customers who did not make a purchase.

    Merger of Online Commerce and Traditional Point-of-Sale

    Many e-commerce vendors – particularly the large players – are now going beyond traditional e-commerce and making plays into brick-and-mortar environments, offering point-of-sale capabilities and the ability to display product assets and customizations via augmented reality – truly blending the physical and virtual shopping experience.

    Emphasis on Integration with the Broader Customer Experience Ecosystem

    The big names in e-commerce recognize they don’t live on an island: out-of-the-box integrations with popular CRM, web experience, and marketing automation platforms have been increasing at a breakneck pace. Support for digital wallets has also become increasingly popular, with many vendors integrating contactless payment technology (i.e. Apple Pay) directly into their applications.

    E-Commerce Vendor Snapshot: Part 1

    Mid-Market E-Commerce Solutions

    This image contains the logos for the following Companies: Magento; Spryker; Bigcommerce; Woo Commerce; Shopify

    E-Commerce Vendor Snapshot: Part 2

    Large Enterprise and Full-Suite E-Commerce Platforms

    This image contains the logos for the following Companies: Salesforce commerce cloud; Oracle Commerce Cloud; Adobe Commerce Cloud; Sitecore; Sap Hybris Commerce

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    Evaluate software category leaders through vendor rankings and awards

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    This is an image of the data quarant report

    The Data Quadrant is a thorough evaluation and ranking of all software in an individual category to compare platforms across multiple dimensions.

    This is an image of the data quarant report chart

    Vendors are ranked by their Composite Score, based on individual feature evaluations, user satisfaction rankings, vendor capability comparisons, and likeliness to recommend the platform.

    This is a image of the Emotional Footprint Report

    The Emotional Footprint is a powerful indicator of overall user sentiment toward the relationship with the vendor, capturing data across five dimensions.

    This is a image of the Emotional Footprint Report chart

    Vendors are ranked by their Customer Experience (CX) Score, which combines the overall Emotional Footprint rating with a measure of the value delivered by the solution.

    Leading B2B E-Commerce Platforms

    As of February 2022

    Data Quadrant

    This image contains a screenshot of the Data Quadrant chart for B2B E-commerce

    Emotional Footprint

    This image contains a screenshot of the Emotional Footprint chart for B2B E-commerce

    Leading B2C E-Commerce Platforms

    As of February 2022

    Data Quadrant

    This image contains a screenshot of the Data Quadrant chart for B2C E-commerce

    Emotional Footprint

    This image contains a screenshot of the Emotional Footprint chart for B2C E-commerce

    Application spotlight: point-of-sale solutions

    How It Enables Your Strategy

    • Point-of-sale solutions provide capabilities for cash register/terminal management, transaction processing, and lightweight inventory management.
    • Many POS vendors also offer products that have the ability to create orders from EDI, phone, or fax channels.
    • An increasing emphasis has been placed on retail analytics by POS vendors – providing reporting and analysis tools to help with inventory planning, promotion management, and product recommendations.
    • Integration of POS systems with a central customer data warehouse or other system of record for customer information allows for the ability to build richer customer profiles and compare shopping habits in physical stores against other transactional channels that are offered.
    • POS vendors often offer (or integrate with) loyalty management solutions to track, manage, and redeem loyalty points. See this note on loyalty management systems.
    • Legacy and/or homegrown POS systems tend to be an area of frustration for customer experience management modernization.

    Key Trends

    • POS solutions are moving from “cash-register-only” solutions to encompass mobile POS form factors like smartphones and tablets. Vendors such as Square have experienced tremendous growth in opening up the market via “mPOS” platforms that have lower costs to entry than the traditional hardware needed to support full-fledged POS solutions.
    • This development puts robust POS toolsets in the hands of small and medium businesses that otherwise would be priced out of the market.

    POS KPIs

    Strong POS applications can improve:

    • Customer Data Collection
    • Inventory or Cash Shrinkage
    • Cost per Transaction
    • Loyalty Program Administration Costs
    • Cycle Time for Transaction Execution

    Point-of-Sales Vendor Snapshot: Part 1

    Mid-Market POS Solutions

    This image contains the following company Logos: Square; Shopify; Vend; Heartland|Retail

    Point-of-Sales Vendor Snapshot: Part 2

    Large Enterprise POS Platforms

    This image contains the following Logos: Clover; Oracle Netsuite; RQ Retail Management; Salesforce Commerce Cloud; Korona

    Leading Retail POS Systems

    As of February 2022

    Data Quadrant

    This is an image of the Data Quadrant Chart for the Leading Retail Pos Systems

    Emotional Footprint

    This is an image of the Emotional Footprint chart for the Leading Retail POS Systems

    Summary of Accomplishment

    Knowledge Gained

    • Commerce channel framework
    • Customer affinities
    • Commerce channel overview
    • Commerce-enabling technologies

    Processes Optimized

    • Persona definition for commerce strategy
    • Persona channel shortlist

    Deliverables Completed

    • Customer personas
    • Commerce user scenarios
    • Business drivers for traditional commerce and e-commerce
    • Channel matrix for omnichannel commerce

    Bibliography

    “25 Amazing Omnichannel Statistics Every Marketer Should Know (Updated for 2021).” V12, 29 June 2021. Accessed 12 Jan. 2022.

    “Amazon Go.” Amazon, n.d. Web.

    Andersen, Derek. “33 Statistics Retail Marketers Need to Know in 2021.” Invoca, 19 July 2021. Accessed 12 Jan. 2022.

    Andre, Louie. “115 Critical Customer Support Software Statistics: 2022 Market Share Analysis & Data.” FinancesOnline, 14 Jan. 2022. Accessed 25 Jan. 2022.

    Chuang, Courtney. “The future of support: 5 key trends that will shape customer care in 2022.” Intercom, 10 Jan. 2022. Accessed 11 Jan. 2022.

    Cramer-Flood, Ethan. “Global Ecommerce Update 2021.” eMarketer, 13 Jan. 2021. Accessed 12 Jan. 2022.

    Cramer-Flood, Ethan. “Spotlight on total global retail: Brick-and-mortar returns with a vengeance.” eMarketer, 3 Feb. 2022. Accessed 12 Apr. 2022.

    Fox Rubin, Ben. “Amazon now operates seven different kinds of physical stores. Here's why.” CNET, 28 Feb. 2020. Accessed 12 Jan. 2022.

    Krajewski, Laura. “16 Statistics on Why Omnichannel is the Future of Your Contact Center and the Foundation for a Top-Notch Competitive Customer Experience.” Business 2 Community, 10 July 2020. Accessed 11 Jan. 2022.

    Manoff, Jill. “Fun and convenience: CEO Nany Green on Old Navy’s priorities for holiday.” Glossy, 8 Dec. 2020. Accessed 12 Jan. 2022.

    Meola, Andrew. “Rise of M-Commerce: Mobile Ecommerce Shopping Stats & Trends in 2021.” Insider, 30 Dec. 2020. Accessed 12 Jan. 2022.

    “Outdoor apparel retailer Icebreaker uses AI to exceed shopper expectations.” Salesforce, n.d.(a). Accessed 20 Jan. 2022.

    “Personas.” Usability.gov., n.d. Web. 28 Aug. 2018.

    “PetSmart – Why Commerce Cloud?” Salesforce, n.d.(b). Web. 30 April 2018.

    Toor, Meena. “Customer expectations: 7 Types all exceptional researchers must understand.” Qualtrics, 3 Dec. 2020. Accessed 11 Jan. 2022.

    Westfall, Leigh. “Omnichannel vs. multichannel: What's the difference?” RingCentral, 10 Sept. 2021. Accessed 11 Jan. 2022.

    “Worldwide ecommerce will approach $5 trillion this year.” eMarketer, 14 Jan. 2021. Accessed 12 Jan. 2022.

    Develop Necessary Documentation for GDPR Compliance

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    • Parent Category Name: Governance, Risk & Compliance
    • Parent Category Link: /governance-risk-compliance
    • It can be an overwhelming challenge to understand what documentation is required under the GDPR.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • Hiring the right data protection officer (DPO) isn’t always easy. The person you think might be best may result in a conflict of interest. Be aware of all requirements and be objective when hiring for this role.
    • Keep retention to the bare minimum. Limiting the amount of data you are responsible for limits your liability for protecting it.
    • Under the GDPR, cookies constitute personal data. They require a standalone policy, separate from the privacy policy. Ensure pop-up cookie notification banners require active consent and give users the clear opportunity to reject them.

    Impact and Result

    • Save time developing documents by leveraging ready-to-go templates for the DPO job description, retention documents, privacy notice, and cookie policy.
    • Establishing GDPR-compliance documentation will set the foundation for an overall compliant program.

    Develop Necessary Documentation for GDPR Compliance Research & Tools

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Hire a data protection officer

    Understand the need for a DPO and what qualities to look for in a strong candidate.

    • Develop Necessary Documentation for GDPR Compliance Storyboard
    • Data Protection Officer Job Description Template

    2. Define retention requirements

    Understand your data retention requirements under the GDPR. Develop the necessary documentation.

    • Data Retention Policy Template
    • Data Retention Schedule Tool – GDPR

    3. Develop privacy and cookie policies

    Understand your website or application’s GDPR requirements to inform users on how you process their personal data and how cookies are used. Develop the necessary documentation.

    • Privacy Notice Template – External Facing
    • Cookie Policy Template – External Facing
    [infographic]

    Succeed With Digital Strategy Execution

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    • Rising customer expectations and competitive pressures have accelerated the pace at which organizations are turning to digital transformation to drive revenue or cut costs.
    • Many digital strategies are not put into action, and instead sit on the shelf. A digital strategy that is not translated into specific projects and initiatives will provide no value to the organization.
    • Executing a digital strategy is easier said than done: IT often lacks the necessary framework to create a roadmap, or fails to understand how new applications can enable the vision outlined in the strategy.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • A digital strategy needs a clear roadmap to succeed. Too many digital strategies are lofty statements of objective with no clear avenue for actual execution: create a digital strategy application roadmap to avoid this pitfall.
    • Understand the art of execution. Application capabilities are rapidly evolving: IT must stand ready to educate the business on how new applications can be used to pursue the digital strategy.

    Impact and Result

    • IT must work with the business to parse specific technology drivers from the digital strategy, distill strategic requirements, and create a prescriptive roadmap of initiatives that will close the gaps between the current state and the target state outlined in the digital strategy. Doing so well is a path to the CIO’s office.
    • To better serve the organization, IT leaders must stay abreast of key application capabilities and trends. Exciting new developments such as artificial intelligence, IoT, and machine learning have opened up new avenues for process digitization, but IT leaders need to make a concerted effort to understand what modern applications bring to the table for technology enablement of the digital strategy.
    • Taking an agile approach to application roadmap development will help to provide a clear path forward for tackling digital strategy execution, while also allowing for flexibility to update and iterate as the internal and external environment changes.

    Succeed With Digital Strategy Execution Research & Tools

    Start here – read the Executive Brief

    Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should have a structured approach to translating your digital strategy to specific application initiatives, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Parse digital strategy drivers

    Parse specific technology drivers out of the formal enterprise digital strategy.

    • Succeed With Digital Strategy Execution – Phase 1: Parse Your Digital Strategy for Critical Technology Drivers

    2. Map drivers to enabling technologies

    Review and understand potential enabling applications.

    • Succeed With Digital Strategy Execution – Phase 2: Map Your Drivers to Enabling Applications

    3. Create the application roadmap to support the digital strategy

    Use the drivers and an understanding of enabling applications to put together an execution roadmap that will support the digital strategy.

    • Succeed With Digital Strategy Execution – Phase 3: Create an Application Roadmap That Supports the Digital Strategy
    • Digital Strategy Roadmap Tool
    • Application Roadmap Presentation Template
    • Digital Strategy Communication and Execution Plan Template
    [infographic]

    Workshop: Succeed With Digital Strategy Execution

    Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

    1 Validate the Digital Strategy

    The Purpose

    Review and validate the formal enterprise digital strategy.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Confirmation of the goals, objectives, and direction of the organization’s digital strategy.

    Activities

    1.1 Review the initial digital strategy.

    1.2 Determine gaps.

    1.3 Refine digital strategy scope and vision.

    1.4 Finalize digital strategy and validate with stakeholders.

    Outputs

    Validated digital strategy

    2 Parse Critical Technology Drivers

    The Purpose

    Enumerate relevant technology drivers from the digital strategy.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    List of technology drivers to pursue based on goals articulated in the digital strategy.

    Activities

    2.1 Identify affected process domains.

    2.2 Brainstorm impacts of digital strategy on technology enablement.

    2.3 Distill critical technology drivers.

    2.4 Identify KPIs for each driver.

    Outputs

    Affected process domains (based on APQC)

    Critical technology drivers for the digital strategy

    3 Map Drivers to Enabling Applications

    The Purpose

    Relate your digital strategy drivers to specific, actionable application areas.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Understand the interplay between the digital strategy and impacted application domains.

    Activities

    3.1 Build and review current application inventory for digital.

    3.2 Execute fit-gap analysis between drivers and current state inventory.

    3.3 Pair technology drivers to specific enabling application categories.

    Outputs

    Current-state application inventory

    Fit-gap analysis

    4 Understand Applications

    The Purpose

    Understand how different applications support the digital strategy.

    Understand the art of the possible.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Knowledge of how applications are evolving from a features and capabilities perspective, and how this pertains to digital strategy enablement.

    Activities

    4.1 Application spotlight: customer experience.

    4.2 Application spotlight: content and collaboration.

    4.3 Application spotlight: business intelligence.

    4.4 Application spotlight: enterprise resource planning.

    Outputs

    Application spotlights

    5 Build the Digital Application Roadmap

    The Purpose

    Create a concrete, actionable roadmap of application and technology initiatives to move the digital strategy forward.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Clear, concise articulation of application roadmap for supporting digital that can be communicated to the business.

    Activities

    5.1 Build list of enabling projects and applications.

    5.2 Create prioritization criteria.

    5.3 Build the digital strategy application roadmap.

    5.4 Socialize the roadmap.

    5.5 Delineate responsibility for roadmap execution.

    Outputs

    Application roadmap for the digital strategy

    RACI chart for digital strategy roadmap execution

    IT Metrics and Dashboards During a Pandemic

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    • Parent Category Name: Performance Measurement
    • Parent Category Link: /performance-measurement

    The ways you measure success as a business are based on the typical business environment, but during a crisis like a pandemic, the business environment is rapidly changing or significantly different.

    • How do you assess the scope of the risk?
    • How do you quickly align your team to manage new risks?
    • How do you remain flexible enough to adapt to a rapidly changing situation?

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    Measure what you have the data for and focus on managing the impacts to your employees, customers, and suppliers. Be willing to make decisions based on imperfect data. Don’t forget to keep an eye on the long-term objectives and remember that how you act now can reflect on your business for years to come.

    Impact and Result

    Use Info-Tech’s approach to:

    • Quickly assess the risk and identify critical items to manage.
    • Communicate what your decisions are based on so teams can either quickly align or challenge conclusions made from the data.
    • Quickly adjust your measures based on new information or changing circumstances.
    • Use the tools you already have and keep it simple.

    IT Metrics and Dashboards During a Pandemic Research & Tools

    Start here – read the Executive Brief

    Read our concise Executive Brief to find out how to develop your temporary crisis dashboard.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Consider your organizational goals

    Identify the short-term goals for your organization and reconsider your long-term objectives.

    • Crisis Temporary Measures Dashboard Tool

    2. Build a temporary data collection and dashboard method

    Determine your tool for data collection and your data requirements and collect initial data.

    3. Implement a cadence for review and action

    Determine the appropriate cadence for reviewing the dashboard and action planning.

    [infographic]

    Business Intelligence and Reporting

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    • Parent Category Name: Data and Business Intelligence
    • Parent Category Link: /improve-your-core-processes/data-and-business-intelligence
    • byline: Build a reporting and analytics strategy.

    The challenge

    • Your business partners need an environment that facilitates flexible data delivery.
    • Your data and BI strategy must continuously adapt to new business realities and data sources to stay relevant.
    • The pressure to go directly to the solution design is high.  

    Our advice

    Insight

    • A BI initiative is not static. It must be treated as a living platform to adhere to changing business goals and objectives. Only then will it support effective decision-making.
    • Hear the voice of the business; that is the "B" in BI.
    • Boys and their toys... The solution to better intelligence often lies not in the tool but the BI practices.
    • Build a roadmap that starts with quick-wins to establish base support for your initiative.

    Impact and results 

    • Use the business goals and objectives to drive your BI initiatives.
    • Focus first on what you already have in your company's business intelligence landscape before investing in a new tool that will only complicate things.
    • Understand the core of what your users need by leveraging different approaches to pinpointing BI capabilities.
    • Create a roadmap that details the iterative deliveries of your business intelligence initiative. Show both the short and long term.

    The roadmap

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    Get started

    Our concise executive brief shows why you should create or refresh your business intelligence (BI) strategy. We'll show you our methodology and the ways we can help you in handling this.

    Upon ordering you receive the complete guide with all files zipped.

    Understand your business context and BI landscape

    Understand critical business information and analyze your current business intelligence landscape.

    • Build a Next-Generation BI with a Game-Changing BI Strategy – Phase 1: Understand the Business Context and BI Landscape (ppt)
    • BI Strategy and Roadmap Template (doc)
    • BI End-User Satisfaction Survey Framework (ppt)

    Evaluate your current business intelligence practices

    Assess your current maturity level and define the future state.

    • Build a Next-Generation BI with a Game-Changing BI Strategy – Phase 2: Evaluate the Current BI Practice (ppt)
    • BI Practice Assessment Tool – Example 1 (xls)
    • BI Practice Assessment Tool – Example 2 (xls)

    Create your BI roadmap

    Create business intelligence focused initiatives for continuous improvement.

    • Build a Next-Generation BI with a Game-Changing BI Strategy – Phase 3: Create a BI Roadmap for Continuous Improvement (ppt)
    • BI Initiatives and Roadmap Tool (xls)
    • BI Strategy and Roadmap Executive Presentation Template (ppt)

     

    Build an IT Succession Plan

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    • Parent Category Name: Lead
    • Parent Category Link: /lead
    • Pending retirements in key roles create workforce risks and potentially impact business continuity.
    • Fifty-six percent of organizations have not engaged in succession planning, so they haven’t identified at-risk key roles or successors for those roles.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • Just under 60% of organizations haven't tackled succession planning.
    • This means that three out of five organizations don’t know what skills they need for the future or what their key roles truly are. They also haven’t identified at-risk key roles or successors for those roles.
    • In addition, 74% of organizations have no formal process for facilitating knowledge transfer between individuals, so knowledge will be lost.

    Impact and Result

    • Info-Tech's Key Roles Succession Planning Tool will help you assess key role incumbent risk factors as well as identify potential successors and their readiness. Pay particular attention to those employees in key roles that are nearing retirement, and flag them as high risk.
    • Plan for the transfer of critical knowledge held by key role incumbents. Managers and HR leaders see significant tacit knowledge gaps in younger workers; prioritize tacit knowledge in your transfer plan and leverage multiple transfer methods.
    • Explore alternative work arrangements to ensure sufficient time to prepare successors. A key role incumbent must be available to complete knowledge transfer.
    • Define formal transition plans for all employees in at-risk key roles and their successors by leveraging your workforce and succession planning outputs, knowledge transfer strategy, and selected alternative work arrangements.

    Build an IT Succession Plan Research & Tools

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Build an IT Succession Plan Deck – A step-by-step document that walks you through how to future-proof your IT team.

    Protect your team and organization from losses associated with departure of people from key roles. This blueprint will help you build an IT succession plan to ensure critical knowledge doesn’t walk out the door and continuity of business when people in key roles leave.

    • Build an IT Succession Plan Storyboard

    2. Critical Role Identifier – A tool to help you determine which roles are most critical to the success of your team.

    The purpose of this tool is to help facilitate a conversation around critical roles.

    • Critical Role Identifier

    3. Key Role Succession Planning Template – A tool that walks you through reviewing your talent, succession planning, and determining successor readiness.

    This tool will help IT leaders work through key steps in succession development for each employee in the team, and present summaries of the findings for easy reference and defensibility.

    • Key Roles Succession Planning Tool

    4. Role Profile Template – A template that helps you outline the minimum requirements for each critical role addressed in succession planning.

    This template is a guide and the categories can be customized to your organization.

    • Role Profile Template

    5. Individual Talent Profile Template – A template to assess an employee against the role profiles of critical roles.

    This profile provides the basis for evidence-based comparison of talent in talent calibration sessions.

    • Individual Talent Profile Template

    6. Role Transition Plan Template – A template to help you plan to implement knowledge transfer and alternative work arrangements.

    As one person exits a role and a successor takes over, a clear checklist-based plan will help ensure a smooth transition.

    • Role Transition Plan Template
    [infographic]

    Further reading

    INFO~TECH RESEARCH GROUP

    Build an IT Succession Plan

    Future-proof your IT team.


    Build an IT Succession Plan

    Future-proof your IT team.

    EXECUTIVE BRIEF

    Executive Summary

    Your Challenge

    Most organizations are unprepared for the loss of employees who hold key roles.

    • The departure of employees in key roles results in the loss of valuable knowledge, core business relationships, and profits.
    • Pending retirements in key roles create workforce risks and potentially impact business continuity.

    Planning and executing on key role transition can take years. CIOs should prepare now to mitigate the risk of loss later.

    		Common Obstacles
    • The number of organizations which have not engaged in succession planning is 56%; they haven’t identified at-risk key roles, or successors for those roles.
    • Analyzing key roles at the incumbent and successor level introduces real-life, individual-focused factors that have a major impact on role-related risk.
    		Info-Tech’s Approach
    • Plan for the transfer of critical knowledge held by key role incumbents.
    • Explore alternative work arrangements to ensure sufficient time to prepare successors.
    • Define formal transition plans for all employees in at-risk key roles and their successors.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Losing employees in key roles without adequate preparation hinders productivity, knowledge retention, relationships, and opportunities. Implement scalable succession planning to mitigate the risks.

    Most organizations are unprepared for the loss of employees who hold key roles

    Due to the atmosphere of uncertainty.

    Not only do they not have the right processes in place, but they are also ill-equipped to deal with the sheer volume of retirees in the future.

    Over 58% of organizations are unprepared for Baby Boomer retirement. Only 8% said they were very prepared.

    Pie chart with percentages of organizations who are prepared for Baby Boomer retirement.
    (Source: McLean & Company, 2013; N=120)

    A survey done by SHRM and AARP found similar results: 41% of HR professionals said their organizations have done nothing and don’t plan to do anything to prepare for a possible worker shortage as Boomers retire.

    (Source: Poll: Organizations Can Do More to Prepare for Talent Shortage as Boomers Retire)     		This means that three out of five organizations don’t know what skills they need for the future, or what their key roles truly are. They also have not identified at-risk key roles or successors for those roles.
    (Source: McLean & Company, 2013, N=120)

    To make matters worse, 74% of organizations have no formal process for facilitating knowledge transfer between individuals, so knowledge will be lost.

    Pie chart with percentages of organizations with a formal process for facilitating knowledge transfer.
    (Source: McLean & Company, 2013; N=120)

    Most organizations underestimate the costs associated with ignoring succession planning

    “In many cases, executives have no idea what knowledge they are losing.” (TLNT: Lost Knowledge – What Are You and Your Organization Doing About It?”)
    Objections to succession planning now: The risks of this mindset…
    “The recession bought us time to plan for Baby Boomer retirement.” Forty-two percent of organizations believe this to be true and may feel a false sense of security. Assume it takes three years to identify an internal successor for a key role, develop them, and execute the transition. Add the idea that, like most organizations, you don’t have a repeatable process for doing this. Do you still have enough time?
    “The skills possessed by my organization’s Baby Boomers are easy to develop in others internally.” Forty percent of organizations agree with this statement, but given the low rate of workforce planning taking place, most may not actually know the skills and knowledge they need to meet future business goals. These organizations may realize their loss too late.
    “We don’t have the time to invest in succession planning.” Thirty-nine percent of organizations cite this as an obstacle, which is a very real concern. Adopting a simple, scalable process that focuses on the most mission critical key roles will be easier to digest, as well as eliminate time wasted trying to recoup losses in the long run. The costs of not planning are much higher than the costs of planning.
    “We don’t know when our boomers plan to retire, so we can’t really plan for it.” The fact that 42% of organizations do not know employees’ retirement plans is proof positive that they’re operating blind. You can’t plan for something if you don’t have any information about what to plan for or the time frame you’re working against.
    “My organization puts a premium on fresh ideas over experience.” While nearly 45% of organizations prioritize fresh ideas, 50% value experience more. Succession planning and knowledge transfer are important strategies for ensuring experience is retained long enough for it to be passed along in the organization.

    Use Info-Tech’s tools and templates

    Talent Review

    Succession Planning

    Knowledge Transfer
    Key tools and templates to help you complete your project deliverables
    Key Roles Succession Planning Tool
    Critical Role Identifier
    Role Profile Template
    Individual Talent Profile Template    		 Key Roles Succession Planning Tool
    Role Profile Template
    Individual Talent Profile Template    		 Role Transition Plan Template
    Key Roles Succession Planning Tool
    Role Profile Template
    Individual Talent Profile Template
    Your completed project deliverables

    Critical Role Identifier

    Key Roles Succession Plan

    Key Role Profiles

    Individual Talent Profiles

    Key Role Transition Plans

    Ignoring succession planning could cause significant costs

    Losing knowledge will undermine your strategy in four ways:

    Inefficiency

    Inefficiency due to “reinvention of the wheel.” When workers leave and don’t effectively transfer their knowledge, duplication of effort to solve problems and find solutions occurs.

    		 Innovation

    Reduced capacity to innovate. Older workers know what works and what doesn’t, what’s new and what’s not. They can identify the status quo faster to make way for novel thinking.

    		 Competitive Advantage

    Loss of competitive advantage. Losing knowledge and/or established client relationships hurts your asset base and stifles growth.

    		Vulnerability

    Increased vulnerability. Losing knowledge can impede your organizational ability to identify, understand, and mitigate risks. You’ll have to learn through experience all over again.

    Succession planning improves performance by reducing the impact of sudden departures

    Business Continuity

    Succession planning limits disruption to daily operations and minimizes recruitment costs:

    • The average time to fill a vacant role externally in the US is approximately 43 days (Workable). Succession planning can reduce this via a talent pool of ready-now successors.
    		 Engagement & Retention

    Effective succession planning is a tool for engaging, developing, and retaining employees:

    • Of departing employees, 45% cite lack of opportunities for career advancement as the moderate, major, or primary reason they left (McLean & Company Exit Survey, 2018, N=7,530).
    		 Innovation & Growth

    Knowledge is a strategic asset, and succession planning can help retain, grow, and capitalize on it:

    • Retaining the experience and expertise of individuals departing from critical roles supports and enhances the quality of innovation (Harvard Business Review, 2008).

    Info-Tech’s approach

    Talent Review

    Conduct a talent review to identify key roles

    Short bracket.    		 Succession Planning

    Succession planning helps you assess which key roles are most at risk

    Long bracket.    		 Knowledge Transfer

    Utilize methods that make it easy to apply the knowledge in day-to-day practice.

    Long bracket.
    Identify Critical Roles Assess Talent Identify Successors Develop Successors Select Successors Identify Critical Knowledge Select Transfer Methods Document Role Transition Plans

    Future-Proofed IT Team
    • Business continuity
    • The right people, in the right positions, at the right time
    • Retention due to employee development & growth
    • IT success
    • Decreased impact of sudden departures
    • Improved performance

    Info-Tech’s methodology for building an IT succession plan

    1. Talent Review 2. Succession Planning 3. Knowledge Transfer
    Phase Steps
    1. Identify critical roles
    2. Assess talent
    1. Identify successor pool
    2. Develop successors
    3. Select successors
    1. Identify critical knowledge
    2. Select knowledge transfer methods
    3. Document role transition plans
    Phase Outcomes
    • Documented business priorities
    • Identified critical roles including required skills and knowledge that support achievement of business strategy
    • Key at-risk roles identified.
    • Potential successors for key roles identified.
    • Gap assessment between key role incumbents and potential successors.
    • Critical knowledge risks identified.
    • Appropriate knowledge transfer methods selected.
    • Documented knowledge transfer initiatives for key role transition plans.

    Info-Tech offers various levels of support to best suit your needs

    DIY Toolkit

    Guided Implementation

    Workshop

    Consulting
    "Our team has already made this critical project a priority, and we have the time and capability, but some guidance along the way would be helpful." "Our team knows that we need to fix a process, but we need assistance to determine where to focus. Some check-ins along the way would help keep us on track." "We need to hit the ground running and get this project kicked off immediately. Our team has the ability to take this over once we get a framework and strategy in place." "Our team does not have the time or the knowledge to take this project on. We need assistance through the entirety of this project."

    Diagnostics and consistent frameworks used throughout all four options

    Guided Implementation

    A Guided Implementation (GI) is a series of calls with an Info-Tech analyst to help implement our best practices in your organization.

    A typical GI is six to ten calls over the course of four to eight months.

    What does a typical GI on this topic look like?

    Phase 1

    Phase 2

    Phase 3
    Call #1: Scope requirements, objectives, and your specific challenges. Call #2:Review business priorities and clarify criteria weighting.

    Call #3: Review key role criteria. Explain information collection process.

    		 Call #4: Review risk and readiness assessments.

    Call #5: Analyze gaps between key roles and successors for key considerations.

    		 Call #6: Feedback and recommendations on critical knowledge risks.

    Call #7: Review selected transfer methods.

    		 Call #8: Analyze role transition plans for flags.

    Build an IT Succession Plan

    Phase 1

    Talent Review

    Phase 1

    1.1 Identify Critical Roles

    1.2 Assess Talent

    		 Phase 2

    2.1 Identify Successors

    2.2 Develop Successors

    2.3 Select Successors

    		 Phase 3

    3.1 Identify Critical Knowledge

    3.2 Select Transfer Methods

    3.3 Document Role Transition Plan

    This phase will walk you through:

    • Identifying your business priorities
    • Identifying your critical roles including required skills and knowledge that support achievement of business strategy

    Tools and resources used:

    • Key Roles Succession Planning Tool
    • Key Role Profile
    • Individual Talent Profile
    • Critical Role Identifier

    This phase involves the following participants:

    • IT leadership/management team
    • HR

    Conduct a talent review to identify key roles

    Sixty percent of organizations have not engaged in formal workforce planning, so they don’t know what skills they need or what their key roles truly are. (Source: McLean & Company, 2013; N=139)
    1. A talent review ensures that each work unit has the right people, in the right place, at the right time to successfully execute the business strategy.
    2. Only 40% of organizations have engaged in some form of workforce planning.
    3. The first step is to identify your business focus; with this information you can start to note the key roles that drive your business strategy.

    Key roles

    Where an organization’s most valued skills and knowledge reside

    Organizations should prepare now to mitigate the risk of loss later.

    Key roles are:

    • Held by the most senior people in the organization, who carry the bulk of leadership and decision-making responsibility.
    • Highly technical or specialized, and therefore difficult to replace.
    • Tied closely to unique or proprietary processes or possess knowledge that cannot be procured externally.
    • Critical to the continuation of business and cannot be left vacant without risking business operations.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Losing employees in key roles without adequate preparation for their departure has a direct impact on the bottom line in terms of disrupted productivity, lost knowledge, severed relationships, and missed opportunities.

    		A tree of key roles, starting with CEO and branching down.

    Identifying key roles is the first step in a range of workforce management activities because it helps establish organizational needs and priorities, as well as focusing planning effort.

    A talent review allows you to identify the knowledge and skills you need today and for the long term.

    Knowing what you need is the first step in determining what you have and what you need to keep.

    • A talent review is an analytic planning process used to ensure a work unit has the right people, in the right place, at the right time, and for the right cost in order to successfully execute its business strategy. It allows organizations to:
    • Evaluate workforce demographics, review skills, and conduct position inventories.
    • Evaluate business continuity risk from a talent perspective by identifying potential workforce shortages.
    • Identify critical positions, critical skills for each position, and percentage of critical workers retiring to assess the potential impact of losing them.
    • Look at the effect of loss on new product development, revenues, costs, and business strategic objectives.

    Caution

    A talent review is a high-level planning process which does not take individual employees into consideration. Succession planning looks at individuals and will be discussed in Phase 2.

    A talent review gets you to think in terms of:

    • Where your organization wants to be in five years.
    • What skills the organization needs to meet business goals between now and then.
    • How it can be best positioned for the longer-term future.

    Note: Planning against a time frame longer than five years is difficult because uncertainty in the external business environment will have unforeseen effects. Revisit your plan annually and update it, considering changes.

    Step 1.1

    Identify critical roles

    Activities
    • 1.1.1 Document Business Priorities, Goals, and Challenges
    • 1.1.2 Clarify Key Role Criteria and Weighting
    • 1.1.3 Evaluate Role Importance
    • 1.1.4 Key Role Selection and Comparison
    • 1.1.5 Capture Key Elements of Critical Roles

    The primary goal of this step is to ensure we have effectively identified key roles based on business priorities, goals, and challenges, and to capture the key elements of critical roles.

    Outcomes of this step

    • Documented business priorities, goals, and challenges.
    • Key elements of critical roles captured.
    • Key role criteria and weighting.
    Talent Review
    Step 1.1 Step 1.2

    Business priorities will determine the knowledge and skills you value most

    Venn diagram of business priorities: 'Customer Focus', 'Operational Focus', and 'Product Focus'.
    Note: Most organizations will be a blend of all three, with one predominating    		 “I’ve been in the position where the business assumes everyone knows what is required. It’s not until you get people into a room that it becomes clear there is misalignment. It all seems very intuitive but in a lot of cases they haven’t made the critical distinctions regarding what exactly the competencies are. They haven’t spent the time figuring out what they know.” (Anne Roberts, Principal, Leadership Within Inc.)

    1.1.1 Document business priorities

    Input: Business strategic plan

    Output: Completed workforce planning worksheet (Tab 2) of the Key Roles Succession Planning Tool

    Materials: Key Roles Succession Planning Tool

    Participants: IT leadership

    Start by identifying your business priorities based on your strategic plan. The goal of this exercise is to blast away assumptions and make sure leadership has a common understanding of your target.

    With the questions on the previous slide in mind document your business priorities, business goals, and business challenges in Tab 2 of the Key Roles Succession Planning Tool worksheet.

    Get clear answers to these questions:

    • Are we customer focused, product focused, or operationally focused? In other words, is your organization known for:
      • Great customer service or a great customer experience?
      • The lowest price?
      • Having the latest technology, or the best quality product?
    • What are our organizational/departmental business goals? To improve operational effectiveness, are we really talking about reducing operational costs?
    • What are the key business challenges to address within the context of our focus?

    Key Roles Succession Planning Tool

    Clarify what defines a key role

    A key role is crucial to achieving organizational objectives, drives business performance, and includes specialized and rare competencies. Key roles are high in strategic value and rarity – for example, the developer role for a tech company.
    Chart with axes 'Rarity' and 'Strategic Value'. Lowest in both are 'Supporting Roles', Highest in both are 'Critical Roles', and the space in the middle are 'Core Roles'. Look at two dimensions when examining roles:
    • Strategic value refers to the importance of the role in keeping the organization functioning and executing on the strategic objectives.
    • Rarity refers to how difficult it is to find and develop the competencies in the role.

    Info-tech insight

    Traditionally, succession planning has only addressed top management roles. However, until you look at the evidence, you won’t know if these are indeed high-value roles, and you may be missing other critical roles further down the hierarchy.

    Use the Critical Role Identifier to facilitate the identification of critical roles with your leaders.

    1.1.2 Clarify key role criteria & weighting

    Input: Business strategic plan

    Output: Weighted criteria to help identify critical roles

    Materials: Critical Role Identifier

    Participants: IT leadership

    1. Using Tab 2 of the Critical Role Identifier tool, along with the information on the previous slide, determine the relative importance of four criteria as contributing to the importance of a role within the organization.
    2. Rate each of the four criteria: strategic value, rarity, revenue generation, business/operation continuity, and any custom criteria numerically. You might choose only one or two criteria – they all do not need to be included.
    3. Document your decisions in Tab 2 of the Critical Role Identifier.

    Critical Role Identifier

    1.1.3 Evaluate role importance

    Input: List of IT roles

    Output: Full list of roles and a populated Critical Role Selection sheet (Tab 4)

    Materials: Critical Role Identifier

    Participants: IT leadership

    1. Using Tab 3 of the Critical Role Identifier, collect information about IT roles.
    2. Start by listing each role under consideration, and its department or subcategory.
    3. For each criteria statement listed across the top of the sheet, select an option from the drop-down menu to reflect the appropriate answer scale rating. Replace the text in grey with information customized to your team. If criteria has a weighting of zero in Tab 2, the questions associated with that criteria will be greyed out and do not have to be answered.

    Critical Role Identifier

    Identify the key roles that support and drive your business priorities

    Focus on key IT roles instead of all roles to save time and concentrate effort on your highest risk areas.

    Key Roles include:

    • Strategic Roles: Roles that give the greatest competitive advantage. Often these are roles that involve decision-making responsibility.
    • Core Roles: Roles that must provide consistent results to achieve business goals.
    • Proprietary Roles: Roles that are tied closely to unique or proprietary internal processes or knowledge that cannot be procured externally. These are often highly technical or specialized.
    • Required Roles: Roles that support the department and are required to keep it moving forward day-to-day.
    • Influential Roles: Positions filled by employees who are the backbone of the organization, the go-to people who are the corporate culture.
    		 Ask these questions to identify key roles:
    1. What are the roles that have a significant impact on delivering the business strategy?
    2. What are the key differentiating roles for our organization?
    3. Which roles, if vacant, would leave the organization open to non-compliance with regulatory or legal requirements?
    4. Which roles have a direct impact on the customer?
    5. Which roles, if vacant, would create system, function, or process failure for the organization?

    1.1.4 Key role selection and comparison

    Input: Tab 3 of the Critical Role Identifier

    Output: List of roles from highest to lowest criticality score, List of key roles entered in Tab 2 of the Key Roles Succession Planning Tool

    Materials: Critical Role Identifier, Key Roles Succession Planning Tool

    Participants: IT leadership

    1. Using tab 4 of the Critical Role Identifier, which displays the results of the role importance evaluation, review the weighted criticality score. To add or remove roles or departments make changes on Tab 3.
    2. Use this table to see the scores and roles from highest to lowest based on your weightings and scoring.
    3. In column J, classify the roles as critical, core, or supporting based on the weighted overall score and the individual criteria scores.
      1. Critical – is crucial to achieving organizational objectives, drives business performance, and includes specialized and rare skills.
      2. Core – is related to operational excellence. Highly strategically valuable but easy to find or develop.
      3. Supporting – is important in keeping business functioning; however, the strategic value is low. Competencies are easy to develop.
    4. Once you’ve selected the key roles, transfer them into Tab 2 of the Key Roles Succession Planning Tool worksheet where you have documented your business priorities.

    Critical Role Identifier

    Key Roles Succession Planning Tool

    1.1.5 Capture key elements of critical roles

    Input: Job descriptions, Success profiles, Competency profiles

    Output: List of required skills and knowledge for key roles, Role profiles documented for key roles

    Materials: Key Roles Succession Planning Tool, Role Profile Template

    Participants: IT leadership

    1. Document the minimum requirements for critical roles in column E and F of Tab 2 of the Key Roles Succession Planning Tool. Include elements that drive talent decisions, are measurable, and are oriented to future organizational needs.
    2. Consider how leadership competencies and technical skills tie to business expansion plans, new service offerings, etc.
    3. Use the Role Profile Template to help in this process and to maintain up-to-date information.
    4. Role profiles may be informed by existing job descriptions, success profiles, or competency profiles.
    5. Conduct regular maintenance on your role profiles. Outdated and inaccurate role-related information can make succession planning efforts ineffective.

    Key Roles Succession Planning Tool

    Role Profile Template

    Case Study

    Conduct a “sanity check” by walking through a checklist of all roles to ensure you haven’t missed anything.
    INDUSTRY
    Large Provincial Hospital
    SOURCE
    Payroll Manager
    Challenge
    • Key roles may not be what you think they are.
    • The Payroll Manager of a large Provincial hospital, with 20-year tenure, announced her retirement.
    • Throughout her tenure, this employee took on many tasks outside the scope of her role, including pension calculations/filings and other finance-related tasks that required a high level of specialized knowledge of internal systems.
    		 Solution
    • Little time or effort was placed on fully understanding what she did day-to-day.
    • Furthermore, the search for a replacement was left far too late, which meant that she vacated the role without training a replacement.
    • Low level roles can become critical to business continuation if they’re occupied by only one person, creating a “single point of failure” if they become vacant.
    		 Results
    • It wasn’t until after she left that it became obvious how much extra work she was doing, which made it nearly impossible to find a replacement.
    • Her manager found a replacement to take the payroll duties but had to distribute the other duties to colleagues (who were very unhappy about the extra tasks).
    • This role may not seem like a “key role,” but the incumbent turned it into one. Keep tabs on what people are working on to avoid overly nuanced role requirements.

    Step 1.2

    Assess talent

    Activities
    • 1.2.1 Identify Current Incumbents’ Information
    • 1.2.2 Identify Potential Successors and Collect Information

    The primary goal of this step is to assess departmental talent and identify gaps between potential successors and key roles. This analysis is intended to support departmental access to suitable talent ensuring future business success.

    Outcomes of this step

    • Collection of current incumbents’ information.
    • Collection of potential successor information.
    • Gap assessment.

    Talent Review

    Step 1.1 Step 1.2

    Find out key role incumbents’ career plans

    Have career discussions with key role incumbents

    • Do not ask employees directly about their retirement plans as this can be misconstrued as age discrimination – let them take the initiative.
    • To take the spotlight away from older workers and potential feelings of discrimination, supervisors should be having these discussions with their employees at least annually.
    • Having this discussion creates an opportunity for employees to share their retirement plans, if they have any.
    • Warning: This is not the time to make promises about the future. For example, alternative work arrangements cannot be guaranteed without further analysis and planning.
    		 Do the following:
    1. Book a meeting with employees and ask them to prepare for a career development discussion.
    2. Ask direct questions about motivation, lifestyle preferences, and passions.
    3. Spend the time to understand your employees’ goals and their development needs.
    If an employee discloses that they plan to leave within the next few years:
    1. Gather information about approximate exit dates (non-binding).
    2. Find out their opinions about how they would like to transition out of their role, including any alternative work arrangements they would like to pursue.

    Potential questions to ask during career discussions with key role incumbents

    • Where do you see yourself in five years?
    • What role would you see yourself in after this one?
    • What gets you excited about coming to work?
    • Describe your greatest strengths. How would you like to use those strengths in the future?
    • What is standing in the way of your career goals?
    ** Do not ask employees directly about their retirement plans as this can be misconstrued as age discrimination – let them take the initiative.**    		 Stock photo of a smiling employee with grey hair.

    1.2.1 Identify current incumbents' information

    Input: Key roles list, Employee information

    Output: List of key roles with individual incumbent information

    Materials: Key Roles Succession Planning Tool – Succession Plan Worksheet (Tab 3)

    Participants: IT leadership/management team, HR, Current incumbents if necessary

    Identify current incumbents for all key roles and collect information about them.

    Using Tab 3 of the Key Roles Succession Planning Tool identify the incumbent (the person currently in the role) for all key roles.

    Distribute the worksheet to department managers and team leaders to complete the information below for each key role.

    For that incumbent, also document:

    1. Their time in that role.
    2. Their overall performance in current role (does not meet, meets, or exceeds expectations).
    3. Next step in career (target role or retirement).
    4. Time until exit from the current role (known or estimated).
    5. Development needs for next step in career.
    6. Any additional knowledge and skills they possess beyond the role description that is of value to the organization.

    Upon completion, managers and team leaders should review the results with the department leader.

    Key Roles Succession Planning Tool

    Identify potential successors for all key roles

    It’s imperative that multiple sources of information are used to ensure no potential successor is missed and to gain a complete candidate picture.

    Work collaboratively with the management team and HR business partners for names of potential successors.

    The management team includes:

    • The incumbent’s direct supervisor.
    • Managers from the department in which the key role exists.
    • Leaders of teams with which potential successors have worked.
    • The key role incumbent (assuming it’s appropriate to do so).

    Use management roundtable discussions to identify and analyze each potential successor.

    • Participants should come equipped with names of potential successors and be prepared to provide a rationale for their recommendation.
    • Provide all participants with the key role job description in advance of the meeting, including responsibilities and required knowledge and skills.

    Don’t confuse successors with high potentials!

    • Identifying high potential employees involves recognizing those employees who consistently outperform their peers, progress more quickly than their peers, and live the company culture. They are usually striving for leadership roles.
    • While you also want your successors to exemplify these qualities of excellence, succession planning is specifically about identifying the employees who currently possess (or soon will possess) the skills and knowledge required to take over a key role.
    • Remember: Key roles are not limited to leadership roles, so cast a wider net when identifying succession candidates.
    See the following slide for sources of information participants should consult to back up their recommendations and vet succession candidates.

    Determine how employees will be identified for talent assessment

    Description Advice
    Management-nominated employees
    • Managers or skip-level leaders nominate potential successors within or outside their team.
    • Limit bias by requiring management nominations to be based on specific evidence of performance and potential.
    High-potential employees (HiPos)
    • Consider employees who are in an existing high-potential program.
    • Determine whether the HiPo program sufficiently assesses for critical role requirements. Successors must possess the skills and knowledge required for specific critical roles. Expand assessment beyond just HiPo.
    Self-nominated employees
    • Employees are informed about succession planning and asked to indicate their interest in critical roles.
    • Train managers to support the program and to handle difficult conversations (e.g. employee submitted self-nomination and was unsuccessful).
    All employees
    • All employees across a division, geography, function, or leadership level are invited for assessment.
    • While less common, this approach is appropriate for highly inclusive cultures. Be prepared to invest significantly more time and resources.
    When identifying employees, keep the following advice in mind:

    Widen the net

    Don’t limit yourself to the next level down or the same functional group.

    Match transparency

    With less transparency, there are fewer options, and you risk missing out on potential successors.

    Select the appropriate talent assessment methods

    Identify all talent assessment types used in your organization and examine their ability to inform decision-making for critical role assignments. Select multiple sources to ensure a robust talent assessment approach:

    A sound talent assessment methodology will involve both quantitative and qualitative components. Multiple data inputs and perspectives will help ensure relevant information is prioritized and suitable candidates aren’t overlooked.

    However, beware that too many inputs may slow down the process and frustrate managers.

    Beware of biases in talent assessments. A common tendency is for people to recommend successors who are exactly like them or who they like personally, not necessarily the best person for the job. HR must (diplomatically) challenge leaders to use evidence-based assessments.

    Good Successor Information Sources

    • 360-Degree Feedback – (breadth and accuracy)
    • HR-led Interviews – (objectivity and confirmation)
    • Talent Review Meetings – (leadership input)
    • Stretch Assignments – (challenge comfort zones)
    • Competency-Based Aptitude Tests – (objective data)
    • Job Simulations – (real-life testing)
    • Recent Performance Evaluations – (predictor of future performance)

    Prepare to customize the Individual Talent Profile Template

    Ensure the role profile and individual talent profile are synchronized to enable comparing employee qualifications and readiness to critical role requirements. Sample of the Role Profile.

    Role Profile

    A role profile contains information on the skills, competencies, and other minimum requirements for the critical role. It details the type of incumbent that would fit a critical role.    		 Stock image of a chain link.

    Use both in conjunction during:

    • Talent assessment
    • Successor identification
    • Successor development
    • Successor selection
    		 Sample the Individual Talent Profile.

    Individual Talent Profile

    A talent profile provides information about a person. In addition to responding to role profile criteria, it provides information on an employee’s past experiences and performance, career aspirations, and future potential.

    1.2.2 Identify Potential Successors’ Information

    Input: Key roles list, Employee information, Completed role profiles and/or Tab 2 role information.

    Output: List of potential successors for key roles that are selected for talent assessment

    Materials: Key Roles Succession Planning Tool – Succession Plan Worksheet (Tab 3)

    Participants: IT leadership, IT team leads, Employees

    Identify potential successors for key roles and collect critical information.

    Have managers and team leads complete column I on Tab 3 of the Key Roles Succession Planning Tool and review with the department leader.

    There may be more than one potential successor for key roles; this is okay.

    Once the list is compiled, complete an individual talent profile for each potential successor. Record an employee’s:

    1. Employee information
    2. Career goals
    3. Experience and education
    4. Achievements
    5. Competencies
    6. Performance
    7. Any assessment results

    Once the profiles are completed, they can be compared to the role profile to identify development needs.

    Key Roles Succession Planning Tool

    Individual Talent Profile Template

    Build an IT Succession Plan

    Phase 2

    Succession Planning

    Phase 1

    1.1 Identify Critical Roles

    1.2 Assess Talent

    		Phase 2

    2.1 Identify Successors

    2.2 Develop Successors

    2.3 Select Successors

    		Phase 3

    3.1 Identify Critical Knowledge

    3.2 Select Transfer Methods

    3.3 Document Role Transition Plan

    This phase will walk you through how to:

    • Conduct an assessment to identify “at risk” key role incumbents.
    • Identify potential successors for key roles and collect critical information.
    • Assess gaps between key role incumbents and potential successors.

    Tools and resources used:

    • Key Roles Succession Planning Tool
    • Key Role Profile
    • Individual Talent Profile

    This phase involves the following participants:

    • IT leadership/management team
    • HR

    Succession planning helps you assess which key roles are most at risk

    Drilling down to the incumbent and successor level introduces “real life,” individual-focused factors that have a major impact on role-related risk.

    Succession planning is an organizational process for identifying and developing talent internally to fill key business roles. It allows organizations to:

    • Understand the career plans of employees to allow organizations to plan more accurately.
    • Identify suitable successors for key roles and assess their readiness.
    • Mitigate risks to long-term business continuity and growth.
    • Avoid external replacement costs including headhunting and recruitment, HR administration, and productivity loss.
    • Retain internal tacit knowledge.
    • Increase engagement and retention; keeping talented people reinforces career path opportunities and builds team culture.

    Caution:

    Where the talent review was about high-level strategic planning for talent requirements, succession planning looks at individual employees and plans for which employees will fulfill which key roles next.    		 “I ask the questions, What are the risks we have with these particular roles? Is there a way to disperse this knowledge to other members of the group? If yes, then how do we do that?” (Director of HR, Service Industry)

    Succession planning ultimately must drill down to individual people – namely, the incumbent and potential successors.

    This is because individual human beings possess a unique knowledge and skill set, along with their own personal aspirations and life circumstances.

    The risks associated with a key role are theoretical. When people are introduced into the equation, the “real life” risk of loss for that key role can change dramatically.

    Succession Planning

    Funnel titled 'Succession Planning' with 'Critical Roles' at the top of the funnel, 'Critical Knowledge and Skills' as the middle of the funnel, 'Individuals' as the bottom of the funnel, and it drains into 'Incumbent's Potential Successors'.

    Step 2.1

    Identify Successors

    Activities
    • 2.1.1 Conduct Individual Risk Assessment
    • 2.1.2 Successor Readiness Assessment

    This step highlights the relative positioning of all employees assessed for departure risk compared to the potential successors’ readiness, identifying gaps that create risk for the organization, and need mitigation strategies.

    Outcomes of this step

    • Individual risk assessment results – mitigate, manage, accept matrix.
    • Potential successor readiness ranking.
    • Determination on transparency level with successors.

    Succession Planning

    Step 2.1 Step 2.2 Step 2.3

    Decide how to obtain information on employee interest in critical roles

    Not all employees may want to be considered as part of the succession planning program. It might not fit their short- or long-term plans. Avoid misalignment and outline steps to ascertain employee interest.

    Transparency

    • Use your target transparency level to:
      • Determine the degree of employees’ participation in self-assessment.
      • Guide organization-wide and targeted messaging about succession planning (see Step 3).

    Timing

    • Ensure program-level communication has occurred before asking employees about their interests in critical roles, in order to garner more trust and engagement.
    • Decide at what point along the succession planning process (if at all) that employee’s career interests will be collected and incorporated.

    Manager accountability and resources

    • Identify resources needed for managers to conduct targeted career conversations with employees (e.g. training, communication guides, key messaging).
    • If program communication is to be implemented organization-wide, approach accordingly.

    Obtaining employee interest ensures process efficiency because:

    • Time isn’t wasted focusing on candidates who aren’t interested.
    • The assessment group is narrowed down through self-selection.

    Level-set expectations with employees:

    • Communicate that they will be considered for assessment and talent review discussions.
    • Ensure they understand that everyone assessed will not necessarily be identified or selected as a successor.

    Conduct a risk assessment

    Identify key role incumbents who may leave before you’re ready.

    Pay particular attention to those employees nearing retirement and flag them as high risk.

    Understand the impact that employee age has on key role risk. Keep the following in mind when filling out the Individual Risk Assessment of the Key Roles Succession Planning Tool. See the next slide for more details on this.
    High Risk Arrow pointing both ways vertically. Anyone 60 years of age or older, or anyone who has indicated they will be retiring within five years.
    Moderate Risk Employees in their early 50s are still many years away from retirement but have enough years remaining in their career to make a significant move to a new role outside of your organization. Furthermore, they have specialized skills making them more attractive to external organizations.
    Employees in their late 50s are likely more than five years away from retirement but are also less likely than younger employees to leave your organization for another role elsewhere. This is because of increasing personal risk in making such a move, and persistent employer unwillingness to hire older employees.
    Low Risk Technically, when it comes to succession planning for key roles held by employees over the age of 50, no one should be considered “low risk for departure.”
    		Pull some hard demographic data.

    Compile a report that breaks down employees into age-based demographic groups.

    Flag those over the age of 50 – they’re in the “retirement zone” and could decide to leave at any time.

    Check to see which key role incumbents fall into the “over 50” age demographic. You’ll want to shortlist these people for an individual risk assessment.

    Update this report twice a year to keep it current.

    For those people on your shortlist, gather the information that supervisors gained from the career discussions that took place. Specifically, draw out information that indicates their retirement plans.

    2.1.1 Conduct Individual Risk Assessment

    Input: Completed Succession Plan worksheet

    Output: Risk assessment of key role incumbents, understanding of which key role departures to manage, mitigate, and accept

    Materials: Key Roles Succession Planning Tool – Individual Risk Assessment (Tab 4), Key Roles Succession Planning Tool – Risk Assessment Results (Tab 5)

    Participants: IT leadership/management team

    Assign values for probability of departure and impact of departure using the Key Roles Succession Planning Tool.

    For those in key roles and those over 50, complete the Individual Risk Assessment (Tab 4) of the Key Roles Succession Planning Tool:

    1. Assess each key role incumbent’s probability of departure based on your knowledge. If the person is going to another job, is a known flight risk, or faces dismissal, the probability is high.
      • 0-40: Unlikely to Leave. If the employee is new to the role, highly engaged, or a high potential.
      • 41-60: Unknown. If the employee is sending mixed messages about happiness at work, or sending no messages, it may be difficult to guess.
      • 61-100: Likely to Leave. If the employee is nearing retirement, actively job searching, disengaged, or faces dismissal, then the probability of departure is high.
    2. Assess the role and the individual’s impact of departure on a scale of 1 (no impact) to 100 (devasting impact).
    3. Review the risk assessment results on tab 5 of the planning tool. The employees that appear in the mitigate quadrant are your succession planning priorities.

    Key Roles Succession Planning Tool

    Define readiness criteria for successor identification

    1. Select the types of readiness and the number of levels:

      Readiness by time horizon:

      • Successors are identified as ready based on how long it is estimated they will take to acquire the minimum requirements of the critical role.
      • Levels example: Ready Now, Ready in 1-2 Years, Ready in 3-5 Years.

      Readiness by moves:

      • Successors are identified as ready based on how many position moves they have made or how many developmental experiences they have had.
      • Levels example: Ready Now, Ready after 1 Move, Ready after 2 Moves.
    2. Create definitions for each readiness level:
      Example:

      Performance

      Potential
      Ready Now Definition: Ability to deliver in current role Requirement: Meets or exceeds expectations Definition: Ability to take on greater responsibility Requirement: Demonstrates learning agility
      The 9-box is an effective way to map performance and potential requirements and can guide management decision making in talent review and calibration sessions. See McLean & Company’s 9-Box Job Aid for more information. Sample of the 9-Box Job Aid, a 9-field matrix with axes 'Potential: Low to High' and 'Performance: Low to High'.
      “Time means nothing. If you say someone will be ready in a year, and you’ve done nothing in that year to develop them, they won’t be ready. We look at it as moves or experiences: ready now, ready in one move, ready in two moves.” (Amanda Mathieson, Senior Manager, Talent Management, Tangerine)

    2.1.2 Successor Readiness Assessment

    Input: Individual talent profiles, List of potential successors (Tab 3)

    Output: Readiness ranking for each potential successor

    Materials: Key Roles Succession Planning Tool

    Participants: IT leadership/management team

    Assign values for probability of departure and impact of departure using the Key Roles Succession Planning Tool.

    Using Tab 6 of the Key Roles Succession Planning Tool, evaluate the readiness of each potential successor that you previously identified.

    1. Enter the name, current role, and target role of each potential successor into the spreadsheet.
    2. For each employee, fill in a response from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree” for the assessment criteria statements listed in column B of Tab 6. This will give you a readiness ranking in row 68.

    Key Roles Succession Planning Tool

    Decide if and how successors will be told about their status in the succession plan

    1. Decide if employees will be told. Be as transparent as possible. This will provide several benefits to your organization (e.g. higher engagement, retention) while managing potential risks (e.g. perception that the process is unfair, reducing motivation to perform).
    2. Decide who will tell them. Decide based on the culture of your organization; are official communications usually conveyed through the direct manager, HR, senior leaders, or steering committee?
    1. Determine how you will tell them.

      Suggested messaging to non-successors:

      • Not being identified as a successor does not mean that an employee is not valued by the organization, nor does it indicate the employee will be let go. It simply means that the organization needs a backup plan to manage risk.
      • Employees can still develop toward a critical role they are interested in, and the organization will continue to evaluate whether they can be a potential successor.
      • It is the employee’s responsibility to own their development and communicate to their manager any interest they have in critical roles.

      Suggested messaging to successors:

      • Being identified as a successor is an investment in employee development – not a guaranteed promotion.
      • Successor status may change based on changes to the critical role itself, or if performance is not on par with expectations.
      • The organization strives to be as fair and objective as possible through evidence-based assessments of performance and potential.

    Case Study

    Failing to have a career aspiration discussion with a potential successor leaves a sales director in a bind.

    INDUSTRY
    Professional Services
    SOURCE
    Confidential
    Challenge
    • A senior sales director in a medium-sized private company knew there would be a key management opportunity opening up in six months. He had one candidate in mind: a key contributor from the sales floor.
    • The sales manager assumed that the sales representative would want the management position and began planning the candidate’s required training in order to get him ready.
    		 Solution
    • Three months before the position opened up, the manager finally approached the representative about the opportunity, telling the representative that he was an excellent candidate for the role.
    • However, the sales representative was not interested in managing people. He wanted to come in, do a really great day’s worth of work, and then go home and be done. He already loved what he did.
    		Results
    • The sales representative turned down the offer point blank, leaving the manager with less than three months to find and groom a new internal successor.
    • The manager failed on several fronts. First, he did not ask the employee about his career aspirations. Second, he did not groom a pool of potential successors for the role, affording no protection in the event that the primary candidate couldn’t or wouldn’t assume the role.

    Step 2.2

    Develop Successors

    Activities
    • 2.2.1 Outline Successor Development Process

    The primary goal of this step is to identify the steps that need to be taken to develop potential successors. Focus on training employees for their future role, not just their current one.

    Outcomes of this step

    • Identified gaps between key role exits and successor readiness.

    Succession Planning

    Step 2.1 Step 2.2 Step 2.3

    2.2.1 Outline Successor Development Process

    Input: Role profiles, Talent profiles, Talent assessments

    Output: Identified gaps between key role exits and successor readiness

    Materials: Key Roles Succession Planning Tool – Successor Identification (Tab 7)

    Participants: IT leadership/management team

    Prepare successors for their next role, not just their current one.

    Use role and talent profiles and any talent assessment results to identify gaps for development.

    1. Outline the steps involved in the individual development planning process for successors. Key steps include identifying development timeline, learning needs, learning resources and strategies, and accomplishment metrics/evidence.
    2. Identify learning elements successor development will involve based on critical role type. For example, coaching and/or mentoring, leadership training, functional skills training, or targeted experiences/projects.
    3. Select metrics with associated timelines to measure the progress of successor development plans. Establish guidelines for employee and manager accountability in developing prioritized competencies.
    4. Determine monitoring cadence of successor development plans (i.e. how often successor development plans will be tracked to ensure timely progress). Identify who will be involved in monitoring the process (e.g. steering committee).

    Info-Tech insight

    Succession planning without integrated efforts for successor development is simply replacement planning. Get successors ready for promotion by ensuring a continuously monitored and customized development plan is in place.

    Integrate knowledge transfer in the successor development process

    1

    		 Brainstorm ideas to encourage knowledge-sharing and transfer from incumbent to successor.

    2

    		 Integrate knowledge-transfer methods into the successor development process.
    Identify key knowledge areas to include:
    • Specialized technical knowledge
    • Specialized research and development processes
    • Unique design capabilities/methods/models
    • Special formulas/algorithms/techniques
    • Proprietary production processes
    • Decision-making criteria
    • Innovative sales methods
    • Knowledge about key customers
    • Relationships with key stakeholders
    • Company history and values
    		 Use multiple methods for effective knowledge transfer.

    Explicit knowledge is easily explained and codified, such as facts and procedures. Knowledge transfer methods tend to be more formal and one-way. For example:

    • Formal documentation of processes and best practices
    • Self-published knowledgebase
    • Formal training sessions

    Tacit knowledge accumulates over years of experience and is hard to articulate. Knowledge transfer methods are often informal and interactive. For example:

    • Mentoring and job shadowing
    • Multigenerational work teams
    • Networks and communities
    Knowledge transfer can occur via a wide range of methods that need to be selected and integrated into daily work to suit the needs of the knowledge to be transferred and of the people involved. See Phase 3 for more details on knowledge transfer.

    Step 2.3

    Select Successors

    The goal of this step is to determine how critical roles will be filled when vacancies arise.

    Outcomes of this step

    • Agreement with HR on the process to fill vacancies when key roles exit.

    Succession Planning

    Step 2.1 Step 2.2 Step 2.3

    Determine how critical roles will be filled when vacancies arise

    Choose one of two approaches to successor selection:
    • Talent review meeting:
      • Conduct a talent review meeting with functional leaders to discuss key open positions and select the right successors. Ascertain successor interest prior to the meeting, if not obtained already.
      • If multiple successors are ready now, use both role and talent profiles to arrive at a final decision.
      • If only one successor is ready now, outline steps for their promotion process. Which leaders should be involved for final approval? What is TA’s role?
    • Talent acquisition (TA) process:
      • Align with TA to implement a formal recruitment process to select the right successor (open application and interview process to talent pool).
      • Decide if a talent review meeting is required afterwards to agree on the final successor or if the interview panel will make the final decision.

    Work together with Talent Acquisition (TA) to outline special treatment of critical role vacancies. Ensure TA is aware of succession plan(s).

    Explicitly determine the level of preference for internal successors versus external hires to your TA team to ensure alignment. This will create an environment where promotion from within is customary.

    Build an IT Succession Plan

    Phase 3

    Knowledge Transfer

    Phase 1

    1.1 Identify Critical Roles

    1.2 Assess Talent

    		Phase 2

    2.1 Identify Successors

    2.2 Develop Successors

    2.3 Select Successors

    		Phase 3

    3.1 Identify Critical Knowledge

    3.2 Select Transfer Methods

    3.3 Document Role Transition Plan

    This phase will show you to:

    • Identify critical knowledge risks.
    • Select appropriate transfer methods.
    • Document knowledge transfer initiatives for key role transition plans.

    Tools and resources used:

    • Role Transition Plan Template

    This phase involves the following participants:

    • IT leadership/management team
    • HR
    • Incumbent & successor managers

    Mitigate risk – formalize knowledge transfer

    Use Info-Tech’s Mitigate Key IT Employee Knowledge Loss blueprint to build and implement your knowledge transfer plan.

    Effective knowledge transfer allows organizations to:
    • Maintain or improve speed and productivity by ensuring the right people have the right skills to do their jobs well.
    • Increase agility because knowledge is more evenly distributed amongst employees. Multiple people can perform a given task and no one person becomes a bottleneck.
    • Capture and sustain knowledge; creating a knowledge database provides all employees access to the information, now and in the future.
    		 Knowledge transfer between those in key roles and potential successors yields the highest dividends for:
    • Senior level successions.
    • External hires.
    • Senior expatriate transfers.
    • Developmental stretch assignments.
    • Internal cross-divisional transfers and promotions.
    • High organizational dependency on unique expert knowledge.
    • Critical function/project/team transitions.
    • Large scale reorganizations and mergers & acquisitions.
    (Source: Piktialis and Greenes, 2008)    		 Sample of the Mitigate Key IT Employee Knowledge Loss blueprint.

    Mitigate Key IT Employee Knowledge Loss

    Knowledge transfer is complex and must be both multi-faceted and well supported

    Knowledge transfer is the capture, organization, and distribution of knowledge held by individuals to ensure that it is accessible and usable by others.

    Knowledge transfer is not stopping, learning, and returning to work. Nor is it simply implementing a document management system. Arrow pointing right. Knowledge transfer is a wide range of methods that must be carefully selected and integrated into daily work in order to meet the needs of the knowledge to be transferred and the people involved.

    Knowledge transfer works best when the following techniques are applied

    • Use multiple methods and media to transfer the knowledge.
    • Ensure a two-way interaction between the knowledge source and recipient.
    • Support knowledge transfer with active mentoring.
    • Transfer knowledge at the point of need; that is, when it’s immediately useful.
    • Offer experience-oriented training to reinforce knowledge absorption.
    • Use a knowledge management system to permanently capture knowledge shared.
    		 Personalization is the key.

    Dwyer & Dwyer say that providing “insights to a particular person (or people) needing knowledge at the time of the requirement” is the difference between knowledge transfer that sticks and knowledge that is forgotten.
    “Designing a system in which the employee must interrupt his or her work to learn or obtain new knowledge is not productive. Focus on ‘teachable moments.” (Karl Kapp, “Tools and Techniques for Transferring Know-How from Boomers to Gamers”)

    Step 3.1

    Identify Critical Knowledge to Transfer

    The goal of this step is to understand what knowledge and skills much be transferred, keeping in mind the various types of knowledge.

    Outcomes of this step

    • Critical knowledge and skills for key roles documented in the Key Role Transition plans.

    Knowledge Transfer

    Step 3.1 Step 3.2 Step 3.3

    Understand what knowledge and skills must be transferred

    There are two basic types of knowledge:

    Explicit knowledge:
    Easily explained and codified, e.g. facts and procedures.    		 Image of a head with gears inside. Tacit knowledge:
    Accumulates over years of experience and is hard to verbalize.
    • You should already have a good idea of what knowledge and skills are valued from the worksheets completed earlier.
    • Focus on identifying the knowledge, skills, and relationships essential to the specific incumbent in a key role and what it is he or she does to perform that key role well.
    Document critical knowledge and skills for key roles in the:

    Role Transition Plan Template
    1. Identify key knowledge areas. These include:
      • Specialized technical knowledge and research and development process.
      • Unique design capabilities/methods/models.
      • Special formulas/algorithms/techniques.
      • Proprietary production processes.
      • Decision-making criteria.
      • Innovative sales methods.
      • Knowledge about key customers.
      • Relationships with key stakeholders.
      • Company history and values.
    2. Ask questions of both sources and receivers of knowledge to help determine the best knowledge transfer methods to use.
      • What is the nature of the knowledge? Explicit or tacit?
      • Why is it important to transfer?
      • How will the knowledge be used?
      • What knowledge is critical for success?
      • How will the users find and access it?
      • How will it be maintained and remain relevant and usable?
      • What are the existing knowledge pathways or networks connecting sources to recipients?

    Step 3.2

    Select Knowledge Transfer Methods

    Activities
    • 3.2.1 Select Knowledge Transfer Methods

    This step helps you identify the knowledge transfer methods that will be the most effective, considering the knowledge or skill that needs to be transferred and the individuals involved.

    Outcomes of this step

    • Knowledge transfer methods chosen documented in the Key Role Transition Plans.

    Knowledge Transfer

    Step 3.1 Step 3.2 Step 3.3

    Knowledge transfer methods available

    Be prepared to use various methods to transfer knowledge and use them all liberally.

    The most common knowledge transfer method is simply to have a collaborative culture

    Horizontal bar chart ranking knowledge transfer methods by commonality.
    (Source: McLean & Company, 2013; N=121)

    A basic willingness for a role incumbent to share with a successor is the most powerful item in your tacit knowledge transfer toolkit.

    Formal documentation is critical for explicit knowledge sharing, yet only 40% of organizations use it.

    Rewarding and recognizing employees for doing knowledge transfer well is underutilized yet has emerged as an important reinforcing component of any effective knowledge transfer program.
    Don’t forget it!

    3.2.1 Select Knowledge Transfer Methods

    Input: Role profiles, Talent profiles

    Output: Methods for integrating knowledge transfer into day-to-day practice

    Materials: Role Transition Plan Template

    Participants: IT leadership/management team, HR, Knowledge source, Knowledge recipient

    Utilize methods that make it easy to apply the knowledge in day-to-day practice.

    Select your method according to the following criteria:

    1. The type of knowledge. A soft skill, like professionalism, is best taught via mentoring, while a technical process is best documented and applied on-the-job.
    2. What the knowledge recipient is comfortable with. The recipient may get bored during formal training sessions and retain more during job shadowing.
    3. What the knowledge source is comfortable with. The source may be uncomfortable with blogs and wikis, but comfortable with SharePoint.
    4. The cost. Some methods require an investment in time (e.g. mentoring), while others require an investment in technology (e.g. knowledge bases).
      • The good news is that many supporting technologies may already exist in your organization or can be acquired for free.
      • Methods that cost time may be difficult to get underway since employees may feel they don’t have the time or must change the way they work.

    The more integrated knowledge transfer is in day-to-day activities, the more likely it is to be successful and the lower the time cost. This is because real learning is happening at the same time real work is being accomplished.

    Document the knowledge transfer methods in the Role Transition Plan Template.

    Role Transition Plan Template

    Explore alternative work arrangements

    Ensure sufficient time to prepare successors

    If a key role incumbent isn’t around to complete knowledge transfer, it’s all for naught.

    Alternative work arrangements are critical tools that employers can use to achieve a mutually beneficial solution that mitigates the risk of loss associated with key roles.

    Alternative work arrangements not only support employees who want to keep working, but they allow the business to retain employees that are needed in key roles.

    In a survey from The Conference Board, one out of four older workers indicated that they continue to work because their company provided them with needed flexibility.

    And, nearly half said that more flexibility would make them less likely to retire. (Source: Ivey Business Journal)

    Flexible work options are the most used form of alternative work arrangement

    Horizontal bar chart ranking alternative work arrangements by usage.
    (Source: McLean & Company, N=44)

    Choose the alternative work arrangement that works best for you and the employee

    Alternative Work Arrangement

    Description

    Ideal Use

    Caveats
    Flexible work options Employees work the same number of hours but have flexibility in when and where they work (e.g. from home, evenings). Employees who work fairly independently, with no or few direct reports. Employee may become isolated or disconnected, impeding knowledge transfer methods that require interaction or one-on-one time.
    Contract-based work Working for a defined period of time on a specific project on a non-salaried or non-wage basis. Project-oriented work that requires specialized knowledge or skills. Available work may be sporadic or specific projects more intensive than the employee wants. Knowledge transfer must be built into the contractual arrangement.
    Part-time roles Half-days or a certain number of days per week; indefinite with no end date in mind. Employees whose roles can be readily narrowed and upon whom people and critical processes are not dependent. It may be difficult to break a traditionally full-time job down into a part-time role given the size and nature of associated tasks.
    Graduated retirement Retiring employee has a set retirement date, gradually reducing hours worked per week over time. Roles where a successor has been identified and is available to work alongside the incumbent in an overlapping capacity while he or she learns. The role may only require a single FTE, and the organization may not be able to afford the amount of redundancy inherent in this arrangement.

    The arrangement chosen may be a combination of multiple options

    Alternative Work Arrangement

    Description

    Ideal Use

    Caveats

    Part-year jobs or job sharingWorking part of the year and having the rest of the year off, unpaid.Project-oriented work where ongoing external relationships do not need to be maintained. The employee is unavailable for knowledge transfer activities for a large portion of the year. Another risk is that the employee may opt not to return at the end of the extended time off, with little notice.
    Increased paid time offAdditional vacation days upon reaching a certain age.Best used as recognition or reward for long-term service. This may be a particularly useful retention incentive in organizations that do not offer pension plans. The company may not be able to financially afford to pay for such extensive time off. If the role incumbent is the only one in the role, this may mean crucial work is not being done.
    Altered rolesConcentration of a job description on fewer tasks that allows the employee to focus on his or her specific expertise.Roles where a successor has been identified and is available to work alongside the incumbent, with the incumbent’s new role highly focused on mentoring. The role may only require a single FTE, and the organization may not be able to afford the amount of redundancy inherent in this arrangement.

    Alternative work arrangements require senior management support

    Senior management and other employees must see the value of retaining older workers, or they will not be supportive of these solutions.

    Any changes made to an employee’s work arrangement has an impact on people, processes, and policies.

    If the knowledge and skills of older employees aren’t valued, then:

    • Alternative arrangements will be seen as wasteful accommodation of a low-value employee.
    • Time won’t be allowed to manage the transition properly and make appropriate changes.
    • Other employees may resent any workload spillover.
    		 Alternate work arrangements can’t be implemented on a whim.

    Make sure alternative work arrangements can be done right and are supported – they’re often solutions that come with additional work. Determine the effects and make appropriate adjustments.

    • Review processes, particularly hand-off and approval points, to ensure tasks will still be handled seamlessly.
    • Assess organizational policies to ensure no violations are occurring or to rework policies (where possible) to accommodate alternative work arrangements.
    • Speak to affected employees to answer questions, identify obstacles, gain support, redefine their job descriptions if required, and make appropriate compensation adjustments. Always provide appropriate training when skills requirements are expanded.

    Step 3.3

    Document Role Transition Plans for all Key Roles

    Activities
    • 3.3.1 Document Role Transition Plans

    The primary goal of this step is to build clear checklist-based plans for each key role to help ensure a smooth transition as a successor takes over.

    Outcomes of this step

    • Completed key role transition plans

    Knowledge Transfer

    Step 3.1 Step 3.2 Step 3.3

    3.3.1 Document Role Transition Plans

    Input: Role profiles, Talent profiles, Talent assessments, Workforce plans

    Output: A clear checklist-based plan to help ensure a smooth transition.

    Materials: Role Transition Plan Template

    Participants: IT leadership/management team, Incumbent, Successor(s), HR

    Define a transition plan for all employees in at-risk key roles, and their successors.

    You should already have a good idea of what knowledge and skills are valued from the worksheets completed earlier. Focus on identifying the knowledge, skills, and relationships essential to the specific incumbent in a key role and what it is they do to perform that key role well.

    Using the Role Transition Plan Template develop a plan to transfer what needs to be transferred from the incumbent to the successor.

    1. Record the incumbent and successor information in the template.
    2. Summarize the key accountabilities and expectations of the incumbent’s role. This summary should highlight specific tasks and initiatives that the successor must take on, including success enablers. Attach the job description for a full description of accountabilities and expectations.
    3. Document the knowledge and skills requirements for the key role, as well as any additional knowledge and skills possessed by the key role incumbent that will aid the successor.
    4. Document any alternative work arrangements to the incumbent’s roles.
    5. Populate the Role Transition Checklist for key transition activities that must be completed by certain dates. A list of sample checklist items has been provided. Add, delete, or modify list items to suit your needs.

    Role Transition Plan Template

    DairyNZ leverages alternative work arrangements

    Ensures successful knowledge transfer
    INDUSTRY
    Agricultural research
    SOURCE
    Rose Macfarlane, General Manager Human Resources, DairyNZ
    Challenge
    • DairyNZ employs many people in specialized science research roles. Some very senior employees are international experts in their field.
    • Several experts have reached or are nearing retirement age. These pending retirements have come as no surprise.
    • However, due to the industry’s lack of development investment in the past, there is a 20–30-year experience gap in the organization for some key roles.
    		 Solution
    • One principal scientist gave over two years’ notice. His replacement – an external candidate – had been identified in advance and was hired once retirement notice was given.
    • The incumbent’s role was amended. He worked alongside his successor for 18 months in a controlled hand-over process.
    		 Results
    • The result was ideal in that the advance notice allowed full knowledge transfer to take place.

    Research Contributors and Experts

    Anne Roberts
    Principal, Leadership Within Inc. al,
    • Anne T. Roberts is an experienced organization development professional and executive business coach who works with leaders and their organizations to help them create, articulate and implement their change agenda. Her extensive experience in change management, organizational design, meeting design and facilitation, communication and leadership alignment has helped leaders tap into their creativity, drive and energy. Her ability to work with and coach people at the leadership level on a wide range of topics has them face their own organizational stories.
    		 Amanda Mathieson
    Senior Manager, Talent Management, Tangerine
    • Amanda is responsible for researching people- and leadership-focused trends, developing thought models, and providing resources, tools, and processes to build and drive the success of leaders in a disruptive world.
    • Her expertise in leadership development, organizational change management, and performance and talent management comes from her experience in various industries spanning pharmaceutical, retail insurance, and financial services. She takes a practical, experiential approach to people and leadership development that is grounded in adult learning methodologies and leadership theory. She is passionate about identifying and developing potential talent, as well as ensuring the success of leaders as they transition into more senior roles.

    Related Info-Tech Research

    Stock image of a brain. Mitigate Key IT Employee Knowledge Loss
    • Transfer IT knowledge before it’s gone.
    • Effective knowledge transfer mitigates risks from employees leaving the organization and is a key asset driving innovation and customer service.
    Stock image of sticky notes being organized on a board. Implement an IT Employee Development Plan
    • There is a growing gap between the competencies organizations have been focused on developing, and what is needed in the future.
    • Employees have been left to drive their own development, with little direction or support and without the alignment of development to organizational needs.

    Bibliography

    “Accommodating Older Workers’ Needs for Flexible Work Options.” Ivey Business Journal, July/August 2005. Accessed Jan 7, 2013.

    Christensen, Kathleen and Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes. “Approaching 65: A Survey of Baby Boomers Turning 65 Years Old”. AARP, Dec. 2010.

    Coyne, Kevin P. and Shawn T. Coyne. “The Baby Boomer Retirement Fallacy and What It Means to You. “ HBR Blog Network. Harvard Business Review, May 16, 2008. Accessed 8 Jan. 2013.

    Dwyer, Kevin and Ngoc Luong Dwyer. “Managing the Baby Boomer Brain Drain: The Impact of Generational Change on Human Resource Management.” ChangeFactory, April 2010. Accessed Jan 9, 2013.

    Gurchiek, Kathy. “Poll: Organizations Can Do More to Prepare for Talent Shortage as Boomers Retire.” SHRM, Nov 17, 2010. Accessed Jan 3, 2013.

    Howden, Daniel. “What Is Time to Fill? KPIs for Recruiters.” Workable, 24 March 2016. Web.

    Kapp, Karl M. “Tools and Techniques for Transferring Know-How from Boomers to Gamers.” Global Business and Organizational Excellence, July/August 2007. Web.

    Piktialis, Diane and Kent A. Greenes. Bridging the Gaps: How to Transfer Knowledge in Today’s Multigenerational Workplace. The Conference Board, 2008.

    Pisano, Gary P. “You need an Innovation Strategy.” Harvard Business Review, June 2015.

    Vilet, Jacque. “Lost Knowledge – What Are You and Your Organization Doing About It?” TLNT, 25 April 2012. Accessed 5 Jan. 2013.

    Improve IT Governance to Drive Business Results

    • Buy Link or Shortcode: {j2store}190|cart{/j2store}
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    • Parent Category Name: IT Governance, Risk & Compliance
    • Parent Category Link: /it-governance-risk-and-compliance
    • IT governance is the number-one predictor of value generated by IT, yet many organizations struggle to organize their governance effectively.
    • Current IT governance does not address the changing goals, risks, or context of the organization, so IT spend is not easily linked to value.
    • The right people are not making the right decisions about IT.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • Organizations do not have a governance framework in place that optimally aligns IT with the business objectives and direction.
    • Implementing IT governance requires the involvement of key business stakeholders who do not see IT’s value in corporate governance and strategy.
    • The current governance processes are poorly designed, making the time to decisions too long and driving non-compliance.

    Impact and Result

    • Use Info-Tech’s four-step process to optimize your IT governance framework.
    • Our client-tested methodology supports the enablement of IT-business alignment, decreases decision-making cycle times, and increases IT’s transparency and effectiveness in decisions around benefits realization, risks, and resources.
    • Successful completion of the IT governance redesign will result in the following outcomes:
      1. Align IT with the business context.
      2. Assess the current governance framework.
      3. Redesign the governance framework.
      4. Implement governance redesign.

    Improve IT Governance to Drive Business Results Research & Tools

    Start here – read the Executive Brief

    Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should redesign IT governance, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Align IT with the business context

    Align IT’s direction with the business using the Statement of Business Context.

    • Redesign IT Governance to Drive Optimal Business Results – Phase 1: Align IT With the Business Context
    • Make the Case for an IT Governance Redesign
    • Stakeholder Power Map Template
    • IT Governance Stakeholder Communication Planning Tool
    • PESTLE Analysis Template
    • Business SWOT Analysis Template
    • Statement of Business Context Template

    2. Assess the current governance framework

    Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of current governance using the Current State Assessment.

    • Redesign IT Governance to Drive Optimal Business Results – Phase 2: Assess the Current Governance Framework
    • Current State Assessment of IT Governance

    3. Redesign the governance framework

    Build a redesign of the governance framework using the Future State Design template.

    • Redesign IT Governance to Drive Optimal Business Results – Phase 3: Redesign the Governance Framework
    • Future State Design for IT Governance
    • IT Governance Terms of Reference

    4. Implement governance redesign

    Create an implementation plan to jump-start the communication of the redesign and set it up for success.

    • Redesign IT Governance to Drive Optimal Business Results – Phase 4: Implement Governance Redesign
    • Redesign IT Governance to Drive Optimal Business Results Executive Presentation Template
    • IT Governance Implementation Plan
    [infographic]

    Workshop: Improve IT Governance to Drive Business Results

    Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

    1 Identify the Need for Governance

    The Purpose

    Identify the need for governance in your organization and engage the leadership team in the redesign process.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Establish an engagement standard for the leadership of your organization in the IT governance redesign.

    Activities

    1.1 Identify stakeholders.

    1.2 Make the case for improved IT governance.

    1.3 Customize communication plan.

    Outputs

    Stakeholder Power Map

    Make the Case Presentation

    Communication Plan

    2 Align IT With the Business Context

    The Purpose

    Create a mutual understanding with the business leaders of the current state of the organization and the state of business it is moving towards.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    The understanding of the business context will provide an aligned foundation on which to redesign the IT governance framework.

    Activities

    2.1 Review documents.

    2.2 Analyze frameworks.

    2.3 Conduct brainstorming.

    2.4 Finalize the Statement of Business Context.

    Outputs

    PESTLE Analysis

    SWOT Analysis

    Statement of Business Context

    3 Assess the Current Governance Framework

    The Purpose

    Establish a baseline of the current governance framework.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Develop guidelines based off results from the current state that will guide the future state design.

    Activities

    3.1 Create committee profiles.

    3.2 Build governance structure map.

    3.3 Establish governance guidelines.

    Outputs

    Current State Assessment

    4 Redesign the Governance Framework

    The Purpose

    Redesign the governance structure and the committees that operate within it.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Build a future state of governance where the relationships and processes that are built drive optimal business results.

    Activities

    4.1 Build governance structure map.

    4.2 Create committee profiles.

    Outputs

    Future State Design

    IT Governance Terms of Reference

    5 Implement Governance Redesign

    The Purpose

    Build a roadmap for implementing the governance redesign.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Create a transparent and relationship-oriented implementation strategy that will pave the way for a successful redesign implementation.

    Activities

    5.1 Identify next steps for the redesign.

    5.2 Establish communication plan.

    5.3 Lead executive presentation.

    Outputs

    Implementation Plan

    Executive Presentation

    Further reading

    Improve IT Governance to Drive Business Results

    Avoid bureaucracy and achieve alignment with a minimalist approach.

    ANALYST PERSPECTIVE

    Governance optimization is achieved where decision making, authority, and context meet.

    "Governance is something that is done externally to IT and well as internally by IT, with the intention of providing oversight to direct the organization to meet goals and keep things on target.

    Optimizing IT governance is the most effective way to consistently direct IT spend to areas that provide the most value in producing or supporting business outcomes, yet it is rarely done well.

    IT governance is more than just identifying where decisions are made and who has the authority to make them – it must also provide the context and criteria under which decisions are made in order to truly provide business value" (Valence Howden, Director, CIO Practice Info-Tech Research Group)

    Our understanding of the problem

    This Research is Designed For:

    • CIOs
    • CTOs
    • IT Directors

    This Research Will Help You:

    • Achieve and maintain executive and business support for optimizing IT governance.
    • Optimize your governance structure.
    • Build high-level governance processes.
    • Build governance committee charters and set accountability for decision making.
    • Plan the transition to the optimized governance structure and processes.

    This Research Will Also Assist:

    • Executive Leadership
    • IT Managers
    • IT Customers
    • Project Managers

    This Research Will Help Them:

    • Improve alignment between business decisions and IT initiatives.
    • Establish a mechanism to validate, redirect, and reprioritize IT initiatives.
    • Realize greater value from more effective decision making.
    • Receive a better overall quality of service.

    Executive Summary

    Situation

    • IT governance is the #1 predictor of value generated by IT, yet many organizations struggle to organize their governance effectively.*
    • Current IT governance does not address the changing goals, risks, or context of the organization so IT spend is not easily linked to value.
    • The right people are not making the right decisions about IT.

    Complication

    • Organizations do not have a governance framework in place that optimally aligns IT with the business objectives and direction.
    • Implementing IT governance requires the involvement of key business stakeholders who do not see IT’s value in governance and strategy.
    • The current governance processes are poorly designed, creating long decision-making cycles and driving non-compliance with regulation.

    Resolution

    • Use Info-Tech’s four-step process for optimizing your IT governance framework. Our client-tested methodology supports the enablement of IT-business alignment, decreases decision-making cycle times, and increases IT’s transparency and effectiveness in making decisions around benefits realization, risks, and resources.
    • Successful completion of the IT governance redesign will result in the following outcomes:
      1. Align IT with the business context.
      2. Assess the current governance framework.
      3. Redesign the governance framework.
      4. Implement governance redesign.

    Info-Tech Insight

    • Establish IT-business fusion. In governance, alignment is not enough. Merge IT and the business through governance to ensure business success.
    • With great governance comes great responsibility. Involve relevant business leaders, who will be impacted by IT outcomes, to take on governing responsibility of IT.
    • Let IT manage and the business govern. IT governance should be a component of enterprise governance, allowing IT leaders to focus on managing.

    IT governance is...

    An enabling framework for decision-making context and accountabilities for related processes.

    A means of ensuring business-IT collaboration, leading to increased consistency and transparency in decision making and prioritization of initiatives.

    A critical component of ensuring delivery of business value from IT spend and driving high satisfaction with IT.

    IT governance is not...

    An annoying, finger-waving roadblock in the way of getting things done.

    Limited to making decisions about technology.

    Designed tacitly; it is purposeful, with business objectives in mind.

    A one-time project; you must review and revalidate the efficiency.

    Avoid common misconceptions of IT governance

    Don’t blur the lines between governance and management; each has a unique role to play. Confusing these results in wasted time and confusion around ownership.

    Governance

    		 A cycle of 'Governance Processes' and 'Management Processes'. On the left side of the cycle 'Governance Processes' begins with 'Evaluate', then 'Direct', then 'Monitor'. This leads to 'Management Processes' on the right side with 'Plan', 'Build', 'Run', and 'Monitor', which then feeds back into 'Evaluate'.

    Management

    IT governance sets direction through prioritization and decision making, and monitors overall IT performance.

    Governance aligns with the mission and vision of the organization to guide IT.

    Management is responsible for executing on, operating, and monitoring activities as determined by IT governance.

    Management makes decisions for implementing based on governance direction.

    The IT Governance Framework

    An IT governance framework is a system that will design structures, processes, authority definitions, and membership assignments that lead IT toward optimal results for the business.

    Governance is performed in three ways:

    1. Evaluate

      Governance ensures that business goals are achieved by evaluating stakeholder needs, criteria, metrics, portfolio, risk, and definition of value.

    2. Direct

      Governance sets the direction of IT by delegating priorities and determining the decisions that will guide the IT organization.

    3. Monitor

      Governance establishes a framework to monitor performance, compliance to regulation, and progress on expected outcomes.

    "Everyone needs good IT, but no one wants to talk about it. Most CFOs would rather spend time with their in-laws than in an IT steering-committee meeting. But companies with good governance consistently outperform companies with bad. Which group do you want to be in?" (Martha Heller, President, Heller Search Associates)

    Create impactful IT governance by embedding it within enterprise governance

    The business should engage in IT governance and IT should influence the direction of the business.

    Enterprise Governance

    IT Governance

    Authority for enterprise governance falls to the board and executive management.

    Responsibilities Include:
    • Provide strategic direction for the organization.
    • Ensure objectives are met.
    • Set the risk standards or profile.
    • Delegate resources responsibly.
    		 –› Engage in –›

    ‹– Influence ‹–

    Governance of IT is a component of enterprise governance.

    Responsibilities Include:
    • Build structure, authority, process, and membership designations in a governance framework.
    • Ensure the IT organization is aligned with business goals.
    • Influence the direction of the business to ensure business success.

    Identify signals of sub-optimal IT governance within any of these domains

    If you notice any of these signals, governance redesign is right for you!

    Inability to Realize Benefits

    1. IT is unable to articulate the value of its initiatives or spend.
    2. IT is regularly delegated unplanned projects.
    3. The is no standard approach to prioritization.
    4. Projects do not meet target metrics.

    Resource Misallocation

    1. Resources are wasted due to duplication or overlap in IT initiatives.
    2. IT projects fail at an unacceptable rate, leading to wasted resources.
    3. IT’s costs continue to increase without reciprocal performance increase.

    Misdiagnosed Risks

    1. Risk appetite is incorrectly identified or not identified at all.
    2. Disagreement on the approach to risk in the organization.
    3. Increasing rate of IT incidents related to risk.
    4. IT is failing to meet regulatory requirements.

    Dissatisfied Stakeholders

    1. There are no ways to measure stakeholder satisfaction with IT.
    2. Business strategies and IT strategies are misaligned.
    3. IT’s relationship with key stakeholders is unstable and there is a lack of mutual trust.

    A majority of organizations experience significant alignment gaps

    The majority of organizations and their key stakeholders experience highly visible gaps in the alignment of IT investments and organizational goals.

    There are two bars with percentages of their length marked out for different CXO responses. The possible responses are from '1, Critical Gap' to '7, No Gap'. The top bar says '57% of CXOs identify a major gap in IT's ability to support business goals', and shows 13% answered '1, Critical Gap', 22% answered '2', and 22% answered '3'. The bottom bar says '84% of CXOs often perceive that IT is investing in areas that do not support the business' and shows 38% answered '1, Critical Gap', 33% answered '2', and 13% answered '3'.

    88% of CIOs believe that their governance is not effective. (Info-Tech Diagnostics)

    Leverage governance as the catalyst for connecting IT and the business

    49% of firms are misaligned on current performance expectations for IT.

    • 49% Misaligned
    • 51% Aligned

    67% of firms are misaligned on the target role for IT.

    • 34% Highly Misaligned
    • 33% Somewhat Misaligned
    • 33% Aligned

    A well-designed IT governance framework will hep you to:

    1. Make sure IT keeps up with the evolving business context.
    2. Align IT with the mission and the vision of the organization.
    3. Optimize the speed and quality of decision making.
    4. Meet regulatory and compliance needs in the external environment.
      5. (Info-Tech Diagnostics)

    Align with business goals through governance to attain business-IT fusion

    Create a state of business-IT fusion, in which the two become one.

    Without business-IT fusion, IT will go in a different direction, leading to a divergence of purpose and outcomes. IT can transform into a fused partner of the business by ensuring that they govern toward the same goal.

    Firefighter
    • Delivers lower value
    • Duplication of effort
    • Unclear risk profile
    • High risk exposure
    		 Three sets of arrows, each pointing upward and arranged in an ascending stair pattern. The first, lowest set of arrows has a large blue arrow with a small green arrow veering off to the side, unaligned. The second, middle set of arrows has a large blue arrow with a medium green arrow overlaid on its center, somewhat aligned. The third, highest set of arrows has half of a large blue arrow, and the other half is a large green arrow, aligned. Business Partner
    • Increased speed of decision making
    • Aligned with business priorities
    • Optimized utility of people, financial, and time resources
    • Monitors and mitigates risk and compliance issues

    Redesign IT governance in accordance with COBIT and proven good practice

    Info-Tech’s approach to governance redesign is rooted in COBIT, the world-class and open-source IT governance standard.

    COBIT begins with governance, EDM – Evaluate, Direct, and Monitor.

    We build upon these standards with industry best practices and add a practical approach based on member feedback.

    This blueprint will help you optimize your governance framework.

    The upper image is a pyramid with 'Info-Tech Insights, Analysts, Experts, Clients' on top, 'IT Governance Best Practices' in the middle, and 'COBIT 5' on the bottom, indicating that Info-Tech's Governance guidance is based in COBIT 5. 'This project will focus on EDM01, Set/Maintain Governance Framework.'

    Use Info-Tech’s approach to implementing an IT governance redesign

    The four phases of Info-Tech’s governance redesign methodology will help you drive greater value for the business.

    1. Align IT With the Business Context
      Align IT’s direction with the business using the Statement of Business Context Template.
    2. Assess the Current Governance Framework
      Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of current governance using the Current State Assessment of IT Governance.
    3. Redesign the Governance Framework
      Build a redesign of the governance framework using the Future State Design for IT Governance tool.
    4. Implement Governance Redesign
      Create an IT Governance Implementation Plan to jumpstart the communication of the redesign and set it up for success.
      5. Continuously assess your governance framework to ensure alignment.

    Leverage Info-Tech’s insights for an optimal redesign process

    Common Pitfalls

    Info-Tech Solutions

    Phase 1

    		 There must be an active understanding of the current and future state of the business for governance to address the changing needs of the business. –›
    1. Make the case for a governance redesign.
    2. Create a custom communication plan to facilitate support.
    3. Establish a collectively agreed upon statement of business context.

    Phase 2

    		 Take a proactive approach to revising your governance framework. Understand why you are making decisions before actually making them. –›
    1. Conduct the IT governance current state assessment.
    2. Create governance guidelines for redesign.

    Phase 3

    		 Keep the current and future goals in sight to build an optimized governance framework that maintains the minimum bar of oversight required. –›
    1. Redesign the future state of IT governance in your organization.

    Phase 4

    		 Don’t overlook the politics and culture of your organization in redesigning your governance framework. –›
    1. Rationalize steps in an implementation plan.
    2. Outline a communication strategy to navigate culture and politics.
    3. Construct an executive presentation to facilitate transparency for the governing framework.

    Leverage both COBIT and Info-Tech-defined metrics to evaluate the success of your redesign

    These metrics will help you determine the extent to which your governance is supporting your business goals, and whether the governance in place promotes business-IT fusion.

    Benefits Realization

    1. Percent of IT-enabled investments where benefit realization is monitored through the full economic life. (COBIT-defined metric)
    2. Percent of enterprise strategic goals and requirements supported by IT strategic goals. (COBIT-defined metric)
    3. Percent of IT services where expected benefits are realized or exceeded. (COBIT-defined metric)

    Resources

    1. Satisfaction level of business and IT executives with IT-related costs and capabilities. (COBIT-defined metric)
    2. Average time to turn strategic IT objectives into an agreed-upon and approved initiative. (COBIT-defined metric)
    3. Number of deviations from resource utilization plan.

    Risks

    1. Number of security incidents causing financial loss, business disruption, or public embarrassment. (COBIT-defined metric)
    2. Number of issues related to non-compliance with policies. (COBIT-defined metric)
    3. Percentage of enterprise risk assessments that include IT-related risks. (COBIT-defined metric)
    4. Frequency with which the risk profile is updated. (COBIT-defined metric)

    Stakeholders

    1. Change in score of alignment with the scope of the planned portfolio of programs and services (using CIO-CXO Alignment Diagnostic).
    2. Percent of executive management roles with clearly defined accountabilities for IT decisions. (COBIT-defined metric)
    3. Percent of business stakeholders satisfied that IT service delivery meets agreed-upon service levels. (COBIT-defined metric)
    4. Percent of key business stakeholders involved in IT governance.

    Capture monetary value by establishing and monitoring key metrics

    While benefits of governance are often qualitative, the power of effective governance can be demonstrated through quantitative financial gains.

    Scenario 1 – Realizing Expected Gains

    Scenario 2 – Mitigating Unexpected Losses

    Metric

    		 Track the percentage of initiatives that provided expected ROI year over year. The optimization of the governance framework should generate an increase in this metric. Monitor this metric for continuous improvement opportunities. Track the financial losses related to non-compliance with policy or regulation. An optimized governance framework should better protect the organization against policy breach and mitigate the possibility and impact of “rogue” actions.

    Formula

    		 ROI of all initiatives / number of initiatives in year 2 – ROI of all initiatives / number of initiatives in year 1

    The expected result should be positive.

    		 Cost of non-compliance in year 2 – cost of non-compliance in year 1

    The expected result should be negative.

    Redesign IT governance to achieve optimal business outcomes

    CASE STUDY

    Industry: Healthcare
    Source: Info-Tech

    Situation

    The IT governance had been structured based on regulations and had not changed much since it was put in place. However, a move to become an integration and service focused organization had moved the organization into the world of web services, Agile development, and service-oriented architecture.

    Complication

    The existing process was well defined and entrenched, but did not enable rapid decision making and Agile service delivery. This was due to the number of committees where initiatives were reviewed, made worse by their lack of approval authority. This led to issues moving initiatives forward in the timeframes required to meet clinician needs and committed governmental deadlines.

    In addition, the revised organizational mandate had created confusion regarding the primary purpose and function of the organization and impacted the ability to prioritize spend on a limited budget.

    To complicate matters further, there was political sensitivity tied to the membership and authority of different governing committees.

    Result:

    The CEO decided that a project would be initiated by the Enterprise Architecture Group, but managed by an external consultant to optimize and restructure the governance within the organization.

    The purpose of using the external consultant was to help remove internal politics from the discussion. This allowed the organization to establish a shared view of the organization’s revised mission and IT’s role in its execution.

    The exercise led to the removal of one governing committee and the merger of two others, modification to committee authority and membership, and a refined decision-making context that was agreed to by all parties.

    The redesigned governance process led to a 30% reduction in cycle time from intake to decision, and a 15% improvement in alignment of IT spend with strategic priorities.

    Use these icons to help direct you as you navigate this research

    Use these icons to help guide you through each step of the blueprint and direct you to content related to the recommended activities.

    A small monochrome icon of a wrench and screwdriver creating an X.

    This icon denotes a slide where a supporting Info-Tech tool or template will help you perform the activity or step associated with the slide. Refer to the supporting tool or template to get the best results and proceed to the next step of the project.

    A small monochrome icon depicting a person in front of a blank slide.

    This icon denotes a slide with an associated activity. The activity can be performed either as part of your project or with the support of Info-Tech team members, who will come onsite to facilitate a workshop for your organization.

    Info-Tech offers various levels of support to best suit your needs

    DIY Toolkit

    Guided Implementation

    Workshop

    Consulting
    "Our team has already made this critical project a priority, and we have the time and capability, but some guidance along the way would be helpful." "Our team knows that we need to fix a process, but we need assistance to determine where to focus. Some check-ins along the way would help keep us on track." "We need to hit the ground running and get this project kicked off immediately. Our team has the ability to take this over once we get a framework and strategy in place." "Our team does not have the time or the knowledge to take this project on. We need assistance through the entirety of this project."

    Diagnostics and consistent frameworks used throughout all four options

    Redesign IT Governance – project overview

    Align IT With the Business Context

    Assess the Current State

    Redesign Governance

    Implement Redesign
    Supporting Tool icon

    Best-Practice Toolkit

    		 1.1 Identify Stakeholders
    1.2 Make the Case
    1.3 Present to Executives
    1.4 Customize Comm. Plan
    1.5 Review Documents
    1.6 Analyze Frameworks
    1.7 Conduct Brainstorming
    1.8 Finalize the SoBC     		2.1 Create Committee Profiles

    2.2 Build a Governance Structure Map

    2.3 Establish Governance Guidelines

    		 3.1 Build Governance Structure Map

    3.2 Create Committee Profiles

    3.3 Leverage Process Specific Governance Blueprints

    		 4.1 Identify Next Steps for the Redesign

    4.2 Establish Communication Plan

    4.3 Lead Executive Presentation

    Guided Implementations
    • Move towards gaining buy-in from the business if necessary. Then identify the major components of the SoBC.
    • Review SoBC and discuss a strategy to engage key stakeholders in the redesign.
    • Explore the process of identifying the four major elements of governance. Build guidelines for the future state.
    • Review the current state of governance and discuss the implications and guidelines.
    • Identify the changes that will need to be made.
    • Review redesigned structure and authority.
    • Review redesigned process and membership.
    • Discuss and review the implementation plan.
    • Prepare the presentation for the executives. Provide support on any final questions.
    Associated Activity icon

    Onsite Workshop

    		 Module 1:
    Align IT with the business context    		 Module 2:
    Assess the current governance framework    		 Module 3:
    Redesign the governance framework    		 Module 4:
    Implement governance redesign
    Phase 1 Results:
    • Align IT’s direction with the business.
    		 Phase 2 Results:
    • Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of current governance and build guidelines.
    		 Phase 3 Results:
    • Establish a redesign of the governance framework.
    		 Phase 4 Results:
    • Create an implementation plan for the communication of the redesign.

    Workshop overview

    Contact your account representative or email Workshops@InfoTech.com for more information.

    Workshop Day 1

    Workshop Day 2

    Workshop Day 3

    Workshop Day 4

    Workshop Day 5
    Task – Identify the Need for Governance Task – Align IT with the Business Context Task – Assess the Current State Task – Redesign Governance Framework Task – Implement Governance Redesign

    Activities
    • 1.1 Identify Stakeholders
    • 1.2 Make the Case
    • 1.3 Present to Executives
    • 1.4 Customize Communication Plan
    • 2.1 Review Documents
    • 2.2 Analyze Frameworks
    • 2.3 Conduct Brainstorming
    • 2.4 Finalize the Statement of Business Context
    • 3.1 Create Committee Profiles
    • 3.2 Build Governance Structure Map
    • 3.3 Establish Governance Guidelines
    • 4.1 Build Governance Structure Map
    • 4.2 Create Committee Profiles
    • 4.3 Leverage Process Specific Governance Blueprints
    • 5.1 Identify Next Steps for the Redesign
    • 5.2 Establish Communication Plan
    • 5.3 Lead Executive Presentation

    Deliverables
    1. Make the Case Presentation
    2. Stakeholder Power Map Template
    3. Communication Plan
    1. PESTLE Analysis
    2. SWOT Analysis
    3. Statement of Business Context
    1. Current State Assessment
    1. Future State Design Tool
    2. IT Governance Terms of Reference
    1. Implementation Plan
    2. Executive Presentation

    Improve IT Governance to Drive Business Results

    PHASE 1

    Align IT With the Business Context

    Phase 1 outline

    Associated Activity icon Call 1-888-670-8889 or email GuidedImplementations@InfoTech.com for more information.

    Complete these steps on your own, or call us to complete a guided implementation. A guided implementation is a series of 2-3 advisory calls that help you execute each phase of a project. They are included in most advisory memberships.

    Guided Implementation 1: Align IT With the Business Context

    Proposed Time to Completion: 2-4 weeks
    Step 1.1: Identify the Need for Governance Step 1.2: Create the Statement of Business Context
    Start with an analyst kick-off call:
    • Understand the core concepts of IT governance.
    • Create a strategy for key stakeholder support.
    • Identify key communication milestones.
    		 Review findings with analyst:
    • Identify and discuss the process of engaging senior leadership.
    • Review findings from business analysis.
    • Review diagnostic and interview outcomes.
    Then complete these activities…
    • Identify stakeholders.
    • Make the case to executives.
    • Build a communication plan.
    		 Then complete these activities…
    • Review business documents.
    • Review the PESTLE and SWOT analyses.
    • Analyze outcomes of CIO-CEO Alignment Diagnostic.
    • Complete the Statement of Business Context.
    With these tools & templates:
    • Make the Case for an IT Governance Redesign
    • Stakeholder Power Map Template
    • IT Governance Stakeholder Communication Planning Tool
    		 With these tools & templates:
    • PESTLE Analysis Template
    • Business SWOT Analysis Template
    • CIO-CEO Alignment Diagnostic
    • Statement of Business Context Template

    Phase 1: Align IT With the Business Context

    1 2 3 4
    Align IT With the Business Context Assess the Current Governance Framework Redesign the Governance Framework Implement Governance Redesign

    Activities:

    • 1.1 Identify Stakeholders
    • 1.2 Customize Make the Case Presentation
    • 1.3 Present to Executives
    • 1.4 Customize Communication Plan
    • 1.5 Review Business Documents
    • 1.6 Analyze Business Frameworks
    • 1.7 Conduct Brainstorming Efforts
    • 1.8 Finalize the SoBC

    Outcomes:

    • Make the case for a governance redesign.
    • Create a custom communication plan to facilitate support for the redesign process.
    • Establish a collectively agreed upon statement of business context.

    Set up business-driven governance by gaining an understanding of the business context

    Fuse IT with the business by establishing a common context of what the business is trying to achieve. Align IT with the business by developing an understanding of the business state, creating a platform to build a well-aligned governance framework.

    "IT governance philosophies can no longer be a ‘black box’ … IT governance can no longer be ignored by senior executives." (Iskandar and Mohd Salleh, University of Malaya, International Journal of Digital Society)

    Info-Tech Insight

    Get consensus on the changing state of business. There must be an active understanding of the current and future state of the business for governance to address the changing needs of the business.

    The source for the governance redesign directive will dictate the route for attaining leadership buy-in

    "Without an awareness of IT governance, there is no chance that it will be followed … The higher the percentage of managers who can describe your governance, the higher the governance performance." (Jeanne Ross, Director, MIT Center for Information Systems Research)

    The path you will choose for your governance buy-in tactics will be based on the original directive to redesign governance.

    Enterprise Directive.
    In the case that the redesign is an enterprise directive, jump directly to building a communication plan.

    IT Directive.
    In the case that the redesign is an IT directive, make the case to get the business on board.

    Use the Make the Case presentation template to get buy-in from the business

    Supporting Tool icon 1A Convince senior management to redesign governance

    INSTRUCTIONS

    1. Identify Stakeholders
      Determine which business stakeholders will be impacted or involved in the redesign process.
    2. Customize the Presentation
      Identify specific pain points regarding IT-business alignment.
    3. Present to Executives
      Present the make the case presentation.

    Info-Tech Best Practice

    Use the Make the Case customizable deliverable to lead a boardroom-quality presentation proving the specific need for senior executive involvement in the governance redesign.

    Determine which business stakeholders will be impacted or involved in the redesign process

    Associated Activity icon 1.1 Identify the stakeholders for the IT governance redesign

    It is vital to identify key business and IT stakeholders before the IT governance redesign has begun. Consider whose input and influence will be necessary in order to align with the business context and redesign the governance framework accordingly.

    Business

    • Shareholders
    • Board
    • Chief Executive Officer
      • –› Example: the CEO wants to know how IT will support the achievement of strategic corporate objectives.
    • Chief Financial Officer
    • Chief Operating Officer
    • Business Executives
    • Business Process Owners
    • Strategy Executive Committee
    • Chief Risk Officer
    • Chief Information Security Officer
    • Architecture Board
    • Enterprise Risk Committee
    • Head of Human Resources
    • Compliance
    • Audit

    IT

    • Chief Information Officer
      • –› Example: the CIO would like validation from the business with regards to prioritization criteria.
    • Head Architect
    • Head of Development
    • Head of IT Operations
    • Head of IT Administration
    • Service Manager
    • Information Security Manager
    • Business Continuity Manager
    • Privacy Officer

    External

    • Government Agency
      • –› Example: some governments mandate that organizations develop and implement an IT governance framework.
    • Audit Firm

    Build a power map to prioritize stakeholders

    Associated Activity icon 1.1 2-4 hours

    Stakeholders may have competing concerns – that is, concerns that cannot be addressed with one solution. The governance redesigner must prioritize their time to address the concerns of the stakeholders who have the most power and who are most impacted by the IT governance redesign.

    Draw a stakeholder power map to visualize the importance of various stakeholders and their concerns, and to help prioritize your time with those stakeholders.

    • Power: How much influence does the stakeholder have? Enough to drive the project forward or into the ground?
    • Involvement: How interested is the stakeholder? How much involvement does the stakeholder have in the project already?
    • Impact: To what degree will the stakeholder be impacted? Will this significantly change the job?
    • Support: Is the stakeholder a supporter of the project? Neutral? A resistor?
    A power map of stakeholders with two axes and four quadrants. The vertical axis is 'Low Power' on the bottom and 'High Power' on top. The horizontal axis is 'Low Involvement' on the left and 'High Involvement' on the right. The top left quadrant is labeled 'Keep satisfied' and contains 'CFO', a Strongly Impacted Resistor, and 'COO', a Weakly Impacted Resistor. The top right quadrant is labeled 'Key Players' and contains 'CIO' and 'CEO', both Strongly Impacted Supporters. The bottom left quadrant is labeled 'Minimal effort' and contains 'Marketing Head', a Weakly Impacted Neutral, and 'Production Head', a Moderately Impacted Neutral. The bottom right quadrant is labeled 'Keep informed' and contains 'Director of Ops', a Strongly Impacted Supporter, and 'Chief Architect', a Strongly Impacted Neutral.

    Download Info-Tech’s Stakeholder Power Map Template to help you visualize your key stakeholders.

    Build a power map to prioritize stakeholders

    Associated Activity icon 1.1

    It is important to identify who will be impacted and who has power, and the level of involvement they have in the governance redesign. If they have power, will be highly impacted, and are not involved in governance, you have already lost – because they will resist later. You need to get them involved early.

    • Focus on key players – relevant stakeholders who have high power, are highly impacted, and should have a high level of involvement.
    • Engage the stakeholders that are impacted most and have the power to impede the success of redesigning IT governance.
      • For example, if a CFO, who has the power to block project funding, is heavily impacted and not involved, the IT governance redesign success will be put at risk.
    • Some stakeholders may have influence over others so you should focus your efforts on the influencer rather than the influenced.
      • For example, if an uncooperative COO is highly influenced by the Director of Operations, it is recommended to engage the latter.

    The same power map of stakeholders with two axes and four quadrants, but with focus points and notes. The vertical axis is 'Low Power' on the bottom and 'High Power' on top. The horizontal axis is 'Low Involvement' on the left and 'High Involvement' on the right. The top left quadrant is labeled 'Keep satisfied' and contains 'CFO', a Strongly Impacted Resistor, and 'COO', a Weakly Impacted Resistor, as well as a dotted line moving 'CFO' to the top right quadrant with the note 'A) needs to be engaged'. The top right quadrant is labeled 'Key Players' and contains 'CIO' and 'CEO', both Strongly Impacted Supporters, as well as the new required position of 'CFO'. The bottom left quadrant is labeled 'Minimal effort' and contains 'Marketing Head', a Weakly Impacted Neutral, and 'Production Head', a Moderately Impacted Neutral. The bottom right quadrant is labeled 'Keep informed' and contains 'Director of Ops', a Strongly Impacted Supporter, and 'Chief Architect', a Strongly Impacted Neutral, as well as a line from 'Director of Ops' to 'COO' in the top left quadrant with a note that reads 'B) Influences'.

    Identify specific pain points regarding business-IT alignment

    Associated Activity icon 1.2 2-4 hours

    INPUT: Signal Questions, CIO-CXO Alignment Diagnostic

    OUTPUT: List of Categorized Pain Points

    Materials: Make the Case for an IT Governance Redesign

    Participants: Identified Key Business Stakeholders

    1. Consider Signals for Redesign
      Refer to the Executive Brief for questions to identify pain points related to governance.
      • Benefits Realization
      • Resources
      • Risks
      • Stakeholders
    2. Conduct CIO-CEO Alignment Diagnostic
      Assess the current state of alignment between the CIO and the major stakeholders of the organization.

    See the CEO-CIO Alignment Program for more information.

    Conduct the CEO-CIO Alignment Diagnostic

    Why CEO-CIO Alignment?

    The CEO-CIO Alignment Program helps you understand the gaps between what the CEO wants for IT and what the CIO wants for IT. The program will also evaluate the current state of IT, from a strategic and tactical perspective, based on the CEO’s opinion.

    The CEO-CIO Alignment Program helps to:

    • Evaluate how the executive leadership currently feels about the IT organization’s performance along the following dimensions:
      • IT budgeting and staffing
      • IT strategic planning
      • Degree of project success
      • IT-business alignment
    • Answer the question, “What does the CEO want from IT?”
    • Understand the CEO’s perception of and vision for IT in the business.
    • Define the current and target roles for IT. Understanding IT’s current and target roles, in the eyes of the CEO, is crucial to creating IT governance. By focusing the IT governance on achieving the target role, you will ensure that the senior leadership will support the implementation of the IT governance.

    To conduct the CEO-CIO Alignment Program, follow the steps outlined below.

    1. Select the senior business leader to participate in the program. While Info-Tech suggests that the CEO participate, you might have other senior stakeholders who should be involved.
    2. Send the survey link to your senior business stakeholder and ensure the survey’s completion.
    3. Complete your portion of the survey.
    4. Hold a meeting to discuss the results and document your findings.

    See the CEO-CIO Alignment Program for more information.

    Present the “Make the Case” for IT governance redesign

    Associated Activity icon 1.3 30 minutes

    1. Review Finalized Stakeholder List
      Consolidate a list of the most important and impactful stakeholders who need further convincing to participate in the governance redesign and implementation.
    2. Present the Deck
      Include the information gathered throughout the discovery into the presentation deck and hold a meeting to review the findings.

    Business

    • Shareholders
    • Board
    • Chief Executive Officer
    • Chief Financial Officer
    • Chief Operating Officer
    • Business Executives
    • Strategy Executive Committee
    • Chief Risk Officer
    • Architecture Board
    • Enterprise Risk Committee
    • Head of Human Resources
    • Compliance

    IT

    • Chief Information Officer

    External

    • Government Agency
    • Audit Firm

    Use the Make the Case for an IT Governance Redesign template for more information.

    Create a custom communication plan to facilitate support for the redesign process

    Supporting Tool icon 1B Create a plan to engage the key stakeholders

    INSTRUCTIONS

    1. Identify Stakeholders
      Determine which business stakeholders will be involved (refer to Activity 1.1).
    2. Customize Communication Plan
      Follow up with individual communication plans.

    Info-Tech Best Practice

    Create personal communication plans to provide individualized engagement, instead of assuming that everyone will respond to the same communication style.

    Download the IT Governance Stakeholder Communication Planning Tool for more information.

    Create a communication plan to engage key stakeholders

    Associated Activity icon 1.4 1 hour
    1. Input Stakeholders
      Determine which business stakeholders will be involved (refer to Activity 1.1). Then, insert their position on the power map, the rationale to inform them, the timing of communications, and what inputs they will be needed to provide.

      Stakeholder role

      Power map position

      Why inform them

      When to inform them

      What we need from them
      Chief Executive Officer
      Chief Financial Officer
      Chief Operating Officer
    2. Identify Communication Strategy
      Outline the most effective communication plan for that stakeholder. Identify how to best communicate to the stakeholders to make sure they are appropriately engaged in the redesign process.

      Vehicle

      Audience

      Purpose

      Frequency

      Owner

      Distribution

      Level of detail
      Status Report IT Managers Project progress and deliverable status Weekly CIO, John Smith Email Details for milestones, deliverables, budget, schedule, issues, next steps
      Status Report Marketing Manager Project progress Monthly CIO, John Smith Email High-level detail for major milestone update and impact to the marketing unit

    Establish a collectively agreed upon statement of business context (SoBC)

    Supporting Tool icon 1C Document the mutual understanding of the business context

    INSTRUCTIONS

    1. Review Business Documents
      Review business documents from broad areas of the business to assess the business context.
    2. Analyze Business Frameworks
      Analyze business frameworks to articulate the current and projected future business context.
    3. Brainstorm With Key Stakeholders
      Conduct stakeholder brainstorming efforts to gain insights from key business stakeholders.
    4. Finalize the SoBC
      Document and sign the SoBC with identified stakeholders.

    Info-Tech Best Practice

    Use the Statement of Business Context customizable deliverable as a point of reference that will guide the direction of the governance redesign.

    Use the Statement of Business Context to identify the critical information needed to guide governance

    Components of the SoBC

    1. Mission
      • Who are you as an organization?
      • Who are your internal and external customers?
      • What are your core business functions?

      Example (Higher Education)
      Nurture global leaders and provide avenues for intellectual exploration.
    2. Vision
      • Is your vision statement future-facing?
      • Is your vision statement concise?
      • Is your vision statement achievable?
      • Does your vision statement involve change?

      Example
      Be a catalyst for creating the future leaders of tomorrow through dynamic and immersive educational experiences. The university will be recognized for being a prestigious innovative research hub and educational institution.
    		Sample of Info-Tech's Statement of Business Context Template with the Mission and Vision Statements.

    Use the Statement of Business Context to identify the critical information needed to guide governance (cont.)

    More Components of the SoBC

    1. Strategic Objectives
      • What are the strategic initiatives of the organization?
      • Do you have a roadmap to accomplish your mission?
      • What are the primary goals of senior leaders for the organization?

      Example
      1. Meeting government regulation
      2. Revenue generation
      3. Top research quality
      4. High teaching quality
    		 Sample of Info-Tech's Statement of Business Context Template with Strategic Objectives.
    1. State of Business
      • Consider what the current state and future state are.
      • How does the operating model used define the state?
      • How do industry trends shape the business?
      • What internal changes impact the business model?

      Example
      Our organization aims to make quick decisions and navigate the fast-paced industry with agility, uniting the development and operational sides of the business.
    		Sample of Info-Tech's Statement of Business Context Template with State of the Business.

    Leverage core concepts to determine the direction of the organization’s state of the business

    1. Mission
    2. Vision
    3. Strategic Objectives
    		 –›
    1. State of Business

      2. Work through if your organization’s state is small vs. large, public vs. private, and lean vs. DevOps vs. traditional.

    Small

    IT team is 30 people or less.

    Large

    IT team is more than 30 people.

    Public

    Wholly or partly funded by the government.

    Private

    No government funding is provided.
    Lean: The business aims to eliminate any waste of resources (time, effort, or money) by removing steps in the business process that do not create value. Devops/Agile: Our organization aims to make quick decisions and navigate the fast-paced industry with agility. Uniting the development and operational sides of the business. Hierarchical: Departments in the organization are siloed by function. The organization is top-down and hierarchical, and takes more time with decision making.

    ‹– Multi-State (any combination) –›

    Review business documents to assess business context

    Associated Activity icon 1.5 2-4 hours

    INPUT: Strategic Documents, Financial Documents

    OUTPUT: Mission, Vision, Strategic Objectives

    Materials: Corporate Documents

    Participants: IT Governance Redesign Owner

    Start assessing the state of the business context by leveraging easily accessible information. Many organization have strategic plans, documents, and presentations that already include a large portion of the information for the SoBC – use these sources first.

    Instructions

    1. Strategic Documents
      Leverage your organization’s strategic documents to gain understanding of the business context.

      2. Documents to Review:
    • Corporate strategy document.
    • Business unit strategy documents.
    • Annual general reports.
  • Financial Documents
    Leverage your organization’s financial documents to gain understanding of the business context.

    • Documents to Review:
    • Look for large capital expenditures.
    • Review operating costs.
    • Business cases submitted.

    Review strategic planning documents

    Overview

    Some organizations (and business units) create an authoritative strategy document. These documents contain the organization’s corporate aspirations and outline initiatives, reorganizations, and shifts in strategy. Additionally, some documents contain strategic analysis (Porter’s Five Forces, etc.).

    Action

    • Read through any of the following:
      • Corporate strategy document
      • Business unit strategy documents
      • Annual general reports
    • Watch out for key future-looking words:
      • We will be…
      • We are planning to…

    Overt Statements

    • Corporate objectives and initiatives are often explicitly stated in these documents. Look for statements that begin with phrases such as “Our corporate objectives are…”
    • Remember that different organizations use different terminology – if you cannot find the word “goal” or “objective” then look for “pillar,” “imperative,” “theme,” etc.
    • Ask a business partner to assist if you need some help.

    Covert, Outdated, and Non-Existent Statements

    • Some corporate objectives and initiatives will be mentioned in passing and will require clarification, for example:
      “As we continue to penetrate new markets, we will be diversifying our manufacturing geography to simplify distribution.”
    • Some corporate strategies may be outdated and therefore of limited use for understanding the state of business – validate the statement to ensure it is up to date.
    • Some organizations lack a strategic plan altogether. Use stakeholder interviews to identify imperatives and validate conflicting statements before moving on.

    Review financial documentation

    Overview

    Departmental budgets highlight the new projects that will launch in the next fiscal year. The overwhelming majority of these projects will have IT implications. Additionally, identifying where the department is spending money will allow you to identify business unit initiatives and operational change.

    Action

    • Scan budgets:
      • Look for large capital expenditures
      • Review operating costs
      • Review business cases submitted
    • Look for abnormalities or changes:
      • What does an increase in spending mean?
      • Does IT need to change as a result?

    Capital Budgets

    • Capital expenditures are driven by projects, which map to corporate goals and initiatives.
    • Look for large capital expenditures and cross-reference the outflows with any project plans that have been collected.
    • If an expenditure cannot be explained by project plans, request additional information.

    Operating Budgets

    • Major changes to operating costs typically reflect changes to a business unit. Some of these changes affect IT capabilities and can be classified as corporate initiatives.
    • Changes that should be classified as corporate initiatives are expansion or contraction of a labor force, outsourcing initiatives, and significant process changes.
    • Changes that should not be classified as corporate initiatives are changes in third-party fees, consulting engagements, and changes caused by inflation or growth.

    Analyze business frameworks to articulate context

    Associated Activity icon 1.6 2-4 hours

    INPUT: Industry Research, Organizational Research, Analysis Templates

    OUTPUT: PESTLE and SWOT Analysis

    Materials: Computer or Whiteboards and Markers

    Participants: IT Governance Redesign Owner

    If corporate documents denoting the key components of the SoBC are not easily available, or do not provide all information required, refer to business analysis frameworks to discover internal and external trends that impact the mission, vision, strategic objectives, and state of the business.

    1. Conduct a PESTLE Analysis
      The PESTLE analysis will support the organization in identifying external factors that impact the business. Keep watch for trends and changes in the industry.

      2. Political

      Economic

      Social

      Technological

      Legal

      Environmental
    2. Conduct a SWOT Analysis
      The SWOT analysis will be more specific to the organization and the industry in which it operates. Identify the unique strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for your organization.

      3. Strengths

      Weaknesses

      Opportunities

      Threats

    Conduct a PESTLE analysis

    Associated Activity icon 1.6 Conduct a PESTLE analysis
    • Break participants into teams and divide the categories amongst them:
      • Political trends
      • Economic trends
      • Social trends
      • Technological trends
      • Legal trends
      • Environmental trends
    • Have each group identify relevant trends under their respective categories. You must relate each trend back to the business by considering:
      • How does this affect my business?
      • Why do we care?
    • Use the prompt questions on the next slide to help the brainstorming process.
    • Have each team present its list and have remaining teams give feedback and additional suggestions.

    Political. Examine political factors such as taxes, environmental regulations, and zoning restrictions.

    Economic Examine economic factors such as interest rates, inflation rate, exchange rates, the financial and stock markets, and the job market.

    Social. Examine social factors such as gender, race, age, income, disabilities, educational attainment, employment status, and religion.

    Technological. Examine technological factors such as servers, computers, networks, software, database technologies, wireless capabilities, and availability of software as a service.

    Legal. Examine legal factors such as trade laws, labor laws, environmental laws, and privacy laws.

    Environmental. Examine environmental factors such as green initiatives, ethical issues, weather patterns, and pollution.

    Download Info-Tech’s PESTLE Analysis Template to help get started.

    Review these questions to help you conduct a PESTLE analysis

    For each prompt below, always try to answer the question: how does this affect my business?

    Political

    • Will a change in government (at any level) affect your organization?
    • Do inter-government or trade relations affect you?
    • Are there shareholder needs or demands that must be considered?

    Economical

    • How are your costs changing (moving off-shore, fluctuations in markets, etc.)?
    • Do currency fluctuations have an effect on your business?
    • Can you attract and pay for top-quality talent (e.g. desirable location, reasonable cost of living, changes to insurance requirements)?

    Social

    • What are the demographics of your customers or employees?
    • What are the attitudes of your customers or staff (do they require social media, collaboration, transparency of costs, etc.)?
    • What is the general lifecycle of an employee (i.e. is there high turnover)?
    • Is there a market of qualified staff?
    • Is your business seasonal?

    Technological

    • Do you require constant technology upgrades (faster network, new hardware, etc.)?
    • What is the appetite for innovation within your industry or business?
    • Are there demands for increasing data storage, quality, BI, etc.?
    • Are you looking at cloud technologies?
    • What is the stance on “bring your own device”?
    • Are you required to do a significant amount of development work in-house?

    Legal

    • Are there changes to trade laws?
    • Are there changes to regulatory requirements, e.g. data storage policies or privacy policies?
    • Are there union factors that must be considered?

    Environmental

    • Is there a push towards being environmentally friendly?
    • Does the weather have any effect on your business (hurricanes, flooding, etc.)?

    Conduct a SWOT analysis on the business

    Associated Activity icon 1.6 Conduct a business SWOT analysis

    Break the group into two teams.

    Assign team A internal strengths and weaknesses.

    Assign team B external opportunities and threats.

    • Have the teams brainstorm items that fit in their assigned grids. Use the prompt questions on the next slide to help you with your SWOT analysis.
    • Pick someone from each group to fill in the grids on the whiteboard.
    • Conduct a group discussion about the items on the list. Identify implications for IT and opportunities to innovate as you did for the other business and external drivers.
    Helpful
    to achieve the objective    		 Harmful
    to achieve the objective
    Internal Origin
    attributes of the organization    		 Strength Weaknesses
    External Origin
    attributes of the environment    		 Opportunities Threats

    Download Info-Tech’s Business SWOT Analysis Template to help get started.

    Review these questions to help you conduct your SWOT analysis on the business

    Strengths (Internal)

    • What competitive advantage does your organization have?
    • What do you do better than anyone else?
    • What makes you unique (human resources, product offering, experience, etc.)?
    • Do you have location advantages?
    • Do you have price, cost, or quality advantages?
    • Does your organizational culture offer an advantage (hiring the best people, etc.)?

    Weaknesses (Internal)

    • What areas of your business require improvement?
    • Are there gaps in capabilities?
    • Do you have financial vulnerabilities?
    • Are there leadership gaps (succession, poor management, etc.)?
    • Are there reputational issues?
    • Are there factors that are making you lose sales?

    Opportunities (External)

    • Are there market developments or new markets?
    • Industry or lifestyle trends, e.g. move to mobile?
    • Are there geographical changes in the market?
    • Are there new partnerships or M&A opportunities?
    • Are there seasonal factors that can be used to the advantage of the business?
    • Are there demographic changes that can be used to the advantage of the business?

    Threats (External)

    • Are there obstacles that the organization must face?
    • Are there issues with respect to sourcing of staff or technologies?
    • Are there changes in market demand?
    • Are your competitors making changes that you are not making?
    • Are there economic issues that could affect your business?

    Conduct brainstorming efforts to gain insights from key business stakeholders

    Associated Activity icon 1.7 2-4 hours

    INPUT: SoBC Template

    OUTPUT: Completed SoBC

    Materials: Computer, Phone, or Other Mechanism of Connection

    Participants: CEO, CFO, COO, CMO, CHRO, and Business Unit Owners

    There are two ways to gather primary knowledge on the key components of the SoBC:

    1. Stakeholder Interviews
      Approach each individual to have a conversation about the key components of the SoBC. Go through the SoBC and fill it in together.
    2. Stakeholder Survey
      In the case that you are in a very large organization, create a stakeholder survey. Input the key components of the SoBC into an online survey maker and send it off the key stakeholders.

    Use the SoBC as the guide to both the interview and the survey. Be clear about the purpose of understanding the business context when connecting with key business stakeholders to participate in the brainstorming. This is a perfect opportunity to establish or develop a relationship with the stakeholders who will need to buy into the redesigned governance framework since it will involve and impact them significantly.

    Go directly to the information source – the key stakeholders

    Overview

    Talking to key stakeholders will allow you to get a holistic view of the business strategy. You will be able to ask follow-up questions to get a better understanding of abstract or complex concepts. Interviews also allow you to have targeted discussions with specific stakeholders who have in-depth subject-matter knowledge.

    Action

    • Talk to key stakeholders:
      • Structure focused, i.e. CEO or CFO
      • Customer focused, i.e. CMO or Head of Sales
      • Operational focused, i.e. COO
      • Lower-level employees or managers
    • Listen for key pains that IT could alleviate.

    Overcome the Unstructured Nature of Interviews

    • Interviewees will often explicitly state objectives and initiatives.
    • However, interviews are less formal and less structured than objective-oriented strategy documents. Objectives are often stated using informal language.
      “We’re talking rev gen here. That’s the name of the game. If we can get a foothold in India, there’s huge upside potential.” (VP Marketing)
    • Further analysis might translate this into a corporate imperative: increase revenue by growing our market share in India to 8% by January of next year.
    • If an imperative is unclear, ask the stakeholder for more detail.
    • Understand how key stakeholders evaluate, direct, and monitor their own areas of the business; this will give you insight as to their style.

    Receive final sign-off to proceed with developing the IT governance redesign

    Associated Activity icon 1.8 30 minutes

    Document any project assumptions or constraints. Before proceeding with the IT governance activities, validate the statement of business context with senior stakeholders. When consensus has been reached, have them sign the final page of the document.

    How to ensure sign-off:

    • Schedule a meeting with the senior stakeholders and conduct a review of the document. This meeting presents a great opportunity to deliver your interpretation of management expectations and make any modifications.
    • Obtaining stakeholder approval in person ensures there is no miscommunication or misunderstandings around the tasks that need to be accomplished to develop a successful IT governance.
    • This is an iterative process; if senior stakeholders have concerns over certain aspects of the document, revise and review again.
    • Final sign-off should only take place when mutual understanding has been reached.

    Download the SoBC Template and complete for final approval.

    Info-Tech Tip

    In most circumstances, you should have the SoBC validated with the following stakeholders:

    • CIO
    • CEO
    • CFO
    • Business Unit Leaders

    Understand the business context to set the foundation for governance redesign

    CASE STUDY

    Industry: Healthcare
    Source: Info-Tech

    Challenge

    The new business direction to become an integrator shifted focus to faster software iteration and on enabling integration and translation technologies, while moving away from creating complete, top-to-bottom IT solutions to be leveraged by clinicians and patients.

    Internal to the IT organization, this created a different in perspective on what was important to prioritize: foundational elements, web services, development, or data compliance issues. There was no longer agreement on which initiatives should move forward.

    Solution

    A series of mandatory meetings were held with key decision makers and SMEs within the organization in order to re-orient everyone on the overall purpose, goals, and outcomes of the organization.

    All attendees were asked to identify what they saw as the mission and vision of the organization.

    Finally, clinicians and patient representatives were brought in to describe how they were going to use the services the organization was providing and how it would enable better patient outcomes.

    Results

    Identifying the purpose of the work the IT organization was doing and how the services were going to be used realigned the different perspectives in the context of the healthcare outcomes they enabled.

    This activity provided a unifying view of the purpose and the state of the business. Understanding the business context prepared the organization to move forward with the governance redesign.

    If you want additional support, have our analysts guide you through this phase as part of an Info-Tech Workshop Associated Activity icon

    Book a workshop with our Info-Tech analysts:

    Photo of an Info-Tech analyst.
    • To accelerate this project, engage your IT team in an Info-Tech workshop with an Info-Tech analyst team.
    • Info-Tech analyst will join you and your team onsite at your location or welcome you to Info-Tech's historic Toronto office to participate in an innovative onsite workshop.
    • Contact your account manager (www.infotech.com/account), or email Workshops@InfoTech.com for more information.

    The following are sample activities that will be conducted by Info-Tech analysts with your team:

    1.1

    		 Sample of activity 1.1 'Determine which business stakeholders will be impacted or involved in the redesign process'. Identify Relevant Stakeholders

    Build a list of relevant stakeholders and identify their position on the stakeholder power map.

    1.4

    		 Sample of activity 1.4 'Create a communication plan to engage key stakeholders'. Communication Plan

    Build customized communication plans to engage the key stakeholders in IT governance redesign.

    If you want additional support, have our analysts guide you through this phase as part of an Info-Tech Workshop

    Book a workshop with our Info-Tech analysts:

    1.7

    		 Sample of activity 1.7 'Review business documents to assess business context'. Gather Business Information

    Review business documents, leverage business analysis tools, and brainstorm with key executives to document the Statement of Business Context.

    1.8

    		 Sample of activity 1.8 'Receive final sign-off to proceed with developing the IT Governance redesign'. Finalize the Statement of Business Context

    Get final approval and acceptance on the Statement of Business Context that will guide your redesign.

    Improve IT Governance to Drive Business Results

    PHASE 2

    Assess the Current Governance Framework

    Phase 2 outline

    Associated Activity icon Call 1-888-670-8889 or email GuidedImplementations@InfoTech.com for more information.

    Complete these steps on your own, or call us to complete a guided implementation. A guided implementation is a series of 2-3 advisory calls that help you execute each phase of a project. They are included in most advisory memberships.

    Guided Implementation 2: Assess the Current Governance Framework

    Proposed Time to Completion: 2 weeks
    Step 2.1: Outline the Current State AssessmentStep 2.2: Review the Current State Assessment
    Start with an analyst kick-off call:
    • Connect the current business state identified in Phase 1 with the current state of governance.
    • Identify the key elements of current governance.
    • Begin building the structure and committee profiles.
    		Review findings with analyst:
    • Review the current governing bodies that were identified.
    • Review the current structure that was identified.
    • Determine the strengths, weaknesses, and guidelines from the implications in the current state assessment.
    Then complete these activities…
    • Identify stakeholders.
    • Make the case to executives.
    • Build a communication plan.
    		Then complete these activities…
    • Create committee profiles.
    • Build governance structure map.
    With these tools & templates:
    • Current State Assessment of IT Governance
    		With these tools & templates:
    • Current State Assessment of IT Governance

    Phase 2: Assess the Current Governance Framework

    1 2 3 4
    Align IT With the Business Context Assess the Current Governance Framework Redesign the Governance Framework Implement Governance Redesign

    Activities:

    • 2.1 Create Committee Profiles
    • 2.2 Build a Governance Structure Map
    • 2.3 Establish Governance Guidelines

    Outcomes:

    • Use the Current State Assessment of IT Governance to determine governance guidelines.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Don’t be passive; take action! Take an active approach to revising your governance framework. Understand why you are making decisions before actually making them.

    Explore the current governance that exists within your organization

    Your current governance framework will give you a strong understanding of the way the key stakeholders in your business currently view IT governance.

    "Much of the focus of governance today has been on the questions:
    • Are we doing [things] the right way?
    • And are we getting them done well?"
    		 –› "We need to shift to…
    • Are we doing the right things?
    • Are we getting the benefits?
    • What are the outcomes?
    • What do we want to achieve?
    • How do we make intelligent decisions about what will help us achieve those outcomes?"
    (John Thorp, Author of The Information Paradox)

    Leverage this understanding of IT governance to determine where governance is occurring and how it transpires.

    Conduct a current state assessment

    Supporting Tool icon 2A Assess the current governance framework

    Use this tool to critically assess each governing body to determine the areas of improvement that are necessary in order to achieve optimal business results.

    1. Identify All Governing Bodies
      Some bodies govern intentionally, and some govern through habit and practice. Outline all bodies that take on an element of governance.
    2. Create a Governance Structure Map
      Configure the structural relationships for the governing bodies using the structure map.
    3. Reveal Strengths and Weaknesses
      Identify the strengths and weaknesses of the governance structure, authority definitions, processes, and membership.
    4. Establish Governance Guidelines
      Based on the SoBC, express clear and applicable guidelines to improve on the weaknesses while retaining the strengths of your governance framework.

    Download the Current State Assessment of IT Governance to work toward these outcomes

    Conduct a current state assessment to identify governance guidelines

    Supporting Tool icon 2A Assess the current governance framework

    How to use the Current State Assessment of IT Governance deliverable: Follow the steps below to create a cohesive understanding of the current state of IT governance and the challenges that the current system poses.

    Part A – Committee Profiles

    1. Identify Governing Bodies
    2. Leverage Committee Templates
    3. Create Committee Profiles
      Use the Committee Profile Template

    Part B – Structure Map

    1. Assess Inputs and Outputs to Express Structural Relationships
    2. Create Structure Map
      Use the Governance Structure Map

    Part C – Governance Guidelines

    1. Choose Operating Model Template
    2. Identify Strengths and Weaknesses
    3. Establish Governance Guidelines
      Use the Governance Guideline Template

    What makes up the “governance framework”?

    There are four major elements of the governance framework:

    1. Structure
      Structural relationships are shown by mapping the connections between committees.
    2. Authority
      Each committee will have a purpose and area of decision making that it is accountable for.
    3. Process
      The process includes the inputs, outputs, and activities required for the committee to function.
    4. Membership The individuals or roles who sit on each committee. Take into account members’ knowledge, capability, and political influence.

    Create governing board or committee profiles

    Supporting Tool icon 2A.1 Assess the current governance framework

    Part A – Committee Profiles

    1. Identify Governing Bodies

      Establish where governance happens and who is governing. For different organizations, the governance framework will contain a variety of governing bodies or people. Use a list format to identify governing bodies that exist in your organization.

    2. Leverage Committee Templates

      Use the templates provided. Create a profile for each governing body that currently operates in your IT governance framework as listed in step 1.

    3. Create Committee Profiles

      Identify what they are governing and how they are governing.
      Using the profiles created in step 2, identify each body’s membership roles, purpose, decision areas, inputs, and outputs. Refer to the example text in the template to guide you, but feel free to adjust the text to reflect the reality of your governing body. Screenshot of the 'Committee Template - Executive Management Committee'.
      Consider the following domains of governance:
      (refer to Executive Brief)
      • Benefits realization
      • Risks
      • Resources
      Refer to our examples for some common governing bodies.

    Consistently define the components of governance in the committee profiles

    Membership

    Membership Roles
    Insert information here that reflects who the individuals are that sit on that governing body and what their role is. Include other important information about the individuals’ knowledge, skills, or capabilities that are relevant.

    Authority

    Purpose
    Define why the committee was established in the first place.

    Decision Areas
    Explain the specific areas of decision making this group is responsible for overseeing.

    Process

    Inputs
    Consider the information and materials that are needed to make decisions.

    Outputs
    Describe the outcomes of the committee. Think about decisions that were made through the governance process.

    Screenshot of the components of governance section from the 'Committee Template'.

    Map out relationships on the Governance Map

    Supporting Tool icon 2A.2 Assess the current governance framework

    Part B – Structure Map

    Structure
    1. Assess Inputs and Outputs

      Governing Bodies

      Inputs

      Outputs
      Committee #1
      Committee #2
      Committee #3
      CFO
      IT Director
      CIO
      To understand relationships between governing bodies, list the inputs and outputs for each unique committee that rely on other committees in the table provided.
    2. Create Structure Map
      Sample of the 'Current State Structure Map'. Using the outline provided, create your own governance structure map to represent the way the governing bodies interact and feed into each other. This is crucial to ensure that the governing structure is streamlined. It will ensure that communication occurs efficiently and that there are no barriers to making decisions swiftly.

    Outline the governance structure in the governance structure map

    Associated Activity icon 2.2 30 minutes
    The 'Current State Structure Map' from the last slide, but with added description. There are three tiers of groups. At the bottom is 'Run', described as 'The lowest level of governance will be an oversight of more specific initiatives and capabilities within IT.' 'Design and Build', described as 'The second tier of groups will oversee prioritization of a certain area of governance as well as second-tier decisions that feed into strategic decisions.' At the top is 'Strategy', described as 'These groups will focus on decisions that directly connect to the strategic direction of the organization.' The specific groups laid out in the map are 'Risk and Compliance Committee' which straddle the line between 'Run' and 'Design and Build', 'Portfolio Review Board' and 'IT Steering Committee (ITSC)' both of which straddle the line between 'Design and Build' and 'Strategy', 'Executive Management Committee (EMC)' which is in 'Strategy', and 'Other' in all tiers.

    Identify strengths and weaknesses of the governance framework

    Supporting Tool icon 2A.3 Assess the current governance framework

    Part C – Governance Guidelines

    1. Choose Business State Template Choose the template that represents the identified future state of business in the Statement of Business Context. Mini sample of the 'State of Business' table from the 'Statement of Business Context'.
    2. Identify Strengths and Weaknesses Input the major strengths and weaknesses of your governance that were highlighted in the brainstorming activity. Mini sample of a Strengths and Weaknesses table.
    3. Establish Governance Guidelines Draw your own implications from the strength and weaknesses that will drive the design of your governance in its future state. These guidelines should be concise and easy to implement. Mini sample of an expanded Strengths and Weaknesses table including a row for 'Implication/Guideline'. Note: Refer to the example guidelines in the Current State Assessment of IT Governance after you have considered your own specific guidelines. The examples are supplementary for your convenience.

    Distinguish your business state from the others to ensure implications act as accurate guidelines

    Business State Options

    1

    Small

    IT team is 30 people or less.

    Large

    IT team is more than 30 people.

    2

    Public

    Wholly or partly funded by the government.

    Private

    No government funding is provided.

    3

    		Lean: The business aims to eliminate any waste of resources (time, effort, or money) by removing steps in the business process that do not create value.Devops: Our organization aims to make quick decisions and navigate the fast-paced industry with agility. Uniting the development and operational sides of the business. Hierarchical: Departments in the organization are siloed by function. The organization is top-down and hierarchical, and takes more time with decision making.

    ‹– Multi-State (any combination) –›

    Multi-State Example A: If you are small organization that is publicly funded and you are shifting towards a lean methodology, combine the implications of all those groups in a way that fits your organization.

    Multi-State Example B: Your organization is shifting from a more traditional state of operating to combining the development and operations groups. Use hierarchical implications to govern one group and DevOps implications for the other.

    Identify strengths and weaknesses of the governance framework

    Associated Activity icon 2.3 2 hours

    INSTRUCTIONS

    1. Input Strengths of Governance
      Include useful components of the current framework; that may include elements that are operating well, fit the future state, or are required due to regulations or statutes.
    2. Determine Weaknesses and Challenges
      Discuss the pain points of the current governance framework by looking through the lenses of structure, authority, process, or membership.

    Consider:

    • Where is governance not meeting expectations?
    • Are we doing the right things?
    • Are we getting the benefits?
    • What are the outcomes?
    • What do we want to achieve?
    • How do we make intelligent decisions about what will help us achieve those outcomes?
    *Example

    Structure

    Authority

    Process

    Membership

    Strength

    • We must maintain a legal compliance committee due to the high level of legislation in the industry
    • The ITSC gathers and prioritizes investment options, saving time for the EMC
    • The EMC only make decisions on investments that are greater than $200,000
    • The legal board has a narrow focus, allowing it to maintain its necessary purpose efficiently
    • The information flow from ITSC to the EMC allows the EMC to spend their time effectively
    • The CIO sits on the EMC and the ITSC
    • The EMC is made up of senior leadership who have stakes in all areas of the business

    Weakness

    • Wrong number (too many/little groups)
    • Relationship is misaligned (input/output problems)
    • The tier it sits on the map is misguided
    • Duplication of the same tier of decisions in different groups
    • Approval for one specific topic occurs in more than one group
    • Lack of clarity in which group makes which decisions
    • Intake – where the information is coming from is the wrong source/inaccurate
    • Time to decision (too slow)
    • Poor results of governance (redoing projects, low value)
    • There is lack of knowledge in committee membership
    • Misplaced seniority (too Jr./Sr.)
    • Lack of representation in group (breadth across the business or depth of specific area)

    Derive governance implications from strengths and weaknesses

    Associated Activity icon 2.3 2-4 hours

    INSTRUCTIONS

    1. Copy and paste your strengths and weaknesses from part B into the template that reflects your business state.
    2. Draw your own implications from the strengths and weaknesses that will drive the design of your governance in its future state. These guidelines should be concise and practical.
    *Example

    Structure

    Authority

    Process

    Membership

    Strength

    Weakness

    Implication / Guideline

    • Make sure that the decision-making authority for most areas are at the lower tier
    • Governing bodies should be lower in the organization
    • One overarching governing body – directing priorities
    • High authority at a lower point of the organization
    • Highest tier is responsible for major budget shifts
    • High-level tier - reporting and feed in from lower level groups
    • Prioritization and sequencing occur at the mid-tier
    • Lowest governing tiers will have direct links to the customer to allow for interaction
    • Project or initiative owner as the leader of the body

    Note: Use the examples of guidelines provided in the Current State Assessment of IT Governance to help formulate your own.

    Conduct a current state assessment to identify guidelines for the future state of governance

    CASE STUDY

    Industry: Healthcare
    Source: Anonymous

    Challenge

    Over time, the organization had to create a large amount of governing committees and subcommittees in order to comply with governance frameworks applied to them and to meet regulatory compliance requirements.

    The current structure was no longer optimal to meet the newly identified mandate of the organization. However, the organization did not want to start from scratch and scrap the elements that worked, such as the dates and times that had been embedded into the organization.

    Solution

    A current state assessment was planned and executed in order to review what was currently being done and identify what could be retained and what should be added, changed, or removed to improve the governance outcomes.

    The scope involved examining how current and near-term governance needs were, or were not, met through the existing structure, bodies, and their processes.

    The organization investigated governance approaches of organizations with similar governance needs and with similar constraints to model their own.

    Results

    The outputs of this exercise included:

    • A list of effective practices and committee guidelines that could be leveraged with little to no change in the future state.
    • A list of opportunities to streamline the structure and processes.

    These guidelines were used to drive recommendations for improvements to the governance structures and processes in the organization.

    If you want additional support, have our analysts guide you through this phase as part of an Info-Tech Workshop Associated Activity icon

    Book a workshop with our Info-Tech analysts:

    Photo of an Info-Tech analyst.
    • To accelerate this project, engage your IT team in an Info-Tech workshop with an Info-Tech analyst team.
    • Info-Tech analyst will join you and your team onsite at your location or welcome you to Info-Tech's historic Toronto office to participate in an innovative onsite workshop.
    • Contact your account manager (www.infotech.com/account), or email Workshops@InfoTech.com for more information.

    The following are sample activities that will be conducted by Info-Tech analysts with your team:

    2.1

    		 Sample of activity 2.1 'Outline the governance structure in the governance structure map'. Create Current State Structure and Profiles

    Take the time to clearly articulate the current governance framework of your organization. Outline the structure and build the committee profiles for the governing bodies in your organization.

    2.3

    		 Sample of activity 2.3 'Identify strengths and weaknesses of the governance framework'. Determine Strengths, Weaknesses, and Guidelines

    Evaluate the strengths of your governance framework, the weaknesses that it exhibits, and the guidelines that will help maintain the strengths and alleviate the pains.

    Improve IT Governance to Drive Business Results

    PHASE 3

    Redesign the Governance Framework

    Phase 3 Guided Implementation

    Associated Activity icon Call 1-888-670-8889 or email GuidedImplementations@InfoTech.com for more information.

    Complete these steps on your own, or call us to complete a guided implementation. A guided implementation is a series of 2-3 advisory calls that help you execute each phase of a project. They are included in most advisory memberships.

    Guided Implementation 3: Redesign the Governance Framework

    Proposed Time to Completion: 4 weeks
    Step 3.1: Understand the Redesign Process Step 3.2: Review Governance Structure Step 3.3: Review Governance Committees
    Start with an analyst kick-off call:
    • Review the guidelines from the current state assessment.
    • Begin modifying the governance structure, authorities, processes, and memberships.
    		Review findings with analyst:
    • Determine the impact of the guidelines on the structural layout of the framework.
    • Determine the impact of the guidelines on the authority element of the framework.
    		 Finalize phase deliverable:
    • Determine the impact of the guidelines on the processes within the framework.
    • Determine the impact of the guidelines on the membership element of the framework.
    Then complete these activities…
    • Break down guidelines to make sure they are actionable and realistic.
    • Identify what to add, modify, or remove.
    • Review additional sources of information.
    		 Then complete these activities…
    • Build and review the governance structure map.
    • Identify additions, changes, or reductions in governing bodies and their areas of authority.
    		 Then complete these activities…
    • Use the template provided to build committee profiles for each identified committee.
    • Identify the membership, purpose, decision areas, inputs, and outputs of each.
    • Build committee charters if needed.
    With these tools & templates:
    • Current State Assessment
    • Future State Design for IT Governance
    		With these tools & templates:
    • Future State Design for IT Governance
    		 With these tools & templates:
    • Future State Design for IT Governance
    • IT Governance Terms of Reference

    Phase 3: Redesign the Governance Framework

    1 2 3 4
    Align IT With the Business Context Assess the Current Governance Framework Redesign the Governance Framework Implement Governance Redesign

    Activities:

    • 3.1 Build a Governance Structure Map
    • 3.2 Create Committee Profiles
    • 3.3 Leverage Process-Specific Governance Blueprints

    Outcomes:

    • Use the Future State Design for IT Governance template to build the optimal governance framework for your organization.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Keep the current and future goals in sight to build an optimized governance framework that maintains the minimum bar of oversight required.

    Anticipate the outcomes of the Future State Design for IT Governance tool

    Supporting Tool icon 3A Redesign the governance frameworks

    Use this tool to guide your organization toward transformative outcomes gleaned from an optimized governance framework.

    1. Implement Structural Guidelines
      Determine what governing bodies to add, change, or remove from your governance structure.
    2. Create a Governance Structure Map
      Configure the structural relationships for the redesigned governing bodies using the structure map.
    3. Build Effective Committees
      Use the IT Governance Terms of Reference to build profiles for each newly created committee and to alter any existing committees.
    4. Determine Follow-up Governance Support
      Access external material on governance from other Info-Tech blueprints that will help with specific governance areas.

    Download the Future State Design for IT Governance template to work toward these outcomes.

    Use the Future State Design for IT Governance tool to create a custom governance framework for your organization

    Supporting Tool icon 3A Redesign the governance frameworks

    How to use the Future State Design for IT Governance deliverable: Follow the steps below to redesign the future state of IT governance. Use the guidelines to respond to challenges identified in the current governance framework based on the current state assessment.

    Part A – Structure Map

    Part B – Committee Profiles
    1a. Input Structural Guidelines 1b. Input Authority Guidelines 1a. Input Process Guidelines 1b. Input Member Guidelines
    2. Guiding Questions
    Do governing bodies operate at a tier that matches the guidelines?
    Do governing bodies focus on the decisions that align with the guidelines?    		 2. Guiding Questions
    Do the process inputs and outputs reflect the structure and authority guidelines?
    Do governing bodies engage the right people who have the roles, capacity, and knowledge to govern?
    3. Add / Change (Tier/Authority) / Remove
    Governing Bodies – Structure    		 3. Adapt / Refine
    Governing Bodies – Profiles
    4. Use the Structure Map to Show Redesign Use the IT Governance Terms of Reference for Redesign

    Connect key learnings to initiate governance redesign

    The future state design will reflect the state of business that was identified in Phase 1 along with the guidelines defined in Phase 2 to build a governance framework that promotes business-IT fusion.

    Statement of Business Context –› Current State Assessment

    Identified Future Business State

    Structure
    Authority

    Leverage the structure and authority guidelines to build the governance structure.

    Defined Governance Guidelines

    Process
    Membership

    Leverage the process and membership guidelines to build the governance committees.
    Future State Design

    Use structure and authority guidelines to build a new governance structure map

    Supporting Tool icon 3A.1 Redesign the governance frameworks

    Part A – Structure Map

    Structure
    Authority
    1a. Structural Guidelines1b. Authority Guidelines
    Input the guidelines from the current state assessment to guide the redesign.

    2. Leverage Guiding Questions

    Use the guiding questions provided to assess the needed changes.
    Guiding Questions


    Do governing bodies operate at a tier that matches the guidelines?


    Do governing bodies focus on the decisions that align with the guidelines?
    Build the “where/why” of governance. Consider at what tier each committee will reside and what area of governance will be part of its domain. Modify the current structure; do not start from scratch.

    3. Add / Change (Tier/Authority) / Remove

    Determine changes to structure or authority that will be occurring for each of the current governing bodies. Work within the current structure as much as possible.A mini sample of an 'Add/Change/Remove' table for governing bodies.

    4. Use the Structure Map to Show Redesign

    Create your own governance structure map to represent the way the governing bodies interact and feed into each other. A mini sample of the 'Current State Structure Map' from before.

    Maintain as much of the existing framework as possible in the redesign

    Associated Activity icon 3.1 2-4 hours

    Future State Design

    • Structure
    • Authority

    Info-Tech Best Practice

    Keep the number of added or removed committees as low as possible, while still optimizing. The less change to the structure, the easier it will be to implement.

    Refer to the example to help guide your committee redesign.

      Determine:
    1. Do the guidelines impact committees you already have? Will you have to modify the tier or the authority of those committees?
    2. Do the guidelines require you to build a new committee to meet needs?
    3. Do the guidelines require you to remove a committee that isn’t necessary?

    All Governing Bodies

    Add

    Change

    Remove
    ITSC Structure

    Authority    		 Delegate the authority of portfolio investment decisions over $200K to this body
    Portfolio Review Board This committee no longer needs to exist since its authority of portfolio investment decisions over $200K has been redelegated
    Risk and Compliance Committee Create a new governing body to address increasing risk and compliance issues that face the organization

    Outline the new governance structure in the governance structure map in the Future State Design for IT Governance tool

    Associated Activity icon 3.1 The 'Current State Structure Map' from before, but with some abbreviated terms. There are three tiers of groups. At the bottom is 'Run', described as 'The lowest level of governance will be an oversight of more specific initiatives and capabilities within IT.' 'Design and Build', described as 'The second tier of groups will oversee prioritization of a certain area of governance as well as second-tier decisions that feed into strategic decisions.' At the top is 'Strategy', described as 'These groups will focus on decisions that directly connect to the strategic direction of the organization.' The specific groups laid out in the map are 'Risk and Compliance Committee' which straddle the line between 'Run' and 'Design and Build', 'Portfolio Review Board' and 'ITSC' both of which straddle the line between 'Design and Build' and 'Strategy', 'EMC' which is in 'Strategy', and 'Other' in all tiers.

    Use process and membership guidelines along with the IT Governance Terms of Reference to build committees

    Supporting Tool icon 3A.2 Redesign the governance frameworks

    Part B – Committee Profiles

    Process
    Membership
    1a. Process Guidelines 1b. Authority Guidelines
    Input the guidelines from the current state assessment to guide the redesign.

    2. Leverage Guiding Questions

    Use the guiding questions provided to assess the needed changes.
    Guiding Questions
    Do the process inputs and outputs reflect the structure and authority guidelines?
    Do governing bodies engage the right people who have the roles, capacity, and knowledge to govern?
    Build the “what/how” of governance. Build out the process and procedures that each committee will use.

    3. Adapt / Refine Governing Body Profiles

    Using your customized guidelines, create a profile for each committee.

    We have provided templates for some common committees. To make these committee profiles reflective of your organization, use the information you have gathered in your Current State Assessment of IT Governance guidelines.

    For a more detailed approach to building out specific charters for each committee refer to the IT Governance Terms of Reference.

    		 A mini sample of the 'Committee Template - Executive Management Committee'.

    A mini sample of the 'IT Governance Terms of Reference'.

    Use the IT Governance Terms of Reference to establish operational procedures for governing bodies

    Associated Activity icon 3.2 3-6 hours

    Future State Design

    • Process
    • Membership

    Info-Tech Best Practice

    The people on the committee matter. Governance committee membership does not have to correspond with the organizational structure, but it should correspond with the purpose and decision areas of the governance structure.

    Refer to the example to help guide your committee redesign.

      Determine:
    1. Do the guidelines alter the members needed to achieve the outcomes?
    2. Do the guidelines change the purpose and decision areas of the committee?
    3. How do the new structure’s guidelines impact the inputs and outputs of the governing body?

    Screenshot of the 'Committee Template - Executive Management Committee'.

    Add depth to the committee profiles using the IT Governance Terms of Reference

    Supporting Tool icon 3A.3 Redesign the governance frameworks

    Refer to the sections outlined below to build a committee charter for your governance committees. Four examples are provided in the tool and can be edited for your convenience. They are: Executive Management Committee, IT Steering Committee, Portfolio Review Board, and Risk and Compliance Committee.

    1. Purpose
    2. Goals
    3. Responsibilities
    4. Committee Members
    5. RACI
    6. Procedures
    7. Agenda

    Be sure to embed the domains of governance in the charters so that committees focus on the appropriate elements of benefits realization, risk optimization, and resource optimization.

    Download the IT Governance Terms of Reference for more in-depth committee charters.

    Three pillars of planning effective governance meetings

    The effectiveness of the governance is reliant on the ability to work within operational dependencies that will exist in the governance framework. Consider these questions to guide the duration, frequency, and sequencing of your governing body meetings.

    Frequency

    • What is the quantity of decisions that must be made?
    • Is a rapid or urgent response typically required?

    Duration

    • How long should your meeting run based on your meeting frequency and the volume of work to be accomplished?

    Sequencing

    • Are there other decisions that rely on the outcomes of this meeting?
    • Are there any decisions that must be made first for others to occur?
    		A venn diagram of the three pillars of planning effective governance meetings, 'Frequency', 'Duration', and 'Sequencing'.

    Leverage process-specific governance blueprints

    Associated Activity icon 3.3

    If there are specific areas of IT governance that you require further support on, refer to Info-Tech’s library of DIY blueprints, Guided Implementations, and workshops for further support. We cover IT governance in the following areas:

    Enterprise Architecture Governance

    Service Portfolio Governance

    Security Governance
    Titlecard of 'Create a Right-Sized Enterprise Architecture Governance Framework' blueprint. Titlecard of 'Lead Strategic Decision Making With Service Portfolio Management' blueprint. Titlecard of 'Build a Security Governance and Management Plan' blueprint.

    Consider the challenges and solutions when identifying a multi-state reality for your business state

    A multi-state business will face unique challenges in navigating the redesign process with the goal of combining all related business states in governance.

    1. Divergent Governance Models
      Separate the governance groups that need to function differently, and bring them back together at the highest level.
    2. Reflecting the Organizational Structure
      Unlike single-state governance, multi-state organizations should model the governance framework in reflection of the organizational structure.
    3. Combining Implications
      Prioritize which implications are the most important and make sure they work first, then see what else fits (e.g. start with regulation, then insert lean guidelines).

    The multi-state business will not fit into one “box” – consider implications from the overlapping business states.

    As business needs change, ensure that you establish triggers to reassess the design of your governance framework.

    Leverage the outcomes of the Current State Assessment and Statement of Business Context to build the future state

    CASE STUDY

    Industry: Healthcare
    Source: Info-Tech

    Challenge

    Identifying the committees and processes that should be in place in the target state required a lot of different inputs.

    A number of high-profile senior management team members were still resistant to the overall idea of applying governance to their initiatives since they were clinician driven.

    The approach and target state, including the implementation plan, had to be approved and built out.

    Solution

    The information pulled together from the current state assessment, including best practices and jurisdictional scans, were tied together with the updated mandate and future state, and a list of recommended improvements were documented.

    The improvements were presented to the optimization committee and the governance committee members to ensure agreement on the approach and confirm the timeline for agreed improvements.

    Results

    A future state mapping of the new committee structure was created, as well as the revised membership requirements, responsibilities, and terms of reference.

    The approved recommendations were prioritized and turned into an implementation plan, with each improvement being assigned an owner who would be responsible for driving the effort to completion.

    Integration points in other processes, like SDLC, where change would be required were highlighted and included in the implementation plan.

    If you want additional support, have our analysts guide you through this phase as part of an Info-Tech Workshop Associated Activity icon

    Book a workshop with our Info-Tech analysts:

    Photo of an Info-Tech analyst.
    • To accelerate this project, engage your IT team in an Info-Tech workshop with an Info-Tech analyst team.
    • Info-Tech analyst will join you and your team onsite at your location or welcome you to Info-Tech's historic Toronto office to participate in an innovative onsite workshop.
    • Contact your account manager (www.infotech.com/account), or email Workshops@InfoTech.com for more information.

    The following are sample activities that will be conducted by Info-Tech analysts with your team:

    3.1

    		 Sample of activity 3.1 'Maintain as much of the existing framework as possible in the redesign'. Redesign the Governance Structure

    Identify committees that need to be added, ones that must be changed, and the no-longer-needed governing bodies in an optimized and streamlined structure. Draw it out in the governance structure map.

    3.2

    		 Sample of activity 3.2 'Utilize the IT Governance Terms of Reference to establish operational procedures for governing bodies'. Redesign the Governing Bodies

    Use the IT Governance Terms of Reference and the Committee Template to build a committee profile for each governing body identified. Use these activities to build out and establish the processes of the modified governing groups.

    Improve IT Governance to Drive Business Results

    PHASE 4

    Implement Governance Redesign

    Phase 4 outline

    Associated Activity icon Call 1-888-670-8889 or email GuidedImplementations@InfoTech.com for more information.

    Complete these steps on your own, or call us to complete a guided implementation. A guided implementation is a series of 2-3 advisory calls that help you execute each phase of a project. They are included in most advisory memberships.

    Guided Implementation 4: Implement Governance Redesign

    Proposed Time to Completion: 2-3 weeks
    Step 4.1: Identify Steps for Implementation Step 4.2: Finalized Implementation Plan
    Start with an analyst kick-off call:
    • Identify major steps required to implement the governance redesign.
    • Outline the components and milestones of the implementation plan.
    • Review materials needed for the executive presentation.
    		 Review findings with analyst:
    • Review the major milestones identified in the implementation plan.
    • Discuss potential challenges and stakeholder objections.
    • Strategize for the executive presentation.
    Then complete these activities…
    • Then complete these activities…
    • Identify next steps for the redesign.
    • Establish a communication plan.
    		 Then complete these activities…
    • Review the implementation plan.
    • Assess any challenging milestones and build implementation strategies.
    • Finalize the executive presentation.
    With these tools & templates:
    • IT Governance Implementation Plan
    • Redesign IT Governance to Drive Optimal Business Results Executive Presentation Template
    		 With these tools & templates:
    • IT Governance Implementation Plan
    • Redesign IT Governance to Drive Optimal Business Results Executive Presentation Template

    Phase 4: Implement Governance Redesign

    1 2 3 4
    Align IT With the Business Context Assess the Current Governance Framework Redesign the Governance Framework Implement Governance Redesign

    Activities:

    • 4.1 Identify Next Steps for the Redesign
    • 4.2 Establish a Communication Plan
    • 4.3 Lead the Executive Presentation

    Outcomes:

    • Rationalize steps in the Implementation Plan tool.
    • Construct an executive presentation to facilitate transparency for the governing framework.

    Anticipate and overcome implementation obstacles for the redesign

    Often high-level organizational changes create challenges. We will help you break down the barriers to optimal IT governance by addressing key obstacles.

    Key Obstacles

    Solutions
    Identifying Steps The prioritization must be driven by the common view of what is important for the organization to succeed. Prioritize the IT governance next steps according to the value they are anticipated to provide to the business.
    Communicating the Redesign The redesign of IT governance will bring impactful changes to diverse stakeholders across the organization. This phase will help you plan communication strategies for the different stakeholders.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Don’t overlook the politics and culture of your organization while redesigning your governance framework.

    Create an implementation roadmap to organize a plan for the redesign

    Supporting Tool icon 4A Create an implementation and communication plan

    INSTRUCTIONS

    1. Identify Tasks
      Decide on the order of tasks for your implementation plan. Consider the dependencies of actions and plan the sequence accordingly.
    2. Determine Communication Method
      Identify the most appropriate and impactful method of communicating at each milestone identified in step 1.

    Download the IT Governance Implementation Plan to organize your customized implementation and communication plan.

    Screenshot of a table in the 'IT Governance Implementation Plan'.

    Outline next steps for governance redesign

    Associated Activity icon 4.1

    INPUT: Tasks Identified in the Future State Design

    OUTPUT: Identified Tasks for Implementation as Well as the Audience

    Materials: N/A

    Participants: IT Governance Redesign Owner

    INSTRUCTIONS

    Keep these questions in mind as you analyze and assess what steps to take first in the redesign implementation.

    1. What needs to happen?
      Use the identified changes from the redesign as your guiding list of tasks that need to occur. If they are larger tasks, break them down into smaller parts to make the milestones more achievable.
    2. What are the dependencies?
      Throughout the implementation of the redesign, certain tasks will need to occur to enable other tasks to be performed. Make sure to clearly identify what dependencies exist in the implementation process and clearly identify the order of the tasks.
    3. Who do the changes impact?
      Consider the groups and individuals that will be impacted by changes to the governance framework. This includes key business stakeholders, IT leaders, members of governing boards, and anyone who provides an input or requires an output from one of the committees.

    Use a big-bang approach to implement the IT governance redesign

    While there are other methods to implementing change, the big-bang approach is the most effective for governance redesign and will maintain the momentum of the change as well as the support needed to make it successful.

    Phased

    Parallel

    Big Bang

    Implementation of redesign occurs in steps over a significant period of time.

    Three arrows, each beginning where the previous one ends, separated.

    Components of the redesign are brought into the governance framework, while maintaining some of the old components.

    Three arrows, each beginning slightly after the previous one begins, overlapping.

    Implementation of redesign occurs all at once. This requires significant preparation.

    One large arrow, spanning the length of the other grouped arrows, circled to emphasize.
    • Some committees will be operating under a new structure while others are not, which will undermine the changes being made.
    • This method proliferates a lack of transparency and trust.
    • Releasing IT governance in parallel leads to members sitting on too many boards and spending too much time on governance.
    • There will be a lack of clarity on a committee’s authority.
    • This approach will lead to consistency and transparency in the new process.
    • The change will be clear and fully embedded in the organization with stronger boundaries and well-defined expectations.

    Determine the most effective and impactful communication mediums for relevant stakeholders

    Associated Activity icon 4.2 1 hour

    INSTRUCTIONS

    1. Consider the Individual or Group
      Consider the group and individuals identified in step 4.1. Determine the most appropriate mechanism for communicating with that person or group. Keep in mind: If they are local, how much influence they have and if they are already engaged in the redesign process.
    2. Consider the Message
      The type of message that you are communicating will vary in impact and importance depending on the task. Make sure that the communication medium reflects your message. Keep in mind: If the you are communicating an important or more personal issue, the medium should be more personal as well.

    Screenshot of the same table in the 'IT Governance Implementation Plan'.

    Communicate the changes that result from the redesign

    Plan the message first, then deliver it to your stakeholders through the most appropriate medium to avoid message avoidance or confusion.

    Communication Medium

    Face-to-Face Communication

    Face-to-face communication helps to ensure that the audience is receiving and understanding a clear message, and allows them to voice their concerns and clarify any confusion or questions.

    • Use one-on-one meetings for key stakeholders and large organizational meetings to introduce large changes in the redesign.
    Emails

    Use email to communicate information to broad audiences. In addition, use email as the mass feedback mechanism.

    • Use email to follow up on meetings, or to invite people to next ones, but not as the sole medium of communication.
    Internal Website or Drive

    Use an internal website or drive as an information repository.

    • Store meeting minutes, policies, procedures, terms of reference, and feedback online to ensure transparency.

    Message Delivery

    1. Plan Your Message
      Emphasize what the audience really needs to know and how the change will impact them.
    2. Test Your Message
      If possible, test your communications with a small audience (2-3 people) first to get feedback and adjust messages before delivering them more broadly.
    3. Deliver and Repeat Your Message
      “Tell them what you’re going to tell them, then tell them, then tell them what you told them.”
    4. Gather Feedback and Evaluate Communications
      Evaluate the effectiveness of the communications (through surveys, stakeholder interviews, or metrics) to ensure the message was delivered and received successfully and communication goals were met.

    Construct an executive presentation to facilitate transparency for the governing framework

    Supporting Tool icon 4B Present the redesign to the key business stakeholders

    INSTRUCTIONS

    1. Identify Stakeholders
      Determine which business stakeholders have been the most involved in the redesign process.
    2. Customize Presentation
      Use the deliverables that you have built throughout this redesign to communicate the changes to the structure, authority, processes, and memberships in the governance framework.
    3. Present to Executives
      Present the executive presentation to the key business stakeholders who have been involved in the redesign process.

    Info-Tech best Practice

    Use the Executive Presentation customizable deliverable to lead a boardroom-quality presentation outlining the process and outcomes of the IT governance redesign.

    Present the executive presentation

    Associated Activity icon 4.3 1 hour

    INSTRUCTIONS

    1. Input SoBC Outcomes
      Input the outcomes of the SoBC. Specify the state of the business you have identified through the process of Phase 1.
    2. Input Current State Framework and Guidelines
      Input the outcomes of the current state assessment. Explain the process you used to identify the current governance framework and how you determined the strengths, weaknesses, and guidelines.
    3. Input Redesigned Governance Framework
      Input the governance redesign outcomes. Explain the process you used to modify and reconstruct the governance framework to drive optimal business results. Show the new structure and committee profiles.

    Use the Redesign IT Governance to Drive Optimal Business Results Executive Presentation Template for more information.

    Implement the governance redesign to optimize governance and, in turn, business results

    CASE STUDY

    Industry: Healthcare
    Source: Info-Tech

    Challenge

    Members of the project management group and in the larger SDLC process identified a lack of clarity on how to best govern active projects and initiatives that were moving through the governance process during the changes to the governance framework.

    These projects had already begun under the old frameworks and applying the redesigned governance framework would lead to work duplication and wasted time.

    Solution

    The organization decided that instead of applying the redesign to all initiatives across the organization, it would only be applied to new initiatives and ones that were still working within the first part of the “gating” process, where revised intake information could still be provided.

    Active initiatives that fell into the grandfathered category were identified and could proceed based on the old process. Yet, those that did not receive this status were provided carry-over lead time to revise their documentation during the changes.

    Results

    The implementation plan and timeframes were approved and an official change-over date identified.

    A communication plan was provided, including the grandfathered approach to be used with in-flight initiatives.

    A review cycle was also established for three months after launch to ensure the process was working as expected and would be repeated annually.

    The revised process improved the cycle time by 30% and improved the ability of the organization to govern high-speed requests and decisions.

    Summary of accomplishment

    Insights

    • IT governance requires business leadership.
      Instead of IT managing and governing IT, engage business leaders to take responsibility for governing IT.
    • With great governance comes great responsibility.
      Involve relevant business leaders, who will be impacted by IT outcomes, to share governing authority of IT.
    • Establish IT-business fusion.
      In governance, alignment is not enough. Merge IT and the business through governance to ensure business success.

    Knowledge Gained

    • There must be an active understanding of the current and future state of the business for governance to address the changing needs of the business.
    • Take a proactive approach to revising your governance framework. Understand why you are making decisions before actually making them.
    • Keep the current and future goals in sight to build an optimized governance framework that maintains the minimum bar of oversight required.

    Processes Optimized

    • EDM01 – Establishing a Governance Framework
    • Understanding the four elements of governance:
      • Structure
      • Authority
      • Process
      • Members
    • Embedding the benefits realization criteria, risk optimization, and resource optimization in governance.

    Deliverables Completed

    • Statement of Business Context
    • Current State Assessment of IT Governance
    • Future State Design for IT Governance
    • IT Governance Implementation Plan

    If you want additional support, have our analysts guide you through this phase as part of an Info-Tech Workshop Associated Activity icon

    Book a workshop with our Info-Tech analysts:

    Photo of an Info-Tech analyst.
    • To accelerate this project, engage your IT team in an Info-Tech workshop with an Info-Tech analyst team.
    • Info-Tech analyst will join you and your team onsite at your location or welcome you to Info-Tech's historic Toronto office to participate in an innovative onsite workshop.
    • Contact your account manager (www.infotech.com/account), or email Workshops@InfoTech.com for more information.

    The following are sample activities that will be conducted by Info-Tech analysts with your team:

    4.1

    		 Sample of activity 4.1 'Outline next steps for governance redesign'. Build and Deploy the Implementation Plan

    Construct a list of tasks and consider the individuals or groups that those tasks will impact when implementing the governance redesign. Ensure consistent and transparent communication for successful outcomes.

    4.3

    		 Sample of activity 4.3 'Present the Executive Presentation'. Build the Executive Presentation

    Insert the state of business, current state, and future state design outcomes into a presentation to inform the key business stakeholders on the process and outcomes of the governance redesign.

    Research contributors and experts

    Deborah Eyzaguirre, IT Business Relationship Manager, UNT System

    Herbert Kraft, MIS Manager, Prairie Knights Casino

    Roslyn Kaman, CFO, Miles Nadal JCC

    Nicole Haggerty, Associate Professor of Information Systems, Ivey Business School

    Chris Austin, CTO, Ivey Business School

    Adriana Callerio, IT Director Performance Management, Molina Healthcare Inc.

    Joe Evers, Consulting Principal, JcEvers Consulting Corp

    Huw Morgan, IT Research Executive

    Joy Thiele, Special Projects Manager, Dunns Creek Baptist Church

    Rick Daoust, CIO, Cambrian College

    Related Info-Tech Research

    Bibliography

    A.T. Kearney. “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Governance.” A.T. Kearney, 2008. Web. Nov. 2016.

    Bertolini, Phil. “The Transformational Effect of IT Governance.” Government Finance Review, Dec. 2012. Web. Nov. 2016.

    CGI. “IT Governance and Managed Services – Creative a win-win relationship” CGI Group Inc., 2015. Web. Dec. 2016.

    De Haes, Steven, and Wim Van Grembergen. “An Exploratory Study into the Design of an IT Governance Minimum Baseline through Delphi Research.” Communications of the Association for Information Systems: Vol. 22 , Article 24. 2008. Web. Nov. 2016.

    Deloitte LLP. “The Role of Senior Leaders in IT Governance.” The Wall Street Journal, 22 Jun. 2015. Web. Oct. 2016.

    Dragoon, Alice. “Four Governance Best Practices.” CIO From IDG, 15 Aug. 2003. Web. Dec. 2016.

    du Preez, Gert. “Company Size Matters: Perspectives on IT Governance.” PricewaterhouseCoopers, Aug. 2011. Web. Nov. 2016.

    Hagen, Christian, et. al. “Building a Capability-Driven IT Organization.” A.T. Kearney, Jun. 2011. Web. Nov. 2016.

    Heller, Martha. “Five Best Practices for IT Governance.” CFO.com, 27 Aug. 2012. Web. Oct. 2016.

    Hoch, Detlev, and Payan, Miguel. “Establishing Good IT Governance in the Public Sector.” McKinsey Dusseldorf, Mar. 2008. Web. Oct. 2016.

    Horne, Andrew, and Brian Foster. “IT Governance Is Killing Innovation.” Harvard Business Review, 22 Aug. 2013. Web. Dec. 2016.

    ISACA. “COBIT 5: Enabling Processes.” ISACA, 2012. Web. Oct. 2016.

    IT Governance Institute. “An Executive View of IT Governance.” IT Governance Institute, in association with PricewaterhouseCoopers. 2009. Web. Nov. 2016.

    Bibliography continued

    IT Governance Institute. “IT Governance Roundtable: Defining IT Governance.” IT Governance Institute, 2009. Web. Nov. 2016.

    Macgregor, Stuart. “The linchpin between Corporate Governance and IT Governance.” The Open Group’s EA Forum Johannesburg and Cape Town, Nov. 2013. Web. Nov. 2016.

    Mallette, Debra. “Implementing IT Governance An Introduction.” ISACA San Francisco Chapter, 23 Sep. 2009. Web. Oct. 2016.

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “IT Governance Introduction.” MIT Centre for Information System Research, 2016. Web. Nov. 2016.

    Mueller, Lynn, et. al. “IBM IT Governance Approach – Business Performance through IT Execution.” IBM Redbooks, Feb. 2008. Web. Nov. 2016.

    National Computing Centre. “IT Governance: Developing a successful governance strategy.” The National Computing Centre, Nov. 2005. Web. Oct. 2016.

    Pittsburgh ISACA Chapter. “Practical Approach to COBIT 5.0.” Pittsburgh ISACA Chapter, 17 Sep. 2012. Web. Nov. 2016.

    PricewaterhouseCoopers. “Great by governance: Improve IT performance and Value While Managing Risks.” PricewaterhouseCoopers, Nov. 2014. Web. Dec. 2016.

    PricewaterhouseCoopers. “IT Governance in Practice: Insights from leading CIOs.” PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2006. Web. Nov. 2016.

    Routh, Richard L. “IT Governance Part 1 of 2.” Online video clip. YouTube. The Institute of CIO Excellence, 01 Aug. 2012. Web. Nov. 2016.

    Salleh, Noor Akma Mohd, et. al. “IT Governance in Airline Industry: A Multiple Case Study.” International Journal of Digital Society, Dec. 2010. Web. Nov. 2016.

    Bibliography continued

    Speckert, Thomas, et. al. “IT Governance in Organizations Facing Decentralization – Case Study in Higher Education.” Department of Computer and Systems Sciences. Stockholm University, 2014. Web. Nov. 2016.

    Thorp, John. The Information Paradox—Realizing the Business Benefits of Information Technology. Revised Edition, McGraw Hill, 2003 (written jointly with Fujitsu).

    Vandervost, Guido, et. al. “IT Governance for the CxO.” Deloitte, Nov. 2013. Web. Nov. 2016.

    Weill, Peter, and Jeanne W. Ross. “IT Governance: How Top Performers Manage IT Decision Rights for Superior Results.” Boston: Harvard Business School, 2004. Print. Oct. 2016.

    Wong, Daron, et. al. “IT Governance in Oil and Gas: CIO Roundtable, Priorities for Surviving and Thriving in Lean Times.” Online video clip. YouTube. IT Media Group, Jun. 2016. Web. Nov. 2016.

    Enhance PPM Dashboards and Reports

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    • Parent Category Name: Portfolio Management
    • Parent Category Link: /portfolio-management
    • Your organization has introduced project portfolio management (PPM) processes that require new levels of visibility into the project portfolio that were not required before.
    • Key PPM decision makers are requesting new or improved dashboards and reports to help support making difficult decisions.
    • Often PPM dashboards and reports provide too much information and are difficult to navigate, resulting in information overload and end-user disengagement.
    • PPM dashboards and reports are laborious to maintain; ineffective dashboards end up wasting scarce resources, delay decisions, and negatively impact the perceived value of the PMO.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • Well-designed dashboards and reports help actively engage stakeholders in effective management of the project portfolio by communicating information and providing support to key PPM decision makers. This tends to improve PPM performance, making resource investments into reporting worthwhile.
    • Observations and insights gleaned from behavioral studies and cognitive sciences (largely ignored in PPM literature) can help PMOs design dashboards and reports that avoid information overload and that provide targeted decision support to key PPM decision makers.

    Impact and Result

    • Enhance your PPM dashboards and reports by carrying out a carefully designed enhancement project. Start by clarifying the purpose of PPM dashboards and reports. Establish a focused understanding of PPM decision-support needs, and design dashboards and reports to address these in a targeted way.
    • Conduct a thorough review of all existing dashboards and reports, evaluating the need, effort, usage, and satisfaction of each report to eliminate any unnecessary or ineffective dashboards and design improved dashboards and reports that will address these gaps.
    • Design effective and targeted dashboards and reports to improve the engagement of senior leaders in PPM and help improve PPM performance.

    Enhance PPM Dashboards and Reports Research & Tools

    Start here – read the Executive Brief

    Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should enhance your PPM reports and dashboards, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Establish a PPM dashboard and reporting enhancement project plan

    Identify gaps, establish a list of dashboards and reports to enhance, and set out a roadmap for your dashboard and reporting enhancement project.

    • Enhance PPM Dashboards and Reports – Phase 1: Establish a PPM Dashboard and Reporting Enhancement Project Plan
    • PPM Decision Support Review Workbook
    • PPM Dashboard and Reporting Audit Workbook
    • PPM Dashboard and Reporting Audit Worksheets – Exisiting
    • PPM Dashboard and Reporting Audit Worksheets – Proposed
    • PPM Metrics Menu
    • PPM Dashboard and Report Enhancement Project Charter Template

    2. Design and build enhanced PPM dashboards and reporting

    Gain an understanding of how to design effective dashboards and reports.

    • Enhance PPM Dashboards and Reports – Phase 2: Design and Build New or Improved PPM Dashboards and Reporting
    • PPM Dashboard and Report Requirements Workbook
    • PPM Executive Dashboard Template
    • PPM Dashboard and Report Visuals Template
    • PPM Capacity Dashboard Operating Manual

    3. Implement and maintain effective PPM dashboards and reporting

    Officially close and evaluate the PPM dashboard and reporting enhancement project and transition to an ongoing and sustainable PPM dashboard and reporting program.

    • Enhance PPM Dashboards and Reports – Phase 3: Implement and Maintain Effective PPM Dashboards and Reporting
    • PPM Dashboard and Reporting Program Manual
    [infographic]

    Workshop: Enhance PPM Dashboards and Reports

    Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

    1 Establish a PPM Dashboard and Reporting Enhancement

    The Purpose

    PPM dashboards and reports will only be effective and valuable if they are designed to meet your organization’s specific needs and priorities.

    Conduct a decision-support review and a thorough dashboard and report audit to identify the gaps your project will address.

    Take advantage of the planning stage to secure sponsor and stakeholder buy-in.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Current-state assessment of satisfaction with PPM decision-making support.

    Current-state assessment of all existing dashboards and reports: effort, usage, and satisfaction.

    A shortlist of dashboards and reports to improve that is informed by actual needs and priorities.

    A shortlist of dashboards and reports to create that is informed by actual needs and priorities.

    The foundation for a purposeful and focused PPM dashboard and reporting program that is sustainable in the long term.

    Activities

    1.1 Engage in PPM decision-making review.

    1.2 Perform a PPM dashboard and reporting audit and gap analysis.

    1.3 Identify dashboards and/or reports needed.

    1.4 Plan the PPM dashboard and reporting project.

    Outputs

    PPM Decision-Making Review

    PPM Dashboard and Reporting Audit

    Prioritized list of dashboards and reports to be improved and created

    Roadmap for the PPM dashboard and reporting project

    2 Design New or Improved PPM Dashboards and Reporting

    The Purpose

    Once the purpose of each PPM dashboard and report has been identified (based on needs and priorities) it is important to establish what exactly will be required to produce the desired outputs.

    Gathering stakeholder and technical requirements will ensure that the proposed and finalized designs are realistic and sustainable in the long term.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Dashboard and report designs that are informed by a thorough analysis of stakeholder and technical requirements.

    Dashboard and report designs that are realistically sustainable in the long term.

    Activities

    2.1 Review the best practices and science behind effective dashboards and reporting.

    2.2 Gather stakeholder requirements.

    2.3 Gather technical requirements.

    2.4 Build wireframe options for each dashboard or report.

    2.5 Review options: requirements, feasibility, and usability.

    2.6 Finalize initial designs.

    2.7 Design and record the input, production, and consumption workflows and processes.

    Outputs

    List of stakeholder requirements for dashboards and reports

    Wireframe design options

    Record of the assessment of each wireframe design: requirements, feasibility, and usability

    A set of finalized initial designs for dashboards and reports.

    Process workflows for each initial design

    3 Plan to Roll Out Enhanced PPM Dashboards and Reports

    The Purpose

    Ensure that enhanced dashboards and reports are actually adopted in the long term by carefully planning their roll-out to inputters, producers, and consumers.

    Plan to train all stakeholders, including report consumers, to ensure that the reports generate the decision support and PPM value they were designed to.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    An informed, focused, and scheduled plan for rolling out dashboards and reports and for training the various stakeholders involved.

    Activities

    3.1 Plan for external resourcing (if necessary): vendors, consultants, contractors, etc.

    3.2 Conduct impact analysis: risks and opportunities.

    3.3 Create an implementation and training plan.

    3.4 Determine PPM dashboard and reporting project success metrics.

    Outputs

    External resourcing plan

    Impact analysis and risk mitigation plan

    Record of the PPM dashboard and reporting project success metrics

    Manage Your Technical Debt

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    • Parent Category Name: Strategy and Organizational Design
    • Parent Category Link: /strategy-and-organizational-design
    • All organizations, of all sizes, have some amount of technical debt, but very few systematically track, manage, and communicate it.
    • Deferred project work is pushed over to operations, sometimes with little visibility or hand-off, where it gets deprioritized and lost.
    • IT doesn’t have the resources or authority to make needed changes to address the impact of tech debt and can’t make the case for improvement without good data on the problem.
    • Efforts to track technical debt get stuck in the weeds, don’t connect technical issues to business impact, and run out of steam.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • Technical debt is a type of technical risk, which in turn is business risk. The business, not IT, must make the decision to accept or mitigate risk – but IT must help the business make an informed decision.
    • There are two ways to keep your technical debt at a manageable level – effectively, to mitigate risk: either stop introducing new debt or start paying back what you already have.

    Impact and Result

    • Define and identify your technical debt. Focus on tech debt you think you can actually fix.
    • Conduct a streamlined and targeted business impact analysis to prioritize tech debt based on its ongoing business impact.
    • Identify options to better manage technical debt and present your findings to business decision makers.

    Manage Your Technical Debt Research & Tools

    Start here – read the Executive Brief

    Read our concise Executive Brief to understand the business case to manage technical debt, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Identify your technical debt

    Define, identify, and organize your technical debt in preparation for the technical debt impact analysis.

    • Technical Debt Business Impact Analysis Tool

    2. Measure your technical debt

    Conduct a technical debt business impact analysis.

    • Roadmap Tool

    3. Manage your technical debt

    Identify options to resolve technical debt and summarize the challenge and potential solutions for business decision makers.

    • Technical Debt Executive Summary Presentation
    [infographic]

    Workshop: Manage Your Technical Debt

    Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

    1 Define and Identify Technical Debt

    The Purpose

    Create a working definition of technical debt and identify the technical debt in your environment.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    List your technical debt.

    Activities

    1.1 Develop a working definition for technical debt.

    1.2 Discuss your organization’s technical debt risk.

    1.3 Identify 5-10 high-impact technical debts to structure the impact analysis.

    Outputs

    Goals, opportunities, and constraints related to tech debt management

    A list of technical debt

    2 Measure Technical Debt

    The Purpose

    Conduct a more-objective assessment of the business impact of technical debt.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Identify the most-critical technical debt in your environment, in terms of business risk.

    Activities

    2.1 Review and modify business impact scoring scales.

    2.2 Identify reasonable scenarios to structure the impact analysis.

    2.3 Apply the scoring scale to identify the business impact of each technical debt.

    Outputs

    Business impact scoring scales

    Scenarios to support the impact analysis

    Technical debt impact analysis

    3 Build a Roadmap to Manage Technical Debt

    The Purpose

    Leverage the technical debt impact analysis to identify, compare, and quantify projects that fix technical debt and projects that prevent it.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Create your plan to manage technical debt.

    Activities

    3.1 Brainstorm projects and action items to manage and pay back critical technical debt. Prioritize projects and action items to build a roadmap.

    3.2 Identify three possible courses of action to pay back each critical technical debt.

    3.3 Identify immediate next steps to manage remaining tech debt and limit the introduction of new tech debt.

    Outputs

    Technical debt management roadmap

    Technical debt executive summary

    Immediate next steps to manage technical debt

    Build an Extensible Data Warehouse Foundation

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    • Parent Category Name: Big Data
    • Parent Category Link: /big-data
    • Data warehouse implementation is a costly and complex undertaking, and can end up not serving the business' needs appropriately.
    • Too heavy a focus on technology creates a data warehouse that isn’t sustainable and ends up with poor adoption.
    • Emerging data sources and technologies add complexity to how the appropriate data is made available to business users.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • A data warehouse is a project; but successful data warehousing is a program. An effective data warehouse requires planning beyond the technology implementation.
    • Governance, not technology needs to be the core support system for enabling a data warehouse program.
    • Understand business processes at the operational, tactical, and ad hoc levels to ensure a fit-for-purpose DW is built.

    Impact and Result

    • Leverage an approach that focuses on constructing a data warehouse foundation that is able to address a combination of operational, tactical, and ad hoc business needs.
    • Invest time and effort to put together pre-project governance to inform and provide guidance to your data warehouse implementation.
    • Develop “Rosetta Stone” views of your data assets to facilitate data modeling.
    • Select the most suitable architecture pattern to ensure the data warehouse is “built right” at the very beginning.

    Build an Extensible Data Warehouse Foundation Research & Tools

    Start here – read the Executive Brief

    Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why the data warehouse is becoming an important tool for driving business value, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Prepare for the data warehouse foundation project

    Begin the data warehouse foundation by defining the project and governance teams, as well as reviewing supporting data management practices.

    • Build an Extensible Data Warehouse Foundation – Phase 1: Prepare for the Data Warehouse Foundation Project
    • Data Warehouse Foundation Project Plan Template
    • Data Warehouse Work Breakdown Structure Template
    • Data (Warehouse) Architect
    • Data Integration Specialist
    • Business Intelligence Specialist
    • Director of Data Warehousing/Business Intelligence
    • Data Warehouse Program Charter Template
    • Data Warehouse Steering Committee Charter Template

    2. Establish the business drivers and data warehouse strategy

    Using the business activities as a guide, develop a data model, data architecture, and technology plan for a data warehouse foundation.

    • Build an Extensible Data Warehouse Foundation – Phase 2: Establish the Business Drivers and Data Warehouse Strategy
    • Business Data Catalog
    • Data Classification Inventory Tool
    • Data Warehouse Architecture Planning Tool
    • Master Data Mapping Tool

    3. Plan for data warehouse governance

    Start developing a data warehouse program by defining how users will interact with the new data warehouse environment.

    • Build an Extensible Data Warehouse Foundation – Phase 3: Plan for Data Warehouse Governance
    • Data Warehouse Standard Operating Procedures Template
    • Data Warehouse Service Level Agreement
    [infographic]

    Workshop: Build an Extensible Data Warehouse Foundation

    Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

    1 Prepare for the Data Warehouse Foundation Project

    The Purpose

    Identify the members of the foundation project team.

    Define overarching statements and define success factors/risks.

    Outline basic project governance.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Defined membership, roles, and responsibilities involved in the foundation project.

    Establishment of a steering committee as a starting point for the data warehouse program.

    Activities

    1.1 Identify foundation project team and create a RACI chart.

    1.2 Understand what a data warehouse can and cannot enable.

    1.3 Define critical success factors, key performance metrics, and project risks.

    1.4 Develop rough timelines for foundation project completion.

    1.5 Define the current and future states for key data management practices.

    Outputs

    Job Descriptions and RACI

    Data Warehouse Steering Committee Charter

    Data Warehouse Foundation Project Plan

    Work Breakdown Structure

    2 Establish the Business Drivers and Data Warehouse Strategy

    The Purpose

    Define the information needs of the business and its key processes.

    Create the components that will inform an appropriate data model.

    Design a data warehouse architecture model.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Clear definition of business needs that will directly inform the data and architecture models.

    Activities

    2.1 Understand the most fundamental needs of the business.

    2.2 Define the data warehouse vision, mission, purpose, and goals.

    2.3 Detail the most important operational, tactical, and ad hoc activities the data warehouse should support.

    2.4 Link the processes that will be central to the data warehouse foundation.

    2.5 Walk through the four-column model and business entity modeling as a starting point for data modeling.

    2.6 Create data models using the business data glossary and data classification.

    2.7 Identify master data elements to define dimensions.

    2.8 Design lookup tables based on reference data.

    2.9 Create a fit-for-purpose data warehousing model.

    Outputs

    Data Warehouse Program Charter

    Data Warehouse Vision and Mission

    Documentation of Business Processes

    Business Entity Map

    Business Data Glossary

    Data Classification Scheme

    Data Warehouse Architecture Model

    3 Plan for Data Warehouse Governance

    The Purpose

    Create a plan for governing your data warehouse efficiently and effectively.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Documentation of current standard operating procedures.

    Identified members of a data warehouse center of excellence.

    Activities

    3.1 Develop a technology capability map to visualize your desired state.

    3.2 Establish a data warehouse center of excellence.

    3.3 Create a data warehouse foundation roadmap.

    3.4 Define data warehouse service level agreements.

    3.5 Create standard operating procedures.

    Outputs

    Technology Capability Map

    Project Roadmap

    Service Level Agreement

    Data Warehouse Standard Operating Procedure Workbook

    Application Maintenance

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    • Parent Category Name: Applications
    • Parent Category Link: /applications
    • byline: Effective maintenance ensures the long-term value creation.

    The challenge

    • If you work with application maintenance or operations teams that handle the "run" of your applications, you may find that the sheer volume and variety of requests create large backlogs.
    • Your business and product owners may want scrum or DevOps teams to work on new functionality rather than spend effort on lifecycle management.
    • Increasing complexity and increasing reliance on technology may create unrealistic expectations for your maintenance teams. Business applications must be available around the clock, and new feature roadmaps cannot be side-tracked by maintenance.

    Our advice

    Insight

    • Improving maintenance focus may mean doing less work but create more value. Your teams need to be realistic about what commitments they take—balance maintenance with business value and risk levels.
    • Treat maintenance the same as any other development practice. Use the same intake and prioritization practices. Uphold the same quality standards.

    Impact and results 

    • Justify the necessity of streamlined and regular maintenance. Understand each stakeholder's objectives and concerns, validate them against your staff's current state, processes, and technologies involved.
    • Maintenance and risk go hand in hand. And the business wants to move forward all the time as well. Strengthen your prioritization practice. Use a holistic view of the business and technical impacts, risks, urgencies across the maintenance needs and requests. That allows you to justify their respective positions in the overall development backlog. Identify opportunities to bring some requirements and features together.
    • Build a repeatable process with appropriate governance around it. Ensure that people know their roles and responsibilities and are held accountable.
    • Instill development best-practices into your maintenance processes.

    The roadmap

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    Get started.

    Read our executive brief to understand everyday struggles regarding application maintenance, the root causes, and our methodology to overcome these. We show you how we can support you.

    Understand your maintenance priorities

    Identify your stakeholders and understand their drivers.

    • Streamline Application Maintenance – Phase 1: Assess the Current Maintenance Landscape (ppt)
    • Application Maintenance Operating Model Template (doc)
    • Application Maintenance Resource Capacity Assessment (xls)
    • Application Maintenance Maturity Assessment (xls)

    Define and employ maintenance governance

    Identify the right level of governance appropriate to your company and business context for your application maintenance. That ensures that people uphold standards across maintenance practices.

    • Streamline Application Maintenance – Phase 2: Develop a Maintenance Release Schedule (ppt)

    Enhance your prioritization practices

    Most companies cannot do everything for all applications and systems. Build your maintenance triage and prioritization rules to safeguard your company, maximize business value generation and IT risks and requirements.

    • Streamline Application Maintenance – Phase 3: Optimize Maintenance Capabilities (ppt)

    Streamline your maintenance delivery

    Define quality standards in maintenance practices. Enforce these in alignment with the governance you have set up. Show a high degree of transparency and open discussions on development challenges.

    • Streamline Application Maintenance – Phase 4: Streamline Maintenance Delivery (ppt)
    • Application Maintenance Business Case Presentation Document (ppt)

     

     

    Asset Management

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    • Download01-Title: Asset Management Executive Brief
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    • byline: IT Asset management is dynamic by nature. Create your own proactive program.
    Asset management has a clear impact on the financials of your company. Clear insights are essential to keep your spending at the right level.

    Asset Management

    The Rapid Application Selection Framework

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    • Parent Category Name: Selection & Implementation
    • Parent Category Link: /selection-and-implementation
    • Selection takes forever. Traditional software selection drags on for years, sometimes in perpetuity.
    • IT is viewed as a bottleneck and the business has taken control of software selection.
    • “Gut feel” decisions rule the day. Intuition, not hard data, guides selection, leading to poor outcomes.
    • Negotiations are a losing battle. Money is left on the table by inexperienced negotiators.
    • Overall: Poor selection processes lead to wasted time, wasted effort, and applications that continually disappoint.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • Adopt a formal methodology to accelerate and improve software selection results.
    • Improve business satisfaction by including the right stakeholders and delivering new applications on a truly timely basis.
    • Kill the “sacred cow” requirements that only exist because “it’s how we’ve always done it.”
    • Forget about “RFP” overload and hone in on the features that matter to your organization.
    • Skip the guesswork and validate decisions with real data.
    • Take control of vendor “dog and pony shows” with single-day, high-value, low-effort, rapid-fire investigative interviews.
    • Master vendor negotiations and never leave money on the table.

    Impact and Result

    Improving software selection is a critical project that will deliver huge value.

    • Hit a home run with your business stakeholders: use a data-driven approach to select the right application vendor for their needs – fast.
    • Shatter stakeholder expectations with truly rapid application selections.
    • Boost collaboration and crush the broken telephone with concise and effective stakeholder meetings.
    • Lock in hard savings and do not pay list price by using data-driven tactics.

    The Rapid Application Selection Framework Research & Tools

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. The Rapid Application Selection Framework

    • The Rapid Application Selection Framework Deck

    2. The Guide to Software Selection: A Business Stakeholder Manual

    • The Guide to Software Selection: A Business Stakeholder Manual

    3. The Software Selection Workbook

    • The Software Selection Workbook

    4. The Vendor Evaluation Workbook

    • The Vendor Evaluation Workbook
    [infographic]

    Unify a Mixed Methodology Portfolio

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    • Parent Category Name: Portfolio Management
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    • As portfolio manager, you oversee a portfolio made up of projects using different types of planning and execution methodologies – from traditional Waterfall, to Agile, to hybrid approaches and beyond. The discontinuity between reporting metrics and funding models makes a holistic and perpetually actionable view of the portfolio elusive.
    • Agile’s influence is growing within the organization’s project ecosystem. Even projects that don’t formally use Agile methods often adopt agile tendencies, such as mitigating risk with shorter, more iterative development cycles and increasing collaboration with stakeholders. While this has introduced efficiencies at the project level, it has not translated into business agility, with decision makers still largely playing a passive role in terms of steering the portfolio.
    • Senior management still expects traditional commitments and deadlines, not “sprints” and “velocity.” The reluctance of many Agile purists to adhere to traditional timeline, budget, and scope commitments is not making Agile a particularly popular conversation topic among the organization’s decision-making layer.
    • As portfolio manager, it’s your job to unify these two increasingly fragmented worlds into a unified portfolio.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • As Agile’s influence grows and project methodologies morph and proliferate, a more engaged executive layer is required than what we see in a traditional portfolio approach. Portfolio owners have to decide what gets worked on at a regular cadence.
    • What’s the difference? In the old paradigm, nobody stopped the portfolio owners from approving too much. Decisions were based on what should be done, rather than what could get done in a given period, with the resources available.
    • The engaged portfolio succeeds by making sure that the right people work on the right things as much as possible. The portfolio owner plays a key, ongoing role in identifying the work that needs to be done, and the portfolio managers optimize the usage of resources.

    Impact and Result

    • Establish universal control points. While the manager of a mixed methodology portfolio doesn’t need to enforce a standardized project methodology, she or he does need to establish universal control points for both intake and reporting at the portfolio level. Use this research to help you define a sustainable process that will work for all types of projects.
    • Scale the approvals process. For a mixed methodology portfolio to work, the organization needs to reconcile different models for approving and starting projects. This blueprint will help you define a right-sized intake process and decision-making paradigm for sprints and project phases alike.
    • Foster ongoing executive engagement. Mixed methodology success is contingent on regular and ongoing executive engagement. Use the tools and templates associated with this blueprint to help get buy-in and commitment upfront, and then to build out portfolio reports and dashboard that will help keep the executive layer informed and engaged long term.

    Unify a Mixed Methodology Portfolio Research & Tools

    Start here – read the Executive Brief

    Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should consider an Engaged Agile Portfolio approach, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Get portfolio commitments

    Assess the current state of the portfolio and ensure that portfolio owners and other stakeholders are onboard before you move forward to develop and implement new portfolio processes.

    • Unify a Mixed Methodology Portfolio – Phase 1
    • Mixed Methodology Portfolio Analyzer
    • Mixed Methodology Portfolio Strategy Template
    • Mixed Methodology Portfolio Stakeholder Survey Tool

    2. Define your portfolio processes

    Wireframe standardized portfolio processes for all project methodologies to follow.

    • Unify a Mixed Methodology Portfolio – Phase 2
    • Agile Portfolio Sprint Prioritization Tool
    • Project Methodology Assessment Tool

    3. Implement your processes

    Pilot your new portfolio processes and decision-making paradigm. Then, execute a change impact analysis to inform your communications strategy and implementation plan.

    • Unify a Mixed Methodology Portfolio – Phase 3
    • Process Pilot Plan Template
    • Intake and Prioritization Impact Analysis Tool
    • Resource Management Impact Analysis Tool
    [infographic]

    Workshop: Unify a Mixed Methodology Portfolio

    Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

    1 Assess Current State of the Portfolio

    The Purpose

    Determine the current state of your project execution and portfolio oversight practices.

    Align different types of projects within a unified portfolio.

    Define the best roles and engagement strategies for individual stakeholders as you transition to an Engaged Agile Portfolio.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    A current state understanding of project and portfolio management challenges.

    Bolster the business case for developing an Engaged Agile Portfolio.

    Increase stakeholder and team buy-in.

    Activities

    1.1 Calculate the size of your portfolio in human resource hours.

    1.2 Estimate your project sizes and current project methodology mix.

    1.3 Document the current known status of your in-flight projects.

    1.4 Perform a project execution portfolio oversight survey.

    Outputs

    Your portfolio’s project capacity in resource hours.

    Better understanding of project demand and portfolio mix.

    Current state visibility.

    An objective assessment of current areas of strengths and weaknesses.

    2 Define Your Portfolio Processes

    The Purpose

    Objectively and transparently approve, reject, and prioritize projects.

    Prioritize work to start and stop on a sprint-by-sprint basis.

    Maintain a high frequency of accurate reporting.

    Assess and report the realization of project benefits.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Improve timeliness and accuracy of project portfolio reporting.

    Make better, faster decisions about when to start and stop work on different projects.

    Increase stakeholder satisfaction.

    Activities

    2.1 Develop a portfolio intake workflow.

    2.2 Develop a prioritization scorecard and process.

    2.3 Establish a process to estimate sprint demand and resource supply.

    2.4 Develop a process to estimate sprint value and necessity.

    Outputs

    An intake workflow.

    A prioritization scorecard and process.

    A process to estimate sprint demand and resource supply.

    A process to estimate sprint value and necessity.

    3 Implement Your Processes

    The Purpose

    Analyze the potential change impacts of your new portfolio processes and how they will be felt across the organization.

    Develop an implementation plan to ensure strategy buy-in.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    A strategic and well-planned approach to process implementation.

    Activities

    3.1 Analyze change impacts of new portfolio processes.

    3.2 Prepare a communications plan based upon change impacts.

    3.3 Develop an implementation plan.

    3.4 Present new portfolio processes to portfolio owners.

    Outputs

    A change impact analysis.

    A communications plan.

    An implementation plan.

    Portfolio strategy buy-in.

    2024 Tech Trends

    Tymans Group 2024 tech trends
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    AI has revolutionized the landscape, placing the spotlight firmly on the generative enterprise.

    The far-reaching impact of generative AI across various sectors presents fresh prospects for organizations to capitalize on and novel challenges to address as they chart their path for the future. AI is more than just a fancy auto-complete. At this point it may look like that, but do not underestimate the evolutive power.

    In this year's Tech Trends report, we explore three key developments to capitalize on these opportunities and three strategies to minimize potential risks.

    Generative AI will take the lead.

    As AI transforms industries and business processes, IT and business leaders must adopt a deliberate and strategic approach across six key domains to ensure their success.

    Seize Opportunities:

    • Business models driven by AI
    • Automation of back-office functions
    • Advancements in spatial computing

    Mitigate Risks:

    • Ethical and responsible AI practices
    • Incorporating security from the outset
    • Ensuring digital sovereignty

    Foster Data-Driven Culture With Data Literacy

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    • Parent Category Name: Data Management
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    Organizations are joining the wave and adopting machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to unlock the value in their data and power their competitive advantage. But to succeed with these complex analytics programs, they need to begin by looking at their data – empowering their people to realize and embrace the valuable insights within the organization’s data.

    The key to achieve becoming a data-driven organization is to foster a strong data culture and equip employees with data skills through an organization-wide data literacy program.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • Start with real business problems in a hands-on format to demonstrate the value of data.
    • Use a formalized organization-wide approach to data literacy program to bridge the data skills gap.
    • Provide relevant and practical training programs tailored to different learning styles and tenures (e.g. onboarding, development plan).

    Impact and Result

    Data literacy is critical to the success of digital transformation and AI analytics. Info-Tech’s approach to creating a sustainable and effective data literacy program is recognizing it is:

    • More than just technical training. A data literacy program isn’t just about data; it encompasses aspects of business, IT, and data.
    • More than a one-off exercise. To keep the literacy skills alive the program must be regular, sustainable, and tailored to different needs across all levels of the organization.
    • More than one delivery format. Different delivery methods need to be considered to suit various learning styles to ensure an effective delivery.

    Foster Data-Driven Culture With Data Literacy Research & Tools

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Foster Data-Driven Culture With Data Literacy Storyboard – A step-by-step guide to help organizations build an effective and sustainable data literacy program that benefits all employees who work with data.

    Data literacy as part of the data governance strategic program should be launched to all levels of employees that will help your organization bridge the data knowledge gap at all levels of the organization. This research recommends approaches to different learning styles to address data skill needs and helps members create a practical and sustainable data literacy program.

    • Foster Data-Driven Culture With Data Literacy Storyboard

    2. Fundamental Data Literacy Program Template – A document that provides an example of a fundamental data literacy program.

    Kick off a data awareness program that explains the fundamental understanding of data and its lifecycle. Explore ways to create or mature the data literacy program with smaller amounts of information on a more frequent basis.

    • Fundamental Data Literacy Program Template
    [infographic]

    Further reading

    Foster Data-Driven Culture With Data Literacy

    Data literacy is an essential part of a data-driven culture, bridging the data knowledge gaps across all levels of the organization.

    Analyst Perspective

    Data literacy is the missing link to becoming a data-driven organization.

    “Digital transformation” and “data driven” are two terms that are inseparable. With organizations accelerating in their digital transformation roadmap implementation, organizations need to invest in developing data skills with their people. Talent is scarce and the demand for data skills is huge, with 70% of employees expected to work heavily with data by 2025. There is no time like the present to launch an organization-wide data literacy program to bridge the data knowledge gap and foster a data-driven culture.

    Data literacy training is as important as your cybersecurity training. It impacts all levels of the organization. Data literacy is critical to success with digital transformation and AI analytics.

    Annabel Lui

    Principal Advisory Director, Data & Analytics Practice
    Info-Tech Research Group

    Executive Summary

    Your Challenge

    Organizations are joining the wave and adopting machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) to unlock the value in their data and power their competitive advantage. But to succeed with these complex analytics programs, they need to begin by empowering their people to realize and embrace the valuable insights within the organization’s data.

    The key to becoming a data-driven organization is to foster a strong data culture and equip people with data skills through an organization-wide data literacy program.

    Common Obstacles

    Challenges the data leadership is likely to face as digital transformation initiatives drive intensified competition:

    • Resistance to change
    • Technological distractions
    • “Shadow data”
    • Difficulty securing resources and skilled data professionals
    • Inability to appreciate the value of data and its meaning for users – even fear of it

    Info-Tech's Approach

    We interviewed data leaders and instructors to gather insights about investing in data:

    • Start with real business problems in a hands-on format to demonstrate the value of data.
    • Implement a formalized organization-wide approach to data literacy program to bridge the data skill gap.
    • Provide relevant and practical training programs tailored to different learning styles and tenures (e.g. onboarding,development plan).

    Info-Tech Insight

    By thoughtfully designing a data literacy training program for the audience's own experience, maturity level, and learning style, organizations build the data-driven and engaged culture that helps them to unlock their data's full potential and outperform other organizations.

    Your Challenge

    Data literacy is the missing link to drive business outcomes from data.

    • Having a data-driven culture as an organization’s mission statement without implementing a data literacy program is like making an empty promise and leaving the value unrealized and unattainable.
    • A study conducted by the Data Literacy Project clearly indicates that organizations with aggressive data literacy programs will outperform those who do not have such programs. By 2030, data literacy will be one of the most sought-after skill sets. All employees require data literacy skills.
    • Everyone has a role in data. From employees who are actively involved in data collection to operational teams who create reports with analytics tools and finally to executives who use data to make business decisions – they all require continuous data literacy training in a data-driven organization. Because of differences in maturity, data literacy strategies cannot be one-size-fits-all.

    “Data literacy is the ability to read, work with, analyze, and communicate with data. It's a skill that empowers all levels of workers to ask the right questions of data and machines, build knowledge, make decisions, and communicate meaning to others.” – Qlik, n.d.

    75% of organizational employees have access to data tools – only 21% demonstrated confidence in their data skills.

    Source: Accenture, 2020.

    89% of C-level executives expect team members to explain how data has informed their decisions, but only 11% employees are fully confident in their ability to read, analyze, work with, and communicate with data

    Source: Qlik, 2022.

    Data debt or data asset?

    Manage your data as strategic assets.

    “[Data debt is] when you have undocumented, unused, incomplete, and inconsistent data,” according to Secoda (2023). “When … data debt is not solved, data teams could risk wasting time managing reports no one uses and producing data that no one understands.”

    Signs of data debt when considering investing in data literacy:

    • Lack of definition and understanding of data terms, therefore they don’t speak the same language. Without data literacy, an organization will not succeed in becoming a data-driven organization.
    • Putting data literacy as a low priority. Organization sees this as “another” training to put on the list and keeps it on the back burner.
    • Data literacy is not seen as the number one skill set needed in the organization. However, anyone who works with data requires data skills.
    • End users are not trained on self-serve features and tools.
    • Focusing on a minority group of people rather than everyone in the organization or seeing it as a one-off exercise.
    • Delays or failure to deliver digital transformation projects due to lack of data skills and data access issues.

    66%

    of organizations say a backlog of data debt is impacting new data management initiatives.

    40%

    of organizations say individuals within the business do not trust data insights.

    30%

    of organizations are unable to become data-driven.

    Source: Experian, 2020

    Info-Tech’s Approach

    Data literacy is critical to success with digital transformation and AI analytics.

    Diagram showing components of Data literacy: 1 - Data: understand your data, 2 - Business: define the purpose, 3 - IT: Introduce new ways of working

    The Info-Tech difference:

    1. More than just technical training. Data literacy program isn’t just about data but rather encompasses aspects of business, IT, and data.
    2. More than a one-off exercise. To keep literacy skills alive, the program must be routine and sustainable, tailored to different needs across all levels of the organization.
    3. More than one delivery format. Different delivery methods need to be considered to suit various learning styles.

    Data needs to be processed

    Data – facts – are organized, processed, and given meaning to become insights.

    Data, information, knowledge, insight, wisdom

    Image source: Welocalize, 2020.

    Data represents a discrete fact or event without relation to other things (e.g. it is raining). Data is unorganized and not useful on its own.

    Information organizes and structures data so that it is meaningful and valuable for a specific purpose (i.e. it answers questions). Information is a refined form of data.

    When information is combined with experience and intuition, it results in knowledge. It is our personal map/model of the world.

    Knowledge set with context generates insight. We become knowledgeable as a result of reading, researching, and memorizing (i.e. accumulating information).

    Wisdom means the ability to make sound judgments. Wisdom synthesizes knowledge and experiences into insights.

    Investment in data literacy is a game changer.

    Data literacy is the ability to collect, manage, evaluate, and apply data in a critical manner.

    A data-driven culture is “an operating environment that seeks to leverage data whenever and wherever possible to enhance business efficiency and effectiveness” (Forbes).

    Info-Tech Insight

    Data-driven culture refers to a workplace where decisions are made based on data evidence, not on gut instinct.

    Info-Tech’s methodology for building a data literacy program

    Phase Steps

    1. Define Data Literacy Objectives

    1.1 Understand organization’s needs

    1.2 Create vision and objective for data literacy program

    2. Assess Learning Style and Align to Program Design

    2.1 Create persona and identify audience

    2.2 Assess learning style and align to program design

    2.3 Determine the right delivery method

    3. Socialize Roadmap and Milestones

    3.1 Establish a roadmap

    3.2 Set key performance metrics and milestones

    Phase Outcomes

    Identify key objectives to establish and grow the data literacy program by articulating the problem and solutions proposed.

    Assess each audience’s learning style and adapt the program to their unique needs.

    Show a roadmap with key performance indicators to track each milestone and tell a data story.

    Insight Summary

    “In a world of more data, the companies with more data-literate people are the ones that are going to win.”

    – Miro Kazakoff, senior lecturer, MIT Sloan, in MIT Sloan School of Management, 2021

    Overarching insight

    By thoughtfully designing a data literacy training program personalized to each audience's maturity level, learning style, and experience, organizations can develop and grow a data-driven culture that unlocks the data's full potential for competitive differentiation.

    Module 1 insight

    We can learn a lot from each other. Literacy works both ways – business data stewards learn to “speak data” while IT data custodians understand the business context and value. Everyone should strive to exchange knowledge.

    Module 2 insight

    Avoid traditional classroom teaching – create a data literacy program that is learner-centric to allow participants to learn and experiment with data.

    Aligning program design to those learning styles will make participants more likely to be receptive to learning a new skill.

    Module 3 insight

    A data literacy program isn’t just about data but rather encompasses aspects of business, IT, and data. With executive support and partnership with business, running a data literacy program means that it won’t end up being just another technical training. The program needs to address why, what, how questions.

    Tactical insight

    A lot of programs don’t include the fundamentals. To get data concepts to stick, focus on socializing the data/information/knowledge/wisdom foundation.

    Tactical insight

    Many programs speak in abstract terms. We present case studies and tangible use cases to personalize training to the audience’s world and showcase opportunities enabled through data.

    Key performance indicators (KPIs) for your data literacy program

    How do you know if your data literacy program is successful? Here are some useful KPIs:

    Program Adoption Metrics

    • Percentage of employees attending data literacy training
    • Percentage of participants who report gains in data management knowledge after training sessions
    • Maturity assessment result
    • Survey and diagnostic feedback before and after training
    • Trend analysis of overall data literacy program

    Operational Metrics

    • Number of requests for analytics/reporting services
    • Number of reports created by users
    • Speed and quality of business decisions
    • User satisfaction with reports and analytics services
    • Improved business performance (customer satisfaction)
    • Improved valuation of organization data

    A data-driven culture builds tools and skills, builds users’ trust in the quality of data across sources, and raises the skills and understanding among the frontlines by encouraging everyone to leverage data for critical thinking and innovation.

    Info-Tech offers various levels of support to best suit your needs

    DIY Toolkit

    "Our team has already made this critical project a priority, and we have the time and capability, but some guidance along the way would be helpful."

    Guided Implementation

    "Our team knows that we need to fix a process, but we need assistance to determine where to focus. Some check-ins along the way would help keep us on track."

    Workshop

    "We need to hit the ground running and get this project kicked off immediately. Our team has the ability to take this over once we get a framework and strategy in place."

    Consulting

    "Our team does not have the time or the knowledge to take this project on. We need assistance through the entirety of the project."

    Diagnostics and consistent frameworks are used throughout all four options.

    Workshop Overview

    Contact your account representative for more information.
    workshops@infotech.com 1-888-670-8889

    Session 1

    Session 2

    Session 3

    Session 4

    Activities

    Define Data Literacy Objectives

    1.1 Review Data Culture Diagnostic results

    1.2 Identify business context: business goals, initiatives

    1.3 Create vision and objective for data literacy program

    Assess Learning Style and Align to Program Design

    2.1 Identify audience

    2.2 Assess learning style and align to program design

    2.3 Determine the right delivery method

    Build a Data Literacy Roadmap and Milestones

    3.1 Identify program initiatives and topics

    3.2 Determine delivery methods

    3.3 Build the data literacy roadmap

    Operational Strategy to implement Data Literacy

    4.1 Identify key performance metrics

    4.2 Identify owners and document RACI matrix

    4.3 Discuss next steps and wrap up.

    Deliverables

    1. Diagnostics reports (data culture survey)
    2. Vision and value statement
    1. Assessment of audience covering all levels of organization
    1. List of key program initiatives and topics
    2. Allocation of delivery methods
    3. Roadmap
    1. Data literacy metrics
    2. List of owners and roles and responsibilities
    3. Next step and implementation schedule

    Phase 1

    Define Data Literacy Objectives

    Phase 1: step 1 - Understand organization's needs, step 2 - Create vision and objective for data literacy program.

    Foster Data-Driven Culture With Data Literacy

    This phase will walk you through the following activities:

    • Understand the organization’s needs.
    • Create vision and objective for data literacy program.

    This phase involves the following participants:

    • Data governance sponsor
    • Data owners
    • Data stewards
    • Data custodians

    1.1 Gauge your organization’s current data culture

    Conduct data culture survey or diagnostic.

    1. Identify members of the data user base, data consumers, and other key stakeholders for surveying.
    2. Conduct an information session to introduce Info-Tech’s Data Culture Diagnostic survey. Explain the objective and importance of the survey and its role in helping to understand the organization’s current data culture and inform the improvement of that culture.
    3. Roll out the Info-Tech Data Culture Diagnostic survey to the identified users and stakeholders.
    4. Debrief and document the results and scorecard in the Data Strategy Stakeholder Interview Guide and Findings document.

    Input

    • Email addresses of participants in your organization who should receive the survey

    Output

    • Your organization’s Data Culture Scorecard for understanding current data culture as it relates to the use and consumption of data
    • An understanding of whether data is currently perceived to be an asset to the organization

    Materials

    • Info-Tech’s Data Culture Diagnostic service

    Participants

    • Participants include those at the senior leadership level through to middle management, as well as other business stakeholders at varying levels across the organization
    • Data owners, stewards, and custodians
    • Core data users and consumers

    Contact your Info-Tech Account Representative for details on launching a Data Culture Diagnostic.

    1.2 Define data literacy objectives

    1. Understand the organization’s needs by identifying opportunities and challenges relating to data. Document the described real-life examples.
    2. Categorize the list and identify areas where data literacy can address the business problem.
    3. Create a vision statement for the data literacy program, ensuring that it covers all levels of the organization.
    4. Articulate the intended targets and goals in planning for a data literacy program.

    Input

    • List of opportunities and challenges relating to data
    • Relevant business real-life examples

    Output

    • Categorized list of data literacy needs
    • Vision for literacy program
    • Targets and goals

    Materials

    • Whiteboard/flip charts
    • Sticky notes

    Participants

    • CDO or sponsor
    • Key business stakeholders
    • Data stewards
    • Data custodians
    • Data governance working group

    Quick wins for improving data literacy

    Data collected through Info-Tech’s Data Culture Diagnostic suggests three ways to improve data literacy:

    87%

    think more can be done to define and document commonly used terms with methods such as a business data glossary.

    68%

    think they can have a better understanding of the meaning of all data elements that are being captured or managed.

    86%

    feel that they can have more training in terms of tools as well as on what data is available at the organization.

    Source: Info-Tech Research Group's Data Culture Diagnostic, 2022; N=2,652

    Quick Wins

    • Create a business data glossary to document and define common terms.
    • Provide easy access to the business data glossary and procedures on how data is captured and managed.
    • Launch an organization-wide data literacy program.

    Delivering value is a means and the goal

    Start with real business problems in a hands-on format to demonstrate the value of data.

    Identify business problem:

    • Business decisions without facts are just guesses.
    • Management spends a lot of time finding and fixing data.
    • Unknown challenges on data assets and risk.
    • Incomplete view of customer/client and industry.
    • Not ready for modern data opportunities (e.g. artificial intelligence).

    Create an objective

    Treat data as a strategic asset to gain insight into our customers for all levels of organization.

    The solution: Data-driven culture powered by people who speak data.

    • Data dictionary
    • Data literacy
    • Trusted single source
    • Access to analytics tools
    • Decision making

    "According to Forrester, 91% of organizations find it challenging to improve the use of data insights for decision-making – even though 90% see it as a priority. Why the disconnect? A lack of data literacy."

    – Alation, 2020

    Fundamental data literacy

    Data literacy is more than just a technical training or a one-off exercise.

    Info-Tech provides various topics suited for a data literacy program that can accommodate different data skill requirements and encompasses relevant aspects of business, IT, and data.

    Info-Tech Research Group’s Data Literacy Program

    Use discovery and diagnostics to understand users’ comfort level and maturity with data.

    Data lunch 'n' learn

    • The power and value of data
    • Everyone is a data steward
    • Becoming data literate
    • Data 101
    • The future is data
    1 hour
    For: General audience, senior leadership, data leads, change management

    Speak data

    • What is data
    • Meet the data team
    • Day in the life of a steward
    • How data impacts you
    • Tools of the trade
    1/2 day
    For: New stewards, data owners, pre-data strategy workshop

    Your data story

    • Ask the right questions
    • Find the top five data elements
    • Understand your data
    • Present your data story
    • Lessons from COVID-19
    1/2 day
    For: New stewards, business data owners, pre-BI/analytics workshop

    Phase 2

    Assess Learning Style and Align to Program Design

    Phase 2: step 1 - Identify audience, step 2 - Access learning style and align to program design, step 3 - Determine the right delivery method.

    Foster Data-Driven Culture With Data Literacy

    This phase will walk you through the following activities:

    • Identify your audience.
    • Assess learning styles and align them to the data program design.
    • Determine the right delivery method.

    This phase involves the following participants:

    • Data governance sponsor
    • Data owners
    • Data stewards
    • Data custodians

    Avoid common pitfalls

    75%

    feel that training was too long to remember or to apply in their day-to-day work.

    21%

    find training had insufficient follow-up to help them apply on the job.

    Source: Grovo, 2018.

    1. Information Overload

      Trying to cover too much useful information results in overwhelm and does not deliver on key training objectives.

    2. Limited Implementation

      Learning is only the beginning. The real results are obtained when learning is followed by practice, which turns new knowledge into reliable habits.

    3. Lack of Organizational Alignment

      Implementing training without a clear link to organizational objectives leaves you unable to clearly communicate its value, undermines your ability to secure buy-in from attendees and executives, and leaves you unable to verify that the training is actually improving effectiveness.

    2.1 Understand learning style

    1. Create persona and identify the audiences and their roles in data across all levels of the organization.
    2. Identify the data program initiatives and assign the best delivery method to each initiative.
    3. Assign participants to each program initiative based on their skill gap and learning style.

    Input

    • List of audiences, their roles, and tenures
    • Data skill gap assessment
    • List of literacy program initiatives/topics

    Output

    • Target audience grouping
    • List of program initiatives with assigned groups

    Materials

    • Whiteboard/flip charts
    • Sticky notes

    Participants

    • CDO or sponsor
    • Key business stakeholders
    • Data stewards
    • Data custodians
    • Data governance working group

    You and data

    Is data an integral part of your work?

    Do you feel comfortable finding and using data in your organization?

    • Many people feel intimidated by data and therefore miss out on what data can do for them.
    • Often the obstacle is language. If you don’t understand the semantics around data, you will not feel confident to contribute to discussions around data.
    • You use data every day but need additional vocabulary to understand how to handle it properly.
    • Data literacy is the ability to “speak data” and to understand what data means (i.e. how to read charts and graphs, draw valid conclusions, and recognize when data is misinterpreted or used inappropriately to be misleading).
    • The business often doesn’t understand its role in data governance and how it informs and assists IT in responsible data management.

    Info-Tech Insight

    IT and data professionals need to understand the business as much as business needs to talk about data. Bidirectional learning and feedback improves the synergy between business and IT.

    Create personas

    Persona creation is a way to brainstorm ideas for the data literacy program.

    Choose a data role (e.g. data steward, data owner, data scientist).

    Describe the persona based on goals, priorities, tenures, preferred learning style, type of work with data.

    Identify data skill and level of skills required.

    Persona 1: Denise - Manager, People and Culture. Goals, priorities, tenure, data role, learning style, skill level

    Consider these other ways to brainstorm:

    • Review current in-flight projects.
    • Analyze types of data requests.
    • Understand needs by department.
    • Share learnings in a community of practice.

    Program design

    Categorize into six data skill areas

    Not everyone needs the same level of skill sets

    Bullseye board with skill levels (Innermost going outward): Expert, advanced, intermediate and Basic. The six data skill areas: 1. Understanding Data, 2. Find and Obtain Data, 3. Read, Interpret and Evaluate Data, 4. Manage Data, 5. Create and Use Data, 6. Tell a Story and Share Data are placed equally around in sections.

    Map the personas to the program

    Bridging the data knowledge gap.

    • Each component will promote the value of data to all levels of employees when demonstrating the right way for data to be understood, managed, and consumed in the organization.
    • Categorizing the data literacy program into six areas and levels of skill sets will provide clarity into which areas to focus on.
    • The program is intended to be implemented in stages, allowing the audience to learn and adopt the new skills. Leveraging in-flight projects for rolling out training will have a higher success because the need is already built into the project.
    Personas are placed at different points in the data skill area and skill level.

    Align program design to learning styles

    The four methods (Discussion, Information, Coaching, and Self-Discovery) are based on learner-centered model design rather than the traditional teacher-centered model.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Tailor your data literacy program to meet your organization’s needs, filling your range of knowledge gaps and catering to different levels of users.

    When it comes to rolling out a data literacy program, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Your data literacy program is intended to spread knowledge throughout your organization. It should target everyone from executive leadership to management to subject matter experts across all functions of the business.

    Discussion method

    Delivery Method

    • Interactive format between instructor and learner
    • Instructor empowers and motivates learner through dialogues and exercises

    The imaginative learner

    The imaginative learner group likes to engage in feelings and spend time on reflection. This type of learner desires personal meaning and involvement. They focus on personal values for themselves and others and make connections quickly.

    For this group of learners, their question is: why should I learn this?

    Learning characteristics

    • Seek meaning
    • Need to be personally involved
    • Learn by listening and sharing ideas
    • Function through social interaction

    Information method

    Delivery Method

    • Instructor does most of the talking in the training
    • Instructor is teaching the content, delivering the training content, and demonstrating

    Analytical learner

    The analytical learner group likes to listen, to think about information, and to come up with ideas. They are interested in acquiring facts and delving into concepts and processes. They can learn effectively and enjoy doing independent research.

    For this group of learners, their question is: what should I learn?

    Learning characteristics

    • Seek and examine the facts
    • Need to know what experts think
    • Interested in ideas and concepts
    • Critique information and collect data
    • Function by adapting to experts

    Coaching method

    Delivery Method

    • Learning has on-the-job training or learning through role-play exercises
    • Instructor is coaching and facilitating learner

    Common sense learner

    The common sense learner group likes thinking and doing. They are satisfied when they can carry out experiments, build and design, and create usability. They like tinkering and applying useful ideas.

    For this group of learners, their question is: how should I learn?

    Learning characteristics

    • Seek usability
    • Need to know how things work
    • Learn by testing theories using practical methods
    • Use factual data to build concepts
    • Enjoy hands-on experience

    Self-discovery method

    Delivery Method

    • Interactive format between instructor and learner
    • Instructor provides evaluation and remedial instruction

    Common sense learner

    The dynamic learner group learns through doing and experiencing. They are continually looking for hidden possibilities and researching ideas to make original adjustments. They learn through trial and error and self-discovery.

    For this group of learners, their question is: what if I learn this?

    Learning characteristics

    • Seek hidden possibilities
    • Need to know what can be done with things
    • Learn by trial and error
    • Enjoy variety and excel in being flexible

    Delivery method considerations

    There are four common ways to learn a new skill: by watching, conceptualizing, doing, and experiencing. The following are some suggestions on ways to implement your data literacy program through different delivery methods.

    There are four common ways to learn a new skill: by watching, conceptualizing, doing, and experiencing. The following are some suggestions on ways to implement your data literacy program through different delivery methods.

    Phase 3

    Map Out Data Literacy Roadmap and Milestones

    Phase 3: step 1 - Roadmap exercise, step 2 - Set key performance metrics and milestones.

    Foster Data-Driven Culture With Data Literacy

    This phase will walk you through the following activities:

    • Complete a roadmap exercise.
    • Set key performance metrics and milestones.

    This phase involves the following participants:

    • Data governance sponsor
    • Data owners
    • Data stewards
    • Data custodians

    3.1 Build the data literacy roadmap and milestones

    1-3 hours
    1. Gather the data literacy objectives and list of program initiatives with their assigned groups.
    2. Discuss each program initiative with the data literacy creation team, assigning content owners and estimating effort required to build the content.

    For the Gantt chart:

    • Input the roadmap start year.
    • List each data literacy topic and delivery method.
    • Populate the planned start and end dates for the prepopulated list of program initiatives.

    Input

    • List of data literacy topics with assigned groups
    • Vision statement of data literacy program
    • Data literacy objectives

    Output

    • Roadmap Gantt chart
    • List of program initiatives with start and end date
    • Content owner assignment

    Materials

    • Whiteboard/flip charts
    • Sticky notes
    • MS Projects/Excel

    Participants

    • CDO or sponsor
    • Key business stakeholders
    • Data stewards
    • Data custodians
    • Data governance working group

    Data literacy journey mapping

    Making it sustainable

    • Deliver the literacy program in stages to make it easier for the audience to consume the content.
    • Allow opportunities to apply the learnings at work.
    • Map out the data literacy trainings as they get delivered and identify gaps, if any. Continue to refine and adjust the program and delivery method for better outcome.
    • Set clear goals and KPIs measurement up front.
    • Conduct Info-Tech Research Group’s Data Culture Diagnostics to set the baseline and repeat the assessment in 12 to 18 months.
    • Assign champions to lead change and influence end users to adopt better processes.
    Data Literacy journey mapping. Different departments need different skills in data literacy.

    Research contributors

    Name

    Position
    Andrea Malick Advisory Director, Info-Tech Research Group
    Andy Neill AVP, Data and Analytics, Chief Enterprise Architect, Info-Tech Research Group
    Crystal Singh Research Director, Info-Tech Research Group
    Imad Jawadi Senior Manager, Consulting Advisory, Info-Tech Research Group
    Irina Sedenko Research Director, Info-Tech Research Group
    Reddy Doddipalli Senior Workshop Director, Info-Tech Research Group
    Sherwick Min Technical Counselor, Info-Tech Research Group
    Wayne Cain Principal Advisory Director, Info-Tech Research Group

    Info-Tech’s Data Literacy Program

    Contact your account representative for more information.
    workshops@infotech.com 1-888-670-8889

    Session 1

    Session 2

    Session 3

    Session 4

    Activities

    Understand the WHY and Value of Data

    1.1 Business context, business objectives, and goals

    1.2 You and data

    1.3 Data journey from data to insights

    1.4 Speak data – common terminology

    Learn about the WHAT Through Data Flow

    2.1 Data creation

    2.2 Data ingestion

    2.3 Data accumulation

    2.4 Data augmentation

    2.5 Data delivery

    2.6 Data consumption

    Explore the HOW Through Data Visualization Training

    3.1 Ask the right questions

    3.2 Find the top five data elements

    3.3 Understand your data

    3.4 Present your data story

    3.5 Sharing of lessons learned

    Put Them All Together Through Data Governance Awareness

    4.1 Data governance framework

    4.2 Data roles and responsibilities

    4.3 Data domain and owners

    Deliverables
    1. Learning material for understanding the data fundamental and its terminology
    1. Learning material for data flow elements
    1. Learning material for data visualization
    1. Learning material for data governance awareness program

    Related Info-Tech Research

    Establish Data Governance

    Deliver measurable business value.

    Build a Robust and Comprehensive Data Strategy

    Key to building and fostering a data-driven culture.

    Create a Data Management Roadmap

    Streamline your data management program with our simplified framework.

    Bibliography

    About Learning. “4MAT overview.” About Learning., 16 Aug. 2001. Web.

    Accenture. “The Human Impact of Data Literacy,” Accenture, 2020. Web.

    Anand, Shivani. “IDC Reveals India Data and Content Technologies Predictions for 2022 and onwards; Focus on Data Literacy for an Elevated data Culture.” IDC, 14 Mar. 2022. Web.

    Belissent, Jennifer, and Aaron Kalb. “Data Literacy: The Key to Data-Driven Decision Making.” Alation, April 2020. Web.

    Brown, Sara. “How to build data literacy in your company.” MIT Sloan School of Management, 9 Feb 2021. Web.

    ---. “How to build a data-driven company.” MIT Sloan School of Management, 24 Sept. 2020. Web.

    Domo. “Data Never Sleeps 9.0.” Domo, 2021. Web.

    Dykes, Brent. “Creating A Data-Driven Culture: Why Leading By Example Is Essential.” Forbes, 26 Oct. 2017. Web.

    Experian. “10 signs you are sitting on a pile of data debt.” Experian, 2020. Accessed 25 June 2021. Web.

    Experian. “2019 Global Data Management Research.” Experian, 2019. Web.

    Knight, Michelle. “Data Literacy Trends in 2023: Formalizing Programs.” Dataversity, 3 Jan. 2023. Web.

    Ghosh, Paramita. “Data Literacy Skills Every Organization Should Build.” Dataversity, 2 Nov. 2022. Web.

    Johnson, A., et al., “How to Build a Strategy in a Digital World,” Compact, 2018, vol. 2. Web.

    LifeTrain. “Learning Style Quiz.” EMTrain, Web.

    Lambers, E., et al. “How to become data literate and support a data-drive culture.” Compact, 2018, vol. 4. Web.

    Marr, Benard. “Why is data literacy important for any business?” Bernard Marr & Co., 16 Aug. 2022. Web.

    Marr, Benard. “8 simple ways to enhance your data literacy skills.” Bernard Marr & Co., 16 Aug. 2022. Web/

    Mendoza, N.F. “Data literacy: Time to cure data phobia” Tech Republic, 27 Sept. 2022. Web.

    Mizrahi, Etai. “How to stay ahead of data debt and downtime?” Secoda, 17 April 2023. Web.

    Needham, Mass., “IDC FutureScape: Top 10 Predictions for the Future of Intelligence.” IDC, 5 Dec. 2022. Web.

    Paton, J., and M.A.P. op het Veld. “Trusted Analytics.” Compact, 2017, vol. 2. Web.

    Qlik. “Data Literacy to be Most In-Demand Skill by 2030 as AI Transforms Global Workplaces.” Qlik., 16 Mar 2022. Web.

    Qlik. “What is data literacy?” Qlik, n.d. Web.

    Reed, David. Becoming Data Literate. Harriman House Publishing, 1 Sept. 2021. Print.

    Salomonsen, Summer. “Grovo’s First-Time Manager Microlearning® Program Will Help Your New Managers Thrive in 2018.” Grovos Blog, 5 Dec. 2018. Web.

    Webb, Ryan. “More Than Just Reporting: Uncovering Actionable Insights From Data.” Welocalize, 1 Sept. 2020. Web.

    Leadership, Culture and Values

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    • member rating average dollars saved: $912
    • member rating average days saved: 7
    • Parent Category Name: People and Resources
    • Parent Category Link: /people-and-resources
    • byline: Build your employee engagement program.

    The challenge

    • Your talent pool determines IT performance and stakeholder satisfaction. You need to retain talent and continually motivate them to go the extra mile.
    • The market for IT talent is growing, in the sense that talent has many more options these days. Turnover is a serious threat to IT's ability to deliver top-notch service to your company.
    • Engagement is more than HR's responsibility. IT leadership is accountable for the retention of top talent and the overall productivity of IT employees.

    Our advice

    Insight

    • Engagement goes both ways. Your initiatives must address a real need, and employees must actively seek the outcomes. Engagement is not a management edict.
    • Engagement is not about access to the latest perks and gadgets. You must address the right and challenging issues. Use a systematic approach to find what lives among the employees and address these.
    • Your impact on your employees is many times bigger than HR's. Leverage your power to lead your team to success and peak performance.

    Impact and results 

    • Our engagement diagnostic and other tools will help get to the root of disengagement in your team.
    • Our guidance helps you to avoid common errors and engagement program pitfalls. They allow you to take control of your own team's engagement.

    The roadmap

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    Get started

    Our concise executive brief shows you why engagement is critical to IT performance in your company. We'll show you our methodology and the ways we can help you in handling this.

    Measure your employee engagement

    You can use our full engagement surveys.

    • Improve Employee Engagement to Drive IT Performance – Phase 1: Measure Employee Engagement (ppt)
    • Engagement Strategy Record (doc)
    • Engagement Communication Template (doc)

    Analyze the results and brainstorm solutions

    Understand your employees' engagement drivers. Involve your team in brainstorming engagement initiatives.

    • Improve Employee Engagement to Drive IT Performance – Phase 2: Analyze Results and Ideate Solutions (ppt)
    • Engagement Survey Results Interpretation Guide (ppt)
    • Full Engagement Survey Focus Group Facilitation Guide (ppt)
    • Pulse Engagement Survey Focus Group Facilitation Guide (ppt)
    • Focus Group Facilitation Guide Driver Definitions (doc)
    • One-on-One Manager Meeting Worksheet (doc)

    Select and implement engagement initiatives

    Choose those initiatives that show the most promise with the most significant impact. Create your action plan and establish transparent and open, and ongoing communication with your team.

    • IT Knowledge Transfer Plan Template (xls)
    • IT Knowledge Identification Interview Guide Template (doc)

    Build your knowledge transfer roadmap

    Knowledge transfer is an ongoing effort. Prioritize and define your initiatives.

    • Improve Employee Engagement to Drive IT Performance – Phase 3: Select and Implement Engagement Initiatives (ppt)
    • Summary of Interdepartmental Engagement Initiatives (doc)
    • Engagement Progress One-Pager (ppt)

     

    Prevent Data Loss Across Cloud and Hybrid Environments

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    • Parent Category Name: Governance, Risk & Compliance
    • Parent Category Link: /governance-risk-compliance
    • Organizations are often beholden to compliance obligations that require protection of sensitive data.
    • All stages of the data lifecycle exist in the cloud and all stages provide opportunity for data loss.
    • Organizations must find ways to mitigate insider threats without impacting legitimate business access.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • Data loss prevention is the outcome of a well-designed strategy that incorporates multiple, sometimes disparate, tools within your existing security program.
    • The journey to data loss prevention is complex and should be taken in small and manageable steps.

    Impact and Result

    • Organizations will achieve data comprehension.
    • Organizations will align DLP with their current security program and architecture.
    • A DLP strategy will be implemented with a distinct goal in mind.

    Prevent Data Loss Across Cloud and Hybrid Environments Research & Tools

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Prevent Data Loss Across Cloud and Hybrid Environments Storyboard – A guide to handling data loss prevention in cloud services.

    This research describes an approach to strategize and implement DLP solutions for cloud services.

    • Prevent Data Loss Across Cloud and Hybrid Environments Storyboard

    2. Data Loss Prevention Strategy Planner – A workbook designed to guide you through identifying and prioritizing your data and planning what DLP actions should be applied to protect that data.

    Use this tool to identify and prioritize your data, then use that information to make decisions on DLP strategies based on classification and data environment.

    • Data Loss Prevention Strategy Planner
    [infographic]

    Further reading

    Prevent Data Loss Across Cloud and Hybrid Environments

    Leverage existing tools and focus on the data that matters most to your organization.

    Analyst Perspective

    Data loss prevention is an additional layer of protection

    Driven by reduced operational costs and improved agility, the migration to cloud services continues to grow at a steady rate. A recent report by Palo Alto Networks indicates workload in the cloud increased by 13% last year, and companies are expecting to move an additional 11% of their workload to the cloud in the next 24 months1.

    However, moving to the cloud poses unique challenges for cyber security practitioners. Cloud services do not offer the same level of management and control over resources as traditional IT approaches. The result can be reduced visibility of data in cloud services and reduced ability to apply controls to that data, particularly data loss prevention (DLP) controls.

    It’s not unusual for organizations to approach DLP as a point solution. Many DLP solutions are marketed as such. The truth is, DLP is a complex program that uses many different parts of an organization’s security program and architecture. To successfully implement DLP for data in the cloud, an organization should leverage existing security controls and integrate DLP tools, whether newly acquired or available in cloud services, with its existing security program.

    Photo of Bob Wilson
    Bob Wilson
    CISSP
    Research Director, Security and Privacy
    Info-Tech Research Group

    Executive Summary

    Your Challenge

    Organizations must prevent the misuse and leakage of data, especially sensitive data, regardless of where it’s stored.

    Organizations often have compliance obligations requiring protection of sensitive data.

    All stages of the data lifecycle exist in the cloud and all stages provide opportunity for data loss.

    Organizations must find ways to mitigate insider threats without impacting legitimate business access.

    Common Obstacles

    Many organizations must handle a plethora of data in multiple varied environments.

    Organizations don’t know enough about the data they use or where it is located.

    Different systems offer differing visibility.

    Necessary privileges and access can be abused.

    Info-Tech’s Approach

    The path to data loss prevention is complex and should be taken in small and manageable steps.

    First, organizations must achieve data comprehension.

    Organizations must align DLP with their current security program and architecture.

    Organizations need to implement DLP with a distinct goal in mind.

    Once the components are in place it’s important to measure and improve.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Data loss prevention is the outcome of a well-designed strategy that incorporates multiple, sometimes disparate, tools within your existing security program.

    Your challenge

    Protecting data is a critical responsibility for organizations, no matter where it is located.

    45% of breaches occurred in the cloud (“Cost of a Data Breach 2022,” IBM Security, 2022).

    A diagram that shows the mean time to detect and contain.

    It can take upwards of 12 weeks to identify and contain a breach (“Cost of a Data Breach 2022,” IBM Security, 2022).

    • Compliance obligations will require organizations to protect certain data.
    • All data states can exist in the cloud, and each state provides a unique opportunity for data loss.
    • Insider threats, whether intentional or not, are especially challenging for organizations. It’s necessary to prevent illicit data use while still allowing work to happen.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Data loss prevention doesn’t depend on a single tool. Many of the leading cloud service providers offer DLP controls with their services and these controls should be considered.

    Common obstacles

    As organizations increasingly move data into the cloud, their environments become more complex and vulnerable to insider threats

    • It’s not uncommon for an organization not to know what data they use, where that data exists, or how they are supposed to protect it.
    • Cloud systems, especially software as a service (SaaS) applications, may not provide much visibility into how that data is stored or protected.
    • Insider threats are a primary concern, but employees must be able to access data to perform their duties. It isn’t always easy to strike a balance between adequate access and being too restrictive with controls.

    Insider threats are a significant concern

    53%

    53% of a study’s respondents think it is more difficult to detect insider threats in the cloud.

    Source: "2023 Insider Threat Report," Cybersecurity Insiders, 2023

    45%

    Only about 45% of organizations think native cloud app functionality is useful in detecting insider threats.

    Source: "2023 Insider Threat Report," Cybersecurity Insiders, 2023

    Info-Tech Insight

    An insider threat management (ITM) program focuses on the user. DLP programs focus on the data.

    Insight summary

    DLP is not just a single tool. It’s an additional layer of security that depends on different components of your security program, and it requires time and effort to mature.

    Organizations should leverage existing security architecture with the DLP controls available in the cloud services they use.

    Data loss prevention is not a point solution

    Data loss prevention is the outcome of a well-designed strategy that incorporates multiple, sometimes disparate tools within your existing security program.

    Prioritize data

    Start with the data that matters most to your organization.

    Define an objective

    Having a clearly defined objective will make implementing a DLP program much easier.

    DLP is a layer

    Data loss prevention is not foundational, and it depends on many other parts of a mature information security program.

    The low hanging fruit is sweet

    Start your DLP implementation with a quick win in mind and build on small successes.

    DLP is a work multiplier

    Your organization must be prepared to investigate alerts and respond to incidents.

    Prevent data loss across cloud or hybrid environments

    A diagram that shows preventing data loss across cloud or hybrid environments

    Data loss prevention is not a point solution.
    It’s the outcome of a well-designed strategy that incorporates multiple, sometimes disparate tools within your existing security program.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Leverage existing security tools where possible.

    Data loss prevention (DLP) overview

    DLP is an additional layer of security.

    DLP is a set of technologies and processes that provides additional data protection by identifying, monitoring, and preventing data from being illicitly used or transmitted.

    DLP depends on many components of a mature security program, including but not limited to:

    • Acceptable use policy
    • Data classification policy and data handling guidelines
    • Identity and access management

    DLP is achieved through some or all of the following tactics:

    • Identify: Data is detected using policies, rules, and patterns.
    • Monitor: Data is flagged and data activity is logged.
    • Prevent: Action is taken on data once it has been detected.

    Info-Tech Insight

    DLP is not foundational. Your information security program needs to be moderately mature to support a DLP strategy.

    DLP approaches and methods

    DLP uses a handful of techniques to achieve its tactics:

    • Policy and access rights: Limits access to data based on user permissions or other contextual attributes.
    • Isolation or virtualization: Data is isolated in an environment with channels for data leakage made unavailable.
    • Cryptographic approach: Data is encrypted.
    • Quantifying and limiting: Use or transfer of data is restricted by quantity.
    • Social and behavioral analysis: The DLP system detects anomalous activity, such as users accessing data outside of business hours.
    • Pattern matching: Data content is analyzed for specific patterns.
    • Data mining and text clustering: Large sets are analyzed, typically with machine learning (ML), to identify patterns.
    • Data fingerprinting: Data files are matched against a pre-calculated hash or based on file contents.
    • Statistical Analysis: Data content is analyzed for sensitive data. Usually involves machine learning.


    DLP has two primary approaches for applying techniques:

    • Content-based: Data is identified through inspecting its content. Fingerprinting and pattern matching are examples of content-based methods.
    • Context-based: Data is identified based on its situational or contextual attributes. Some factors that may be used are source, destination, and format.

    Some DLP tools use both approaches.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Different DLP products will support different methods. It is important to keep these in mind when choosing a DLP solution.

    Start by defining your data

    Define data by answering the 5 “W”s

    Who? Who owns the data? Who needs access? Who would be impacted if it was lost?
    What? What data do you have? What type of data is it? In what format does it exist?
    When? When is the data generated? When is it used? When is it destroyed?
    Where? Where is the data stored? Where is it generated? Where is it used?
    Why? Why is the data needed?

    Use what you discover about your data to create a data inventory!

    Compliance requirements

    Compliance requirements often dictate what must be done to manage and protect data and vary from industry to industry.

    Some examples of compliance requirements to consider:

    • Healthcare - Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
    • Financial Services - Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA)
    • Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS)

    Info-Tech Insight

    Why is especially important. If you don’t need a specific piece of data, dispose of it to reduce risk and administrative overhead related to maintaining or protecting data.

    Classify your data

    Data classification facilitates making decisions about how data is treated.

    Data classification is a process by which data is categorized.

    • The classifications are often based on the sensitivity of the data or the impact a loss or breach of that data would have on the organization.
    • Data classification facilitates decisions about data handling and how information security controls are implemented. Instead of considering many different types of data individually, decisions are based on a handful of classification levels.
    • A mature data classification should include a formalized policy, handling standards, and a steering committee.

    Refer to our Discover and Classify Your Data blueprint for guidance on data classification.

    Sample data classification schema

    Label

    Category
    Top Secret Data that is mission critical and highly likely to negatively impact the organization if breached. The “crown jewels.”
    Examples: Trade secrets, military secrets
    Confidential Data that must not be disclosed, either because of a contractual or regulatory requirement or because of its value to the organization.
    Examples: Payment card data, private health information, personally identifiable information, passwords
    Internal Data that is intended for organizational use, which should be kept private.
    Examples: Internal memos, sales reports
    Limited Data that isn’t generally intended for public consumption but may be made public.
    Examples: Employee handbooks, internal policies
    Public Data that is meant for public consumption and anonymous access.
    Examples: Press releases, job listings, marketing material

    Info-Tech Insight

    Data classification should be implemented as a continuous program, not a one-time project.

    Understand data risk

    Knowing where and how your data is at risk will inform your DLP strategy.

    Data exists in three states, and each state presents different opportunities for risk. Different DLP methodologies will be appropriate for different states.

    Data states

    In use

    • End-user devices
    • Mobile devices
    • Servers

    In motion

    • Cloud services
    • Email
    • Web/web apps
    • Instant messaging
    • File transfers

    At rest

    • Cloud services
    • Databases
    • End-user devices
    • Email archives
    • Backups
    • Servers
    • Physical storage devices

    Causes of Risk

    The most common causes of data loss can be categorized by people, processes, and technology.

    A diagram that shows the categorization of causes of risk.

    Check out our Combine Security Risk Management Components Into One Program blueprint for guidance on risk management, including how to do a full risk assessment.

    Prioritize your data

    Know what data matters most to your organization.

    Prioritizing the data that most needs protection will help define your DLP goals.

    The prioritization of your data should be a business decision based on your comprehension of the data. Drivers for prioritizing data can include:

    • Compliance-driven: Noncompliance is a risk in itself and your organization may choose to prioritize data based on meeting compliance requirements.
    • Audit-driven: Data can be prioritized to prepare for a specific audit objective or in response to an audit finding.
    • Business-driven: Data could be prioritized based on how important it is to the organization’s business processes.

    Info-Tech Insight

    It’s not feasible for most organizations to apply DLP to all their data. Start with the most important data.

    Activity: Prioritize your data

    Input: Lists of data, data types, and data environments
    Output: A list of data types with an estimated priority
    Materials: Data Loss Prevention Strategy Planner worksheet
    Participants: Security leader, Data owners

    1-2 hours

    For this activity, you will use the Data Loss Prevention Strategy Planner workbook to prioritize your data.

    1. Start with tab “2. Setup” and fill in the columns. Each column features a short explanation of itself, and the following slides will provide more detail about the columns.
    2. On tab “3. Data Prioritization,” work through the rows by selecting a data type and moving left to right. This sheet features a set of instructions at the top explaining each column, and the following slides also provide some guidance. On this tab, you may use data types and data environments multiple times.

    Click to download the Data Loss Prevention Strategy Planner

    Activity: Prioritize your data

    In the Data Loss Prevention Strategy Planner tool, start with tab “2. Setup.”

    A diagram that shows tab 2 setup

    Next, move to tab “3. Data Prioritization.”

    A diagram that shows tab 3 Data Prioritization.

    Click to download the Data Loss Prevention Strategy Planner

    Determine DLP objectives

    Your DLP strategy should be able to function as a business case.

    DLP objectives should achieve one or more of the following:

    • Prevent disclosure or unauthorized use of data, regardless of its state.
    • Preserve usability while providing adequate security.
    • Improve security, privacy, and compliance capabilities.
    • Reduce overall risk for the enterprise.

    Example objectives:

    • Prevent users from emailing ePHI to addresses outside of the organization.
    • Detect when a user is uploading an unusually large amount of data to a cloud drive.

    Most common DLP use cases:

    • Protection of data, primarily from internal threats.
    • Meet compliance requirements to protect data.
    • Automate the discovery and classification of data.
    • Provide better data management and visibility across the enterprise.
    • Manage and protect data on mobile devices.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Having a clear idea of your objectives will make implementing a DLP program easier.

    Align DLP with your existing security program/architecture

    DLP depends on many different aspects of your security program.
    To the right are some components of your existing security program that will support DLP.


    1. Data handling standards or guidelines: These specify how your organization will handle data, usually based on its classification. Your data handling standards will inform the development of DLP rules, and your employees will have a clear idea of data handling expectations.

    2. Identity and access management (IAM): IAM will control the access users have to various resources and data and is integral to DLP processes.

    3. Incident response policy or plan: Be sure to consider your existing incident handling processes when implementing DLP. Modifying your incident response processes to accommodate alerts from DLP tools will help you efficiently process and respond to incidents.

    4. Existing security tools: Firewalls, email gateways, security information and event management (SIEM), and other controls should be considered or leveraged when implementing a DLP solution.

    5. Acceptable use policy: An organization must set expectations for acceptable/unacceptable use of data and IT resources.

    6. User education and awareness: Aside from baseline security awareness training, organizations should educate users about policies and communicate the risks of data leakage to reduce risk caused by user error.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Consider DLP as a secondary layer of protection; a safety net. Your existing security program should do most of the work to prevent data misuse.

    Cloud service models

    A fundamental challenge with implementing DLP with cloud services is the reduced flexibility that comes with managing less of the technology stack. Each cloud model offers varying levels of abstraction and control to the user.

    Infrastructure as a service (IaaS): This service model provides customers with virtualized technology resources, such as servers and networking infrastructure. IaaS allows users to have complete control over their virtualized infrastructure without needing to purchase and maintain hardware resources or server space. Popular examples include Amazon Web Servers, Google Cloud Engine, and Microsoft Azure.

    Platform as a service (PaaS): This service model provides users with an environment to develop and manage their own applications without needing to manage an underlying infrastructure. Popular examples include Google Cloud Engine, OpenShift, and SAP Cloud.

    Software as a service (SaaS): This service model provides customers with access to software that is hosted and maintained by the cloud provider. SaaS offers the least flexibility and control over the environment. Popular examples include Salesforce, Microsoft Office, and Google Workspace.

    A diagram that shows cloud models, including IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Cloud service providers may include DLP controls and functionality for their environments with the subscription. These tools are usually well suited for DLP functions on that platform.

    Different DLP tools

    DLP products often fall into general categories defined by where those tools provide protection. Some tools fit into more than one category.

    Cloud DLP refers to DLP products that are designed to protect data in cloud environments.

    • Cloud access security broker (CASB): This system, either in-cloud or on-premises, sits between cloud service users and cloud service providers and acts as a point of control to enforce policies on cloud-based resources. CASBs act on data in motion, for the most part, but can detect and act on data at rest through APIs.
    • Existing tools integrated within a service: Many cloud services provide DLP tools to manage data loss in their service.

    Endpoint DLP: This DLP solution runs on an endpoint computing device and is suited to detecting and controlling data at rest on a computer as well as data being uploaded or downloaded. Endpoint DLP would be feasible for IaaS.

    Network DLP: Network DLP, deployed on-premises or as a cloud service, enforces policies on network flows between local infrastructure and the internet.

    • “Email DLP”: Detects and enforces security policies specifically on data in motion as emails.

    A diagram of CASB

    Choosing a DLP solution

    You will also find that some DLP solutions are better suited for some cloud service models than others.


    DLP solution types that are better suited for SaaS: CASB and Integrated Tools

    DLP solution types that are better suited for PaaS: CASB, Integrated Tools, Network DLP

    DLP solution types that are better suited for IaaS: CASB, Integrated Tools, Network DLP, and Endpoint DLP

    Your approach for DLP will vary depending on the data state you’ll be acting on and whether you are trying to detect or prevent.

    A diagram that shows DLP tactics by approach and data state

    Click to download the Data Loss Prevention Strategy Planner
    Check the tab labeled “6. DLP Features Reference” for a list of common DLP features.

    Activity: Plan DLP methods

    Input: Knowledge of data states for data types
    Output: A set of technical DLP policy rules for each data type by environment
    Materials: The same Data Loss Prevention Strategy Planner worksheet from the earlier activity
    Participants: Security leader, Data owners

    1-2 hours

    Continue with the same workbook used in the previous activity.

    1. On tab “4. DLP Methods,” indicate the expected data state the DLP control will act on. Then, select the type of DLP control your organization intends to use for that data type in that data environment.
    2. DLP actions are suggested based on the classification of the data type, but these may be overridden by manually selecting your preferred action.
    3. You will find more detail on this activity on the following slide, and you will find some additional guidance in the instructional text at the top of the worksheet.
    4. Once you have populated the columns on this worksheet, a summary of suggested DLP rules can be found on tab “5. Results.”

    Click to download the Data Loss Prevention Strategy Planner

    Activity: Plan DLP methods

    Use tab “4. DLP Methods” to plan DLP rules and technical policies.

    A diagram that shows tab 4 DLP Methods

    See tab “5. Results” for a summary of your DLP policies.

    A diagram that shows tab 5 Results.

    Click to download the Data Loss Prevention Strategy Planner

    Implement your DLP program

    Take the steps to properly implement your DLP program

    1. It’s important to shift the culture. You will need leadership’s support to implement controls and you’ll need stakeholders’ participation to ensure DLP controls don’t negatively affect business processes.
    2. Integrate DLP tools with your security program. Most cloud service providers, like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google provide DLP controls in their native environment. Many of your other security controls, such as firewalls and mail gateways, can be used to achieve DLP objectives.
    3. DLP is best implemented with a crawl, walk, then run approach. Following change management processes can reduce friction.
    4. Communicating controls to users will also reduce friction.

    A diagram of implementing DLP program

    Info-Tech Insight

    After a DLP program is implemented, alerts will need to be investigated and incidents will need a response. Be prepared for DLP to be a work multiplier!

    Measure and improve

    Metrics of effectiveness

    DLP attempts to tackle the challenge of promptly detecting and responding to an incident.
    To measure the effectiveness of your DLP program, compare the number of events, number of incidents, and mean time to respond to incidents from before and after DLP implementation.

    Metrics that indicate friction

    A high number of false positives and rule exceptions may indicate that the rules are not working well and may be interfering with legitimate use.
    It’s important to address these issues as the frustration felt by employees can undermine the DLP program.

    Tune DLP rules

    Establish a process for routinely using metrics to tune rules.
    This will improve performance and reduce friction.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Aside from performance-based tuning, it’s important to evaluate your DLP program periodically and after major system or business changes to maintain an awareness of your data environment.

    Related Info-Tech Research

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    Bibliography

    Alhindi, Hanan, Issa Traore, and Isaac Woungang. "Preventing Data Loss by Harnessing Semantic Similarity and Relevance." jisis.org Journal of Internet Services and Information Security, 31 May 2021. Accessed 2 March 2023. https://jisis.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/jisis-2021-vol11-no2-05.pdf

    Cash, Lauryn. "Why Modern DLP is More Important Than Ever." Armorblox, 10 June 2022. Accessed 10 February 2023. https://www.armorblox.com/blog/modern-dlp-use-cases/

    Chavali, Sai. "The Top 4 Use Cases for a Modern Approach to DLP." Proofpoint, 17 June 2021. Accessed 7 February 2023. https://www.proofpoint.com/us/blog/information-protection/top-4-use-cases-modern-approach-dlp

    Crowdstrike. "What is Data Loss Prevention?" Crowdstrike, 27 Sept. 2022. Accessed 6 Feb. 2023. https://www.crowdstrike.com/cybersecurity-101/data-loss-prevention-dlp/

    De Groot, Juliana. "What is Data Loss Prevention (DLP)? Definition, Types, and Tips." Digital Guardian, 8 February 2023. Accessed 9 Feb. 2023. https://digitalguardian.com/blog/what-data-loss-prevention-dlp-definition-data-loss-prevention

    Denise. "Learn More About DLP Key Use Cases." CISO Platform, 28 Nov. 2019. Accessed 10 February 2023. https://www.cisoplatform.com/profiles/blogs/learn-more-about-dlp-key-use-cases

    Google. "Cloud Data Loss Prevention." Google Cloud Google, n.d. Accessed 7 Feb. 2023. https://cloud.google.com/dlp#section-6

    Gurucul. "2023 Insider Threat Report." Cybersecurity Insiders, 13 Jan. 2023. Accessed 23 Feb. 2023. https://gurucul.com/2023-insider-threat-report

    IBM Security. "Cost of a Data Breach 2022." IBM Security, 1 Aug. 2022. Accessed 13 Feb. 2023. https://www.ibm.com/downloads/cas/3R8N1DZJ

    Mell, Peter & Grance, Tim. "The NIST Definition of Cloud Computing." NIST CSRC NIST, Sept. 2011. Accessed 7 Feb. 2023. https://csrc.nist.gov/publications/detail/sp/800-145/final

    Microsoft. "Plan for Data Loss Prevention (DLP)." Microsoft 365 Solutions and Architecture Microsoft, 6 Feb. 2023. Accessed 14 Feb. 2023. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/compliance/dlp-overview-plan-for-dlp

    Nanchengwa, Christopher. "The Four Questions for Successful DLP Implementation." ISACA Journal ISACA, 1 Jan. 2019. Accessed 6 Feb. 2023. https://www.isaca.org/resources/isaca-journal/issues/2019/volume-1/the-four-questions-for-successful-dlp-implementation

    Palo Alto Networks. "The State of Cloud Native Security 2023." Palo Alto Networks, 2 March 2023. Accessed 23 March 2023. https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/content/dam/pan/en_US/assets/pdf/reports/state-of-cloud-native-security-2023.pdf

    Pritha. "Top Six Metrics for your Data Loss Prevention Program." CISO Platform, 27 Nov. 2019. Accessed 10 Feb. 2023. https://www.cisoplatform.com/profiles/blogs/top-6-metrics-for-your-data-loss-prevention-program

    Raghavarapu, Mounika. "Understand DLP Key Use Cases." Cymune, 12 June 2021. Accessed 7 Feb. 2023. https://www.cymune.com/blog-details/DLP-key-use-cases

    Sheela, G. P., & Kumar, N. "Data Leakage Prevention System: A Systematic Report." International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering BEIESP, 30 Nov. 2019. Accessed 2 March 2023. https://www.ijrte.org/wp-content/uploads/papers/v8i4/D6904118419.pdf

    Sujir, Shiv. "What is Data Loss Prevention? Complete Guide [2022]." Pathlock, 15 Sep. 2022. Accessed 7 February 2023. https://pathlock.com/learn/what-is-data-loss-prevention-complete-guide-2022/

    Wlosinski, Larry G. "Data Loss Prevention - Next Steps." ISACA Journal, 16 Feb. 2018. Accessed 21 Feb. 2023. https://www.isaca.org/resources/isaca-journal/issues/2018/volume-1/data-loss-preventionnext-steps

    Maximize Your American Rescue Plan Funding

    • Buy Link or Shortcode: {j2store}74|cart{/j2store}
    • member rating overall impact: 9.0/10 Overall Impact
    • member rating average dollars saved: $661,499 Average $ Saved
    • member rating average days saved: 8 Average Days Saved
    • Parent Category Name: Cost & Budget Management
    • Parent Category Link: /cost-and-budget-management
    • Will funding from COVID-19 stimulus opportunities mean more human and financial resources for IT?
    • Are there governance processes in place to successfully execute large projects?
    • What does a large, one-time influx of capital mean for keeping-the-lights-on budgets?
    • How will ARP funding impact your internal resourcing?
    • How can you ensure that IT is not left behind or an afterthought?

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • Seek a one-to-many relationship between IT solutions and business problems. Use the central and overarching nature of IT to identify one solution to multiple business problems that span multiple programs, departments, and agencies.
    • Lack of specific guidance should not be a roadblock to starting. Be proactive by initiating the planning process so that you are ready to act as soon as details are clear.
    • IT involvement is the lynchpin for success. The pandemic has made this theme self-evident, and it needs to stay that way.
    • The fact that this funding is called COVID-19 relief might make you think you should only use it for recovery, but actually it should be viewed as an opportunity to help the organization thrive post-pandemic.

    Impact and Result

    • Shift IT’s role from service provider to innovator. Take ARP funding as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create future enterprise capabilities by thinking big to consider IT innovation that can transform the business and its initiatives for the post-pandemic world.
    • Whether your organization is eligible for a direct or an indirect transfer, be sure you understand the requirements to apply for funding internally through a business case or externally through a grant application.
    • Gain the skills to execute the project with confidence by developing a comprehensive statement of work and managing your projects and vendor relationships effectively.

    Maximize Your American Rescue Plan Funding Research & Tools

    Use our research to help maximize ARP funding.

    Follow Info-Tech's approach to think big, align with the business, analyze budget and staffing, execute with confidence, and ensure compliance and reporting.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    [infographic]

    Workshop: Maximize Your American Rescue Plan Funding

    Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

    1 Think Big

    The Purpose

    Push the boundaries of conventional thinking and consider IT innovations that truly transform the business.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    A list of innovative IT opportunities that your IT department can use to transform the business

    Activities

    1.1 Discuss the objectives of ARP and what they mean to IT departments.

    1.2 Identify drivers for change.

    1.3 Review IT strategy.

    1.4 Augment your IT opportunities list.

    Outputs

    Revised IT vision

    List of innovative IT opportunities that can transform the business

    2 Align With the Business

    The Purpose

    Partner with the business to reprioritize projects and initiatives for the post-pandemic world.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Assessment of the organization’s new and existing IT opportunities and alignment with business objectives

    Activities

    2.1 Assess alignment of current and new IT initiatives with business objectives.

    2.2 Review and update prioritization criteria for IT projects.

    Outputs

    Preliminary list of IT initiatives

    Revised project prioritization criteria

    3 Analyze IT Budget and Staffing

    The Purpose

    Identify IT budget deficits resulting from pandemic response and discover opportunities to support innovation through new staff and training.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Prioritized shortlist of business-aligned IT initiative and projects

    Activities

    3.1 Classify initiatives into project categories using ROM estimates.

    3.2 Identify IT budget needs for projects and ongoing services.

    3.3 Identify needs for new staff and skills training.

    3.4 Determine business benefits of proposed projects.

    3.5 Prioritize your organization’s projects.

    Outputs

    Prioritized shortlist of business-aligned IT initiatives and projects

    4 Plan Next Steps

    The Purpose

    Tie IT expenditures to direct transfers or link them to ARP grant opportunities.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Action plan to obtain ARP funding

    Activities

    4.1 Tie projects to direct transfers, where applicable.

    4.2 Align list of projects to indirect ARP grant opportunities.

    4.3 Develop an action plan to obtain ARP funding.

    4.4 Discuss required approach to project governance.

    Outputs

    Action plan to obtain ARP funding

    Project governance gaps

    Implement a Transformative IVR Experience That Empowers Your Customers

    • Buy Link or Shortcode: {j2store}68|cart{/j2store}
    • member rating overall impact: 8.5/10 Overall Impact
    • member rating average dollars saved: $6,499 Average $ Saved
    • member rating average days saved: 15 Average Days Saved
    • Parent Category Name: Development
    • Parent Category Link: /development
    • Today’s customers expect a top-tier experience when interacting with businesses.
    • The advancements in IVR technology mean that IT departments are managing added complexity in drafting a strategy for a top-tier IVR approach.
    • Implementing best practices and the right enabling technology stack is critical to supporting world-class customer experience through IVR.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • Don’t assume that contact centers and IVR systems are relics of the past. Customers still look to phone calls as being the most effective way to get a fast answer.
    • Tailor your IVR system for your customers. There is no “one-size-fits-all” approach – understand your key customer demographics and support their experience by implementing the most effective strategies for them.
    • Don’t buy best of breed, buy best for you. Base your enabling technology selection on your requirements and use cases, not on the latest industry trends and developments.

    Impact and Result

    • Before selecting and deploying technology solutions, create a database of common customer pain points and FAQs to act as an outline for the call flow tree.
    • Understand and apply operational best practices, such as ensuring proper call menu organization and using self-service applications, to improve IVR metrics and, ultimately, the customer experience.
    • Understand emerging technologies and evolving trends in the IVR space, including natural language processing and integrating your IVR with other essential enterprise applications (e.g. customer relationship management platforms).

    Implement a Transformative IVR Experience That Empowers Your Customers Research & Tools

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Transformative IVR Experience Deck – A deck outlining the best strategies and enabling technologies to implement in your IVR approach to improve your customer experience.

    This storyboard offers insight into impactful strategies and beneficial enabling technologies to implement in your IVR approach to improve your customers’ experience and to reduce the load on your support staff. This deck outlines IT’s role in the IVR development process, offering insight into how to develop an effective IVR call flow and providing details on relevant enabling technologies to consider implementing to further improve your offering.

    • Implement a Transformative IVR Experience That Empowers Your Customers – Phases 1-4

    2. IVR Call Flow Template – A template designed to help you build an effective call flow tree by providing further insight into how to better understand your customers.

    This template demonstrates an ideal IVR approach, outlining a sample call flow for a telecommunications company designed to meet the needs of a curated customer persona. Use this template to gain a better understanding of your own key customers and to construct your own call flow tree.

    • Create an IVR Call Flow That Empowers Your Customers
    [infographic]

    Further reading

    Implement a Transformative IVR Experience That Empowers Your Customers

    Learn the strategies that will allow you to develop an effective interactive voice response (IVR) framework that supports self-service and improves customer experience.

    Stop! Are you ready for this project?

    This Research Is Designed For:

    • Business analysts, application directors/managers, and customer service leaders tasked with developing and executing a technology enablement strategy for optimizing their contact center approach.
    • Any organization aiming to improve its customer experience by implementing a customer-centric approach to over-the-phone service via an IVR system.

    This Research Will Help You:

    • Adopt the best strategies for outlining an effective IVR approach and for transforming an existing IVR system.
    • Improve customer experience and ultimately customer satisfaction by enabling you to create a more efficient IVR call flow tree.
    • Select the proper IVR strategies to focus on based on the maturity level of your organization's call center.
    • Review the "art of the possible" and learn of the latest developments in successful IVR execution.
    • Learn IT's role in developing a successful IVR system and in developing a technology strategy that optimizes your IVR approach.

    Executive Summary

    Your Challenge

    • Today's customers expect a top-tier experience when interacting with businesses.
    • The advancements in IVR technology mean that IT departments are managing added complexity in drafting a strategy for a top-tier IVR approach.
    • Implementing best practices and the right enabling technology stack is critical to supporting world-class customer experience through IVR.

    Common Obstacles

    • Many organizations do not have a clear understanding of customers' drivers for contacting their IVR.
    • As many contact centers look to improve the customer experience, the need for an impactful IVR system has markedly increased. The proliferation of recommendations for IVR best practices and related technologies has made it difficult to identify and implement the right approach.
    • With a growing number of IVR-related requests, IT must be prepared to speak intelligently about requirements and the "art of the possible."

    Info-Tech's Approach

    • Before selecting and deploying technology solutions, create a database of common customer call drivers to act as an outline for the call flow tree.
    • Understand and apply operational best practices, such as ensuring proper call menu organization and using self-service applications, to improve IVR metrics and, ultimately, the customer experience.
    • Understand evolving trends and emerging technologies in the IVR space, including offering personalized service and using natural language processing/conversational AI.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Tailor your IVR system specifically for your customers. There is no one-size-fits-all approach. Understand your key customers and support their experience by implementing the most effective strategies for them.

    Voice is still the dominant way in which customers choose to receive support

    Despite the contrary beliefs that the preference for phone support and IVR systems is declining, studies have consistently shown that consumers still prefer receiving customer service over the phone.

    76%

    of customers prefer the "traditional" medium of phone calls to reach customer support agents.

    50%

    of customers across all age groups generally use the phone to contact customer support, making it the most-used customer service channel.

    Your IVR approach can make or break your customers' experience

    The feelings that customers are left with after interacting with contact centers and support lines has a major impact on their future purchase decisions

    Effective IVR systems provide customers with positive experiences, keeping them happy and satisfied. Poorly executed IVR systems leave customers feeling frustrated and contribute to an overall negative experience. Negative experiences with your IVR system could lead to your customers taking their business elsewhere.

    In fact, research by Haptik shows that an average of $262 per customer is lost each year due to poor IVR experiences ("7 Conversational IVR Trends for 2021 and Beyond," Haptik, 2021).

    50%

    of customers have abandoned their business transactions while dealing with an IVR system.

    Source: Vonage, 2020

    45%

    of customers will abandon a business altogether due to a poor IVR experience.

    Source: "7 Remarkable IVR Trends For the Year 2022 And Beyond," Haptik, 2021

    IVR systems only improve your customers' experience when done properly

    There are many common mistakes that organizations make when implementing their own IVR strategies:

    1. Offering too many menu options. IVR systems are supposed to allow customers to resolve their inquiries quickly, so it is integral that you organize your menu effectively. Less is more when it comes to your IVR call flow tree.
    2. A lack of self-service capabilities. IVR systems are meant to maximize customer service and improve the customer experience by offering self-service functionality. If resolutions for common issues can't be found through IVR, your return on investment (ROI) is limited.
    3. Having callers get stuck in an "IVR loop." Customers caught hearing the same information repeatedly will often abandon their call. Don't allow customers to get "tangled" in your call flow tree; always make human contact an option.
    4. Not offering personalized service. The inability to identify customers by their number or other identifying features leads to poor personalization and time wasted repeating information, contributing to an overall negative experience.
    5. Not updating the IVR system. By not taking advantage of new developments in IVR technology and by not using customer and employee feedback to upgrade your offering, you are missing out on the potential to improve your customers' experience. Complacency kills, and your organization will be at a competitive disadvantage because of it.

    Implement a transformative IVR approach that empowers your customers

    Call flow trees don't grow overnight; they require commitment, nurturing, and care

    1. Focus on the Roots of Your Call Flow Tree
      • Your call flow tree will only grow as strong as the roots allow it; begin beneath the surface by understanding the needs of your customers and the goals of your organization first, before building your initial IVR menu.
    2. Allow Customers the Opportunity to Branch Out
      • Empower your customers by directing your call flow tree to self-service applications where possible and to live agents when necessary.
    3. Let Your Call Flow Tree Flourish
      • Integrate your IVR with other relevant business applications and apply technological developments that align with the needs of your customers and the goals of your organization.
    4. Keep Watering Your Call Flow Tree
      • Don't let your call flow tree die! Elicit feedback from relevant stakeholders and develop an iterative review cycle to identify and implement necessary changes to your call flow tree, ensuring continued growth.

    IT plays an integral role in supporting the IVR approach

    IT is responsible for providing technology enablement of the IVR strategy

    While IT may not be involved in organizing the call flow tree itself, their impact on an organization's IVR approach is undeniable. Not only will IT assist with the implementation and integration of your IVR system, they will also be responsible for maintaining the technology on an ongoing basis. As such, IT should be a part of your organization's software selection team, following Info-Tech's methodology for optimizing your software selection process.

    • With an understanding of the organization's customer experience management strategy and business goals, IT should be looked toward to:
    • Provide insight into the "art of the possible" with IVR systems.
    • Recommend enabling technologies relative to your call center's maturity (e.g. agent assist and natural language processing).
    • Outline integration capabilities with your existing application portfolio.
    • Highlight any security concerns.
    • Assist with vendor engagement.
    • Take part in stakeholder feedback groups, consulting with agents about their pain points and attempting to solve their problems.

    Guided Implementation

    What does a typical GI on this topic look like?

    Focus on the Roots of Your Call Flow Tree

    		Allow Customers the Opportunity to Branch Out Let Your IVR Call Flow Tree Flourish Keep Watering Your Call Flow Tree

    Call #1: Introduce the project, scoping customer call drivers and defining metrics of success.

    Call #3: Discuss the importance of promoting self-service and how to improve call routing processes, assessing the final tiers of the IVR.

    Call #4: Discuss the benefits of integrating your IVR within your existing business architecture and using relevant enabling technologies.

    Call #5: Discuss how to elicit feedback from relevant stakeholders and develop an iterative IVR review cycle, wrapping up the project.

    Call #2: Begin assessing initial IVR structure.

    A Guided Implementation (GI) is a series

    of calls with an Info-Tech analyst to help implement our best practices in your organization.

    A typical GI is 5 to 7 calls over the course of 4 to 6 months.

    Phase 1

    Focus on the Roots of Your Call Flow Tree

    Phase 1

    Phase 2

    Phase 3

    Phase 4

    1.1 Understand your customers

    1.2 Develop goals for your IVR

    1.3 Align goals with KPIs

    1.4 Build your initial IVR menu

    2.1 Build the second tier of your IVR menu

    2.2 Build the third tier of your IVR menu

    3.1 Learn the benefits of a personalized IVR

    3.2 Review new technology to apply to your IVR

    4.1 Gather insights on your IVR's performance

    4.2 Create an agile review method

    This phase will walk you through the following activities:

    • Building a database of your customers' call drivers
    • Developing IVR-related goals and connecting them with your key performance indicators (KPIs)
    • Developing the first tier of your IVR menu

    This phase involves the following participants:

    • Business stakeholders (business analysts, application director/manager, customer service leaders)
    • IT project team

    Implement a Transformative IVR Approach That Empowers Your Customers

    Step 1.1

    Understand Your Customers

    This step will walk you through the following activity:

    1.1.1 Build a database of the reasons why your customers call your contact center

    Focus on the Roots of Your Call Flow Tree

    This step involves the following participants:

    • Business stakeholders (business analysts, application director/manager, customer service leaders)
    • IT project team

    Outcomes of this step

    • List of your customers' call drivers

    Help your customers get to where they need to go

    Understand which questions customers need answered the most and organize your IVR menu accordingly

    • With any IVR system, your primary focus should be creating a simple, easily navigated call flow. You not only want your customers to be able to find the solutions that they are looking for, but you want them to be able to do so easily and quickly.
    • In order to direct customers more efficiently, you need to understand why they're motivated to call your contact center. This will be different for every organization, so it requires a deeper understanding of your customers.
    • After understanding the motivators behind your customers' reasons for calling, you'll be able to organize your call flow tree effectively.
    • Assign the most popular reasons that customers call first in your IVR call flow. Organizing your call flow in such a way will ensure a quicker turn around time for customer inquiries, providing callers with the immediate resolution that they are seeking.

    "Call flows are the structure of a call center's interactive voice response (IVR). They define the path a caller takes to reach a resolution. The more efficient the flow, the quicker a resolution can be – thereby delivering a better caller experience."

    Thomas Randall, Ph.D.
    Senior Research Analyst
    Info-Tech Research Group

    1.1.1 Activity: Build a list of the most common reasons that your key customers call your contact center

    30 minutes

    1. As a group, review the reasons that customers call your contact center. This includes reviewing which questions are asked most frequently, what services are most often inquired about, and what pain points and complaints live agents hear most regularly.
    2. Organize each call driver from most to least popular based on how often they are heard.
    3. Record your findings.
    Input Output
    • List of common customer questions
    • List of common customer pain points/complaints
    • Database of customer call drivers
    Materials Participants
    • Whiteboard
    • Markers
    • Project team
    • Customer service leaders/live agents

    Info-Tech Insight

    To understand why your customers are calling, first you need to know who your customers are. Improve your caller understanding by creating customer personas.

    1.1.1 Activity: Build a list of the most common reasons that your key customers call your contact center

    Example

    Customer Call Drivers
    Need to pay a bill
    Complaints about an outage to their service
    Inquiry about new plans
    Need to update account information
    Complaints about their last bill

    Step 1.2

    Develop Goals for Your IVR

    This step will walk you through the following activity:

    1.2.1 Outline IVR-related goals relevant to your organization.

    Focus on the Roots of Your Call Flow Tree

    This step involves the following participants:

    • Business stakeholders (business analysts, application director/manager, customer service leaders)
    • IT project team

    Outcomes of this step

    • Goals for your organizational IVR

    Create IVR-related goals you wish for your organization to achieve

    Organizations across different industries will measure success in a multitude of ways; develop goals that are relevant to your needs and desires

    Based on your customer experience strategy and what industry you're in, the goals that you aim to accomplish will look different. A doctor's office will be more concerned with an accurate diagnosis and high first call resolution rate than low average talk time!

    Setting business goals relevant to your organization is only half of the battle; it's just as important to hold your organization accountable to those goals and measure your continued progress toward meeting them.

    1.2.1 Activity: Brainstorm a list of goals that you would like your organization to achieve when optimizing your IVR approach

    30 minutes

    1. In two to three groups, brainstorm goals related to your IVR that are relevant to your organization.
    2. Classify these goals as being either quick wins or part of a longer-term engagement based on the time they would take to accomplish.
    3. Introduce your goals to the entire group, coming to an agreement on the top goals that the organization should aim to achieve through implementing a new/transformed IVR approach.
    InputOutput
    • Customer experience strategy
    • Desired IVR-related achievements
    • Organizational IVR goals
    MaterialsParticipants
    • Whiteboard
    • Markers
    • Project team

    1.2.1 Activity: Brainstorm a list of goals that you would like your organization to achieve when optimizing your IVR approach

    Example

    Goal Designation
    Lower the average queue time Quick win
    Lower call abandonment rate Quick win
    Lower customer attrition Long-term
    Lower employee attrition Long-term
    Increase average speed of answer Quick win

    Step 1.3

    Align Your Goals With Your KPIs

    This step will walk you through the following activity:

    1.3.1 Review your organizational IVR goals and connect them with your key performance indicators (KPIs)

    Focus on the Roots of Your Call Flow Tree

    This step involves the following participants:

    • Business stakeholders (business analysts, application director/manager, customer service leaders)
    • IT project team

    Outcomes of this step

    • Metrics used to measure organizational success related to your IVR

    Ensure you are using the proper metrics for measuring the success of your call flow tree

    You won't know if your IVR is operating successfully if you don't know what success looks like for you. It is important to align your contact center KPIs with your business goals so you can hold your IVR system accountable.

    Example

    Metric Description Current Score Target Score [Date/Year]
    First call resolution
    Average abandonment rate
    Customer attrition
    Employee attrition
    Average queue time
    Service level
    Average speed of answer
    Average handle time
    Average call transfer rate
    Average talk time
    Customer self-service resolution
    Agent satisfaction
    Customer satisfaction

    1.3.1 Activity: Develop KPIs for your contact center and connect them to your organization's business goals

    30 minutes

    1. As a group, establish the metrics or KPIs that will be used to measure your progress against the organizational IVR goals created in Activity 1.2.1.
    2. Take note of your current score for each of your organizational goals and determine your target score.
    3. Attach a deadline or target date by which you would like to reach your target score. Target dates can vary based on whether your goal is classified as a quick win or part of a longer-term engagement.
    InputOutput
    • Organizational IVR goals
    • KPIs
    MaterialsParticipants
    • Whiteboard
    • Markers
    • Project team

    Step 1.4

    Build Your Initial IVR Menu

    This step will walk you through the following activity:

    1.4.1 Develop the first tier of your IVR menu, determining the initial selections that customers will have to choose from

    Focus on the Roots of Your Call Flow Tree

    This step involves the following participants:

    • Business stakeholders (business analysts, application director/manager, customer service leaders)
    • IT project team

    Outcomes of this step

    • Tier one of your IVR call flow tree

    Keep your IVR concise – minimize the length of your voice prompts and limit the depth of your menus

    You don't want to overload your customers with information. Providing your callers with overly detailed prompts and too many menu options will only lead to frustration, ultimately diminishing both the efficiency and the effectiveness of your IVR. Limiting the length of your voice prompts and the depth of your menus will lay out a clear path for your callers, increasing the likelihood that they are able to navigate your IVR accurately.

    Each of your IVR menus should provide your customers with no more than five selections.

    Your IVR should offer a maximum of three menu tiers.

    Each of your selection "descriptions" or voice prompts should be no longer than four seconds in length.

    Info-Tech Insight

    According to a study by Telzio (2020), introductory IVR messages that greet your customers and identify your company should be under 7.9 seconds in length. Longer introductions will only bore, frustrate, and overload the customer before the call really even begins.

    When developing your voice prompts, it is integral to speak clearly using simple and easily understood language

    • Speak clearly and stay away from industry-specific jargon to ensure that your voice prompts are widely understood by your customer base. This will allow callers to digest the information relayed through your IVR more accurately.
    • Part of increasing the retention of information communicated through your IVR is also ensuring that sufficient pauses are taken between each of your voice prompts. Just as you want to avoid overloading your customers with voice prompts that are too long and too detailed, you also want to give your callers adequate time to process the information that is being relayed to them.
    • Improving the ease of listening to your IVR will reduce the risk of overwhelming your callers and will increase the likelihood that they are able to follow along appropriately, directing themselves down the proper call flow.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Securing voice talent and be expensive and cumbersome. Consider using an automated voice through a text-to-speech solution for your prompts. This will ensure that all your prompts are consistent throughout your menus, and it also makes it significantly easier to provide crucial updates within your IVR system.

    When sufficient pauses are taken between menu options, input errors can be reduced by over…

    Source: Ansafone Contact Centers, 2019

    1.4.1 Activity: Begin building your call flow tree by developing the initial selections that customers will choose from when dialing into your IVR

    30 minutes

    1. Review the database of customer call drivers completed in Activity 1.1.1 to create the opening menu of your IVR call flow tree.
    2. Limit your selections/prompts to a maximum of five by grouping related questions, services, and complaints/pain points into broad categories.
    3. Organize your selections/prompts according to how often customers call in relating to that topic.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Remember: You don't need five selections! That is the maximum recommended number of prompts to use and will most likely be reserved for more complex call flows. More isn't always better. If you can limit your initial menu to fewer selections, then do so.

    InputOutput
    • Database of customer call drivers
    • Initial IVR menu
    MaterialsParticipants
    • Whiteboard
    • Markers
    • Project team

    1.4.1 Activity: Begin building your call flow tree by developing the initial selections that customers will choose from when dialing into your IVR

    Example

    IVR Initial Greeting

    1. For Billing and Payments

    2. To Report an Outage

    3. To Make Changes to Your Plan or Account

    Phase 2

    Allow Customers the Opportunity to Branch Out

    Phase 1

    Phase 2

    Phase 3

    Phase 4

    1.1 Understand your customers

    1.2 Develop goals for your IVR

    1.3 Align goals with KPIs

    1.4 Build your initial IVR menu

    2.1 Build the second tier of your IVR menu

    2.2 Build the third tier of your IVR menu

    3.1 Learn the benefits of a personalized IVR

    3.2 Review new technology to apply to your IVR

    4.1 Gather insights on your IVR's performance

    4.2 Create an agile review method

    This phase will walk you through the following activities:

    • Completing the second tier of your call flow tree
    • Completing the third and final tier of your call flow tree

    This phase involves the following participants:

    • Business stakeholders (business analysts, application director/manager, customer service leaders)
    • IT project team

    Implement a Transformative IVR Approach That Empowers Your Customers

    Step 2.1

    Build the Second Tier of Your IVR Menu

    This step will walk you through the following activity:

    • 2.1.1 Complete the second tier of your call flow tree, branching out from your initial menu

    Allow Customers the Opportunity to Branch Out

    This step involves the following participants:

    • Business stakeholders (business analysts, application director/manager, customer service leaders)
    • IT project team

    Outcomes of this step

    • Tier 2 of your IVR call flow tree

    An IVR system should empower your customers to solve problems on their own

    Integrate business applications into your IVR menus to enable self-service capabilities and automate processes where possible

    • An IVR system should assist your customer service team while also empowering your customers. This can be accomplished through offering self-service and using automated messaging via a broadcast messaging system.
    • Some common self-service practices include providing callers with the ability to check credit card statements, pay bills, and track shipments.
    • Automated messaging can be used to address common customer questions. For instance, if a company-wide issue exists, an automated message can outline the issue and highlight the approximate time for resolution, providing customers with the answer they were seeking while eliminating the need to speak to a live agent. This technique is commonly practiced by internet providers during outages.
    • Providing callers with the opportunity to find a resolution for themselves through self-service and automated messaging not only improves the customer experience but also frees up your customer service team for more pressing matters.

    73%

    of customers want to be provided with the ability to solve issues on their own.

    67%

    of customers prefer to use self-service options over speaking with a customer service representative.

    Source: Raffle, 2020

    2.1.1 Activity: Grow your call flow tree! Begin branching out from your initial menu options and develop the second tier of your IVR system

    30 minutes

    1. Branch out from your initial IVR menu created in Activity 1.4.1. Get more specific in your prompts, branching out from the general groupings you have created.
    2. Consult with your database of customer call drivers created in Activity 1.1.1 to organize your subgroupings, again prioritizing the services most sought and the questions, complaints, and pain points most frequently heard.
    3. Limit each subsection to a maximum of five prompts.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Always provide your callers with the option to go back to a previous menu or to have menu options repeated.

    InputOutput
    • Database of customer call drivers
    • Initial IVR menu
    • Second IVR menu
    MaterialsParticipants
    • Whiteboard
    • Markers
    • Project team

    2.1.1 Activity: Grow your call flow tree! Begin branching out from your initial menu options and develop the second tier of your IVR system

    Example

    This is an image of the sample flow tree from Activity 2.1.1


    Step 2.2

    Build the Third Tier of Your IVR Menu

    This step will walk you through the following activity:

    2.2.1 Complete your call flow tree by branching out your third and final tier of menu options.

    Allow Customers the Opportunity to Branch Out

    This step involves the following participants:

    • Business stakeholders (business analysts, application director/manager, customer service leaders)
    • IT project team

    Outcomes of this step

    • Third and final tier of your IVR call flow tree

    Provide your callers with the option to speak to a live agent – but not too soon

    While promoting self-service and automating certain processes will improve the functionality of your IVR, it is also important to realize that some issues will ultimately require human intervention. An effective IVR system harmonizes these concepts by making human contact an option, but not too early in the process. You need to find the right balance!

    When organizing your IVR call flow tree, you need to be conscious of sending clients in an endless "IVR loop." You should never have your IVR continually repeat its menu options. Customers will abandon an IVR if they are stuck in an IVR loop, being forced to listen to the same information repeatedly without having a way to reach an agent.

    If a problem cannot be solved within three steps or by the third tier of your IVR menus, callers should be provided with the option to speak to a live agent, if not automatically routed to one. By providing your callers with the option to speak to a live agent on the third tier of your IVR, you are still offering ample time for customers to discover an avenue to solve their issue on their own through self-service, without frustrating them by losing them in an endless loop of IVR options.

    30%

    of customers say that not being able to reach a human agent is the most frustrating aspect of a poor customer service experience.

    Source: ProProfs Chat, 2022

    Info-Tech Insight

    Consider routing callers to a live agent not only on the third tier of your IVR menus but also after three input errors. Multiple input errors can show an eagerness to speak to a representative or a strong misunderstanding of the IVR offering.

    How you direct a customer to a live agent can make all the difference

    Don't think that just offering your customers the option to speak to a live agent is enough. When aiming to significantly improve your customers' experience, how you direct calls to your live agents plays a major role. When a call is being directed to a live agent, be sure to:

    • Optimize your call routing and minimize call transfers. Use skills-based routing to direct your incoming client calls to the most suitable agent to resolve their issue. Inaccurately routing callers through your IVR leads to having to transfer the customer to another agent, which is a major contributor to a negative customer experience.
    • Include wait-time expectations and call-back functionality. There is no denying it: Waiting on hold can be a real pain. If a customer needs to go on hold, inform them of where they are in the queue and what the approximate wait time is. A little transparency can go a long way. You should also provide customers with the option to have a representative call them back. This greatly improves the customer experience, particularly when wait times are long.
    • Play useful on-hold messages. If a customer does decide to wait on the line to speak to a representative, ensure your on-hold messaging doesn't negatively impact their experience. Always have multiple songs and messages available to cycle through to limit customer annoyance. For on-hold messages, consider mentioning self-service capabilities available on other channels or providing company news and information on special promotions. Know your key customer demographics and plan your on-hold messaging accordingly.

    72%

    of customers view having to talk to multiple agents as poor customer service.

    Source: ProProfs Chat, 2022

    33%

    of customers highlight waiting on hold as being their biggest frustration.

    Source: EmailAnalytics, 2022

    2.2.1 Activity: Complete your call flow tree!

    30 minutes

    1. Branch out from the second tier of your IVR call flow tree created in Activity 2.1.1, connecting relevant prompts with self-service applications and automated responses. Keep in mind, most of your frequently asked questions can and should be directed toward an automated response.
    2. Direct all remaining prompts to a live agent, ensuring each selection from your second-tier menu is capped off appropriately.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Remember: Your IVR system doesn't live in isolation. The information offered by your IVR, particularly from automated messages, should be consistent with information found within other resources (e.g. online knowledge bases).

    InputOutput
    • Tier 1 and 2 of your IVR menus
    • Completed IVR call flow
    MaterialsParticipants
    • Whiteboard
    • Markers
    • Project team

    2.2.1 Activity: Complete your call flow tree!

    Example

    This is an image of the sample flow tree from Activity 2.2.1

    Phase 3

    Let Your IVR Call Flow Tree Flourish

    Phase 1

    Phase 2

    Phase 3

    Phase 4

    1.1 Understand your customers

    1.2 Develop goals for your IVR

    1.3 Align goals with KPIs

    1.4 Build your initial IVR menu

    2.1 Build the second tier of your IVR menu

    2.2 Build the third tier of your IVR menu

    3.1 Learn the benefits of a personalized IVR

    3.2 Review new technology to apply to your IVR

    4.1 Gather insights on your IVR's performance

    4.2 Create an agile review method

    This phase will walk you through the following activities:

    • Reviewing the benefits of offering personalized service
    • Reviewing new technologies offered in the IVR space

    This phase involves the following participants:

    • Business stakeholders (business analysts, application director/manager, customer service leaders)
    • IT project team

    Implement a Transformative IVR Approach That Empowers Your Customers

    Step 3.1

    Learn the Benefits of a Personalized IVR

    This step will walk you through the following activity:

    3.1.1 Review the benefits of offering personalized service, namely by connecting your IVR system with your customer knowledge base

    Let Your IVR Call Flow Tree Flourish

    This step involves the following participants:

    • Business stakeholders (business analysts, application director/manager, customer service leaders)
    • IT project team

    Outcomes of this step

    • Understanding the importance of offering personalized service

    Personalizing service is integral for improving your customer experience

    Integrate your IVR system with your customer relationship management (CRM) system or customer knowledge base of choice to provide support to your customers on a personal level.

    The integration of your IVR system with your CRM or other applicable knowledge base allows for customer data (e.g. customer history and previous interactions) to be accessible to your staff during calls. Access to this data allows for a deeper understanding of your customers and for personalization of service. This provides immediate benefits to your contact center that will improve your customer experience.

    When you inevitably do need to transfer a customer to another agent, they won't have to repeat their issue to a new representative, as all their information will now be easily accessible. Being forced to repeat themselves to multiple agents is a major cause of frustration for customers. This integration would also allow you to route callers to the previous agent that they dealt with whenever possible for the purpose of continuity, and it would enable you to implement other beneficial technologies as well.

    One such example is "agent assist." Agent assist is an AI bot that listens in on calls, learning customer context and automatically searching knowledge bases to help resolve queries without the agent having to put the caller on hold to manually perform that work themselves. Not only does agent assist improve customer resolution times, but it also ramps up onboarding time, allowing for new agents to enter the workforce and perform with confidence earlier.

    76%

    of consumers expect personalized experiences.

    71%

    of customers expect internal collaboration so that they don't have to repeat themselves.

    Source: Zendesk, 2019

    Personalization can empower your IVR in many ways

    Personalizing your IVR does much more than just provide your customer service representatives with conversational context. Personalization enables your IVR to recognize callers by their phone number, or even by voice via biometric authentication technologies.

    This advanced level of recognition allows your IVR to greet your callers by name, speak to them in their preferred language, send follow-up correspondence to their preferred method of communication (i.e. email or SMS), and even provide them with contact numbers and addresses for your organization's physical locations that are closest to them.

    An example of a more advanced functionality is having your IVR call flow personalized for each customer based on their call history. As customers call in, their data is collected, ultimately improving your IVR's ability to predict and understand caller intent. This makes personalized call flows possible. If customers typically call in to make payments, your IVR can logically deduce that their next call will be for the same reason, and it will alter the call menu to direct them to that functionality more efficiently.

    Step 3.2

    Review New Technology to Apply to Your IVR

    This step will walk you through the following activity:

    3.2.1 Review new technologies offered in the IVR space and understand their impact

    Let Your IVR Call Flow Tree Flourish

    This step involves the following participants:

    • Business stakeholders (business analysts, application director/manager, customer service leaders)
    • IT project team

    Outcomes of this step

    • Understanding of key technologies

    Let your customers tell you exactly what they need

    Use natural language processing and conversational AI to further advance your IVR offering

    Instead of making your customers work their way through your call flow tree to find out what they need, why not just ask them? Conversational IVR, also known as an "intuitive IVR system," makes this possible.

    Think Google Assistant, Siri, and Alexa. Your customers can simply tell you what they need and your conversational IVR, using the advancements in natural language processing and conversational AI, will take it from there, directing callers to the resources needed to resolve their issues.

    Powerful enough to understand full sentences and not just select words or phrases, the increased intelligence of a conversational IVR system allows it to handle complex customer inquiries. Leveraging machine learning capabilities, the system will only continue to improve its ability to understand caller intent, ultimately leading to increased call routing accuracy as it fields more and more calls.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Remember: Your customers want fast and easy, not overwhelming and confusing. Some customers who are greeted with an open-ended question from a conversational IVR may not be sure how to respond.

    Understand your key customer demographics and act accordingly. It may be beneficial to provide your callers with guidelines of what to say. Outlining appropriate responses that will guide your customers to their desired department quicker will boost their experience with your conversational IVR.

    There are a lot of benefits to implementing a conversational IVR

    • Putting your callers in control and offering a more humanized approach, conversational IVRs are the preferred first point of contact for customers.
    • Conversational IVRs reduce the time required to reach resolution and can handle more calls than a standard IVR.
    • Conversational IVRs allow for the collection of more relevant data. By not limiting callers to predetermined menu options, you can track the reasons behind customers' calls with more accuracy, using this data to drive future IVR developments.
    • Conversational IVRs are more cost-effective than standard IVRs. According to a report by IBM, companies world-wide spend over $1.3 trillion to address 256 billion customer calls annually. This means that each call a live agent addresses costs an average of $30 (Cognigy, 2020). With a conversational IVR, that cost can be reduced to one-eighth (ETCIO.com, 2020).
    • Conversational IVRs can be handle calls in multiple languages, offering improved scalability for companies operating multi-nationally.

    60%

    of callers will bypass the pre-recorded messages in a standard IVR to reach a human voice.

    Source: Cognigy, 2020

    66%

    of requests can be resolved faster by a conversational IVR than by a live agent.

    Source: Cognigy, 2020

    Despite this, only...

    28%

    of IVR systems contacted use voice response as their primary input method.

    Source: Telzio, 2020

    How do you know if a conversational IVR is right for your organization?

    Large, enterprise-level organizations that field a high volume of customer calls are more likely to receive the benefits and higher ROI from implementing a conversational IVR

    Instead of updating the entire IVR system and implementing a conversational IVR, smaller and mid-level organizations should consider attaching a natural language processing front-end to their existing IVR. Through this, you will be able to reap a lot of the same benefits you would if you were to upgrade to a conversational IVR.

    You can attach a natural language processing front-end to your existing IVR in two ways.

    1. Use an API to recognize your customer's voice prompts. Greet your customers with a question, such as "what is your reason for calling," as your initial IVR menu, and when your customer answers, their response will be sent to your selected API (Amazon Lex, IBM Watson, Google Dialogflow, etc.). The API will then process the customer's input and direct the caller to the appropriate branch of your call flow tree.
    2. Use a conversational AI platform to field your calls. Implement a conversational AI platform to be the first point of contact for your customers. After receiving and analyzing the input from your customers, the platform would then route your callers to your current IVR system and to the appropriate menu, whether that be to an automated message, a self-service application, or a live agent.

    Phase 4

    Keep Watering Your IVR Call Flow Tree

    Phase 1

    Phase 2

    Phase 3

    Phase 4

    1.1 Understand your customers

    1.2 Develop goals for your IVR

    1.3 Align goals with KPIs

    1.4 Build your initial IVR menu

    2.1 Build the second tier of your IVR menu

    2.2 Build the third tier of your IVR menu

    3.1 Learn the benefits of a personalized IVR

    3.2 Review new technology to apply to your IVR

    4.1 Gather insights on your IVR's performance

    4.2 Create an agile review method

    This phase will walk you through the following activities:

    • Understanding the importance of receiving feedback from relevant stakeholders and the best practices for obtaining feedback
    • Understanding the best practices for developing an ongoing review cycle

    This phase involves the following participants:

    • Business stakeholders (business analysts, application director/manager, customer service leaders)
    • IT project team

    Implement a Transformative IVR Approach That Empowers Your Customers

    Step 4.1

    Gather Insights on Your IVR's Performance

    This step will walk you through the following activity:

    4.1.1 Understand the importance of receiving feedback and review the best methods for obtaining it from your clients.

    Keep Watering Your IVR Call Flow Tree

    This step involves the following participants:

    • Business stakeholders (business analysts, application director/manager, customer service leaders)
    • IT project team

    Outcomes of this step

    • Understanding of the importance of receiving feedback and how to obtain it from customers

    Elicit feedback from your employees and from your customers

    Your live agents are on the proverbial front lines, fielding calls from customers daily. As such, they are the prime stakeholders for knowing what kinds of calls the organization receives and how often. Their input on the most frequent reasons that customers call, whether it be to address common pain points or to have FAQs answered, is invaluable. Ask them regularly for their feedback on how the IVR system is performing and which updates should be implemented.

    While improving the agent experience is a driver behind adopting an IVR system, the focus should always be improving your customer experience. So why wouldn't you ask your customers for their feedback on your IVR offering? Most customers don't only want to be asked to provide feedback, they expect to be asked. Have your agents ask your customers directly about their experience with your IVR or use the functions of your IVR to offer automated end-of-call surveys.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Many IVR systems are capable of recording calls. Listening back on previous calls is another great way to further understand how your IVR is performing, and it also can provide a glimpse into your customers' experience.

    Surveys provide great insight into your customers' level of satisfaction – not only with your IVR but also with your live agents

    Customer satisfaction score (CSAT) is a great way to determine how happy callers are with their experiences with your organization. CSAT surveys ask your clients outright how satisfied they are with their recent interaction and have them rate your service on a scale. While straightforward, the feedback received from CSAT surveys is more general and can lack depth.

    For more detailed responses, consider asking your clients an open-ended question as opposed to using a rating scale. This will provide you with a more specific understanding of your customers' experience. For this, an IVR system that supports voice transcription is best. Automated speech-to-text functionality will ensure rapid results.

    Another option is to offer a survey that includes skip logic. These multi-tiered surveys, much like an IVR call flow tree, direct your callers to different follow-up questions based on their previous answers. While capable of providing more insight into the customer experience, these surveys are only recommended for more complex service offerings.

    Customer feedback is vitally important

    Asking for feedback makes your callers feel valued, and it also provides your organization with extremely useful information – including an understanding of what you may need to change within your IVR

    90%

    of consumers believe that organizations should provide them with the opportunity to give customer feedback.

    Source: SmallBizGenius, 2022

    41%

    of customer support professionals say that CSAT is their team's most important KPI.

    Source: Hiver, 2022

    Step 4.2

    Create an Agile Review Method

    This step will walk you through the following activity:

    4.2.1 Understand the best practices for developing an ongoing review cycle for your IVR approach

    Keep Watering Your IVR Call Flow Tree

    This step involves the following participants:

    • Business stakeholders (business analysts, application director/manager, customer service leaders)
    • IT project team

    Outcomes of this step

    • Understanding of the importance of IVR maintenance and of the development of an iterative review cycle

    Create an agile review method to continually enhance your call flows

    • Track items
      • Elicit feedback from your key stakeholders (i.e. live agents) as part of a regular review – every month, two months, six months, or year – of your call flow tree's efficiency. Delve into the feedback elicited from your customers at the same intervals. Look for patterns and trends and record items accordingly.
    • Manage backlog
      • Store and organize your recorded items into a backlog, prioritizing items to implement in order of importance. This could be structured by way of identifying which items are a quick win vs. which items are part of a more strategic and long-term implementation.
    • Perform iteration
      • Record key metric scores and communicate the changes you have planned to stakeholders before you implement items. Then, make the change.
    • Be retrospective
      • Examine the success of the implementation by comparing your metric scores from before and after the change. Record instances where performing similar changes could be carried out better in future iterations.

    Summary of Accomplishment

    • Knowledge Gained
      • Benefits of enabling personalized service
      • IVR-enabling technologies
      • Methods of eliciting feedback
    • Processes Optimized
      • IVR voice prompt creation
      • IVR voice prompt organization
      • IVR review cycles
    • Deliverables Completed
      • Database of customer call drivers
      • Organizational IVR goals and KPIs
      • IVR call flow tree

    Related Info-Tech Research

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    Build a Strong Technology Foundation for Customer Experience Management

    • Customer expectations around personalization, channel preferences, and speed-to-resolution are at an all-time high. Your customers are willing to pay more for high-value experiences, and having a strong customer experience management (CXM) strategy is a proven path to creating sustainable value for the organization.
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    IT Strategy Research Center

    • Create an IT strategy based on business needs, not just intuition.
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    SoftwareReviews

    • Accelerate and improve your software selection process with enterprise software reviews. Focus on available resources for communications platform as a service providers and conversational intelligence software.

    Bibliography

    "7 Conversational IVR Trends for 2021 and Beyond." Haptik, 25 March 2021. Accessed 16 June 2022.
    "7 Remarkable IVR Trends For the Year 2022 And Beyond." Haptik, 30 Dec. 2021. Accessed 27 April 2022.
    "8 IVR Strategies that Keep Customers Happy." Ansafone Contact Centers, 31 May 2019. Accessed 25 April 2022.
    "Agent Assist." Speakeasy AI, 19 April 2022. Accessed 27 April 2022.
    "AI chatbot that's easy to use." IBM, n.d. Accessed 21 June 2022.
    "IVR Trends to Watch in 2020 and Beyond: Inside CX." Intrado, 1 May 2020. Accessed 27 April 2022.
    "RIP IVR: 1980-2020." Vonage, 2 June 2020. Accessed 16 June 2022.
    Andrea. "What do Customers Want? – 37 Customer Service Statistics." SmallBizGenius, 17 March 2022. Accessed 24 May 2022.
    Anthony, James. "106 Customer Service Statistics You Must See: 2021/2022 Data & Analysis." FinancesOnline, 14 Jan. 2022. Accessed 27 April 2022.
    Brown, James. "14 stats that prove the importance of self-service in customer service." raffle, 13 Oct. 2020. Accessed 17 June 2022.
    Buesing, Eric, et al. "Getting the best customer service from your IVR: Fresh eyes on an old problem." McKinsey & Company, 1 Feb. 2019. Accessed 25 April 2022.
    Callari, Ron. "IVR Menus and Best Practices." Telzio, 4 Sep. 2020. Accessed 27 April 2022.
    Cornell, Jared. "104 Customer Service Statistics & Facts of 2022." ProProfs Chat, 6 April 2022. Accessed 16 June 2022.
    DeCarlo, Matthew. "18 Common IVR Mistakes & How To Configure Effective IVR." GetVoIP, 13 June 2019. Accessed 27 April 2022.
    DeMers, Jayson. "77 Customer Service Statistics to Know." EmailAnalytics, 23 March 2022. Accessed 27 April 2022.
    Frants, Valeriy. Interview. Conducted by Austin Wagar, 22 June 2022.
    Grieve, Patrick. "Personalized customer service: what it is and how to provide it." Zendesk, 28 June 2019. Accessed 27 April 2022.
    "How Natural Language Processing Can Help Your Interactive Voice Response System Meet Best Practice." Hostcomm, 15 July 2019. Accessed 25 April 2022.
    "IVR and customer experience: get the best UX for your clients." Kaleyra, 14 Dec. 2020. Accessed 25 April 2022.
    Irvine, Bill. "Selecting an IVR System for Customer Satisfaction Surveys." IVR Technology Group, 14 April 2020. Accessed 22 June 2022.
    Kulbyte, Toma. "Key Customer Experience Statistics to Know." SuperOffice, 24 June 2021. Accessed 24 May 2022.
    Leite, Thiago. "What's the Difference Between Standard & Conversational IVR?" Cognigy, 27 Oct. 2020. Accessed 24 May 2022.
    Maza, Cristina. "What is IVR? The ultimate guide." Zendesk, 30 Sep. 2020. Accessed 25 April 2022.
    McCraw, Corey. "What is IVR Call Flow? Benefits, Features, Metrics & More." GetVoIP, 30 April 2020. Accessed 25 April 2022.
    Mircevski, Bruno. "Smart IVR Introduction – What Is It and Why You Should Use It." Ideta, 7 March 2022. Accessed 28 April 2022.
    Oriel, Astha. "Artificial Intelligence in IVR: A Step Towards Faster Customer Services." Analytics Insight, 19 Aug. 2020. Accessed 24 May 2022.
    Perzynska, Kasia. "What is CSAT & How to Measure Customer Satisfaction?" Survicate, 9 March 2022. Accessed 22 June 2022.
    Pratt, Mary K. "How to set business goals, step by step." TechTarget, 27 April 2022. Accessed 21 June 2022.
    Robinson, Kerry. "Insight of the Week: Make Your IVR More Like Alexa." Waterfield Tech, 20 April 2022. Accessed 25 April 2022.
    Sehgal, Karishma. "Exclusive Research – 76% of customer service teams offer support outside of business hours." Hiver, 4 May 2022. Accessed 22 June 2022.
    Smith, Mercer. "111 Customer Service Statistics and Facts You Shouldn't Ignore." Help Scout, 23 May 2022. Accessed 24 June 2022.
    Thompson, Adrian. "A Guide to Conversational IVR." The Bot Forge, 27 Jan. 2021. Accessed 21 June 2022.
    Tolksdorf, Juergen. " 5 Ways to Leverage AI and Agent-Assist to Improve Customer Experience." Genesys, 19 May 2020. Accessed 27 April 2022.
    Vaish, Aakrit. "5 ways conversational IVR is helping businesses revolutionize customer service." ETCIO.com, 20 March 2020. Web.
    Westfall, Leah. "Improving customer experience with the right IVR strategy." RingCentral, 23 July 2021. Accessed 25 April 2022.

    Increase Grant Application Success

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    • Writing grants has not been prioritized by the organization.
    • Your organization is unable to start, finish, and/or continue priority projects or initiatives as it does not have sufficient funds.
    • Grants are applied to in an ad hoc manner by employees who do not have sufficient time and resources to dedicate to the process.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    There are three critical components to the grant application process:

    • Being strategic about the grant opportunities your organization chooses to pursue.
    • Dedicating sufficient time and resources to writing a competitive grant application.
    • Ensuring your organization will be able to adhere to the grant parameters if awarded the funding.

    Impact and Result

    • By leveraging Info-Tech’s methodology, your organization will strategically select, write, and submit competitive grant applications, securing additional funding sources to support the organization and the communities you serve.
    • This research can enhance the grant writing capabilities of the organization and ensure that every grant chosen aligns with your organizational priorities.
    • This blueprint will drive consensus on which grant applications should be prioritized by the organization, ensuring resourcing, feasibility, and significance are considered.

    Increase Grant Application Success Research & Tools

    Start here – read the Executive Brief

    Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should enhance your organization's grant application lifecycle and how you can increase the number of grants your organization is awarded. Review Info-Tech’s methodology and understand the four ways Info-Tech can support you in completing this project.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Identify Opportunities

    Identify grant funding opportunities that align with your organization's priorities. Ensure the programs, services, projects, and initiatives that align with these priorities can be financially supported by grant funding.

    • Increase Grant Application Success – Phase 1: Identify Opportunities
    • Grant Identification and Prioritization Tool for Organizations

    2. Grant Prioritization

    Prioritize applying for the grant opportunities that your organization identified. Be sure to consider the feasibility of implementing the project or initiative if your organization is awarded the grant.

    • Increase Grant Application Success – Phase 2: Grant Prioritization

    3. Write the Grant Application

    Write a competitive grant application that has been strategically developed and actively critiqued by various internal and external reviewers.

    • Increase Grant Application Success – Phase 3: Write the Grant Application
    • Grant Writing Checklist

    4. Submit the Grant Application

    Submit an exemplary grant application that meets the guidelines and expectations of the granting agency prior to the due date.

    • Increase Grant Application Success – Phase 4: Submit the Grant Application
    • Grant Follow-up Email Template

    Infographic

    Workshop: Increase Grant Application Success

    Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

    1 Determine Your Organization's Priorities

    The Purpose

    Determine the key priorities of your organization and identify grant funding opportunities that align with those priorities.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Prevents duplicate grant applications from being submitted

    Ensures the grant and the organization's priorities are aligned

    Increases the success rate of grant applications

    Activities

    1.1 Discuss grant funding opportunities and their importance to the organization.

    1.2 Identify organizational priorities.

    Outputs

    An understanding of why grants are important to your organization

    A list of priorities being pursued by your organization

    2 Prioritize Grant Funding Opportunities

    The Purpose

    Identify potential grant funding opportunities that align with the projects/initiatives the organization would like to pursue. Prioritize these funding opportunities and identify which should take precedent based on resourcing, importance, likelihood of success, and feasibility.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Generate a list of potential funding opportunities that can be revisited when resources allow

    Obtain consensus from your working group on which grants should be pursued based on how they have been prioritized

    Activities

    2.1 Develop a list of potential grant funding opportunities.

    2.2 Define the resource capacity your organization has to support the granting writing process.

    2.3 Discuss and prioritize grant opportunities

    Outputs

    A list of potential grant funding opportunities

    Realistic expectations of your organization's capacity to undertake the grant writing lifecycle

    Notes and priorities from your discussion on grant opportunities

    3 Sketch a Grant Application

    The Purpose

    Take the grant that was given top priority in the last section and sketch out a draft of what that application will look like. Think critically about the sketch and determine if there are opportunities to further clarify and demonstrate the goals of the grant application.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    A sketch ready to be developed into a grant application

    A critique of the sketch to ensure that the application will be well understood by the reviewers of your submission

    Activities

    3.1 Sketch the grant application.

    3.2 Perform a SWOT analysis of the grant sketch.

    Outputs

    A sketched version of the grant application ready to be drafted

    A SWOT analysis that critically examines the sketch and offers opportunities to enhance the application

    4 Prepare to Submit the Grant Application

    The Purpose

    Have the grant application actively critiqued by various internal and external individuals. This will increase the grant application's quality and generate understanding of the application submission and post-submission process.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    A list of individuals (internal and external) that can potentially review the application prior to submission

    Preparation for the submission process

    An understanding of why the opportunity to learn how to improve future grant applications is so important

    Activities

    4.1 Identify potential individuals who will review the draft of your grant application.

    4.2 Discuss next steps around the grant submission.

    4.3 Review grant writing best practices.

    Outputs

    A list of potential individuals who can be asked to review and critique the grant application

    An understanding of what the next steps in the process will be

    Knowledge of grant writing best practices

    Analyze Your Service Desk Ticket Data

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    • Parent Category Name: Service Desk
    • Parent Category Link: /service-desk
    • Leverage your service desk ticket data to gain insights for your service desk strategy.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • Properly analyzing ticket data is challenging for the following reasons:
      • Poor ticket hygiene and unclear ticket handling means the data is often inaccurate or incomplete.
      • Service desk personnel are not sure where to start with analysis.
      • Too many metrics are tracked to parse actionable data from the noise.
    • Ticket data won’t give you a silver bullet, but it can help point you in the right direction.

    Impact and Result

    • Create an iterative framework for tracking metrics, keeping data clean, and actioning your data on day-to-day and month-to-month timelines.

    Analyze Your Service Desk Ticket Data Research & Tools

    Start here – read the Executive Brief

    Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should analyze your service desk ticket data, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Import your ticket data

    Enter your data into our tool. Compare your own ITSM ticket fields to improve ticket data moving forward.

    • Service Desk Ticket Analysis Tool

    2. Analyze your ticket data

    Use the ticket analysis tool as a guide to build your own operational dashboards to measure metrics over time. Gain actionable insights from your data.

    • Ticket Analysis Report

    3. Action your ticket data

    Use the data to communicate your findings to the business and leadership using the Ticket Analysis Report.

    [infographic]

    Further reading

    INFO-TECH RESEARCH GROUP

    Analyze Your Service Desk Ticket Data

    Take a data-driven approach to service desk optimization.

    EXECUTIVE BRIEF

    Analyst Perspective

    Photo of Benedict Chang, Research Analyst, Infrastructure & Operations, Info-Tech Research Group

    Benedict Chang
    Research Analyst, Infrastructure & Operations
    Info-Tech Research Group

    		Photo of Ken Weston ITIL MP, PMP, Cert.APM, SMC, Research Director, Infrastructure & Operations, Info-Tech Research Group

    Ken Weston ITIL MP, PMP, Cert.APM, SMC
    Research Director, Infrastructure & Operations
    Info-Tech Research Group

    The perfect time to start analyzing your ticket data is now

    Service desks improve their services by leveraging ticket data to inform their actions. However, many organizations don’t know where to start. It’s tempting to wait for perfect data, but there’s a lot of value in analyzing your ticket data as it exists today.

    Start small. Track key tension metrics based on the out-of-the-box functionality in your tool. Review the metrics regularly to stay on track.

    By reviewing your ticket data, you’re going to get better organically. You’re going to learn about the state of your environment, the health of your processes, and the quality of your services. Regularly analyze your data to drive improvements.

    Make ticket analysis a weekly habit. Every week, you should be evaluating how the past week went. Every month, you should be looking for patterns and trends.

    Executive Summary

    Your Situation

    Leverage your service desk ticket data to gain insights for improving your operations:

    1. Use a data-based approach to allocate service desk resources.
    2. Design appropriate SLOs and SLAs to better service end users.
    3. Gain efficiencies for your shift-left strategy.
    4. Communicate the current and future value of the service desk to the business.

    Common Obstacles

    Properly analyzing ticket data is challenging for the following reasons:

    • Poor ticket hygiene and unclear ticket handling guidelines can lead to untrustworthy results.
    • Undocumented tickets from various intake channels prevents you from seeing the whole picture.
    • Service desk personnel are not sure where to start with analysis and are too busy to find time.
    • Too many metrics are tracked to parse actionable insights from the noise.

    Info-Tech’s Approach

    Info-Tech’s approach to improvement:

    • To reduce the noise, standardize your ticket data in a format that will ease analysis.
    • Start with common analyses using the cleaned data set.
    • Identify action items based on your ticket data.

    Analyze your ticket data to help continually improve your service desk.

    Slow down. Give yourself time.

    Give yourself time to observe the new metrics and draw enough insights to make recommendations for improvement. Then, execute on those recommendations. Slow and steady improvement of the service desk only adds business value and will have a positive impact on customer satisfaction.

    Your challenge

    This research is designed to help service desk managers analyze their ticket data

    Analyzing ticket data involves:

    • Collecting ticket data and keeping it clean. Based on the metrics you’re analyzing, define ticket expectations and keep the data up to date.
    • Showing the value of the service desk. SLAs are meaningless if they are not met consistently. The prerequisite to implementing proper SLAs is fully understanding the workload of the service desk.
    • Understanding – and improving – the user experience. You cannot improve the user experience without meaningful metrics that allow you to understand the user experience. Different user groups will have different needs and different expectations of the level of service. Your metrics should reflect those needs and expectations.

    36% of organizations are prioritizing ticket handling in IT for 2021 (Source: SDI, 2021)

    12% of organizations are focusing directly on service desk improvement (Source: SDI, 2021)

    Common obstacles

    Many organizations face these barriers to analyzing their ticket data:

    • Finding time to properly analyze ticket data is a challenge. Not knowing where to start can lead to not analyzing the proper data. Service desks end up either tracking too much data or not tracking the proper metrics.
    • Data, even if clean, can be housed in various tools and databases. It’s difficult to aggregate data if the data is stored throughout various tools. Comparisons may also be difficult if the data sets aren’t consistent.
    • Shifting left to move tickets toward self-service is difficult when there is no visibility into which tickets should be shifted left.

    What your peers are saying about why they can’t start analyzing their ticket data:

    • “My technicians do not consistently update and close tickets.”
    • “My ITSM doesn’t have the capabilities I need to make informed decisions on shifting tickets left.”
    • “My tickets are always missing data”
    • “I’m constantly firefighting. I have no time for ticket data analysis.”
    • “I have no idea where to start with the amount of data I have.”
    (Source: Info-Tech survey, 2021; N=20.)

    Common obstacles that prevent effective ticket analysis

    We asked IT service desk managers and teams about their biggest hurdles

    Missing or Inaccurate Information
    • Lack of information in the ticket
    • Categories are too general/specific to draw insights
    • Poor ticket hygiene
    Missing Updates
    • Tickets aren’t updated while being resolved
    Correlating Tickets to Identify Trends
    • Not sure where to start with all the data at hand
    No Time
    • No time to figure out the tool or analyze the data properly
    Ineffective Categorization Schemes
    • Reduces the power of ticket data
    Tool Limitations
    • Can’t be easily customized
    • Too customized to be effective
    • Desired dashboards unavailable
    (Source: Info-Tech survey, 2021; N=20)

    Info-Tech’s approach

    Repeat this analysis every business cycle:

    • Gather Your Data
      Collect your ticket data OR start measuring the right metrics.
    • Extract & Analyze
      Organize and visualize your data to extract insights
    • Action the Results
      Implement low-effort improvements and celebrate quick successes.
    • Implement Larger Changes
      Reference your ticket data while implementing process, tooling, and other changes.
    • Communicate the Results
      Use your data to show the value of your effort.

    Measure the value of this blueprint

    Track these metrics as you improve

    Use the data to tell you which aspects of IT need to be shifted left and which need to be automated

    Your data will show you where you can improve.

    As you act on your data, you should see:

    • Lower costs per ticket
    • Decreased average time to resolve
    • Increased end-user satisfaction
    • Fewer tickets escalated beyond Tier 1

    An illustration of the 'Shift Left Strategy' using three line graphs arranged in a table with the same axes but representing different metrics. The header row is 'Metrics,' then values of the x-axes are 'Auto-Fix,' 'User,' 'Tier 1,' 'Tier2/Tier3,' and 'Vendor.' Under 'Metrics' we see 'Cost,' 'Time,' and 'Satisfaction.' The 'Cost' graph begins 'Low' at 'Auto-Fix' and gradually moves to 'High' at 'Vendor.' The 'Time' graph begins 'Low' at 'Auto-Fix' and gradually moves to 'High' at 'Vendor.' The 'Satisfaction' graph begins 'High' at 'Auto-Fix' and gradually moves to 'Low' at 'Vendor.' Below is an arrow directing us away from the 'Vendor' option and toward the 'Auto-Fix' option, 'Shift Ticket Resolution Left.'

    See Info-Tech’s blueprint Optimize the Service Desk With a Shift-Left Strategy.

    Info-Tech’s methodology for analyzing service desk tickets

    1. Import Your Ticket Data 2. Analyze Your Ticket Data 3. Communicate Your Insights
    Phase Steps
    1. Import Your Ticket Data
    1. Analyze High-Level Ticket Data
    2. Analyze Incidents, Service Requests, and Ticket Categories
    1. Build Recommendations
    2. Action and Communicate Your Ticket Data
    Phase Outcomes Enter your data into our tool. Compare your own ITSM ticket fields to improve ticket data moving forward. Use the Service Desk Ticket Analysis Tool as a guide to build your own operational dashboards to measure metrics over time. Gain actionable insights from your data. Use the data to communicate your findings to the business and leadership using the Ticket Analysis Report.

    Insight summary

    Slow down. Give yourself time.

    Give yourself time to observe the new metrics and draw enough insights to make recommendations for improvement. Then, execute on those recommendations. Slow and steady improvement of the service desk only adds business value and will have a positive impact on customer satisfaction.

    Iterate on what to track rather than trying to get it right the first time.

    Tracking the right data in your ticket can be challenging if you don’t know what you’re looking for. Start with standardized fields and iterate on your data analysis to figure out your gaps and needs.

    If you don’t know where to go, ticket data can point you in the right direction.

    If you have service desk challenges, you will need to allocate time to process improvement. However, prioritizing your initiatives is easier if you have the ticket data to point you in the right direction.

    Start with data from one business cycle.

    Service desks don’t need three years’ worth of data. Focus on gathering data for one business cycle (e.g. three months). That will give you enough information to start generating value.

    Let the data do the talking.

    Leverage the data to drive organizational and process change in your organization by tracking meaningful metrics. Choose those metrics using business-aligned goals.

    Paint the whole picture.

    Single metrics in isolation, even if measured over time, may not tell the whole story. Make sure you design tension metrics where necessary to get a holistic view of your service desk.

    Blueprint deliverables

    This blueprint’s key deliverable is a ticket analysis tool. Many of the activities throughout this blueprint will direct you to complete and interpret this tool. The other main deliverable is a stakeholder presentation template to help you document the outcomes of the project.
    Service Desk Ticket Analysis Tool Ticket Analysis Report
    Use this tool to identify trends and patterns in your ticket data to action improvement initiatives.

    Sample of the Service Desk Ticket Analysis Tool blueprint deliverable.

    		Use this template to document the justification for addressing service desk improvement, the results of your analysis, and your next steps.

    Sample of the Ticket Analysis Report blueprint deliverable.

    Blueprint benefits

    IT Benefits

    • Discover and implement the proper metrics to improve your service desk
    • Use a data-based approach to improve your customer service and operational goals
    • Increase visibility with the business and other IT departments using a structured presentation

    Business Benefits

    • Quicker resolutions to incidents and service requests
    • Better expectations for the service desk and IT
    • Better visibility into the current state, challenges, and goals of the service desk
    • More effective support when contacting the service desk

    Info-Tech offers various levels of support to best suit your needs

    DIY Toolkit

    Guided Implementation

    Workshop

    Consulting
    "Our team has already made this critical project a priority, and we have the time and capability, but some guidance along the way would be helpful." "Our team knows that we need to fix a process, but we need assistance to determine where to focus. Some check-ins along the way would help keep us on track." "We need to hit the ground running and get this project kicked off immediately. Our team has the ability to take this over once we get a framework and strategy in place." "Our team does not have the time or the knowledge to take this project on. We need assistance through the entirety of this project."

    Diagnostics and consistent frameworks used throughout all four options

    Guided Implementation

    A Guided Implementation (GI) is a series of calls with an Info-Tech analyst to help implement our best practices in your organization.

    A typical GI is 3-4 calls over the course of 2-3 months.

    What does a typical GI on this topic look like?

      Phase 1

    • Call #1: Scope requirements, objectives, and your specific challenges. Enter your data into the tool.

      • Phase 2

    • Call #2: Assess the current state across the different dashboards.

      • Phase 3

    • Call #3: Identify improvements and insights to include in the communication report.
    • Call #4: Review the service desk ticket analysis report.

    PHASE 1

    Import Your Ticket Data

    This phase will walk you through the following activities:

    • 1.1.1 Define your objectives for analyzing ticket data
    • 1.1.2 Identify success metrics
    • 1.1.3 Import your ticket data into the tool
    • 1.1.4 Update your ticket fields for future analysis

    This phase involves the following participants:

    • Service Desk Manager
    • ITSM Manager
    • Service Desk Technician

    1.1.1 Define your objectives for analyzing ticket data

    Input: Understanding of current service desk process and ticket routing

    Output: Defined objectives for the project

    Materials: Whiteboard/flip charts, Ticket Analysis Report

    Participants: Service Desk Staff, Service Desk Manager, IT Director, CIO

    Use the discussion questions below as a guide
    1. Identify your main objective for analyzing ticket data. Use these three sample objectives as a starting point:
      • Demonstrate value to the business by improving customer service.
      • Improve service desk operations.
      • Reduce the number of recurring incidents.
    2. Answer the following questions as a group:
      • What challenges do you have getting accurate data for this objective?
      • What data is missing for supporting this objective?
      • What kind of issues must be solved for us to make progress on achieving this objective?
      • What decisions are held up from a lack of data?
      • How can better ticket data help us to more effectively manage our services and operations?

    Document in the Ticket Analysis Report.

    1.1.2 Identify success metrics

    Select metrics that will track your progress on meeting the objective identified in Activity 1.1.1.

    Input: Understanding of current service desk process and ticket routing

    Output: Defined objectives for the project

    Materials: Whiteboard/flip charts, Ticket Analysis Report

    Participants: Service Desk Manager, IT Director, CIO

    Use these sample metrics as a starting point:
    Demonstrate value to the business by improving customer service
    Ticket trends by category by month # tickets by business department % SLAs met by IT teams
    Average customer satisfaction rating % incident tickets closed in one day Service request SLAs met by % Annual IT satisfaction survey result
    Improve service desk operations
    Incident tickets assigned, sorted by age and priority Scheduled requests for today and tomorrow Knowledgebase articles due for renewal this month Top 5-10 tickets for the quarter
    Unassigned tickets by age # incident tickets assigned by tech Open tickets by category Backlog summary by age
    Reducing the number of recurring incidents
    # incidents by category and resolution code Number of problem tickets opened and resolved Correlation of ticket volume trends to events Reduction of volume of recurring tickets
    Use of knowledgebase by users Use of self-service for ticket creation Use of service catalog Use of automated features (e.g. password resets)
    Average call hold time % calls abandoned Average resolution time Number of tickets reopened

    Document in the Ticket Analysis Report.

    Inefficient ticket-handling processes lead to SLA breaches and unplanned downtime

    Analyze the ticket data to catch mismanaged or lost tickets that lead to unnecessary escalations and impact business profitability

    • Ticket Category – Are your tickets categorized by type of asset? By service?
    • Average Ticket Times – How long does it take to resolve or fulfill tickets?
    • Ticket Priority – What is the impact and urgency of the ticket?
    • SLA/OLA Violations – Did we meet our SLA objectives? If not, why?
    • Ticket Channel – How was the issue reported or ticket received?
    • Response and Fulfillment – Did we complete first contact resolution? How many times was it transferred?
    • Associated Tasks and Tickets – Is this incident associated with any other tasks like change tickets or problem tickets?

    Encourage proper ticket-handling procedures to enable data quality

    Ensure everyone understands the expectations and the value created from having ticket data that follows these expectations

    • Create and update tickets, but not at the expense of good customer service. Agents can start the ticket but shouldn’t spend five minutes creating the ticket when they should be troubleshooting the problem.
    • Update the ticket when the issue is resolved or needs to be escalated. If agents are escalating, they should make sure all relevant information is passed along within the ticket to the next technician.
    • Update user of ETA if issue cannot be resolved quickly.
    • Ticket templates for common incidents can lead to fast creation, data input, and categorizations. Templates can reduce the time it takes to create tickets from two minutes to 30 seconds.
    • Update categories to reflect the actual issue and resolution.
    • Reference or link to the knowledgebase article as the documented steps taken to resolve the incident.
    • Validate with the client that the incident is resolved; automate this process with ticket closure after a certain time.
    • Close or resolve the ticket on time.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Ticket handling ensures clean handovers, whether it is to higher tiers or back to the customer. When filling the ticket out with information intended for another party, ensure the information is written for their benefit and from their point of view.

    Service Desk Ticket Analysis Tool overview

    The Service Desk Ticket Analysis Tool will help you standardize your ticket data in a meaningful format that will allow you to apply common analyses to identify the actions you need to take to improve service desk operations

    TABS 1 & 2
    INSTRUCTIONS & DATA ENTRY
    TAB 3 : TICKET SUMMARY
    TICKET SUMMARY DASHBOARDS
    TABS 4 to 8: DASHBOARDS
    INCIDENT SERVICE REQUEST CATEGORY
    Sample of the Service Desk Ticket Analysis Tool, tabs 1 & 2.
    Input at least three months of your exported ticket data into the corresponding columns in the tool to feed into the common analysis graphs in the other tabs.     		Sample of the Service Desk Ticket Analysis Tool, tab 3.
    This tab contains multiple dashboards analyzing how tickets come in, who requests them, who resolves them, and how long it takes to resolve them.     		Sample of the Service Desk Ticket Analysis Tool, tabs 4 to 8.
    These tabs each have dashboards outlining analysis on incidents and service requests. The category tab will allow you to dive deeper on commonly reported issues.

    1.1.3 Import your data into our Service Desk Ticket Analysis Tool

    You can still leverage your current data, but use this opportunity to improve your service desk ticket fields down the line

    Input: ITSM data log

    Output: Populated Service Desk Ticket Data Analysis Tool

    Materials: Whiteboard/flip charts, Service Desk Ticket Analysis Tool

    Participants: Service Desk Manager, Service Desk Technicians

    Start here:

    • Extract your ticket data from your ITSM tool in an Excel or text format.
    • Look at the fields on the data entry tab of the Service Desk Ticket Analysis Tool.
    • Fill the fields with your ticket data by copying and pasting relevant sections. It is okay if you don’t have all the fields, but take note of the fields you are missing.
    • With the list of the fields you are missing, run through the following activity to decide if you will need to adopt or add fields to your own service desk ticket tool.
    Fields Captured
    Ticket Number Open Date
    Open Time Closed Date
    Closed Time Intake Channel
    Time to Resolve Site Location
    First Contact Resolution Resolution Code
    Category (I, II, III) Ticket Type (Request or Incident)
    Status of Ticket Resolved by Tier
    Ticket Priority Requestor/Department
    SLA Fulfilled Subject
    Technician

    When entering your data, pay close attention to the following fields:

    • Time to Resolve: This is automatically calculated using data in the Open Date, Open Time, Close Date, and Close Time fields. You have three options for entering your data in these fields:
      1. Enter your data as the fields describe. Ensure your data contain only the field description (e.g. Open Date separated from Open Time). If your data contain Open Date AND Open Time, Excel will not show both.
      2. Enter your data only in Open Date and Close Date. If your ITSM does not separate date and time, you can keep the data in a single cell and enter it in the column. The formula in Time to Resolve will still be accurate.
      3. If your ITSM outputs Time to Resolve, overwrite the formula in the Time to Resolve column.
    • SLA: If your ITSM outputs SLA fulfilled: Y/N, enter that directly into the SLA Fulfilled column.
    • Blank Columns: If you do not have data for all the columns, that is okay. Continue with the following activity. Note that some stock dashboards will be empty if that is the case.
    • Incidents vs. Service Requests: If you separate incidents and service requests, be sure to capture that in the SR/Incident for Tabs 4 and 5. If you do not separate the two, then you will only need to analyze Tab 3.
    Fields Captured
    Ticket Number Open Date
    Open Time Closed Date
    Closed Time Intake Channel
    Time to Resolve Site Location
    First Contact Resolution Resolution Code
    Category (I, II, III) Ticket Type (Request or Incident)
    Status of Ticket Resolved by Tier
    Ticket Priority Requestor/Department
    SLA Fulfilled Subject
    Technician

    Use Info-Tech’s tool instead of building your own. Download the Service Desk Ticket Analysis Tool.

    1.1.4 Update your ticket fields for future analysis

    Input: Populated Service Desk Ticket Data Analysis Tool

    Output: New ticket fields to track

    Materials: Whiteboard/flip charts, Service Desk Ticket Analysis Tool

    Participants: Service Desk Manager, Service Desk Technicians

    As a group, pay attention to the ticket fields populated in the tool as well as the ticket fields that you were not able to populate. Use the example “Fields Captured” table to the right, which lists all fields present in the ticket analysis tool.

    Discuss the following questions:

    1. Consider the fields not captured. Would it be valuable to start capturing that data for future analysis?
    2. If so, does your ITSM support that field?
    3. Can you make the change in-house or do you have to bring in an external ITSM administrator to make the change?
    4. Capture the results in the Ticket Analysis Report.
    Example: Fields Captured - Fields Not Captured
    Ticket Number Open Date
    Open Time Closed Date
    Closed Time Intake Channel
    Time to Resolve Site Location
    First Contact Resolution Resolution Code
    Category (I, II, III) Ticket Type (Request or Incident)
    Status of Ticket Resolved by Tier
    Ticket Priority Requestor/Department
    SLA Fulfilled Subject
    Technician

    Document in the Ticket Analysis Report.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Don’t wait for your ticket quality to be perfect. You can still draw actions from your ticket data. They will likely be process improvements initially, but the exercise of pulling the data is a necessary first step.

    Common ticket fields tracked by your peers

    Which of these metrics do you track and action?

    • Remember you don’t have to track every metric. Only track metrics that are actionable.

    For each metric that you end up tracking:

    • Look for trends over time.
    • Brainstorm reasons why the metric could rise or fall.

    Associate a metric with each improvement you execute.

    • Performing this step will allow you to better see the value from your team’s efforts.
    • It will also give you a quicker response than waiting for spikes in your data.

    A bar chart of 'Metrics tracked by other organizations' with the x-axis populated by different metrics and the y-axis as '% organizations who track the metric'. The highest percentage of businesses track 'Ticket volume', then 'Ticket trends by category', then 'Tickets by business units'. The lowest three shown are 'Reopened tickets', 'Cost per ticket', and 'Other'.(Source: Info-Tech survey, 2021; N=20)

    PHASE 2

    Analyze Your Ticket Data

    This phase will walk you through the following activities:

    • 2.1.1 Review high-level ticket dashboards
    • 2.2.1 Review incident, service request, and ticket category dashboards

    This phase involves the following participants:

    • Service Desk Manager
    • Service Desk Technicians
    • IT Managers

    Visualize your ticket data as a first step to analysis

    Identifying trends is easier when looking at diagrams, graphs, and figures

    Start your analysis with common visuals employed by other service desk professionals

    • Phase 2 will walk you through visualizing your data to get a better understanding of your ticket intake, incident management, and service request management.
    • Each step will walk you through:
      • Common visualizations used by service desks
      • Patterns to look for in your visualizations
      • Actions to take to address negative patterns and to continue positive trends
    • Share diagrams that underscore both the value being provided by the service desk as well as the scope of the pain points. Use Info-Tech’s Ticket Analysis Report template as a starting point.

    “Being able to tell stories with data is a skill that’s becoming ever more important in our world of increasing data and desire for data-driven decision making. An effective data visualization can mean the difference between success and failure when it comes to communicating the findings of your study, raising money for your nonprofit, presenting to your board, or simply getting your point across to your audience.” - Cole Knaflic, Founder and CEO, Storytelling with Data: A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals

    Use the detailed dashboards to determine the next steps for improvement

    A single number doesn’t tell the whole picture

    Analyze trends over time:

    • Analyze trends by day, by week, by month, and by year to determine:
      • When are the busy periods? (E.g. Do tickets tend to spike every morning, every Monday, or every September?)
      • When are the slow periods? (E.g. Do tickets drop at the end of the day, at midday, on Fridays, or over the summer?)
    • Are spikes or drops in volume consistent trends or one-time anomalies?

    Then build a plan to address them:

    • How will you handle volume spikes, if they’re consistent?
    • What can your resources work on during slow times, if they are consistent?
    • If you assume no shrinkage, can you handle the peaks in volume if you make all FTEs available to work on tickets at a certain time of day?

    Sample of a bar chart comparing tickets that were 'Backlog versus Closed by Month Opened'.

    Look for seasonal trends. In this example, we see high ticket volumes in May and January, with lower ticket volumes in June and July when many staff are taking holidays. However, also be careful to look at the big picture of how you pulled the data. August through October sees a high volume of open tickets because the data set is pulled in November, not because there’s a seasonal spike on tickets not closing at the end of the fiscal year.

    Track ticket data over time

    Make low-effort adjustments before major changes

    Don’t rush to a decision based off the first numbers you see

    Review ticket summary dashboard

    Ideally, you should track ticket patterns over an entire year to get a full sense of trends within each month of the year. At minimum, track for 30 days, then 60, then 90, and see if anything changes. The longer you can track ticket patterns, the more accurate your picture will be.

    Review additional dashboards

    If you separate incidents and service requests, and you have accurate ticket categories, then you can use these dashboards to further break down the data to identify ticket trends.

    The output of the ticket analysis will only be as accurate as its input.
    To get the most accurate results, first ensure your data is accurate, then analyze it over as much time as possible. Aggregating with accurate data will give you a better picture of the trends in demand that your service desk sees.

    Not separating incidents and service requests? Need to fix your ticket categories? Visit Standardize the Service Desk to get started.

    Analyze incidents and requests separately

    Each type has its own set of customer experiences and expectations

    • Different ticket types are associated with radically different prioritization, routing, and service levels. For instance, most incidents are resolved within a business day, but requests take longer to implement.
    • If you fail to distinguish between ticket types, your metrics will obscure service desk performance.
    • From a ticket analysis standpoint, separating ticket types prior to analysis or, better yet, at intake allows for cleaner data. In turn, this means more structured analyses, better insights, and more meaningful actions. Not separating ticket types may still get you to the same conclusions, but it will be much more difficult to sift through the data.

    Incident

    An unanticipated interruption of a service.
    The goal of incident management is to restore the service as soon as possible, even if the resolution involves a workaround.

    Request

    A generic description for a small change or service access.
    Requests are small, frequent, and low risk. They are best handled by a process distinct from incident, change, and project management.

    Not separating incidents and service requests? Need to fix your ticket categories? Visit Standardize the Service Desk to get started.

    Step 2.1

    Analyze Your High-Level Ticket Data

    Dashboards
    • Ticket Volume
    • Ticket Intake
    • Ticket Handling and Resolution
    • Ticket Categorization

    This step will walk you through the following activities:

    Visualize the current state of your service desk.

    This step involves the following participants:

    • Service Desk Manager
    • Service Desk Technicians
    • IT Managers

    Outcomes of this step

    Build your metrics baseline to compare with future metric results.

    Dashboards: Ticket Volume

    Example of a dashboard for ticket volume with two bar charts, one breaking down volume by month, and the other marking certain days or weeks in each month.

    Analyze your data for insights

    • Analyze volume trends by day, by week, by month, and by year to determine:
      • When are the busy periods? (E.g. Do tickets tend to spike every morning, every Monday, or every September?)
      • When are slow periods? (E.g. Do tickets drop at the end of the day, at midday, on Fridays, or over the summer?)
    • Are spikes or drops in volume consistent trends or one-time anomalies?
    • What can your resources be working on during slow times? Are you able to address ticket backlog?

    Dashboards: Ticket Intake

    Example of a dashboard for ticket intake with three bar charts, one breaking it down by 'Intake Channel', one by 'Requestor/Department', and one by 'Location'.

    Analyze your data for insights

    • Determine how to drive intake to the most appropriate solution for your organization:
      • A web portal is the most efficient intake method, but it must be user friendly to increase its adoption.
      • The phone should be available for urgent requests or incidents. Encourage those who call with a request to submit a ticket through the portal.
      • Discourage use of email if it is unstructured, as users don’t provide enough detail, and often two or three transactions are required for triage.
      • If walk-ups are encouraged, structure and formalize the support so it can be resourced and managed rather than interrupt-driven.

    Dashboard: Ticket Handling and Resolution

    Example of a dashboard for ticket handling and resolution with three bar charts, one breaking down 'Tickets Resolved by Technician', one by 'Tier', and one by 'Average Time to Resolve (Hours)'.

    Analyze your data for insights

    • Look at your ticket load by technician and by tier. This is an essential step to set your baseline to measure your shift-left initiatives. If you are focusing on self-service or Tier 1 training, the ticket load from higher tiers should decrease over time.
    • If Tiers 2 and 3 are handling the majority of the tickets, this could be a red flag indicating tickets are inappropriately escalated or Tier 1 could use more training and support.
    • For average time to resolve and average time to resolve by tier, are you meeting your SLAs? If not, are your SLAs too aggressive? Are tickets left open and not properly closed?

    Dashboard: Ticket Categorization

    Analyze your data for insights

    • Ticket categorization is critical to clean data. Having a categorization scheme with categories that are miscellaneous, too specific, or too general easily leads to inaccurate reporting or confusing workflows for technicians.
    • When looking at your ticket categories, first look for duplicate categories that could be collapsed into one.
    • Also look at your top five to seven categories and see if they make sense. Are these good candidates in your organization for automation or shift-left?
    • Compare your Tier 1 categories. The level of specificity for these categories should be comparable to easily run reports. If they are not, assess the need for a category redesign.

    Example of a dashboard for ticket categorization with one horizontal bar chart, 'Incident Ticket Volume by Level 1 Category'.

    Step 2.2

    Analyze Incidents, Service Requests, and Ticket Categories

    Dashboards
    • Incidents
    • Service Requests
    • Volume by Ticket Category
    • Resolution Times by Priority and/or Category
    • Tabs for More Granular Investigation and Reporting

    This step will walk you through the following activities:

    Visualize your incident and service request ticket load and analyze trends. Use this information and cross reference data sets to gain a holistic view of how the service desk interacts with IT and the business.

    This step involves the following participants:

    • Service Desk Manager
    • Service Desk Technicians
    • IT Managers

    Outcomes of this step

    Gain actionable, data-driven improvements based on your incident and service request data. Show the value of the service desk and highlight improvements needed.

    Incident and Service Requests Dashboard: Priority and SLA

    Example of an Incident and Service Requests dashboard for priority and SLA with three charts, one breaking down 'Incident Priority', one 'Average time to resolve (in hours) by priority', and one '% of SLA met'.

    Analyze your data for insights

    • Your ticket priority distribution for overall load and time to resolve (TTR) should look something like above with low-priority tickets having higher load and TTR and high/critical-priority tickets having a lower load and lower TTR. If it is reversed, that is a good indication that the service desk is too reactive or isn’t properly prioritizing its work.
    • If your SLA has a high failure rate, consider reassessing your targets with SLOs that you can meet before publishing them as achievable SLAs.

    Incident and Service Requests Dashboard: Priority and SLA

    Example of an Incident and Service Requests dashboard for resolution and close with three bar charts, one breaking down 'Incident Volume by Resolution Code', one 'Incidents Resolved by Tier', and one 'Average time to resolve (in hours) by Resolution Code'.

    Analyze your data for insights

    • Examine your ticket handling by looking at ticket status and resolution codes.
      • If you have a lot of blanks, then tickets are not properly handled. Consider reinforcing your standards for close codes and statuses.
      • Alternatively, if tickets are left open, you may have to build follow-ups on stale tickets into your process or introduce proper auto-close processes.

    Category, Resolution Time, and Resolution Code Dashboards

    These PivotCharts allow you to dig deeper

    Investigate whether there are trends in ticket volume and resolution times within specific categories and subcategories

    Tab 6, Category Dashboard; tab 7, Resolution Time Dashboard; and tab 8, Resolution Code Dashboard are PivotCharts. Use these tabs to investigate whether there are trends in ticket volume, resolution times, and resolution codes within specific categories and subcategories.

    Start with the charts that are available. The +/- buttons will allow you to show more granular information. By default, this granularity will be into the levels of the ticket categorization scheme.

    For most categorization schemes, there will be too many categories to properly graph. You can apply a filter to investigate specific categories by clicking on the drop-down buttons.

    Example of dashboards featured on next slide

    Use these tabs for more granular investigation and reporting

    TAB 6
    CATEGORY DASHBOARD
    TAB 7
    RESOLUTION TIME DASHBOARD
    TAB 8
    RESOLUTION TIME DASHBOARD
    Sample of the 'Ticket Volume by Second, Third Level Category' dashboard tab.
    Investigate ticket distributions in first, second, and third levels. Are certain categories overcrowded, suggesting they can be split? Are certain categories not being used?     		Sample of the 'Average Resolution Times' dashboard tab.
    Do average resolution times match your service level agreements? Do certain categories have significantly different resolution times? Are there areas that can benefit from shift-left?     		Sample of the 'Volume of Resolution Codes' dashboard tab.
    Are resolution codes being accurately used? Are there trends in resolution codes? Are these codes providing sufficient information for problem management?

    PHASE 3

    Communicate Your Insights

    This phase will walk you through the following activities:

    • 3.1.1 Review common recommendations
    • 3.2.1 Review ticket reports daily
    • 3.2.2 Incorporate ticket data into retrospectives and team updates
    • 3.2.3 Regularly review trends with business leaders
    • 3.2.4 Tell a story with your data

    This phase involves the following participants:

    • Service Desk Manager
    • Service Desk Technicians
    • IT Managers

    Step 3.1

    Build Recommendations Based on Your Ticket Data

    Activities
    • 3.1.1 Review common recommendations

    This step will walk you through the following activities:

    Review common recommendations as a first step to extracting insights from your own data.

    This step involves the following participants:

    • Service Desk Manager
    • Service Desk Technicians

    Outcomes of this step

    You will gain an understanding of the common challenges with service desks and ticket analysis in general. See which ones apply to you to inform your ticket data analysis moving forward.

    Review these common recommendations

    1. Fix your ticket categories
      Organize your ticket categorization scheme for proper routing and reporting.
    2. Focus more on self-service
      Self-service is essential to enable shift-left strategies. Focus on knowledgebase processes and portal ease of use.
    3. Update your service catalog
      Improve your service catalog, if necessary, to make it easy for end users to request services and for the service desk to provide those services.
    4. Direct volume toward other channels
      Walk-ups make it more difficult to properly log tickets and assign service desk resources. Drive volume to other channels to improve your ticket quality.
    5. Crosstrain Tier 1 on certain topics
      Tier 1 breadth of knowledge is essential to drive up first contact resolution.
    6. Build more automation
      Identify bottlenecks and challenges with your ticket data to streamline ticket handling and resolution.
    7. Revisit service level agreements
      Update your SLAs and/or SLOs to prioritize expectation management for your end users.
    8. Improve your data quality
      You can only analyze data that exists. Revisit your ticket-handling guidelines and more regularly check tickets to ensure they comply with those standards.

    Optimize your processes and look for opportunities for automation

    Leverage Info-Tech research to improve service desk processes

    Review your service desk processes and tools for optimization opportunities:

    • Clearly establish ticket-handling guidelines.
    • Use ticket templates to reduce time spent entering tickets.
    • Document incident management and service request fulfillment workflows and eliminate any unnecessary steps.
    • Automate manual tasks wherever possible.
    • Build or improve a self-service portal with a knowledgebase to allow users to resolve their own issues, reducing incoming ticket volume to the service desk.
    • Optimize your internal knowledgebase to reduce time spent troubleshooting recurring issues.
    • Leverage AI capabilities to speed up ticket processing and resolution.

    Standardize the Service Desk

    This project will help you build and improve essential service desk processes, including incident management, request fulfillment, and knowledge management.

    Optimize the Service Desk With a Shift-Left Strategy

    This project will help you build a strategy to shift service support left to optimize your service desk operations and increase end-user satisfaction.

    Step 3.2

    Action and Communicate Your Ticket Data

    Activities
    • 3.2.1 Review your ticket queues daily
    • 3.2.2 Incorporate ticket data into retrospectives and team status updates
    • 3.2.3 Regularly review trends with business leaders
    • 3.2.4 Tell a story with your data

    This step will walk you through the following activities:

    Organize your scrums to report on the metrics that will inform daily and monthly operations.

    This step involves the following participants:

    • Service Desk Manager
    • Service Desk Technicians
    • IT Managers

    Outcomes of this step

    Use the dashboards and data to inform your daily and monthly scrums.

    3.2.1 Review your ticket queues daily

    Clean data is still useless if not used properly

    • The metrics you’ve chosen to measure and visualize in the previous step are useful for informing your day-to-day, week-to-week, and month-to-month strategies for the service desk and IT. Conduct scrums daily to action your dashboard data to help clear ticket queues.
    • Reference your dashboards daily with each IT team.
    • You need to have a dashboard of open tickets assigned to each team.

    Review Daily

    • Ticket volume over the last day (look for spikes)
    • SLA breach risks/SLA breaches
    • Recurring incidents
    • Tickets open
    • Tickets handed over (confirmation of handover)

    3.2.2 Incorporate ticket data into retrospectives and team status updates

    Explain your metric spikes and trends

    • Hold weekly or monthly meetings to review the ticket trends selected during Phases 1 and 2 of this blueprint.
    • Review ticket spikes, identify seasonal trends, and discuss root causes (e.g. projects/changes going live, onboarding blitz).
    • Discuss any actions associated with spikes and seasonal trends (e.g. resource allocation, hiring, training).
    • You can incorporate other IT leaders or departments in this meeting as needed to discuss action items for improvement, quality assurance concerns, customer service concerns, and/or operating level agreement concerns.

    Review Weekly/Monthly

    • Ticket volume
    • Ticket category by priority level over time
    • Tickets from different business groups, VIP groups, and different vertical levels
    • Tickets escalated, tickets that didn’t need to be escalated, tickets that were incorrectly escalated
    • Ticket priority levels over time
    • Most requested services
    • Tickets resolved by which group over time
    • Ability to meet SLAs and OLAs over time by different groups

    3.2.3 Regularly review trends with business leaders

    Use your data to help improve business relationships

    Review the following with business leaders:

    • Volume of work done this past time cycle for the leader’s group
    • Trends and spikes in the data and possible explanations for them (note: get their input on the potential causes of trends)
    • Improvements you plan to execute within the service desk
    • Action items you need from the business leader

    Use your data to show the value you provide to the group. Schedule quarterly meetings with the heads of different business groups to discuss the work that the service desk does for each group.

    Show trends in incidents and service requests: “I see you have a spike in CRM tickets. I’ve been working with the CRM team to address this issue.”

    3.2.4 Tell a story with your data

    Effectively communicate with the business and leadership

    • With your visualized metrics, organize your story into a presentation for different stakeholder groups. You can use the Ticket Analysis Report as a starting point to provide data about:
      • Value provided by the service desk
      • Successes
      • Opportunities for Improvements
      • Current state of KPIs
    • Include information about the causes of data trends and actions you will take in response to the data.
    • For each of these themes, look at the metrics you’ve chosen to track and see which ones fit to tell the story. Let the data do the talking.
    • Consider supplementing the ticket data with data from other systems. For example, you can include data on transactional customer satisfaction surveys, knowledgebase utilization, and self-service utilization.

    Sample of the Ticket Analysis Report.

    Download the Ticket Analysis Report.

    Ticket Analysis Report

    Include the following information as you build your ticket analysis report:

    • Value Provided by the Service Desk
      Start with the value provided by the service desk to different areas of the business. Include information about first contact resolution, average resolution times, ticket volume (e.g. by category, priority, location, requestor).
    • Successes
      Successes is a general field that can include how process improvements have impacted the service desk or how initiatives have enhanced shift-left opportunities. Highlight any positive trends over time.
    • Opportunities for Improvement
      Let the data guide the conversation to where improvements can be made. Day-to-day ops, self-service tools, shifting work left from Tier 2, Tier 3, standardizing a non-standard service, and staffing adjustments are possibilities for this section.
    • Current State of KPIs
      Mean time to resolve, FCR, ticket volume, and end-user satisfaction are great KPIs to include as a starting point.

    Sample of the Ticket Analysis Report.

    Download the Ticket Analysis Report.

    Summary of Accomplishment

    Problem Solved

    You now have a better understanding of how to action your service desk ticket data, including improvements to your current ticket templates for incidents and service requests.

    You also have the data to craft a story to different stakeholder groups to celebrate the successes of the service desk and highlight possible improvements. Continue this exercise iteratively to continue improving the service desk.

    Remember, ticket analysis is not a single event but an ongoing initiative. As you track, analyze, and action more data, you will find more improvements.

    If you would like additional support, have our analysts guide you through other phases as part of an Info-Tech workshop.

    Contact your account representative for more information.

    workshops@infotech.com 1-888-670-8889

    Additional Support

    If you would like additional support, have our analysts guide you through other phases as part of an Info-Tech workshop.

    Photo of Benedict Chang.

    Contact your account representative for more information.

    workshops@infotech.com 1-888-670-8889

    To accelerate this project, engage your IT team in an Info-Tech workshop with an Info-Tech analyst team. Info-Tech analysts will join you and your team at your location or welcome you to Info-Tech’s historic Toronto office to participate in an innovative onsite workshop.

    The following are sample activities that will be conducted by Info-Tech analysts with your team:

    Sample of dashboards we saw earlier. Sample of the 'Ticket Analysis Report'.
    Analyze your dashboards
    An analyst will walk through the ticket data and dashboards with you and your team to help interpret the data and tailor improvements     		Populate your ticket data report
    Given the action items from this solution set, an analyst will help you craft a report to celebrate the successes and highlight needed improvements in the service desk.

    Related Info-Tech Research

    Optimize the Service Desk With a Shift-Left Strategy

    The best type of service desk ticket is the one that doesn’t exist.

    Incident & Problem Management

    Don’t let persistent problems govern your department.

    Design & Build a User-Facing Service Catalog

    Improve user satisfaction with IT with a convenient menu-like catalog.

    Bibliography

    Bayes, Scarlett. “ITSM: 2021 & Beyond.” Service Desk Institute, 2021. Web.

    “Benchmarking Report v.9.” Service Desk Institute, 17 Jan. 2020. Web.

    Bennett, Micah. “The 9 Help Desk Metrics That Should Guide Your Customer Support.” Zapier, 3 Dec. 2015. Web.

    “Global State of Customer Service: The transformation of customer service from 2015 to present day.” Microsoft Dynamics 365, Microsoft, 2020. Web.

    Goodey, Ben. “How to Manually Analyze Support Tickets.” SentiSum, 26 July 2021. Web.

    Jadhav, Megha. “Four Metrics to Analyze When Using Ticketing Software.” Vision Helpdesk Blog, 21 Mar. 2016. Web.

    Knaflic, Cole Nussbaumer. Storytelling with Data: A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals. Wiley, 2015.

    Li, Ta Hsin, et al. “Incident Ticket Analytics for IT Application Management Services.” 2014 IEEE International Conference on Services Computing, 2014. Web.

    Olson, Sarah. “10 Help Desk Metrics for Service Desks and Internal Help Desks.” Zendesk Blog, Sept. 2021. Web.

    Paramesh, S.P., et al. “Classifying the Unstructured IT Service Desk Tickets Using Ensemble of Classifiers.” 2018 3rd International Conference on Computational Systems and Information Technology for Sustainable Solutions (CSITSS), 2018. Web.

    Volini, Erica, et al. “2021 Global Human Capital Trends: Special Report.” Deloitte Insights, 21 July 2021. Web.

    “What Kind of Analysis You Can Perform on a Ticket Management System.” Commence, 3 Dec. 2019. Web.

    INFO-TECH RESEARCH GROUP

    Develop an IT Strategy to Support Customer Service

    • Buy Link or Shortcode: {j2store}528|cart{/j2store}
    • member rating overall impact: N/A
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    • Parent Category Name: Customer Relationship Management
    • Parent Category Link: /customer-relationship-management
    • Customer expectations regarding service are rapidly evolving. As your current IT systems may be viewed as ineffective at delivering upon these expectations, a transformation is called for.
    • It is unclear whether IT has the system architecture/infrastructure to support modern Customer Service channels and technologies.
    • The relationship between Customer Service and IT is strained. Strategic system-related decisions are being made without the inclusions of IT, and IT is only engaged post-purchase to address integration or issues as they arise.
    • Scope: An ABPM-centric approach is taken to model the desired future state, and retrospectively look into the current state to derive gaps and sequential requirements. The requirements are bundled into logical IT initiatives to be plotted on a roadmap and strategy document.
    • Challenge: The extent to which business processes can be mapped down to task-based Level 5 can be challenging depending on the maturity of the organization.
    • Pain/Risk: The health of the relationship between IT and Customer Service may determine project viability. Poor collaboration and execution may strain the relationship further.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • When transformation is called for, start with future state visioning. Current state analysis can impede your ability to see future needs and possibilities.
    • Solve your own problems by enhancing core or “traditional” Customer Service functionality first, and then move on to more ambitious business enabling functionality.
    • The more rapidly businesses can launch applications in today’s market, the better positioned they are to improve customer experience and reap the associated benefits. Ensure that technology is implemented with a solid strategy to support the initiative.

    Impact and Result

    • The right technology is established to support current and future Customer Service needs.
    • Streamlined and optimized Customer Service processes that drive efficiency and improve Customer Service quality are established.
    • The IT and Customer Service functions are both transformed from a cost center into a competitive advantage.

    Develop an IT Strategy to Support Customer Service Research & Tools

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Structure the project

    Identify project stakeholders, define roles, and create the project charter.

    • Develop an IT Strategy to Support Customer Service Storyboard
    • Project RACI Chart
    • Project Charter

    2. Define vision for future state

    Identify and model the future state of key business processes.

    • Customer Service Business Process Shortlisting Tool
    • Customer Service Systems Strategy Tool

    3. Document current state and assess gaps

    Model the current state of key business processes and assess gaps.

    4. Evaluate solution options

    Review the outputs of the current state architecture health assessment and adopt a preliminary posture on architecture.

    5. Evaluate application options

    Evaluate the marketplace applications to understand the “art of the possible.”

    6. Frame desired state and develop roadmap

    Compile and score a list of initiatives to bridge the gaps, and plot the initiatives on a strategic roadmap.

    • Customer Service Initiative Scoring and Roadmap
    [infographic]

    Workshop: Develop an IT Strategy to Support Customer Service

    Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

    1 Define Vision for Future State

    The Purpose

    Discuss Customer Service-related organizational goals and align goals with potential strategies for implementation.

    Score level 5 Customer Service business processes against organizational goals to come up with a shortlist for modeling.

    Create a future state model for one of the shortlisted business processes.

    Draft the requirements as they relate to the business process.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Preliminary list of Customer Service-related business goals

    List of Customer Service business processes (Task Level 5)

    Pre-selected Customer Service business process for modeling

    Activities

    1.1 Outline and prioritize your customer goals and link their relevance and value to your Customer Service processes with the Customer Service Business Process Shortlisting Tool.

    1.2 Score customer service business processes against organizational goals with the Customer Service Systems Strategy Tool.

    Outputs

    Initial position on viable Customer Service strategies

    Shortlist of key business processes

    Documented future state business process model

    Business/functional/non-functional requirements

    2 Document Current State and Assess Gaps

    The Purpose

    Create a current state model for the shortlisted business processes.

    Score the functionality and integration of current supporting applications.

    Revise future state model and business requirements.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Inventory of Customer Service supporting applications

    Inventory of related system interfaces

    Activities

    2.1 Holistically assess multiple aspects of Customer Service-related IT assets with the Customer Service Systems Strategy Tool.

    Outputs

    Documented current state business process model

    Customer Service systems health assessment

    3 Adopt an Architectural Posture

    The Purpose

    Review the Customer Service systems health assessment results.

    Discuss options.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Completed Customer Service systems health assessment

    Application options

    Activities

    3.1 Analyze CS Systems Strategy and review results with the Customer Service Systems Strategy Tool

    Outputs

    Posture on system architecture

    4 Frame Desired State and Develop Roadmap

    The Purpose

    Draft a list of initiatives based on requirements.

    Score and prioritize the initiatives.

    Plot the initiatives on a roadmap.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Business/functional/non-functional requirements

    Activities

    4.1 Help project and management stakeholders visualize the implementation of Customer Service IT initiatives with the Customer Service Initiative Scoring and Roadmap Tool.

    Outputs

    Scored and prioritized list of initiatives

    Customer Service implementation roadmap

    Further reading

    Develop an IT Strategy to Support Customer Service

    E-commerce is accelerating, and with it, customer expectations for exceptional digital service.

    Analyst Perspective

    The future of Customer Service is digital. Your organization needs an IT strategy to meet this demand.

    The image contains a picture of Thomas E. Randall.

    As the pandemic closed brick-and-mortar stores, the acceleration of ecommerce has cemented Customer Service’s digital future. However, the pandemic also revealed severe cracks in the IT strategy of organizations’ Customer Service – no matter the industry. These cracks may include low resolution and high wait times through the contact center, or a lack of analytics that fuel a reactive environment. Unfortunately, organizations have no time to waste in resolving these issues. Customer patience for poor digital service has only decreased since March 2020, leaving organizations with little to no runway for ramping up their IT strategy.

    Organizations that quickly mature their digital Customer Service will come out the other side of COVID-19 more competitive and with a stronger reputation. This move necessitates a concrete IT strategy for coordinating what the organization’s future state should look like and agreeing on the technologies and software required to meet this state across the entire organization.

    Thomas E. Randall, Ph.D.

    Senior Research Analyst, Info-Tech Research Group

    Executive Summary

    Your Challenge

    Common Obstacles

    Info-Tech’s Solution

    • COVID-19 has accelerated ecommerce, rapidly evolving customer expectations about the service they should receive. Without a robust IT strategy for enabling remote, contactless points of service, your organization will quickly fall behind.
    • The organization would like to use modern channels and technologies to enhance customer service, but it is unclear whether IT has the infrastructure to support them.
    • The relationship between Customer Service and IT is strained. Strategic system-related decisions are being made without the inclusion of IT.
    • IT is in a permanent reactive state, only engaged post-purchase to fix issues as they arise and to offer workarounds.
    • Use Info-Tech’s methodology to produce an IT strategy for Customer Service:
      • Phase 1: Define Project and Future State
      • Phase 2: Evaluate Current State
      • Phase 3: Build a Roadmap to Future State
    • Each phase contributes toward this blueprint’s key deliverable: the Strategic Roadmap.

    Info-Tech Insight

    IT must proactively engage with the organization to define what good customer service should look like. This ensures IT has a fair say in what kinds of architectural solutions are feasible for any projected future state. In this proactive scenario, IT can help build the roadmap for implementing and maintaining customer service infrastructure and operations, reducing the time and resources spent on putting out preventable fires or trying to achieve an unworkable goal set by the organization.

    Key insights

    Develop an IT Strategy to Support Customer Service

    Ecommerce growth has increased customer expectations

    Despite the huge obstacles that organizations are having to overcome to meet accelerating ecommerce from the pandemic, customers have not increased their tolerance for organizations with poor service. Indeed, customer expectations for excellent digital service have only increased since March 2020. If organizations cannot meet these demands, they will become uncompetitive.

    The future of customer service is tied up in analytics

    Without a coordinated IT strategy for leveraging technology and data to improve Customer Service, the organization will quickly be left behind. Analytics and reporting are crucial for proactively engaging with customers, planning marketing campaigns, and building customer profiles. Failing to do so leaves the organization blind to customer needs and will constantly be in firefighting mode.

    Meet the customer wherever they are – no matter the channel

    Providing an omnichannel experience is fast becoming a table stakes offering for customers. To maximize customer engagement and service, the organization must connect with the customer on whatever channel the customer prefers – be it social media, SMS, or by phone. While voice will continue to dominate how Customer Service connects with customers, demographics are shifting toward a digital-first generation. Organizations must be ready to capture this rapidly expanding audience.

    This blueprint will achieve:

    Increased customer satisfaction

    • An IT strategy for Customer Service that proactively meets customer demand, improving overall customer satisfaction with the organization’s services.
    • A process for identifying the organization’s future state of Customer Service and developing a concrete gap analysis.

    Time saved

    • Ready-to-use deliverables that analyze and provide a roadmap toward the organization’s desired future state.
    • Market analyses and rapid application selection through SoftwareReviews to streamline project time-to-completion.

    Increased ROI

    • A modernization process that aids Customer Service digital transformation, with a view to achieve high ROI.
    • Save costs through an effective requirements gathering method.
    • Building and expanding the organization’s customer base to increase revenues by meeting the customers where they are – no matter what channel.

    An IT strategy for customer service is imperative for a post-COVID world

    COVID-19 has accelerated ecommerce, rapidly evolving customer expectations for remote, contactless service.

    59% Of customers agree that the pandemic has raised their standards for service (Salesforce, 2020).

    • With COVID-19, most customer demand and employment moved online and turned remote.
    • Retailers had to rapidly respond, meeting customer demand through ecommerce. This not only entailed a complete shift in how customers could buy their goods but how retailers could provide a remote customer journey from discovery to post-purchase support.

    Info-Tech Insight

    The pandemic did not improve customer tolerance for bad service – instead, the demand for good service increased dramatically. Organizations need an IT strategy to meet customer support demands wherever the customer is located.

    The technology to provide remote customer support is surging

    IT needs to be at the forefront of learning about and suggesting new technologies, working with Customer Service to deliver a consistent, business-driven approach.

    78%

    Of decision makers say they’ve invested in new technology as a result of the pandemic (Salesforce, 2020).

    OMNICHANNEL SUPPORT

    Rapidly changing demographics and modes of communications require an evolution toward omnichannel engagement. Agents need customer information synced across each channel they use, meeting the customer’s needs where they are.

    78%

    Of customers have increased their use of self-service during the pandemic (Salesforce, 2020).

    INTELLIGENT SELF-SERVICE PORTALS

    Customers want their issues resolved as quickly as possible. Machine-learning self-service options deliver personalized customer experiences, which also reduce both agent call volume and support costs for the organization.

    90%

    Of global executives who use data analytics report that they improved their ability to deliver a great customer experience (Gottlieb, 2019).

    LEVERAGING ANALYTICS

    The future of customer service is tied up with analytics: from AI-driven capabilities that include agent assist and using biometric data (e.g., speech) for security, to feeding real insights about how customers and agents are doing and performing.

    Executive Brief – Case Study

    Self-service options improve quality of service and boost organization’s competitiveness in a digital marketspace.

    INDUSTRY: Financial Services

    SOURCE: TSB

    Situation

    Solution

    Results

    • The pandemic increased pressure on TSB’s Customer Service, with higher call loads from their five million customers who were anxious about their financial situation.
    • TSB needed to speed up its processing times to ensure loan programs and other assistances were provided as quickly as possible.
    • As meeting in-person became impossible due to the lockdown, TSB had to step up its digital abilities to serve their customers.
    • TSB sought to boost its competitiveness by shifting as far as possible to digital services.
    • TSB launched government loan programs in 36 hours, ahead of its competitors.
    • TSB created and released 21 digital self-service forms for customers to complete without needing to interact with bank staff.
    • TSB processed 140,000 forms in three months, replacing 15,000 branch visits.
    • TSB increased digital self-service rate by nine percent.

    IT can demonstrate its value to business by enhancing remote customer service

    IT must engage with Customer Service – otherwise, IT risks being perennially reactive and dictated to as remote customer service needs increase.

    IT benefits

    Customer Service benefits

    • The right technology is established to support Customer Service.
    • IT is viewed as a strategic partner and innovator, not just a cost center and support function.
    • Streamlined and optimized Customer Service processes that drive efficiency and improve Customer Service quality.
    • Transformation of the Customer Service function into a competitive advantage.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Change to how Customer Service will operate is inevitable. This is an opportunity for IT to establish their value to the business and improve their autonomy in how new technologies should be onboarded and utilized.

    Customer Service and IT need to work together to mitigate their pain points

    IT and Customer Service have an opportunity to reinforce and build their organization’s customer base by working together to streamline operations.

    IT pain points

    Customer Service pain points

    • IT lacks understanding of Customer Service challenges and pain points.
    • IT has technical debt or constrained technology funding.
    • The IT department is viewed as a cost center and support organization, not an engine of innovation, growth, and service delivery performance.
    • Processes supporting Customer Service delivery may be sub-optimal.
    • The existing technology cannot support the increasingly advanced needs of Customer Service functions.
    • Customer Service isn’t fully aware of what your customers think of your service quality. There is little to no monitoring of customer sentiment.
    • There is a lack of value-based segmentation of customers and information on their channel usage and preferences.
    • Competitor actions are not actively monitored.

    IT often cannot spark a debate with Customer Service on whether a decision made without IT is misaligned with corporate direction. It’s almost always an uphill battle for IT.

    Sahri Lava, Research Director, IDC

    Develop an IT Strategy to Support Customer Service

    DON’T FALL BEHIND

    70% of companies either have a digital transformation strategy in place or are working on one (Tech Pro Research, 2018). Unless IT can enable technology that meets the customer where they are, the organization will quickly fall behind in an age of accelerating ecommerce.

    DEVELOP FUTURE STATES

    Many customer journeys are now exclusively digital – 63% of customers expect to receive service over social media (Ringshall, 2020). Organization’s need an IT strategy to develop the future of their customer service – from leveraging analytics to self-service AI portals.

    BUILD GAP ANALYSIS

    73% of customers prefer to shop across multiple channels (Sopadjieva et al., 2017). Assess your current state’s application integrations and functionality to ensure your future state can accurately sync customer information across each channel.

    SHORTLIST SOLUTIONS

    Customer relationship management software is one of the world's fastest growing industries (Kuligowski, 2022). Choosing a best-fit solution requires an intricate analysis of the market, future trends, and your organization’s requirements.

    ADVANCE CHANGE

    95% of customers cite service as key to their brand loyalty (Microsoft, 2019). Build out your roadmap for the future state to retain and build your customer base moving forward.

    Use Info-Tech’s method to produce an IT strategy for Customer Service:

    PHASE 1: Define Project and Future State

    Output: Project Charter and Future State Business Processes

    1.1 Structure the Project

    1.2 Define a Vision for Future State

    1.3 Document Preliminary Requirements

    KEY DELIVERABLE:

    Strategic Roadmap

    The image contains a screenshot of the strategic roadmap.

    PHASE 2: Evaluate Current State

    Output: Requirements Identified to Bridge Current to Future State

    2.1 Document Current State Business Processes

    2.2 Assess Current State Architecture

    2.3 Review and Finalize Requirements for Future State

    PHASE 3: Build a Roadmap to Future State

    Output: Initiatives and Strategic Roadmap

    3.1 Evaluate Architectural and Application Options

    3.2 Understand the Marketplace

    3.3 Score and Plot Initiatives Along Your Strategic Roadmap

    Key deliverable and tools outline

    Each step of this blueprint is accompanied by supporting materials to help you accomplish your goals.

    Project RACI Chart

    Activity 1.1a Organize roles and responsibilities for carrying out project steps.

    The image contains a screenshot of the Project RACI Chart.

    Key Deliverable:

    Strategic Roadmap

    Develop, prioritize, and implement key initiatives for your customer service IT strategy, plotting and tracking them on an easy-to-read timeline.

    The image contains a screenshot of the Strategic Roadmap.

    Business Process Shortlisting Tool

    Activities 1.2a, 1.2b, and 2.1aOutline and prioritize customer service goals.

    The image contains a screenshot of the Business Process Shortlisting Tool.

    Project Charter Template

    Activity 1.1b Define the project, its key deliverables, and metrics for success.

    The image contains a screenshot of the Project Charter Template.

    Systems Strategy Tool

    Activities 1.3a, Phase 2, 3.1a Prioritize requirements, assess current state customer service functions, and decide what to do with your current systems going forward.

    .The image contains a screenshot of the Systems Strategy Tool.

    Looking ahead: defining metrics for success

    Phase 1 of this blueprint will help solidify how to measure this project’s success. Start looking ahead now.

    For example, the metrics below show the potential business benefits for several stakeholders through building an IT strategy for Customer Service. These stakeholders include agents, customers, senior leadership, and IT. The benefits of this project are listed to the right.

    Metric Description

    Current Metric

    Future Goal

    Number of channels for customer contact

    1

    6

    Customer self-service resolution

    0%

    50%

    % ROI

    - 4%

    11%

    Agent satisfaction

    42%

    75%

    As this project nears completion:

    1. Customers will have more opportunities for self-service resolution.
    2. Agents will experience higher satisfaction, improving attrition rates.
    3. The organization will experience higher ROI from its digital Customer Service investments.
    4. Customers can engage the contact center via a communication channel that suits them.

    Info-Tech offers various levels of support to best suit your needs

    DIY Toolkit

    Guided Implementation

    Workshop

    Consulting

    “Our team has already made this critical project a priority, and we have the time and capability, but some guidance along the way would be helpful.”“Our team knows that we need to fix a process, but we need assistance to determine where to focus. Some check-ins along the way would help keep us on track.”“We need to hit the ground running and get this project kicked off immediately. Our team has the ability to take this over once we get a framework and strategy in place.”“Our team does not have the time or the knowledge to take this project on. We need assistance through the entirety of this project.”

    Diagnostics and consistent frameworks used throughout all four options

    Guided Implementation

    What does a typical Guided Implementation on this topic look like?

    Define Project and Future StateDocument and Assess Current StateEvaluate Architectural and Application OptionsBuild Roadmap to Future State

    Call #1: Introduce project, defining its vision and metrics of success.

    Call #2: Review environmental scan to define future state vision.

    Call #3: Examine future state business processes to compile initial requirements.

    Call #4: Document current state business processes.

    Call #5: Assess current customer service IT architecture.

    Call #6: Refine and prioritize list of requirements for future state.

    Call #7: Evaluate architectural options.

    Call #8: Evaluate application options.

    Call #9:Develop and score initiatives to future state.

    Call #10: Develop timeline and roadmap.

    Call #11: Review progress and wrap-up project.

    A Guided Implementation is a series of calls with an Info-Tech analyst to help implement our best practices in your organization.

    A typical Guided Implementation is two to 12 calls over the course of four to six months.

    Workshop Overview

    Contact your account representative for more information.
    workshops@infotech.com1-888-670-8889

    Day 1Day 2Day 3Day 4Day 5

    Define Your Vision for Future State

    Document Current State and Assess Gaps

    Adopt an Architectural Posture

    Frame Desired State and Develop Roadmap

    Communicate and Implement

    Activities

    1.1 Outline and prioritize your customer goals.

    1.2 Link customer service goals’ relevance and value to your Customer Service processes.

    1.3 Score Customer Service business processes against organizational goals.

    2.1 Holistically assess multiple aspects of Customer Service-related IT assets with Customer Service Systems Strategy Tool.

    3.1 Analyze Customer Service Systems Strategy and review results with the Customer Service Systems Strategy Tool.

    4.1 Help project management stakeholders visualize implementation of Customer Service IT initiatives.

    4.2 Build strategic roadmap and plot initiatives.

    5.1 Finalize deliverables.

    5.2 Support communication efforts.

    5.3 Identify resources in support of priority initiatives.

    Deliverables

    1. Initial position on viable Customer Service strategies.
    2. Shortlist of key business processes.
    3. Documented future-state business process model.
    4. Business/functional/non-functional requirements.
    1. Documented current state business process model.
    2. Customer Service systems health assessment.
    3. Inventory of Customer Service supporting applications.
    4. Inventory of related system interfaces.
    1. Posture on system architecture.
    2. Completed Customer Service systems health assessment.
    3. List of application options.
    1. Scored and prioritized list of initiatives.
    2. Customer Service implementation roadmap.
    1. Customer Service IT Strategy Roadmap.
    2. Mapping of Info-Tech resources against individual initiatives.

    Phase 1

    Define Project and Future State

    Phase 1

    Phase 2

    Phase 3

    1.1 Structure the Project

    1.2 Define Vision for Future State

    1.3 Document Preliminary Requirements

    2.1 Document Current State Business Processes

    2.2 Assess Current State Architecture

    2.3 Review and Finalize Requirements for Future State

    3.1 Evaluate Architectural and Application Options

    3.2 Understand the Marketplace

    3.3 Score and Plot Initiatives Along Strategic Roadmap

    This phase will guide you through the following activities:

    1.1a Create your project’s RACI chart to establish key roles throughout the timeline of the project.

    1.1b Finalize your project charter that captures the key goals of the project, ready to communicate to stakeholders for approval.

    1.2a Begin documenting business processes to establish potential future states.

    1.2b Model future state business processes for looking beyond current constraints and building the ideal scenario.

    1.3a Document your preliminary requirements for concretizing a future state and performing a gap analysis.

    Participants required for Phase 1:

    • Applications Director
    • Customer Service Director
    • IT and Customer Service Representatives

    1.1 Identify process owners early for successful project execution

    IT and Customer Service must work in tandem throughout the project. Both teams’ involvement ensures all stakeholders are heard and support the final decision.

    Customer Service Perspective

    IT Perspective

    • Customer Service is the victim of pain points resulting from suboptimal systems and it stands to gain the most benefits from a well-planned systems strategy.
    • Looking to reduce pain points, Customer Service will likely initiate, own, and participate heavily in the project.
    • Customer Service must avoid the tendency to make IT-independent decisions. This could lead to disparate systems that contribute little to the overall organizational goals.
    • IT owns the application and back-end support of all Customer Service business processes. Any technological aspect of processes will need IT involvement.
    • IT may or may not have the mandate to run the Customer Service strategy project. Responsibility for systems decisions remains with IT.
    • IT should own the task of filtering out unnecessary or infeasible application and technology decisions. IT capabilities to support such acquisitions and post-purchase maintenance must be considered.

    Info-Tech Insight

    While involving management is important for high-level strategic decisions, input from those who interact day-to-day with the systems is a crucial component to a well-planned strategy.

    1.1 Define project roles and responsibilities to improve progress tracking

    Assign responsibilities, accountabilities, and other project involvement roles using a RACI chart.

    • IT should involve Customer Service from the beginning of project planning to implementation and execution. The project requires input and knowledge from both functions to succeed.
    • Do not let the tasks be forgotten within inter-functional communication. Define roles and responsibilities for the project as early as possible.
    • Each member of the project team should be given a RACI designation, which will vary for each task to ensure clear ownership, execution, and progress tracking.
    • Assigning RACI early can:
      • Improve project quality by assigning the right people to the right tasks.
      • Improve chances of project task completion by assigning clear accountabilities.
      • Improve project buy-in by ensuring that stakeholders are kept informed of project progress, risks, and successes.

    R – Responsibility

    A – Accountability

    C – Consulted

    I – Informed

    1.1 Use Info-Tech’s recommended process owners and roles for this blueprint

    Customer Service Head

    Customer Service Director

    CIO

    Applications Director*

    CEO/COO

    Marketing Head

    Sales Head

    Determine Project Suitability

    		ARCCCII

    Phase 1.1

    		CCARIII

    Phases 1.2 – 1.3

    		ARCCICC

    Phase 2

    		ARICIII

    Phase 3.1

    (Architectural options)

    		CCARIII

    Phase 3.1

    (Application options)

    		ACIRICC

    Phases 3.2 – 3.3

    		CCARCII

    * The Applications Director is to compile a list of Customer Service systems; the Customer Service Director is responsible for vetting a list and mapping it to Customer Service functions.

    ** The Applications Director is responsible for technology-related decisions (e.g. SaaS or on-premise, integration issues); the Customer Service Director is responsible for functionality-related decisions.

    1.1a Create your project’s RACI chart

    1 hour

    1. The Applications Director and Customer Service Head should identify key participants and stakeholders of the project.
    2. Use Info-Tech’s Project RACI Chart to identify ownership of tasks.
    3. Record roles in the Project RACI Chart.
    The image contains a screenshot of the project RACI chart.
    InputOutput
    • Identification of key project participants and stakeholders.
    • Identification of key project participants and stakeholders.

    Materials

    Participants

    • Project RACI Chart
    • Applications Director
    • Customer Service Director

    Download the Project RACI Chart

    1.1 Start developing the project charter

    A project charter should address the following:

    • Executive Summary and Project Overview
      • Goals
      • Benefits
      • Critical Success Factors
    • Scope
    • Key Deliverables
    • Stakeholders and RACI
    • Risk Assessment
      • What are some risks you may encounter during project execution?
    • Projected Timeline and Key Milestones
    • Review and Approval Process

    What is a project charter?

    • The project charter defines the project and lays the foundation for all subsequent project planning.
    • Once approved by the business, the charter gives the project lead formal authority to initiate the project.

    Why create a project charter?

    • The project charter allows all parties involved to reach an agreement and document major aspects of the project.
    • It also supports the decision-making process and can be used as a communication tool.

    Stakeholders must:

    • Understand and agree on the objectives and important characteristics of the project charter before the project is initiated.
    • Be given the opportunity to adjust the project charter to better address their needs and concerns.

    1.1b Finalize the project charter

    1-2 hours

    1. Request relevant individuals and parties to complete sections of Info-Tech’s Project Charter Template.
    2. Input the simplified RACI output from tab 3 in Info-Tech’s Project RACI Chart tool into the RACI section of the charter.
    3. Send the completed template to the CIO and Customer Service Head for approval.
    4. Communicate the document to stakeholders for changes and finalization.
    The image contains a screenshot of the Project Charter Template.

    Input

    Output

    • Customer Service and IT strategies
    • Justification of impetus to begin this project
    • Timeline estimates
    • A completed project charter that captures the key goals of the project, ready to communicate to stakeholders for approval.

    Materials

    Participants

    • Project RACI Chart
    • Project Charter Template
    • Applications Director
    • Customer Service Director

    Download the Project Charter Template

    1.2 IT must play a role shaping Customer Service’s future vision

    IT is only one or two degrees of separation from the end customer – their involvement can significantly impact the customer experience.

    IT

    		⇒

    Customer Service

    		⇒

    Customer

    Customer Service-Facing Application

    Customer-Facing Application

    • IT enables, supports, and maintains the applications used by the Customer Service organization to service customers. IT provides the infrastructural and technical foundation to operate the function.
    • IT supports customer-facing interfaces and channels for Customer Service interaction.
    • Channel examples include web pages, mobile device applications and optimization, and interactive voice response for callers.

    1.2 Establish a vision for Customer Service excellence

    Info-Tech has identified three prominent Customer Service strategic patterns. Evaluate which fits best with your situation and organization.

    Retention

    Efficiency

    Cross-Sell/Up-Sell

    Ensuring customers remain customers by providing proactive customer service and a seamless omnichannel strategy.

    Reducing costs by diverting customers to lower cost channels and empowering agents to solve problems quickly.

    Maximizing the value of existing customers by capitalizing on cross-sell and up-sell opportunities.

    1.2 Let profitability goals help reveal which strategy to pursue

    Profitability goals are tied to the enabling of customer service strategies.

    • If looking to drive cost decreases across the organization, pursue cost efficiency strategies such as customer volume diversion in order to lower cost channels and avoid costly escalations for customer complaints and inquiries.
    • Ongoing Contribution Margin is positive only once customer acquisition costs (CAC) have been paid back. For every customer lost, another customer has to be acquired in order to experience no loss. In this way, customer retention strategies help decrease your overall costs.
    • Once cost reduction and customer retention measures are in place, look to increase overall revenue through cross-selling and up-selling activities with your customers.
    The image contains a screenshot of a diagram to demonstrate the relationship between goals and enabling strategies.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Purely driving efficiency is not the goal. Create a balance that does not compromise customer satisfaction.

    Customer Service strategies: Case studies

    Efficiency

    • Volume diversion to lower cost channels
    • Agent empowerment

    MISS DIG 811 – a utility notification system – sought to make their customer service more efficient by moving to softphones. Using the Cisco Customer Journey Platform, Miss Dig saw a 9% YoY increase in agent productivity and 83% reduction in phone equipment costs. Source: (Cisco, 2018).

    Retention

    • Proactive Customer Service
    • Seamless omnichannel strategy

    VoiceSage worked with Home Retail Group – a general merchandise retailer – to proactively increase customer outreach, reducing the number of routine customer order and delivery queries received. In four weeks, Home Retail Group increased their 30-40% answer rate from customers to 100%, with 90% of incoming calls answered and 60% of contacts made via SMS. Source: (VoiceSage, 2018)

    Cross-Sell/

    Up-Sell

    • Cross-Sell and Up-Sell opportunities

    A global brand selling language-learning software utilized Callzilla to help improve their call conversion rate of 2%. After six months of agent and supervisor training, this company increased their call conversion rate to 16% and their upsell rate to 40%. Their average order value increased from < $300 to $465. Source: (Callzilla, n.d.)

    1.2 Performing an environmental scan can help IT optimize Customer Service support

    Though typically executed by Customer Service, IT can gain valuable insights for best supporting infrastructure, applications, and operations from an environmental scan.

    An environmental scan seeks to understand your organization’s customers from multiple directions. It considers:

    • Customers’ value-based segmentations.
    • The interaction channels customers prefer to use.
    • Customers’ likes and dislikes.
    • The general sentiment of your customer service quality.
    • What your competitors are doing in this space.
    The image contains a screenshot of a diagram to demonstrate how performing an environmental scan can help IT optimize Customer Service support.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Business processes must directly relate to customer service. Failing to correlate customer experience with business performance outcomes overlooks the enormous cost of negative sentiment.

    1.2 The environmental scan results should drive IT’s strategy and resource spend

    Insights derived from this scan can help frame IT’s contributions to Customer Service’s future vision.

    Why IT should care:

    Implications:

    Each customer experience, from product/service selection to post-transaction support, can have a significant impact on business performance.

    It is not just IT or Customer Service that should care; rather, it should be an organizational responsibility to care about what customers say.

    Customers have little tolerance for mediocrity or poor service and simply switch their allegiances to those that can satisfy their expectations.

    Do not ignore your competitors; they may be doing something well in Customer Service technology which may serve as your organization’s benchmark.

    With maturing mobile and social technologies, customers want to be treated as individuals rather than as a series of disconnected accounts

    Do not ignore your customers’ plea for individuality through mobile and social. Assess your customers’ technology channel preferences.

    Customer service’s perception of service quality may be drastically different than what is expected by the customers.

    Prevent your organization from investing in technology that will have no positive impact on your customer experience.

    Some customers may not provide your organization the business value that surpasses your cost to serve them.

    Focus on enhancing the technology and customer service experience for your high-value customers.

    1.2 Have Customer Service examine feedback across channels for a holistic view

    Your method of listening needs to evolve to include active listening on social and mobile channels.

    Insights and Implications for Customer Service

    Limitations of conventional listening:

    • Solicited customer feedback, such as surveys, do not provide an accurate feedback method since customers only have one channel to express their views.
    • Sentiment, voice, and text analytics within social media channels provide the most accurate and timely intelligence.

    How IT Can Help

    IT can help facilitate the customer feedback process by:

    • Conducting customer feedback with voice recognition software.
    • Monitoring customer sentiment on mobile and social channels.
    • Utilizing customer data analytic engines on social media management platforms.
    • Referring Customer Service to customer advisory councils and their databases.

    1.2 Benchmark IT assets by examining your competitors’ Customer Service capabilities

    The availability of the internet means almost complete transparency between your products and services, and those of your competitors.

    Insights and implications from Customer Service

    How IT can help

    Competitor actions are crucial. Watch your competitors to learn how they use Customer Service as a competitive differentiator and a customer acquisition tool.

    Do not learn about a competitor’s actions because your customers are already switching to them. Track your competitors before getting a harsh surprise from your customers.

    View the customer service experience from the outside in. Assessing from the inside out gives an internal perspective on how good the service is, rather than what customers are experiencing.

    Take a data and analytics-driven approach to mine insights on what customers are saying about your competitors. Negative sentiment and specific complaints can be used as reference for IT and Customer Service to:

    • Avoid repeating the competitor’s mistakes.
    • Utilize sentiment as a benchmark for goal setting and improvements.
    • Duplicate successful technology initiatives to realize business value.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Look to your competitors for comparative models but do not pursue to solely replicate what they currently have. Aim higher and attempt to surpass their capabilities and brand value.

    1.2 Collaborate with Customer Service to understand customer value segments

    Let segmentation help you gain intelligence on customers’ expectations.

    Insights and implications from customer service

    • Segment your customers based on their value relative to the cost to serve. The easiest way to do so is with channel preference categorization.
    • If the cost for retention attempts are higher than the value that those customers provide, there is little business case to pursue retention action.

    How IT can help

    • Couple value-based segmentation with channel preference and satisfaction levels of your most-valued customers to effectively target IT investments in channels that maximize service customization and quality.
    • Correlate the customers’ channel and technology usage with their business value to see which IT assets are delivering on their investments.

    The image contains a screenshot of a graph to demonstrate the relationship between cost of retention and value.

    “If you're developing a Customer Service strategy, it has to start with who your clients are, what [they are] trying to do, and through what channels […] and then your decision around processes have to fall out of that. If IT is trying to lead the conversation, or bring people together to lead the conversation, then marketing and whoever does segmentation has to be at the table as a huge component of this.”

    Lisa Woznica, Director of Client Experience, BMO Financial Group

    1.2 Be mindful of trends in the consumer and technology landscape

    Building a future vision of customer service requires knowing what upcoming technologies can aid the organization.

    OMNICHANNEL SUPPORT

    Rapidly changing demographics and modes of communication requires an evolution toward omnichannel engagement. 63% of customers now expect to communicate with contact centers over their social media (Ringshall 2020). Agents need customer information synced across each channel they use, meeting the customer’s needs where they are.

    INTELLIGENT SELF-SERVICE PORTALS

    Customers want their issues resolved as quickly as possible. Machine learning self-service options deliver personalized customer experiences, which also reduce both agent call volume and support costs for the organization. 60% of contact centers are using or plan to use AI in the next 12 months to improve their customer (Canam Research 2020).

    LEVERAGING ANALYTICS

    The future of customer service is tied up with analytics. This not only entails AI-driven capabilities that fetch the agent relevant information, but it finds skills-based routing and uses biometric data (e.g., speech) for security. It also feeds operations leaders’ need for easy access to real insights about how their customers and agents are doing.

    Phase 1 – Case Study

    Omnichannel support delivers a financial services firm immediate customer service results.

    INDUSTRY: Financial Services

    SOURCE: Mattsen Kumar

    Situation

    Solution

    Results

    • A financial services firm’s fast growth began to show cracks in their legacy customer service system.
    • Costs to support the number of customer queries increased.
    • There was a lack of visibility into incoming customer communications and their resolutions.
    • Business opportunities were lost due to a lack of information on customers’ preferences and challenges. Customer satisfaction was decreasing, negatively impacting the firm’s brand.
    • Mattsen Kumar diagnosed that the firm’s major issue was that their customer service processes required a high percentage of manual interventions.
    • Mattsen Kumar developed an omnichannel strategy, including a mix of social channels joined together by a CRM.
    • A key aspect of this omnichannel experience was designing automated processes with minimal manual intervention.
    • 25% reduction in callbacks from customers.
    • $50,000 reduction in operational costs.
    • Two minutes wait time reduction for chat process.
    • 14% decrease in average handle time.
    • Scaled up from 6000 to 50,000 monthly calls that could be handled by the current team.
    • Enabled more than 10,000 customer queries over chats.

    1.2 Construct your future state using a business process management approach

    Documenting and evaluating your business processes serves as a good starting point for defining the overall Customer Service strategy.

    • Examining key Customer Service business processes can unlock clues around the following:
      • Driving operational effectiveness.
      • Identifying, implementing, and maintaining reusable enterprise systems.
      • Identifying gaps that can be addressed by acquisition of additional systems.
    • Business process modeling facilitates the collaboration between business and IT, recording the sequence of events, tasks performed, by whom they are performed, and the levels of interaction with the various supporting applications.
    • By identifying the events and decision points in the process, and overlaying the people that perform the functions and technologies that support them, organizations are better positioned to identify gaps that need to be bridged.
    • Encourage the analysis by compiling the inventory of Customer Service business processes that are relevant to the organization.

    Info-Tech Insight

    A process-oriented approach helps organizations see the complete view of the system by linking strategic requirements to business requirements, and business requirements to system requirements.

    1.2 Use the APQC Framework to define your Customer Service-related processes

    • APQC’s Process Classification Framework (PCF) is a taxonomy of cross-functional business processes intended to allow the objective comparison of organizational performance within and among organizations.
    • Section 5 of the PCF details various levels of Customer Service business processes, useful for mapping on to your own organization’s current state.
    • The APQC Framework can be accessed through the following link: APQC’s Process Classification Framework.

    The APQC Framework serves as a high-level, industry-neutral enterprise model that allows organizations to see activities from a cross-industry process perspective.

    The image contains a screenshot example of the APQC Process Classification Framework.
    Source: (Ziemba and Eisenbardt 2015)

    Info-Tech Caution

    The APQC framework does not list all processes within a specific organization, nor are the processes which are listed in the framework present in every organization. It is designed as a framework and global standard to be customized for use in any organization.

    1.2 Each APQC process has five levels that represent its logical components

    The image contains a screenshot of the APQC five levels. The levels include: category, process group, process, and activity.

    The PCF provides L1 through 4 for the Customer Service Framework.

    L5 processes are task- and industry-specific and need to be defined by the organization.

    Source: (APQC 2020)
    This Industry Process Classification Framework was jointly developed by APQC and IBM to facilitate improvement through process management and benchmarking. ©2018 APQC and IBM. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    1.2a Begin documenting business processes

    4 hours

    1. Using Info-Tech’s Customer Service Business Process Shortlisting Tool, list the Customer Service goals and rank them by importance.
    2. Score the APQC L4 processes by relevance to the defined goals and perceived satisfaction index.
    3. Define the L5 processes for the top scoring L4 process.
    4. Leave Tab 5, Columns G – I for now. These columns will be revisited in activities 1.2b and 2.1a.
    The image contains a screenshot of the Customer Service Process Shortlisting Tool.

    Input

    Output

    • List of Customer Service goals
    • A detailed prioritization of Customer Service business processes to model for future states

    Materials

    Participants

    • Whiteboard
    • Writing materials
    • Customer Service Business Process Shortlisting Tool
    • Applications Director
    • Customer Service Director
    • IT and Customer Service Representatives

    Download the Customer Service Business Process Shortlisting Tool

    1.2 Start designing the future state of key business processes

    If Customer Service transformation is called for, start with your future-state vision. Don’t get stuck in current state and the “art of the possible” within its context.

    Future-State Analysis

    Start by designing your future state business processes (based on the key processes shortlisting exercise). Design these processes as they would exist as your “ideal scenario.” Next, analyze your current state to help better your understanding of:

    • The gaps that exist and must be bridged to achieve the future-state vision.
    • Whether or not any critical functions that support your business were omitted accidentally from the future-state processes.
    • Whether or not any of the supporting applications or architecture can be salvaged and used toward delivery of your future-state vision.

    Though it’s a commonly used approach, documenting your current-state business processes first can have several drawbacks:

    • Current-state analysis can impede your ability to see future possibility.
    • Teams will spend a great deal of time and effort on documenting current state and inevitably succumb to “analysis paralysis.”
    • Current state assessment, when done first, limits the development of the future (or target) state, constraining thinking to the limitations of the current environment rather than the requirements of the business strategy.

    Current-State Analysis

    “If you're fairly immature and looking for a paradigm shift or different approach [because] you recognize you're totally doing it wrong today, then starting with documenting current state doesn't do a lot except make you sad. You don't want to get stuck in [the mindset of] ‘Here's the current state, and here’s the art of the possible.’”

    Trevor Timbeck, Executive Coach, Parachute Executive Coaching

    1.2 Start modeling future-state processes

    Build buy-in and accountability in process owners through workshops and whiteboarding – either in-person or remotely.

    Getting consensus on the process definition (who does what, when, where, why, and how) is one of the hardest parts of BPM.

    Gathering process owners for a process-defining workshop isn’t easy. Getting them to cooperate can be even harder. To help manage these difficulties during the workshop, make sure to:

    • Keep the scope contained to the processes being defined in order to make best use of everyone’s time, as taking time away from employees is a cost too.
    • Prior to the workshop, gather information about the processes with interviews, questionnaires, and/or system data gathering and analysis.
    • Use the information gathered to have real-life examples of the processes in question so that time isn’t wasted.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Keep meetings short and on task as tangents are inevitable. Set ground rules at the beginning of any brainstorming or whiteboarding session to ensure that all participants are aligned.

    1.2 Use the five W’s to help map out your future-state processes

    Define the “who, what, why, where, when, and how” of the process to gain a better understanding of individual activities.

    Owner

    Who

    What

    When

    Where

    Why

    How

    Record Claim

    Customer Service

    Customer Service Rep.

    Claim

    Accident

    Claims system

    Customer notification

    Agent enters claim into the system and notifies claims department

    Manage Claim

    Claims Department

    Claims Clerk

    Claim

    Agent submitted the claim

    Claims system

    Agent notification

    Clerk enters claim into the claims system

    Investigate Claim

    Claims Investigation

    Adjuster

    Claim

    Claim notification

    Property where claim is being made

    		Assess damage

    Evaluation and expert input

    Settle Claim

    Claims Department

    Claim Approver

    Claim and Adjuster’s evaluation

    Receipt of Adjuster’s report

    Claims system

    Evaluation

    Approval or denial

    Administer Claim

    Finance Department

    Finance Clerk

    Claim amount

    Claim approval notification

    Finance system

    Payment required

    Create payment voucher and cut check

    Close Claim

    Claims Department

    Claims Clerk

    Claim and all supporting documentation

    Payment issued

    Claims system

    Claim processed

    Close the claim in the system

    Info-Tech Insight

    It’s not just about your internal processes. To achieve higher customer retention and satisfaction, it’s also useful to map the customer service process from the customer perspective to identify customer pain points and disconnects.

    1.2 Use existing in-house software as a simplistic entry point to process modeling

    A diagramming tool like Visio enables you to plot process participants and actions using dedicated symbols and connectors that indicate causality.

    • Models can use a stick-figure format, a cross-functional workflow format, or BPMN notation.
    • Plot the key activities and decision points in the process using standard flowcharting shapes. Identify the data that belongs to each step in a separate document or as call-outs on the diagram.
    • Document the flow control between steps, i.e., what causes one step to finish and another to start?

    The image contains a screenshot of the sample cross-functional diagram using the claims process.

    Info-Tech Best Practice

    Diagramming tools can force the process designer into a specific layout: linear or cross-functional/swim lane.

    • A linear format is recommended for single function and system processes.
    • A swim lane format is recommended for cross-functional and cross-departmental processes.

    1.2 Introduce low investment alternatives for process modeling for modeling disciplines

    SaaS and low-cost modeling tools are emerging to help organizations with low to medium BPM maturity visualize their processes.

    • Formal modeling tools allow a designer to model in any view and easily switch to other views to gain new perspectives on the process.
    • Subscription-based, best-of-breed SaaS tools provide scalable and flexible process modeling capabilities.
    • Open source and lower cost tools also exist to help distribute BPM modeling discipline and standards.
    • BPMS suites incorporate advanced modeling tools with process execution engines for end-to-end business process management. Integrate process discovery with modeling, process simulation, and analysis. Deploy, monitor, and measure process models in process automation engines.

    The image contains a screenshot of a diagram of the claims process.

    Explore SoftwareReviews’ Business Process Management market analysis by clicking here.

    1.2b Model future state business processes

    4 hours

    1. Model the future state of the most critical business processes.
    2. Use Tab 5, Columns G – H of Info-Tech’s Customer Service Business Process Shortlisting Tool to keep stock of what processes are targeted for modeling, and whether the models have been completed.
    The image contains a screenshot of the Customer Service Business Process Shortlisting Tool.

    Input

    Output

    • Modeled future Customer Service business processes
    • An inventory of modeled future states for critical Customer Service business processes

    Materials

    Participants

    • Whiteboard
    • Writing materials
    • Customer Service Business Process Shortlisting Tool
    • Applications Director
    • Customer Service Director

    Download the Customer Service Business Process Shortlisting Tool

    1.3 Start a preliminary inventory of your requirements

    Use the future state business process models as a source for software requirements.

    • Business process modeling deals with business requirements that can be used as the foundation for elicitation of system (functional and non-functional) requirements.
    • Modeling creates an understanding of the various steps and transfers in each business process, as well as the inputs and outputs of the process.
    • The future state models form an understanding of what information is needed and how it flows from one point to another in each process.
    • Understand what technologies are (or can be) leveraged to facilitate the exchange of information and facilitate the process.

    For each task or event in the process, ask the following questions:

    • What is the input?
    • What is the output?
    • What are the underlying risks and how can they be mitigated?
    • What conditions should be met to mitigate or eliminate each risk?
    • What are the improvement opportunities?
    • What conditions should be met to enable these opportunities?

    Info-Tech Insight

    Incorporate future considerations into the requirements. How will the system need to adapt over time to accommodate additional processes, process variations, introduction of additional channels and capabilities, etc. Do not overreach by identifying system capabilities that cannot possibly be met.

    1.3 Understand the four different requirements to document

    Have a holistic view for capturing the various requirements the organization has for a Customer Service strategy.

    Business requirements

    High-level requirements that management would typically understand.

    User requirements

    High-level requirements on how the tool should empower users’ lives.

    Non-functional requirements

    Criteria that can be used to judge the operation of a contact center. It defines how the system should perform for the organization.

    Functional requirements

    Outline the technical requirements for the desired contact center.

    1.3 Extract requirements from the business process models

    To see how, let us examine our earlier example for the Claims Process, extracting requirements from the “Record Claim” task.

    The image contains an example of the claims process, and focuses on the record claim task.

    1.3a Document your preliminary requirements

    4 hours

    1. The Applications Director and Customer Service Head are to identify participants based on the business processes that will be reviewed.
    2. They are to conduct a workshop to gather all requirements that can be taken from the business process models.
    3. Use Tab 4 of Info-Tech’s Customer Service Systems Strategy Tool to document your preliminary requirements.
    The image contains a screenshot of the Customer Service Systems Strategy Tool.
    InputOutput
    • Half-day workshop to review the proposed future-state diagrams and distill from them the business, functional, and non-functional requirements
    • Future state business process models from activities 1.2a and 1.2b
    • An inventory of preliminary requirements for modeled future states
    MaterialsParticipants
    • Whiteboard
    • Writing materials
    • Customer Service Systems Strategy Tool
    • Results of activities 1.2a and 1.2b
    • Applications Director
    • Customer Service Director
    • IT and Customer Service Representatives

    Download the Customer Service Systems Strategy Tool

    Phase 2

    Evaluate Current State

    Phase 1

    Phase 2

    Phase 3

    1.1 Structure the Project

    1.2 Define Vision for Future State

    1.3 Document Preliminary Requirements

    2.1 Document Current State Business Processes

    2.2 Assess Current State Architecture

    2.3 Review and Finalize Requirements for Future State

    3.1 Evaluate Architectural and Application Options

    3.2 Understand the Marketplace

    3.3 Score and Plot Initiatives Along Strategic Roadmap

    This phase will guide you through the following activities:

    2.1a Model current-state business processes for an inventory to compare against future-state models.

    2.1b Compare future and current business states for a preliminary gap analysis.

    2.1c Begin compiling an inventory of CS Systems by function for an overview of your current state map.

    2.2a Rate your functional and integration quality to assess the performance of your application portfolio.

    2.3a Compare states and propose action to bridge current business processes with viable future alternatives.

    2.3b Document finalized requirements, ready to enact change.

    Participants required for Phase 2:

    • Applications Director
    • Customer Service Director
    • IT and Customer Service Representatives
    • IT Managers

    2.1 Document the current state of your key business processes

    Doing so will solidify your understanding of the gaps, help identify any accidental omissions from the future state vision, and provide clues as to what can be salvaged.

    • Analysis of the current state is important in the context of gap analysis. It aids in understanding the discrepancies between your baseline and the future-state vision, and ensuring that these gaps are recorded as part of the overall requirements.
    • By analyzing the current state of key business processes, you may identify critical functions that are in place today that were not taken into consideration during the future-state business process visioning exercise.
    • By overlaying the current state process models with the applications that support them, the current state models will indicate what systems and interfaces can be salvaged.
    • The baseline feeds the business case, allowing the team to establish proposed benefits and improvements from implementing the future-state vision. Seek to understand the following:
      • The volumes of work
      • Major exceptions
      • Number of employees involved
      • Amount of time spent in each area of the process

    2.1 Assess the current state to drive the gap analysis

    Before you choose any solution, identify what needs to be done to your current state in order to achieve the vision you have defined.

    • By beginning with the future state in mind, you have likely already envisioned some potential solutions.
    • By reviewing your current situation in contrast with your desired future state, you can deliberate what needs to be done to bridge the gap. The differences between the models allow you to define a set of changes that must be enacted in sequence or in parallel. These represent the gaps.
    • The gaps, once identified, translate themselves into additional requirements.

    Assessment Example

    Future State

    Current Situation

    Next Actions/ Proposals

    Incorporate social channels for responding to customer inquiries.

    No social media monitoring or channels for interaction exist at present.

    1. Implement a social media monitoring platform tool and integrate it with the current CSM.
    2. Recruit additional Customer Service representatives to monitor and respond to inquiries via social channels.
    3. Develop report(s) for analyzing volumes of inquiries received through social channels.

    Info-Tech Insight

    It is important to allot time for the current-state analysis, confine it to the minimum effort required to understand the gaps, and identify any missing pieces from your future-state vision. Make sure the work expended is proportional to the benefit derived from this exercise.

    2.1a Model current-state business processes

    2 hours

    1. Model the current state of the most critical business processes, using the work done in activities 1.2a and 1.2b to help identify these processes.
    2. Use Tab 5, Column I of Info-Tech’s Customer Service Business Process Shortlisting Tool to keep stock of what models have been completed.
    3. This tool is now complete.
    The image contains a screenshot of the Customer Service Business Process Shortlisting Tool.
    InputOutput
    • Modeled current-state Customer Service business processes
    • An inventory of modeled current states for critical Customer Service business processes
    MaterialsParticipants
    • Whiteboard
    • Writing materials
    • Customer Service Business Process Shortlisting Tool
    • Results of activities 1.2a and 1.2b.
    • Applications Director
    • Customer Service Director

    Download the Customer Service Business Process Shortlisting Tool

    2.1b Compare future and current business states

    2 hours

    1. Use Tab 9 of Info-Tech’s Customer Service Systems Strategy Tool to record a summary of the future state, current state, and actions proposed in order to bridge the gaps.
      • Fill out the desired future state of the business processes and IT architecture.
      • Fill out the current state of the business processes and IT architecture.
      • Fill out the actions required to mitigate the gaps between the future and current state.
    The image contains a screenshot of thr Customer Service Systems Strategy Tool.
    InputOutput
    • The results of activities 1.2a, 1.2b, and 2.1a.
    • Modeled future- and current-state business processes
    • An overview and analysis of how to reach certain future states from the current state.
    • A preliminary list of next steps through bridging the gap between current and future states.
    MaterialsParticipants
    • Whiteboard
    • Writing materials
    • Customer Service Business Process Shortlisting Tool
    • Applications Director
    • Customer Service Director

    Download the Customer Service Systems Strategy Tool

    2.1 Assess whether Customer Service architecture can meet future-state vision

    Approach your CS systems holistically to identify opportunities for system architecture optimization.

    • Organizations often do not have a holistic view of their Customer Service systems. These systems are often cobbled together from disparate parts, such as:
      • Point solutions (both SaaS and on-premise).
      • Custom interfaces between applications and databases.
      • Spreadsheets and other manual workarounds.
    • A high degree of interaction between multiple systems can cause distention in the application portfolio and databases, creating room for error and more work for CS and IT staff. Mapping your systems and architectural landscape can help you:
      • Identify the number of manual processes you currently employ.
      • Eliminate redundancies.
      • Allow for consolidation and/or integration.

    Consider the following metrics when tracking your CS systems:

    Time needed to perform core tasks (i.e., resolving a customer complaint)

    Accuracy of basic information (customer history, customer product portfolio)

    CSR time spent on manual process/workarounds

    Info-Tech Insight

    There is a two-step process to document the current state of your Customer Service systems:

    1. Compile an inventory of systems by function
    2. Identify points of integration across systems

    2.1c Begin compiling an inventory of CS systems by function

    2 hours

    1. Using Tab 2 of Info-Tech’s Customer Service Systems Strategy Tool, request that the CS managers fill in the application inventory template with all the CS systems that they use.
    2. Questions to trigger exercise:
      • Which applications am I using?
      • Which CS function does the application support?
      • How many applications support the same function?
      • What spreadsheets or manual workarounds do I use to fill in system gaps?
    3. Send the filled-in template to IT Managers to validate and fill in missing system information.
    InputOutput
    • Applications Directors’ knowledge of the current state
    • IT Managers’ validation of this state
    • A corroborated inventory of the current state for Customer Service systems
    MaterialsParticipants
    • Customer Service Systems Strategy Tool
    • Applications Director
    • IT managers

    Download the Customer Service Systems Strategy Tool

    2.1 Use activity 2.1c for an overview of your current state map

    The image contains a screenshot of activity 2.1.

    Info-Tech Insight

    A current-state map of CS systems can offer insight on:

    • Coverage, i.e. whether all functional areas are supported by systems.
    • Redundancies, i.e. functional areas with multiple systems. If a customer’s records are spread across multiple systems, it may be difficult to obtain a single source of truth.

    2.2 Assess current state with user interface architecture diagrams

    Understand a high-level overview of how your current state integrates together to rate its overall quality.

    • If IT already has an architecture diagram, use this in conjunction with your application inventory for the basis of current state discussions.
    • If your organization does not already have an architecture diagram for review and discussion, consider creating one in its most simplistic form using the following guidelines (see illustrative example on next slide):

    Represent each of your systems as a labelled shape with a unique number (this number can be referenced in other artifacts that can provide more detail).

    Color coding can also be applied to differentiate these objects, e.g., to indicate an internal system (where development is owned by your organization) vs. an external system (where development is outside of your organization’s control).

    2.2 Example: Current state with user interface architecture diagrams

    The image contains a screenshot of an example of current state with user interface architecture diagrams.

    2.2 Evaluate application functionality and functional coverage

    Use this documentation of the current state as an opportunity to spot areas for rationalizing your application portfolio.

    If an application is well-received by the organization and is an overall good platform, consider acquiring more modules from the same vendor application.

    		The image contains a screenshot of a diagram to demonstrate functionality and functional coverage.

    If you have more than one application for a function, consider why that is and how you might consolidate into a single application.

    Measure the effectiveness of applications under consideration. For example, consider the number of failures when an application attempts a function (by ticket numbers), and overall satisfaction/ease of use.

    The above steps will reveal capability overlaps and application pain points and show how the overall portfolio could be made more efficient.

    2.2 Determine the degree of integration between systems

    Data and system integration are key components of an effective CS system portfolio.

    The needed level of integration will depend on three major factors:

    Integration between systems helps facilitate reporting. The required reports will vary from organization to organization:

    How many other systems benefit from the data of the application?

    Large workforces will benefit from more detailed WFM reports for optimizing workforce planning and talent acquisition.

    Will automating the integration between systems alleviate a significant amount of manual effort?

    Organizations with competitive sales and incentives will want to strategize around talent management and compensation.

    What kind of reports will your organization require in order to perform core and business-enabling functions?

    		Aging workforces or organizations with highly specialized skills can benefit from detailed analysis around succession planning.

    Phase 2 – Case Study

    Integrating customer relationship information streamlines customer service and increases ROI for the organization.

    INDUSTRY: Retail and Wholesale

    SOURCE: inContact

    Situation

    Solution

    Results

    • Hall Automotive – a group of 14 multi-franchise auto dealerships located throughout Virginia and North Carolina – had customer information segmented throughout their CRM system at each dealership.
    • Call center agents lacked the technology to synthesize this information, leading customers to receive multiple and unrelated service calls.
    • Hall Automotive wanted to avoid embarrassing information gaps, integrate multiple CRM systems, and help agents focus on customers.
    • Hall Automotive utilized an inContact solution that included Automated Call Distributor, Computer Telephony Integration, and IVR technologies.
    • This created a complete customer-centric system that interfaced with multiple CRM and back-office systems.
    • The inContact solution simplified intelligent call flows, routed contacts to the right agent, and provided comprehensive customer information.
    • Call time decreased from five minutes to one minute and 23 seconds.
    • 350% increase in production.
    • Market response time down from three months to one day.
    • Cost per call cut from 83 cents to 23 cents.
    • Increased agents’ calls-per-hour from 12 to 43.
    • Scalability matched seasonal fluctuations in sales.

    2.2a Rate your functional and integration quality

    2 hours

    1. Using Tab 5 of Info-Tech’s Customer Service Systems Strategy Tool, evaluate the functionality of your applications.
    2. Then, use Tab 6 of the Customer Service Systems Strategy Tool to evaluate the integration of your applications.
    The image contains screenshots of the Customer Service Systems Strategy Tool.
    InputOutput
    • Applications Directors’ knowledge of the current state
    • IT Managers’ validation of this state
    • A documented evaluation of the organization’s application portfolio regarding functional and integration quality
    MaterialsParticipants
    • Customer Service Systems Strategy Tool
    • Applications Director
    • IT managers

    Download the Customer Service Systems Strategy Tool

    2.3 Revisit and refine the future-state business processes and list of requirements

    With a better understanding of the current state, determine whether the future-state models hold up. Ensure that the requirements are updated accordingly to reflect the full set of gaps identified.

    • Future-state versus current-state modeling is an iterative process.
    • By assessing the gaps between target state and current state, you may decide that:
      • The future state model was overly ambitious for what can reasonably be delivered in the near-term.
      • Core functions that exist today were accidentally omitted from the future state models and need to be incorporated.
      • There are systems or processes that your organization would like to salvage, and they must be worked into the future-state model.
    • Once the future state vision is stabilized, ensure that all gaps have been translated into business requirements.
      • If possible, categorize all gaps by functional and non-functional requirements.

    2.3a Compare states and propose action

    3 hours

    • Revisit Tab 9 of Info-Tech’s Customer Service Systems Strategy Tool to more accurately compare your organization’s current- and future-state business processes.
    • Ensure that gaps in the system architecture have been captured.
    The image contains a screenshot of the Customer Service Systems Strategy Tool.
    InputOutput
    • Modeled future- and current-state business processes
    • Refined and prioritized list of requirements
    • An accurate list of action steps for bridging current and future state business processes
    MaterialsParticipants
    • Whiteboard
    • Writing materials
    • Customer Service Systems Strategy Tool
    • Applications Director
    • IT managers

    Download the Customer Service Systems Strategy Tool

    2.3 Prioritize and finalize the requirements

    Prioritizing requirements will help to itemize initiatives and the timing with which they need to occur.

    Requirements are to be prioritized based on relative important and the timing of the respective initiatives.

    Prioritize the full set of requirements by assigning a priority to each:

    1. High/Critical: A critical requirement; without it, the product is not acceptable to the stakeholders.
    2. Medium/Important: A necessary but deferrable requirement that makes the product less usable but still functional.
    3. Low/Desirable: A nice feature to have if there are resources, but the product can function well without it.

    Requirements prioritization must be completed in collaboration with all key stakeholders (business and IT).

    Consider the following criteria when assigning the priority:

    • Business value
    • Business or technical risk
    • Implementation difficulty
    • Likelihood of success
    • Regulatory compliance
    • Relationship to other requirements
    • Urgency
    • Unified stakeholder agreement

    Stakeholders must ask themselves:

    • What are the consequences to the business objectives if this requirement is omitted?
    • Is there an existing system or manual process/workaround that could compensate for it?
    • Why can’t this requirement be deferred to the next release?
    • What business risk is being introduced if a particular requirement cannot be implemented right away?

    2.3b Document finalized requirements

    4 hours

    1. Using Tab 4 of Info-Tech’s Customer Service Systems Strategy Tool, evaluate your applications’ functionality, review, refine, prioritize, and finalize your requirements.
    2. Review the proposed future state diagrams in activity 2.3a and distill from them the business, functional, and non-functional requirements.
    3. The Applications Director and Customer Service Head are to identify participants based on the business processes that will be reviewed. They are to conduct a workshop to gather all the requirements that can be taken from the business process models.
    The image contains a screenshot of the Customer Service Systems Strategy Tool.
    InputOutput
    • Modeled future- and current-state business processes
    • Refined and prioritized list of requirements
    • A documented finalized list of requirements to achieve future state business processes
    MaterialsParticipants
    • Whiteboard
    • Writing materials
    • Customer Service Systems Strategy Tool
    • IT Applications Director
    • Customer Service Director
    • IT and Customer Service Representatives

    Download the Customer Service Systems Strategy Tool

    Phase 3

    Build Roadmap to Future State

    Phase 1

    Phase 2

    Phase 3

    1.1 Structure the Project

    1.2 Define Vision for Future State

    1.3 Document Preliminary Requirements

    2.1 Document Current State Business Processes

    2.2 Assess Current State Architecture

    2.3 Review and Finalize Requirements for Future State

    3.1 Evaluate Architectural and Application Options

    3.2 Understand the Marketplace

    3.3 Score and Plot Initiatives Along Strategic Roadmap

    This phase will guide you through the following activities:

    3.1a Analyze future architectural posture to understand how applications within the organization ought to be arranged.

    3.3a Develop a Customer Service IT Systems initiative roadmap to reach your future state.

    Participants required for Phase 3:

    • Applications Director
    • CIO
    • Customer Service Director
    • Customer Service Head
    • IT and Customer Service Representatives
    • IT Applications Director

    3.1a Analyze future architectural posture

    1 hour

    Review Tab 8 of the Customer Service Systems Strategy Tool.

    This tab plots each system that supports Customer Service on a 2x2 framework based on its functionality and integration scores. Where these systems plot on each 2x2 provides clues as to whether they should be considered for retention, functional enhancement (upgrade), increased system integration, or replacement.

    • Integrate: The application is functionally rich, so integrate it with other modules by building or enhancing interfaces.
    • Retain: The application satisfies both functionality and integration requirements, so it should be considered for retention.
    • Replace: The application neither offers the functionality sought, nor is it integrated with other modules.
    • Replace/Enhance: The module offers poor functionality but is well integrated with other modules. If enhancing for functionality is easy (e.g., through configuration or custom development), consider enhancement or replace it altogether.
    The image contains a screenshot of tab 8 of the Customer Service Systems Strategy Tool.
    InputOutput
    • Review Tab 8 of the Customer Service Systems Strategy Tool
    • An overview of how different applications in the organization ought to be assessed
    MaterialsParticipants
    • Customer Service Systems Strategy Tool
    • IT Applications Director
    • Customer Service Director
    • IT and Customer Service Representatives

    Download the Customer Service Systems Strategy Tool

    3.1 Interpret 3.1a’s results for next steps

    Involving both sales and marketing in these discussions will provide a 360-degree view on what the modifications should accomplish.

    If the majority of applications are plotted in the “Integrate” quadrant:

    The applications are performing well in terms of functionality but have poor integration. Determine what improvements can be made to enhance integration between the systems where required (e.g. re-working existing interfaces to accommodate additional data elements, automating interfaces, or creating brand new custom interfaces where warranted).

    If the applications are spread across “Integrate,” “Retain,” and “Replace/Enhance”:

    There is no clear recommended direction in this case. Weigh the effort required to replace/enhance/integrate specific applications critical for supporting processes. If resource usage for piecemeal solutions is too high, consider replacement with suite.

    If the majority of applications are plotted in the “Retain” quadrant:

    All applications satisfy both functionality and integration requirements. There is no evidence that significant action is required.

    If the application placements are split between the “Retain” and “Replace/Enhance” quadrants:

    Consider whether or not IT has the capabilities to execute application replacement procedures. If considering replacement, consider the downstream impact on applications that the system in question is currently integrated with. Enhancing an application usually implies upgrading or adding a module to an existing application. Consider the current satisfaction with the application vendor and whether the upgrade or additional module will satisfy your customer service needs.

    3.1 Work through architectural considerations to narrow future states

    Best-of-breeds vs. suite

    Integration and consolidation

    Deployment

    Does the organization only need a point solution or an entire platform of solutions?

    Does the current state enable interoperability between software? Is there room for rationalization?

    Should any new software be SaaS-based, on-premises, or a hybrid?

    Info-Tech Insight

    Decommissioning and replacing entire applications can put well-functioning modules at risk. Make sure to drill down into the granular features to assess if the feature level performance prompts change. The goal is to make the architecture more efficient for Customer Service and easier to manage for IT. If integration has been chosen as a course of action, make sure that the spend on resources and effort is less than that on system replacement. Also make sure that the intended architecture streamlines usability for agents.

    3.1 Considerations: Best-of-breeds vs. suite

    If requirements extend beyond the capabilities of a best-of-breed solution, a suite of tools may be required.

    Best-of-breed

    Suite

    Benefits

    • Features may be more advanced for specific functional areas and a higher degree of customization may be possible.
    • If a potential delay in real-time customer data transfer is acceptable, best-of-breeds provide a similar level of functionality to suites for a lower price.
    • Best-of-breeds allow value to be realized faster than suites, as they are easier and faster to implement and configure.
    • Rip and replace is easier and vendor updates are relatively quick to market.

    Benefits

    • Everyone in the organization works from the same set of customer data.
    • There is a “lowest common denominator” for agent learning as consistent user interfaces lower learning curves and increase efficiency in usage.
    • There is a broader range of functionality using modules.
    • Integration between functional areas will be strong and the organization will be in a better position to enable version upgrades without risking invalidation of an integration point between separate systems.

    Challenges

    • Best-of-breeds typically cover less breadth of functionality than suites.
    • There is a lack of uniformity in user experience across best-of-breeds.
    • Data integrity risks are higher.
    • Variable infrastructure may be implemented due to multiple disparate systems, which adds to architecture complexity and increased maintenance.
    • There is potential for redundant functionality across multiple best-of-breeds.

    Challenges

    • Suites exhibit significantly higher costs compared to point solutions.
    • Suite module functionality may not have the same depth as point solutions.
    • Due to high configuration availability and larger-scale implementation requirements, the time to deploy is longer than point solutions.

    3.1 Considerations: Integration and consolidation

    Use Tab 7 of Info-Tech’s Customer Service Systems Strategy Tool to gauge the need for consolidation.

    IT benefits

    • Decreased spend on infrastructure, application acquisition, and development.
    • Reduced complexity in vendor management.
    • Less resources and effort spent on internal integration and functional customization.

    Customer Service benefits

    • Reduced user confusion and application usage efficiency.
    • Increased operational visibility and ease process mapping.
    • Improved data management and integrity.

    Theoretical scenarios and recommendations

    The image contains a screenshot of an example of a customer service functional purpose.

    Problem:

    • Large Redundancy – multiple applications address the same function, but one application performs better than others.

    Recommendation:

    • Consolidate the functions into Application 1 and consider decommissioning Applications 2 to 4.
    The image contains a screenshot of an example of a customer service functional purpose.

    Problem:

    • Large Redundancy – multiple applications address the same function, but none of them do it well.

    Recommendation:

    • None of the applications perform well in functional support. Consider replacing with suite or leveraging the Application 3 vendor for functional module expansion, if feasible.

    3.1 Considerations: Deployment

    SaaS is typically recommended as it reduces IT support needs. However, customization limitations and higher long-term TCO values continue to be a challenge for SaaS.

    On-premises deployment

    Hybrid deployment

    Public cloud deployment

    Benefits

    • Solution and deployment are highly customizable.
    • There are fewer compliance and security risks because customer data is kept on premises.

    Challenges

    • There is slower physical deployment.
    • Physical hardware and software are required.
    • There are higher upfront costs.

    Benefits

    • Pick-and-mix which aspects to keep on premises and which to outsource.
    • Benefits of scaling and flexibility for outsourced solution.

    Challenges

    • Expensive to maintain.
    • Requires in-house skillset for on-premises option.
    • Some control is lost over outsourced customization.

    Benefits

    • Physical hardware is not required.
    • There is rapid deployment, vendor managed product updates, and server maintenance.
    • There are lower upfront costs.

    Challenges

    • There is higher TCO over time.
    • There are perceived security risks.
    • There are service availability and reliability risks.
    • There is limited customization.

    3.1 Considerations: Public cloud deployment

    Functionality is only one aspect of a broader range of issues to narrow down the viability of a cloud-based architecture.

    Security/Privacy Concerns:

    Whether the data is stored on premise or in the cloud, it is never 100% safe. The risk increases with a multi-tenant cloud solution where a single vendor manages the data of multiple clients. If your data is particularly sensitive, heavily scrutinize the security infrastructure of potential vendors or store the data internally if internal security is deemed stronger than that of a vendor.

    Location:

    If there are individuals that need to access the system database and work in different locations, centralizing the system and its database in the cloud may be an effective approach.

    Compatibility:

    Assess the compatibility of the cloud solutions with your internal IT systems. Cloud solutions should be well-integrated with internal systems for data flow to ensure efficiency in service operations.

    Cost/Budget Constraints:

    SaaS allows conversion of up-front CapEx to periodic OpEx. It assists in bolstering a business case as costs in the short-run are much more manageable. On-premise solutions have a much higher upfront TCO than cloud solutions. However, the TCO for the long-term usage of cloud solutions under the licensing model will exceed that of an on-premise solution, especially with a growing business and user base.

    Functionality/Customization:

    Ensure that the function or feature that you need is available on the cloud solution market and that the feature is robust enough to meet service quality standards. If the available cloud solution does not support the processes that fit your future-state vision and gaps, it has little business value. If high levels of customization are required to meet functionality, the amount of effort and cost in dealing with the cloud vendor may outweigh the benefits.

    Maintenance/Downtime:

    For most organizations, lapses in cloud-service availability can become disastrous for customer satisfaction and service quality. Organizations should be prepared for potential outages since customers require constant access to customer support.

    3.2 Explore the customer service technology marketplace

    Your requirements, gap analysis, and assessment of current applications architecture may have prompted the need for a new solutions purchase.

    • Customer service technology has come a long way since PABX in 1960s call centers. Let Info-Tech give you a quick overview of the market and the major systems that revolve around Customer Service.
      • The image contains a screenshot of a timeline of the market and major systems that revolve around customer service.

    Info-Tech Insight

    While Customer Relationships Management systems interlock several aspects of the customer journey, best-of-breed software for specific aspects of this journey could provide a better ROI if the organization’s coverage of these aspects are only “good enough” and need boosting.

    3.2 The CRM software market will continue to grow at an aggressive rate

    • In recent years, CRM suite solutions have matured significantly in their customer support capabilities. Much of this can be attributed to their acquisitions of smaller best-of-breed Customer Service vendors.
    • Many of the larger CRM solutions (like those offered by Salesforce) have now added social media engagement, knowledge bases, and multi-channel capabilities into their foundational offering.
    • CRM systems are capable of huge sophistication and integration with the core ERP, but they also have heavy license and implementation costs, and therefore may not be for everyone.
    • In some cases, customers are looking to augment upon very specific capabilities that are lacking from their customer service foundation. In these cases, best-of-breed solutions ought to be integrated with a CRM, ERP, or with one another through API integration.
    The image contains a screenshot of a graph that demonstrates the CRM global market growth, 2019-2027.

    3.2 Utilize SoftwareReviews to focus on which CS area needs enhancing

    Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS)

    Cloud-based customer experience solution that allows organizations to utilize a provider’s software to administer incoming support or inquiries from consumers in a hosted, subscription model.

    Customer Service Management (CSM)

    Supports an organization's interaction with current and potential customers. It uses data-driven tools designed to help organizations drive sales and deliver exceptional customer experiences.

    Customer Intelligence Platform

    Gather and analyze data from both structured and unstructured sources regarding your customers, including their demographic/firmographic details and activities, to build deeper and more effective customer relationships and improve business outcomes.

    Enterprise Social Media Management

    Software for monitoring social media activity with the goal of gaining insight into user opinion and optimizing social media campaigns.

    Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

    Consists of applications designed to automate and manage the customer life cycle. CRM software optimizes customer data management, lead tracking, communication logging, and marketing campaigns.

    Virtual Assistants and Chatbots

    interactive applications that use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to engage in conversation via speech or text. These applications simulate human interaction by employing natural language input and feedback.

    3.2 SoftwareReviews’ data accelerates and improves the software selection process

    SoftwareReviews collects and analyzes detailed reviews on enterprise software from real users to give you an unprecedented view into the product and vendor before you buy.

    With SoftwareReviews:

    • Access premium reports to understand the marketspace of 193 software categories.
    • Compare vendors with SoftwareReviews’ Data Quadrant Reports.
    • Discover which vendors have better customer relations management with SoftwareReviews’ Emotional Footprint Reports.
    • Explore the Product Scorecards of single vendors for a detailed analysis of their software offerings.
    The image contains a screenshot of the Software Reviews offerings.

    3.2 Speak with category experts to dive deeper into the vendor landscape

    Fact-based reviews of business software from IT professionals.

    Product and category reports with state-of-the-art data visualization.

    Top-tier data quality backed by a rigorous quality assurance process.

    User-experience insight that reveals the intangibles of working with a vendor.

    CLICK HERE to access SoftwareReviews

    Comprehensive software reviews to make better IT decisions.

    We collect and analyze the most detailed reviews on enterprise software from real users to give you an unprecedented view into the product and vendor before you buy.

    SoftwareReviews is powered by Info-Tech.

    Technology coverage is a priority for Info-Tech, and SoftwareReviews provides the most comprehensive unbiased data on today’s technology. The insights of our expert analysts provide unparalleled support to our members at every step of their buying journey.

    3.2 Leverage Info-Tech’s Rapid Application Selection Framework

    Improve your key software selection metrics for best-of-breed customer service software.

    The image contains a screenshot of an example of Info-Tech's Rapid Application Selection Framework.

    A simple measurement of the number of days from intake to decision.

    Use our Project Satisfaction Tool to measure stakeholder project satisfaction.

    Use our Application Portfolio Assessment Tool annually to measure application satisfaction.

    Use our Contract Review Service to benchmark and optimize your technology spending.

    Learn more about Info-Tech’s The Rapid Application Selection Framework

    The Rapid Application Selection Framework (RASF) is best geared toward commodity and mid-tier enterprise applications

    Not all software selection projects are created equal – some are very small, some span the entire enterprise. To ensure that IT is using the right framework, understand the cost and complexity profile of the application you’re looking to select. The RASF approach is best for commodity and mid-tier enterprise applications; selecting complex applications is better handled by the methodology described in Implement a Proactive and Consistent Vendor Selection Process.

    RASF Methodology

    Commodity & Personal Applications

    • Simple, straightforward applications (think OneNote vs. Evernote)
    • Total application spend of up to $10,000; limited risk and complexity
    • Selection done as a single, rigorous, one-day session

    Complex Mid-Tier Applications

    • More differentiated, department-wide applications (Marketo vs. Pardot)
    • Total application spend of up to $100,000; medium risk and complexity
    • RASF approach done over the course of an intensive 40-hour engagement

    Consulting Engagement

    Enterprise Applications

    Sophisticated, enterprise-wide applications (Salesforce vs. Dynamics)

    Total application spend of over $100,000; high risk and complexity

    Info-Tech can assist with tailored, custom engagements

    3.3 Translate gathered requirements and gaps into project-based initiatives

    Identify initiatives that can address multiple requirements simultaneously.

    The Process

    • You now have a list of requirements from assessing business processes and the current Customer Service IT systems architecture.
    • With a viable architecture and application posture, you can now begin scoring and plotting key initiatives along a roadmap.
    • Group similar requirements into categories of need and formulate logical initiatives to fulfill the requirements.
    • Ensure that all requirements are related to business needs, measurable, sufficiently detailed, and prioritized, and identify initiatives that meet the requirements.

    Consider this case:

    Paul’s organization, a midsize consumer packaged goods retailer, needs to monitor social media for sentiment, use social analytics to gain intelligence, and receive and respond to inquiries made over Twitter.

    The initiative:

    Implement a social media management platform (SMMP): A SMMP is able to deliver on all of the above requirements. SMMPs are highly capable platforms that have social listening modules and allow costumer service representatives to post to and monitor social media.

    3.3 Prioritize your initiatives and plan the order of rollout

    Initiatives should not and cannot be tackled all at once. There are three key factors that dictate the prioritization of initiatives.

    1. Value
      • What is the monetary value/perceived business value?
      • Are there regulatory or security related impacts if the initiative is not undertaken?
      • What is the time to market and is it an easily achievable goal?
      • How well does it align with the strategic direction?
    2. Risk
      • How technically complex is it?
      • Does it impact existing business processes?
      • Are there ample resources and right skillsets to support it?
    3. Dependencies
      • What initiatives must be undertaken first?
      • Which subsequent initiatives will it support?

    Example scenario using Info-Tech’s Initiative Scoring and Roadmap Tool

    An electronics distributor wants to implement social media monitoring and response. Its existing CRM does not have robust channel management functions. The organization plans to replace its CRM in the future, but because of project size and impact and budgetary constraints, the replacement project has been scheduled to occur two years from now.

    • The SMMP solution proposed for implementation has a high perceived value and is low risk.
    • The CRM replacement has higher value, but also carries significantly more risk.
    • Option 1: Complete the CRM replacement first, and overlay the social media monitoring component afterward (as the SMMP must be integrated with the CRM).
    • Option 2: Seize the easily achievable nature of the SMMP initiative. Implement it now and plan to re-work the CRM integration later.
    The image contains a screenshot of an example scenario using Info-Tech's Initiative Scoring and Roadmap Tool.

    3.3a Develop a Customer Service IT Systems initiative roadmap

    1 hour

    • Complete the tool as a team during a one-hour meeting to collaborate and agree on criteria and weighting.
      1. Input initiative information.
      2. Determine value and risk evaluation criteria.
      3. Evaluate each initiative to determine its priority.
      4. Create a roadmap of prioritized initiatives.
    The image contains a screenshot of the Customer Service Initiative Scoring and Roadmap Tool.
    InputOutput
    • Input the initiative information including the start date, end date, owner, and dependencies
    • Adjust the evaluation criteria, i.e., the value and risk factors
    • A list of initiatives and a roadmap toward the organization’s future state of Customer Service IT Systems
    MaterialsParticipants
    • Customer Service Initiative Scoring and Roadmap Tool
    • Applications Director
    • CIO
    • Customer Service Head

    Download the Customer Service Initiative Scoring and Roadmap Tool

    Document and communicate the strategy

    Leverage the artifacts of this blueprint to summarize your findings and communicate the outcomes of the strategy project to the necessary stakeholders.

    Document Section

    Proposed Content

    Leverage the Following Artifacts

    Executive Summary

    • Introduction
    • The opportunity
    • The scope
    • The stakeholders
    • Project success measures

    Project Charter section:

    • 1.1 Project Overview
    • 1.2 Project Objectives
    • 1.3 Project Benefits
    • 2.0 Scope

    Project RACI Chart Tool:

    • Tab 3. Simplified Output
    		The image contains screenshots from the Project Charter, and the RACI Chart Tool.

    Background

    • The project approach
    • Current situation overview
    • Results of the environmental scan

    Blueprint slides:

    • Info-Tech’s methodology to develop your IT Strategy for CS Systems
    		The image contains a screenshot from the blueprint slides.

    Future-State Vision

    • Customer service goals
    • Future-state modeling findings

    Customer Service Business Process Shortlisting Tool:

    • Tab 2. Customer Service Goals
    • Tab 5. Level 5 Process Inventory

    Future State Business Process Models

    		The image contains screenshots from the Customer Service Business Process Shortlisting Tool.

    Current Situation

    • Current-state modeling findings
    • Current-state architecture findings
    • Gap assessment
    • Requirements

    Customer Service Systems Strategy Tool:

    • Tab 2. Inventory of Applications
    • Tab 7. Systems Health Heat Map
    • Tab 8. Systems Health Dashboard
    • Tab 9. Future vs. Current State
    • Tab 4. Requirements Collection
    		The image contains screenshots from the Customer Service Systems Strategy Tool.

    Summary of Recommendations

    • Optimization opportunities
    • New capabilities

    N/A

    IT Strategy Implementation Plan

    • Implementation plan
    • Business case

    Customer Service Initiative Scoring and Roadmap Tool:

    • Tab 2. CS Initiative Definition
    • Tab 4. CS Technology Roadmap
    		The image contains screenshots from the Customer Service Initiative Scoring and Roadmap Tool.

    Summary of Accomplishment

    Develop an IT Strategy to Support Customer Service

    With ecommerce accelerating and customer expectations rising with it, organizations must have an IT strategy to support Customer Service.

    The deliverable you have produced from this blueprint provides a solution to this problem: a roadmap to a desired future state for how IT can ground an effective customer service engagement. From omnichannel to self-service, IT will be critical to enabling the tools required to digitally meet customer needs.

    Begin implementing your roadmap!

    If you would like additional support, have our analysts guide you through other phases as part of an Info-Tech workshop.

    Contact your account representative for more information.

    workshops@infotech.com

    1-888-670-8889

    Related Info-Tech Research

    Deliver a Customer Service Training Program to Your IT Department

    • One training session is not enough to make a change. Leaders must embed the habits, create a culture of engagement and positivity, provide continual coaching and development, regularly gather customer feedback, and seek ways to improve.

    Build a Chatbot Proof of Concept

    • When implemented effectively, chatbots can help save costs, generate new revenue, and ultimately increase customer satisfaction for both external- and internal-facing customers.

    The Rapid Application Selection Framework

    • Application selection is a critical activity for IT departments. Implement a repeatable, data-driven approach that accelerates application selection efforts.

    Bibliography (1/2)

    • Callzilla. "Software Maker Compares Call Center Companies, Switches to Callzilla After 6 Months of Results." Callzilla. N.d. Accessed: 4 Jul. 2022.
    • Cisco. “Transforming Customer Service.” Cisco. 2018. Accessed: 8 Feb. 2021.
    • Gottlieb, Giorgina. “The Importance of Data for Superior Customer Experience and Business Success.” Medium. 23 May 2019. Accessed: 8 Feb. 2021.
    • Grand View Research. “Customer Relationship Management Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Solution, By Deployment, By Enterprise Size, By End Use, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2020 – 2027.” Grand View Research. April 2020. Accessed: 17 Feb. 2021.
    • inContact. “Hall Automotive Accelerates Customer Relations with inContact.” inContact. N.d. Accessed: 8 Feb. 2021.
    • Kulbyte, Toma. “37 Customer Experience Statistics to Know in 2021.” Super Office. 4 Jan. 2021. Accessed: 5 Feb. 2021.
    • Kuligowski, Kiely. "11 Benefits of CRM Systems." Business News Daily. 29 Jun. 2022. Accessed: 4 Jul. 2022.
    • Mattsen Kumar. “Ominchannel Support Transforms Customer Experience for Leading Fintech Player in India.” Mattsen Kumar. 4 Apr. 2020. Accessed: 8 Feb. 2021.
    • Microsoft. “State of Global Customer Service Report.” Microsoft. Mar. 2019. Accessed: 8 Feb. 2021.
    • Ringshall, Ben. “Contact Center Trends 2020: A New Age for the Contact Center.” Fonolo. 20 Oct. 2020. Accessed 2 Nov. 2020.
    • Salesforce. “State of Service.” Salesforce. 4th ed. 2020. Accessed: 8 Feb. 2021.
    • Sopadjieva, Emma, Utpal M. Dholakia, and Beth Benjamin. “A Study of 46,000 Shoppers Shows That Omnichannel Retailing Works.” Harvard Business Review. 3 Jan. 2017. Accessed: 8 Feb. 2021.

    Bibliography (2/2)

    • Tech Pro Research. “Digital Transformation Research Report 2018: Strategy, Returns on Investment, and Challenges.” Tech Pro Research. 29 Jul. 2018. Accessed: 5 Feb. 2021.
    • TSB. “TSB Bank Self-Serve Banking Increases 9% with Adobe Sign.” TSB. N.d. Accessed: 8 Feb. 2021.
    • VoiceSage. “VoiceSage Helps Home Retail Group Transform Customer Experience.” VoiceSage. 4 May 2018. Accessed: 8 Feb. 2021.

    Negotiate SaaS Agreements That Are Built to Last

    • Buy Link or Shortcode: {j2store}137|cart{/j2store}
    • member rating overall impact: 9.4/10 Overall Impact
    • member rating average dollars saved: $72,298 Average $ Saved
    • member rating average days saved: 10 Average Days Saved
    • Parent Category Name: Vendor Management
    • Parent Category Link: /vendor-management
    • Internal stakeholders usually have different – and often conflicting – needs and expectations that require careful facilitation and management.
    • SaaS solutions bring forth a unique form of “switching costs” that can make a decision to migrate solutions financially, technically, and politically painful.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • Conservatively, it’s possible to save 5% of the overall IT budget through comprehensive software and SaaS contract review.
    • Focus on the terms and conditions, not just the price.
    • Learning to negotiate is crucial.

    Impact and Result

    • Take control of your SaaS contract negotiations from the beginning.
    • Look at your contract holistically to find cost savings.
    • Guide communication between vendors and your organization for the duration of contract negotiations.
    • Redline the terms and conditions of your SaaS contract.
    • Prioritize crucial terms and conditions to negotiate.

    Negotiate SaaS Agreements That Are Built to Last Research & Tools

    Start here – read the Executive Brief

    Read our concise Executive Brief to find out how to redline and negotiate a SaaS agreement, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the different ways we can support you in completing this project.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Gather requirements

    Build and manage the stakeholder team, and then document the business use case.

    • Negotiate SaaS Agreements That Are Built to Last – Phase 1: Gather Requirements
    • RASCI Chart
    • Vendor Communication Management Plan
    • Software Business Use Case Template
    • SaaS TCO Calculator

    2. Redline contract

    Redline the proposed SaaS contract.

    • Negotiate SaaS Agreements That Are Built to Last – Phase 2: Redline Contract
    • SaaS Terms and Conditions Evaluation Tool

    3. Negotiate contract

    Create a thorough negotiation plan.

    • Negotiate SaaS Agreements That Are Built to Last – Phase 3: Negotiate Contract
    • SaaS Contract Negotiation Terms Prioritization Checklist
    • Controlled Vendor Communications Letter
    • Key Vendor Fiscal Year End Calendar
    • Contract Negotiation Tactics Playbook
    [infographic]

    Workshop: Negotiate SaaS Agreements That Are Built to Last

    Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

    1 Collect and Review Data

    The Purpose

    Assemble documentation.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Understand current position before going forward.

    Activities

    1.1 Assemble existing contracts.

    1.2 Document their strategic and tactical objectives.

    1.3 Identify current status of the vendor relationship and any historical context.

    1.4 Clarify goals for ideal future state.

    Outputs

    Business Use Case.

    2 Define the Business Use Case and Build a Stakeholder Team

    The Purpose

    Define the business use case and build a stakeholder team.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Create a business use case to document functional and non-functional requirements.

    Build an internal cross-functional stakeholder team to negotiate the contract.

    Activities

    2.1 Establish a negotiation team and define roles.

    2.2 Write a communication plan.

    2.3 Complete a business use case.

    Outputs

    RASCI Matrix

    Communications Plan

    SaaS TCO Calculator

    Business Use Case

    3 Redline the Contract

    The Purpose

    Examine terms and conditions and prioritize for negotiation.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Discover cost savings.

    Improve agreement terms.

    Prioritize terms for negotiation.

    Activities

    3.1 Review general terms and conditions.

    3.2 Review license and application specific terms and conditions.

    3.3 Match to business and technical requirements.

    3.4 Redline the agreement.

    Outputs

    SaaS Terms and Conditions Evaluation Tool

    SaaS Contract Negotiation Terms Prioritization Checklist

    4 Build a Negotiation Strategy

    The Purpose

    Create a negotiation strategy.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Controlled communication established.

    Negotiation tactics chosen.

    Negotiation timeline plotted.

    Activities

    4.1 Review vendor and application specific negotiation tactics.

    4.2 Build negotiation strategy.

    Outputs

    Contract Negotiation Tactics Playbook

    Controlled Vendor Communications Letter

    Key Vendor Fiscal Year End Calendar

    Build a Data Classification MVP for M365

    • Buy Link or Shortcode: {j2store}67|cart{/j2store}
    • member rating overall impact: N/A
    • member rating average dollars saved: N/A
    • member rating average days saved: N/A
    • Parent Category Name: End-User Computing Applications
    • Parent Category Link: /end-user-computing-applications
    • Resources are the primary obstacle to getting a foot hold in O365 governance, whether it is funding or FTE resources.
    • Data is segmented and is difficult to analyze when you can’t see it or manage the relationships between sources.
    • Organizations expect results early and quickly and a common obstacle is that building a proper data classification framework can take more than two years and the business can't wait that long.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • Data classification is the lynchpin to ANY effective governance of O/M365 and your objective is to navigate through this easily and effectively and build a robust, secure, and viable governance model.
    • Start your journey by identifying what and where your data is and how much data you have. You need to understand what sensitive data you have and where it is stored before you can protect it or govern that data.
    • Ensure there is a high-level leader who is the champion of the governance objective.

    Impact and Result

    • Using least complex sensitivity labels in your classification are your building blocks to compliance and security in your data management schema; they are your foundational steps.

    Build a Data Classification MVP for M365 Research & Tools

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Build a Data Classification MVP for M365 Deck – A guide for how to build a minimum-viable product for data classification that end users will actually use.

    Discover where your data resides, what governance helps you do, and what types of data you're classifying. Then build your data and security protection baselines for your retention policy, sensitivity labels, workload containers, and both forced and unforced policies.

    • Build a Data Classification MVP for M365 Storyboard
    [infographic]

    Further reading

    Build a Data Classification MVP for M365

    Kickstart your governance with data classification users will actually use!

    Executive Summary

    Info-Tech Insight

    • Creating an MVP gets you started in data governance
      Information protection and governance are not something you do once and then you are done. It is a constant process where you start with the basics (a minimum-viable product or MVP) and enhance your schema over time. The objective of the MVP is reducing obstacles to establishing an initial governance position, and then enabling rapid development of the solution to address a variety of real risks, including data loss prevention (DLP), data retention, legal holds, and data labeling.
    • Define your information and protection strategy
      The initial strategy is to start looking across your organization and identifying your customer data, regulatory data, and sensitive information. To have a successful data protection strategy you will include lifecycle management, risk management, data protection policies, and DLP. All key stakeholders need to be kept in the loop. Ensure you keep track of all available data and conduct a risk analysis early. Remember, data is your highest valued intangible asset.
    • Planning and resourcing are central to getting started on MVP
      A governance plan and governance decisions are your initial focus. Create a team of stakeholders that include IT and business leaders (including Legal, Finance, HR, and Risk), and ensure there is a top-level leader who is the champion of the governance objective, which is to ensure your data is safe, secure, and not prone to leakage or theft, and maintain confidentiality where it is warranted.

    Executive Summary

    Your Challenge
    • Today, the amount of data companies are gathering is growing at an explosive rate. New tools are enabling unforeseen channels and ways of collaborating.
    • Combined with increased regulatory oversight and reporting obligations, this makes the discovery and management of data a massive undertaking. IT can’t find and protect the data when the business has difficulty defining its data.
    • The challenge is to build a framework that can easily categorize and classify data yet allows for sufficient regulatory compliance and granularity to be useful. Also, to do it now because tomorrow is too late.
    		 Common Obstacles

    Data governance has several obstacles that impact a successful launch, especially if governing M365 is not a planned strategy. Below are some of the more common obstacles:

    • Resources are the primary obstacle to starting O365 governance, whether it is funding or people.
    • Data is segmented and is difficult to analyze when you can’t see it or manage the relationships between sources.
    • Organizations expect results early and quickly and a common obstacle is that building a "proper data classification framework” is a 2+ year project and the business can't wait that long.
    		 Info-Tech’s Approach
    • Start with the basics: build a minimum-viable product (MVP) to get started on the path to sustainable governance.
    • Identify what and where your data resides, how much data you have, and understand what sensitive data needs to be protected.
    • Create your team of stakeholders, including Legal, records managers, and privacy officers. Remember, they own the data and should manage it.
    • Categorization comes before classification, and discovery comes before categorization. Use easy-to-understand terms like high, medium, or low risk.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Data classification is the lynchpin to any effective governance of O/M365 and your objective is to navigate through this easily and effectively and build a robust, secure, and viable governance model. Start your journey by identifying what and where your data is and how much data do you have. You need to understand what sensitive data you have and where it is stored before you can protect or govern it. Ensure there is a high-level leader who is the champion of the governance objectives. Data classification fulfills the governance objectives of risk mitigation, governance and compliance, efficiency and optimization, and analytics.

    Questions you need to ask

    Four key questions to kick off your MVP.

    1

    Know Your Data

    Do you know where your critical and sensitive data resides and what is being done with it?

    Trying to understand where your information is can be a significant project.

    2

    Protect Your Data

    Do you have control of your data as it traverses across the organization and externally to partners?

    You want to protect information wherever it goes through encryption, etc.

    3

    Prevent Data Loss

    Are you able to detect unsafe activities that prevent sharing of sensitive information?

    Data loss prevention (DLP) is the practice of detecting and preventing data breaches, exfiltration, or unwanted destruction of sensitive data.

    4

    Govern Your Data

    Are you using multiple solutions (or any) to classify, label, and protect sensitive data?

    Many organizations use more than one solution to protect and govern their data, making it difficult to determine if there are any coverage gaps.

    Classification tiers

    Build your schema.

    Pyramid visualization for classification tiers. The top represents 'Simplicity', and the bottom 'Complexity' with the length of the sides at each level representing the '# of policies' and '# of labels'. At the top level is 'MVP (Minimum-Viable Product) - Confidential, Internal (Subcategory: Personal), Public'. At the middle level is 'Regulated - Highly Confidential, Confidential, Sensitive, General, Internal, Restricted, Personal, Sub-Private, Public'. And a the bottom level is 'Government (DOD) - Top Secret (TS), Secret, Confidential, Restricted, Official, Unclassified, Clearance'

    Info-Tech Insight

    Deciding on how granular you go into data classification will chiefly be governed by what industry you are in and your regulatory obligations – the more highly regulated your industry, the more classification levels you will be mandated to enforce. The more complexity you introduce into your organization, the more operational overhead both in cost and resources you will have to endure and build.

    Microsoft MIP Topology

    Microsoft Information Protection (MIP), which is Microsoft’s Data Classification Services, is the key to achieving your governance goals. Without an MVP, data classification will be overwhelming; simplifying is the first step in achieving governance.

    A diagram of multiple offerings all connected to 'MIP Data Classification Service'. Circled is 'Sensitivity Labels' with an arrow pointing back to 'MIP' at the center.
    (Source: Microsoft, “Microsoft Purview compliance portal”)

    Info-Tech Insight

    Using least-complex sensitivity labels in your classification are your building blocks to compliance and security in your data management schema; they are your foundational steps.

    MVP RACI Chart

    Data governance is a "takes a whole village" kind of effort.

    Clarify who is expected to do what with a RACI chart.

    End User M365 Administrator Security/ Compliance Data Owner
    Define classification divisions R A
    Appy classification label to data – at point of creation A R
    Apply classification label to data – legacy items R A
    Map classification divisions to relevant policies R A
    Define governance objectives R A
    Backup R A
    Retention R A
    Establish minimum baseline A R

    What and where your data resides

    Data types that require classification.

    		 Logos for 'Microsoft', 'Office 365', and icons for each program included in that package.
    M365 Workload Containers
    Icon for MS Exchange. Icon for MS SharePoint.Icon for MS Teams. Icon for MS OneDrive. Icon for MS Project Online.
    Email
    • Attachments
    		 Site Collections, Sites Sites Project Databases
    Contacts Teams and Group Site Collections, Sites Libraries and Lists Sites
    Metadata Libraries and Lists Documents
    • Versions
    		 Libraries and Lists
    Teams Conversations Documents
    • Versions
    		 Metadata Documents
    • Versions
    Teams Chats Metadata Permissions
    • Internal Sharing
    • External Sharing
    		 Metadata
    Permissions
    • Internal Sharing
    • External Sharing
    		 Files Shared via Teams Chats Permissions
    • Internal Sharing
    • External Sharing

    Info-Tech Insight

    Knowing where your data resides will ensure you do not miss any applicable data that needs to be classified. These are examples of the workload containers; you may have others.

    Discover and classify on- premises files using AIP

    AIP helps you manage sensitive data prior to migrating to Office 365:
    • Use discover mode to identify and report on files containing sensitive data.
    • Use enforce mode to automatically classify, label, and protect files with sensitive data.
    Can be configured to scan:
    • SMB files
    • SharePoint Server 2016, 2013
    		 Stock image of a laptop uploading to the cloud with a padlock and key in front of it.
    • Map your network and find over-exposed file shares.
    • Protect files using MIP encryption.
    • Inspect the content in file repositories and discover sensitive information.
    • Classify and label file per MIP policy.
    		 Azure Information Protection scanner helps discover, classify, label, and protect sensitive information in on-premises file servers. You can run the scanner and get immediate insight into risks with on-premises data. Discover mode helps you identify and report on files containing sensitive data (Microsoft Inside Track and CIAOPS, 2022). Enforce mode automatically classifies, labels, and protects files with sensitive data.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Any asset deployed to the cloud must have approved data classification. Enforcing this policy is a must to control your data.

    Understanding governance

    Microsoft Information Governance

    Information Governance
    • Retention policies for workloads
    • Inactive and archive mailboxes

    Arrow pointing down-right

    		Records Management
    • Retention labels for items
    • Disposition review

    Arrow pointing down-left

    Retention and Deletion

    ‹——— Connectors for Third-Party Data ———›

    Information governance manages your content lifecycle using solutions to import, store, and classify business-critical data so you can keep what you need and delete what you do not. Backup should not be used as a retention methodology since information governance is managed as a “living entity” and backup is a stored information block that is “suspended in time.” Records management uses intelligent classification to automate and simplify the retention schedule for regulatory, legal, and business-critical records in your organization. It is for that discrete set of content that needs to be immutable.
    (Source: Microsoft, “Microsoft Purview compliance portal”)

    Retention and backup policy decision

    Retention is not backup.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Retention is not backup. Retention means something different: “the content must be available for discovery and legal document production while being able to defend its provenance, chain of custody, and its deletion or destruction” (AvePoint Blog, 2021).

    Microsoft Responsibility (Microsoft Protection) Weeks to Months Customer Responsibility (DLP, Backup, Retention Policy) Months to Years
    Loss of service due to natural disaster or data center outage Loss of data due to departing employees or deactivated accounts
    Loss of service due to hardware or infrastructure failure Loss of data due to malicious insiders or hackers deleting content
    Short-term (30 days) user error with recycle bin/ version history (including OneDrive “File Restore”) Loss of data due to malware or ransomware
    Short-term (14 days) administrative error with soft- delete for groups, mailboxes, or service-led rollback Recovery from prolonged outages
    Long-term accidental deletion coverage with selective rollback

    Understand retention policy

    What are retention policies used for? Why you need them as part of your MVP?

    Do not confuse retention labels and policies with backup.

    Remember: “retention [policies are] auto-applied whereas retention label policies are only applied if the content is tagged with the associated retention label” (AvePoint Blog, 2021).

    E-discovery tool retention policies are not turned on automatically.

    Retention policies are not a backup tool – when you activate this feature you are unable to delete anyone.

    “Data retention policy tools enable a business to:

    • “Decide proactively whether to retain content, delete content, or retain and then delete the content when needed.
    • “Apply a policy to all content or just content meeting certain conditions, such as items with specific keywords or specific types of sensitive information.
    • “Apply a single policy to the entire organization or specific locations or users.
    • “Maintain discoverability of content for lawyers and auditors, while protecting it from change or access by other users. […] ‘Retention Policies’ are different than ‘Retention Label Policies’ – they do the same thing – but a retention policy is auto-applied, whereas retention label policies are only applied if the content is tagged with the associated retention label.

    “It is also important to remember that ‘Retention Label Policies’ do not move a copy of the content to the ‘Preservation Holds’ folder until the content under policy is changed next.” (Source: AvePoint Blog, 2021)

    Definitions

    Data classification is a focused term used in the fields of cybersecurity and information governance to describe the process of identifying, categorizing, and protecting content according to its sensitivity or impact level. In its most basic form, data classification is a means of protecting your data from unauthorized disclosure, alteration, or destruction based on how sensitive or impactful it is.

    Once data is classified, you can then create policies; sensitive data types, trainable classifiers, and sensitivity labels function as inputs to policies. Policies define behaviors, like if there will be a default label, if labeling is mandatory, what locations the label will be applied to, and under what conditions. A policy is created when you configure Microsoft 365 to publish or automatically apply sensitive information types, trainable classifiers, or labels.

    Sensitivity label policies show one or more labels to Office apps (like Outlook and Word), SharePoint sites, and Office 365 groups. Once published, users can apply the labels to protect their content.

    Data loss prevention (DLP) policies help identify and protect your organization's sensitive info (Microsoft Docs, April 2022). For example, you can set up policies to help make sure information in email and documents is not shared with the wrong people. DLP policies can use sensitive information types and retention labels to identify content containing information that might need protection.

    Retention policies and retention label policies help you keep what you want and get rid of what you do not. They also play a significant role in records management.

    Data examples for MVP classification

    • Examples of the type of data you consider to be Confidential, Internal, or Public.
    • This will help you determine what to classify and where it is.
    Internal Personal, Employment, and Job Performance Data
    • Social Security Number
    • Date of birth
    • Marital status
    • Job application data
    • Mailing address
    • Resume
    • Background checks
    • Interview notes
    • Employment contract
    • Pay rate
    • Bonuses
    • Benefits
    • Performance reviews
    • Disciplinary notes or warnings
    Confidential Information
    • Business and marketing plans
    • Company initiatives
    • Customer information and lists
    • Information relating to intellectual property
    • Invention or patent
    • Research data
    • Passwords and IT-related information
    • Information received from third parties
    • Company financial account information
    • Social Security Number
    • Payroll and personnel records
    • Health information
    • Self-restricted personal data
    • Credit card information
    Internal Data
    • Sales data
    • Website data
    • Customer information
    • Job application data
    • Financial data
    • Marketing data
    • Resource data
    Public Data
    • Press releases
    • Job descriptions
    • Marketing material intended for general public
    • Research publications

    New container sensitivity labels (MIP)

    New container sensitivity labels

    Public Private
    Privacy
    1. Membership to group is open; anyone can join
    2. “Everyone except external guest” ACL onsite; content available in search to all tenants
    1. Only owner can add members
    2. No access beyond the group membership until someone shares it or changes permissions
    Allowed Not Allowed
    External guest policy
    1. Membership to group is open; anyone can join
    2. “Everyone except external guest” ACL onsite; content available in search to all tenants
    1. Only owner can add members
    2. No access beyond the group membership until someone shares it or changes permissions

    What users will see when they create or label a Team/Group/Site

    Table of what users will see when they create or label a team/group/site highlighting 'External guest policy' and 'Privacy policy options' as referenced above.
    (Source: Microsoft, “Microsoft Purview compliance portal”)

    Info-Tech Insights

    Why you need sensitivity container labels:
    • Manage privacy of Teams Sites and M365 Groups
    • Manage external user access to SPO sites and teams
    • Manage external sharing from SPO sites
    • Manage access from unmanaged devices

    Data protection and security baselines

    Data Protection Baseline

    “Microsoft provides a default assessment in Compliance Manager for the Microsoft 365 data protection baseline" (Microsoft Docs, June 2022). This baseline assessment has a set of controls for key regulations and standards for data protection and general data governance. This baseline draws elements primarily from NIST CSF (National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework) and ISO (International Organization for Standardization) as well as from FedRAMP (Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program) and GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union).

    		Security Baseline

    The final stage in M365 governance is security. You need to implement a governance policy that clearly defines storage locations for certain types of data and who has permission to access it. You need to record and track who accesses content and how they share it externally. “Part of your process should involve monitoring unusual external sharing to ensure staff only share documents that they are allowed to” (Rencore, 2021).

    Info-Tech Insights

    • Controls are already in place to set data protection policy. This assists in the MVP activities.
    • Finally, you need to set your security baseline to ensure proper permissions are in place.

    Prerequisite baseline

    Icon of crosshairs.
    Security

    MFA or SSO to access from anywhere, any device

    Banned password list

    BYOD sync with corporate network

    		Icon of a group.
    Users

    Sign out inactive users automatically

    Enable guest users

    External sharing

    Block client forwarding rules

    		Icon of a database.
    Resources

    Account lockout threshold

    OneDrive

    SharePoint

    		Icon of gears.
    Controls

    Sensitivity labels, retention labels and policies, DLP

    Mobile application management policy

    Building baselines

    Sensitivity Profiles: Public, Internal, Confidential; Subcategory: Highly Confidential

    Microsoft 365 Collaboration Protection Profiles

    Sensitivity Public External Collaboration Internal Highly Confidential
    Description Data that is specifically prepared for public consumption Not approved for public consumption, but OK for external collaboration External collaboration highly discouraged and must be justified Data of the highest sensitivity: avoid oversharing, internal collaboration only
    Label details
    • No content marking
    • No encryption
    • Public site
    • External collaboration allowed
    • Unmanaged devices: allow full access
    • No content marking
    • No encryption
    • Private site
    • External collaboration allowed
    • Unmanaged devices: allow full access
    • Content marking
    • Encryption
    • Private site
    • External collaboration allowed but monitored
    • Unmanaged devices: limited web access
    • Content marking
    • Encryption
    • Private site
    • External collaboration disabled
    • Unmanaged devices: block access
    Teams or Site details Public Team or Site open discovery, guests are allowed Private Team or Site members are invited, guests are allowed Private Team or Site members are invited, guests are not allowed
    DLP None Warn Block

    Please Note: Global/Compliance Admins go to the 365 Groups platform, the compliance center (Purview), and Teams services (Source: Microsoft Documentation, “Microsoft Purview compliance documentation”)

    Info-Tech Insights

    • Building baseline profiles will be a part of your MVP. You will understand what type of information you are addressing and label it accordingly.
    • Sensitivity labels are a way to classify your organization's data in a way that specifies how sensitive the data is. This helps you decrease risks in sharing information that shouldn't be accessible to anyone outside your organization or department. Applying sensitivity labels allows you to protect all your data easily.

    MVP activities

    PRIMARY
    ACTIVITIES         		Define Your Governance
    The objective of the MVP is reducing barriers to establishing an initial governance position, and then enabling rapid progression of the solution to address a variety of tangible risks, including DLP, data retention, legal holds, and labeling.
    Decide on your classification labels early.

    CATEGORIZATION





    CLASSIFICATION

    		MVP
    Data Discovery and Management
    AIP (Azure Information Protection) scanner helps discover, classify, label, and protect sensitive information in on-premises file servers. You can run the scanner and get immediate insight into risks with on-premises data.
    Baseline Setup
    Building baseline profiles will be a part of your MVP. You will understand what type of information you are addressing and label it accordingly. Microsoft provides a default assessment in Compliance Manager for the Microsoft 365 data protection baseline.
    Default M365 settings
    Microsoft provides a default assessment in Compliance Manager for the Microsoft 365 data protection baseline. This baseline assessment has a set of controls for key regulations and standards for data protection and general data governance.
    SUPPORT
    ACTIVITIES         		Retention Policy
    Retention policy is auto-applied. Decide whether to retain content, delete content, or retain and then delete the content.     		Sensitivity Labels
    Automatically enforce policies on groups through labels; classify groups.     		Workload Containers
    M365: SharePoint, Teams, OneDrive, and Exchange, where your data is stored for labels and policies.     		Unforced Policies
    Written policies that are not enforceable by controls in Compliance Manager such as acceptable use policy.     		Forced Policies
    Restrict sharing controls to outside organizations. Enforce prefix or suffix to group or team names.

    ACME Company MVP for M/O365

    PRIMARY
    ACTIVITIES    		Define Your Governance


    Focus on ability to use legal hold and GDPR compliance.

    CATEGORIZATION





    CLASSIFICATION

    		MVP
    Data Discovery and Management


    Three classification levels (public, internal, confidential), which are applied by the user when data is created. Same three levels are used for AIP to scan legacy sources.

    Baseline Setup


    All data must at least be classified before it is uploaded to an M/O365 cloud service.

    Default M365 settings


    Turn on templates 1 8 the letter q and the number z

    SUPPORT
    ACTIVITIES    		Retention Policy


    Retention policy is auto-applied. Decide whether to retain content, delete content, or retain and then delete the content.

    		Sensitivity Labels


    Automatically enforce policies on groups through labels; classify groups.

    		Workload Containers


    M365: SharePoint, Teams, OneDrive, and Exchange, where your data is stored for labels and policies.

    		Unforced Policies


    Written policies that are not enforceable by controls in Compliance Manager such as acceptable use policy.

    		Forced Policies


    Restrict sharing controls to outside organizations. Enforce prefix or suffix to group or team names.

    Related Blueprints

    Govern Office 365

    Office 365 is as difficult to wrangle as it is valuable. Leverage best practices to produce governance outcomes aligned with your goals.

    Map your organizational goals to the administration features available in the Office 365 console. Your governance should reflect your requirements.

    Migrate to Office 365 Now

    Jumping into an Office 365 migration project without careful thought of the risks of a cloud migration will lead to project halt and interruption. Intentionally plan in order to expose risk and to develop project foresight for a smooth migration.

    Microsoft Teams Cookbook

    Remote work calls for leveraging your Office 365 license to use Microsoft Teams – but IT is unsure about best practices for governance and permissions. Moreover, IT has few resources to help train end users with Teams best practices

    IT Governance, Risk & Compliance

    Several blueprints are available on a broader topic of governance, from Make Your IT Governance Adaptable to Improve IT Governance to Drive Business Results and Build an IT Risk Management Program.

    Bibliography

    “Best practices for sharing files and folders with unauthenticated users.” Microsoft Build, 28 April 2022. Accessed 2 April 2022.

    “Build and manage assessments in Compliance Manager.” Microsoft Docs, 15 June 2022. Web.

    “Building a modern workplace with Microsoft 365.” Microsoft Inside Track, n.d. Web.

    Crane, Robert. “June 2020 Microsoft 365 Need to Know Webinar.” CIAOPS, SlideShare, 26 June 2020. Web.

    “Data Classification: Overview, Types, and Examples.” Simplilearn, 27 Dec. 2021. Accessed 11 April 2022.

    “Data loss prevention in Exchange Online.” Microsoft Docs, 19 April 2022. Web.

    Davies, Nahla. “5 Common Data Governance Challenges (and How to Overcome Them).” Dataversity. 25 October 2021. Accessed 5 April 2022.

    “Default labels and policies to protect your data.” Microsoft Build, April 2022. Accessed 3 April 2022.

    M., Peter. "Guide: The difference between Microsoft Backup and Retention." AvePoint Blog, 9 Oct. 2021. Accessed 4 April 2022.

    Meyer, Guillaume. “Sensitivity Labels: What They Are, Why You Need Them, and How to Apply Them.” nBold, 6 October 2021. Accessed 2 April 2022.

    “Microsoft 365 guidance for security & compliance.” Microsoft, 27 April 2022. Accessed 28 April 2022.

    “Microsoft Purview compliance portal.” Microsoft, 19 April 2022. Accessed 22 April 2022.

    “Microsoft Purview compliance documentation.” Microsoft, n.d. Accessed 22 April 2022.

    “Microsoft Trust Center: Products and services that run on trust.” Microsoft, 2022. Accessed 3 April 2022.

    “Protect your sensitive data with Microsoft Purview.” Microsoft Build, April 2022. Accessed 3 April 2022.

    Zimmergren, Tobias. “4 steps to successful cloud governance in Office 365.” Rencore, 9 Sept. 2021. Accessed 5 April 2022.

    Implement and Optimize Application Integration Governance

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    • Parent Category Name: Enterprise Integration
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    • Enterprises begin integrating their applications without recognizing the need for a managed and documented governance model.
    • Application Integration (AI) is an inherently complex concept, involving the communication among multiple applications, groups, and even organizations; thus developing a governance model can be overwhelming.
    • The options for AI Governance are numerous and will vary depending on the size, type, and maturity of the organization, adding yet another layer of complexity.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • Governance is essential with integrated applications. If you are planning to integrate your applications, you should already be considering a governance model.
    • Proper governance requires oversight into chains of responsibility, policy, control mechanisms, measurement, and communication.
    • People and process are key. Technology options to aid in governance of integrated apps exist, but will not greatly contribute to the success of AI.

    Impact and Result

    • Assess your capabilities and determine which area of governance requires the most attention to achieve success in AI.
    • Form an Integration Center of Competency to oversee AI governance to ensure compliance and increase success.
    • Conduct ongoing training with your personnel to ensure up-to-date skills and end user understanding.
    • Frequently revisit your AI governance strategy to ensure alignment with business goals.

    Implement and Optimize Application Integration Governance Research & Tools

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Implement and optimize Application Integration Governance

    Know where to start and where to focus your attention in the implementation of an AI governance strategy.

    • Storyboard: Implement and Optimize Application Integration Governance

    2. Assess the organization's capabilities in AI Governance

    Assess your current and target states in AI Governance.

    • Application Integration Governance Gap Analysis Tool

    3. Create an Integration Center of Competency

    Have a governing body to oversee AI Governance.

    • Integration Center of Competency Charter Template

    4. Establish AI Governance principles and guidelines

    Create a basis for the organization’s AI governance model.

    • Application Integration Policy and Principles Template

    5. Create an AI service catalog

    Keep record of services and interfaces to reduce waste.

    • Integration Service Catalog Template
    [infographic]

    Tymans Group Consulting

    IT resilience, carefree entrepreneurship.

    Discover and implement all the ingredients that make your IT perform fast and rock solid.

    Yes, I want stable and performant IT Operations

    We are multidisciplinary infrastructure and IT Operations experts.
    We bring passion, focus, and results to our work and your company.

    TY innovates resilience embedding in your organization

    Let's have a chat

    • TY as your advisor

      This gives you our expertise on tap. Do you have an issue? Call us. You want to have a sparring partner to solve a problem? Call us. Do you need a sounding board? Call us.

      TY provides advisory services as well as traditional consulting. We also execute study and revision services for your policies, standards, procedures, and guidelines to ensure compliance with DORA, NIS2 and corporate requirements of both your own company and that of your clients. And we also check against our internal best ways of working.

      Book a conversation

    • Focused Consulting and Implementing

      This is where you have our undivided attention, and we work with you one on one until resolution. Note that there is a waiting period for this service at this time.

      If you are interested, please first book a call so that we can determine if we are a good fit together.

      Book a conversation

    What our relations tell us

    • Citigroup Manager

      As a technical consultant, Gert is an All-Star performer...  He has got many wins under his belt... His willingness to work hard, knowledge of regional systems (especially Tokyo) and Microsoft Office is well respected within the Group 

    • Sandra

      Tx for all the efforts done! Great Job! And good luck for the ones amongst you that still need to work tomorrow Grtz Sandra VB

    • Patrick A.

      Hi Gert, I'm busy documenting .... Thanks for your real friendly and careful, yet effective support :-) Patrick A.

    • Lucie VH

      During my vacation, Gert took over the management of a number of ongoing problems. Even before I actually left for my trip, he took action and proposed a number of improvements. Gert coordinated between the different stakeholders and PTA's and resolved a number of acute issues. And he did this in a very pleasant, yet effective way.

    • Dawn

      No worries. It only freaked me out for a few minutes, then I saw that the system had blocked them from doing any real damage. Thanks for the cleanup and extra measures, though! As always, you rock!

    • After a successful DRP

      Thanks for all the efforts done ans special Tx Gert for Coordinating this again!

    • A CIO

      Yet again Gert, Thanks for handling this in such a top way!

    • A Sales Manager

      Awesome Gert, I will let the team know we can close this issue!

    • Investment bank manager

      Flexibility, Adaptability, problem Solving are Gert's strong points, Exceptionally beneficial in "crisis." I can attest that Gert will always see a problem through. if he needs to hand it off, it will aways have good handoff notes. His business knowledge is good and will part of the next project.

    • Wall Street Performance Review

      As with the classes for SFC, Gert organised formal classes for all of the Research IT teams.... I would class this job as well done, given everything that was going on with Rsearch IT. 

    • Stuart B on Gert Taeymans

      Excellent technical resource. Quick help on issues and provide explanations to regional teams. Often covers for us in the evenings or when things get particularly busy.

    • Asia support to roll out global system

      Gert time in Japan was a great success. He really helped the IT group through a really difficult tume during the roll out of {the global research publishing system} and had to cover all the bases that had not been properly coverd by the previous person in Japan. Gert's visit also coincided with Stuart's joining into the Asia IT Research group. Gert was very flexible  in the hours that he worked and the lenght of time he was out in Tokyo (in the end more than 4 weeks.)

      The feedback from both the users and the IT group was VERY positive on Gertt's contribution. He was more than capabable to put across technical points to the IT team, in their language.

    • IT Director

      Gert is a knowledgeable individual who takes on additional responsibility... rapidly addressng end-user issues and developing custom solutions when needed.

    Benefits of working with Tymans Group

    • We focus on actual deliverables

      TY delivers on the IT resilience what and how. Get actionable IT, management, governance, and productivity research, insights, blueprints with templates, easy-to-use tools, and clear instructions to help you execute effectively and become IT resilient.

    • Get insights from top IT professionals

      Our TY network base constantly informs us about our IT resilience research and validates it through client experiences. TY adds to that by applying this research to real-world situations in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Europe and the US.

    • Data-driven insights

      It is tempting to use your gut instinct. Don't. Everything TY does, is data-driven. From our research to our interactions with you, we use an analytical approach to help you move forward with your key IT resilience projects.

    Frequently asked questions

    • How does Tymans Group IT Operations advisory work?

      TY believes strongly in leveraging technology and personal delivery. That is why TY uses one on one calling sessions using Teams and Zoom. When needed I do on site delivery.

      Every advisory option has a set number of interactive contact points in addition to email and chat options. Every contact request is answered by me personally. 

      Through the use of technology, I ensure that instead of you having to drive to your coach, the coach “comes” to you!

    • What are Tymans Group advisory service timings?

      TY is available on European time from 09:00 until 17:00 and US EST 09:00-17:00 (depending on already booked appointments). 

    • How much to Tymans Group programs cost?

      While this is a difficult question to answer, let's give it a shot.

      Ideally I work value-based. But this is more for well-defined projects where the ROI is quantifiable rather than qualifiable.

      Often advisory services are a discovery and we obtain results together. You may even only need an experienced sounding board. This type of pricing starts from €4,500.

    • Does Tymans Group have a "pick your brain" option?

      By popular demand, yes, I added this. It is not the cheapest way to use me, but it may be the most effective for you.

    • How are Tymans Group advisory services delivered?

      TY believes strongly in leveraging technology and personal delivery. That is why TY uses one on one calling sessions using Teams and Zoom. When needed I do on site delivery.

      This way I ensure that instead of you having to drive to your coach, the coach “comes” to you!

      You are allowed to record the sessions and use them internally in your organization, including as part of your internal training. You are not allowed to resell these without a resale agreement.

    • Tymans Group is delivered online via calls? Isn't on-site better?

      Interestingly, in the majority of advisory services the answer is no.

      Purely on-site automatically limits the time we can spend together. Thus, typically, the interactions are of a shorter duration. Even when this is done over a longer timeframe, like 5 to 10 days, this is really too short for effective advising, coaching and mentoring. 

      We stay away from accelerated programs, where I can send a lot of information, and most of it will not stick.

      Terry Sejnowski  a neuroscientist, actually states that cramming does not help you remember. It gets you, maybe, through the next exam, but the information is not retained. The way to integrate and remember information is to spread out the study and repeat. This is called the spacing effect.

      This is why I employ the online delivery method. When you record our sessions, you can come back and again repeat it, note down your questions and fire them off to me. I respond and you go back into the talk. Then you apply, possibly fail, and come back again until it succeeds, and then you make it your own.

      That is why time-pressured, on-site delivery does not work. Our method makes you effective because you internalized the material and feedback. This can then be rounded-off by on-site finalization.

      10-15 years ago, this was not possible, as the web-based tools were simply not fast enough. Today, unless you are taking classes like carpentry or other topics that require on-site delivery, online delivery is the way to go.

    • Can I pay by wire transfer?

      We actually prefer wire transfer. It cuts down on the financial fees and it is the norm in the European Union. Our US customer can also use this feature and pay into our US bank.

    • Where is Tymans Group located?

      Tymans Group has two locations:

      In Europe, Belgium and in Greenville, DE, United States, 

      The HQ is in Belgium.

    • Does this work for less than 25 employees?

      Resilience is not size-dependent. That said, if you are supplying critical services to financial services firms, you may not have a choice. In that case, be prepared to up your game. Call TY in this case. We can help you fulfill third-party requirements, such as the DORA regulation.

      In other cases, if you plan to grow your company beyond 25 employees, then yes. Start with the basics, though. Make sure you have a good understanding of your current challenges. Schedule a chat with me to determine the right baseline.

      If you are just starting out and want to ensure that your company's processes are correct right out of the gate, it's better to give me a call. We can start you off in the right direction without spending too much.

      Our guides are only available to existing advisory clients. Let's chat informally if we are a fit for you.

    • I'm a small business owner, can I do all this by myself?

      Our guides are only available to existing advisory clients.

      But also see the above question about company size and target clients. If you have fewer than 25 employees and you are not supplying critical services to financial institutions, then maybe some of our guides are not for you. We can still help you organize your resilience, but it may be more cost-effective to use only our TY Advisory services.

      Once you grow beyond 25 employees, you will benefit from our processes. Just implement what you need. How do you know what you require? You probably already have an inkling of what is lacking in your organization. If you are unsure, please get in touch with us.

      In short, the answer is yes, and TY can help you. Once you know what you are looking for, that guide allows you to handle it yourself. If you require help selecting the right guide, please get in touch with us.

    • Do you provide refunds?

      Before buying the DIY guides, available only to existing advisory clients,, please refer to the free Executive Summary when available. If there is no Executive summary available, please contact me with any questions you have. 

      As these are downloadable products, I cannot provide any refunds, but I will help you with any exchange where you have a good reason. 

    • I bought the wrong item

      If you bought the wrong item, please contact me and we'll be happy to provide an alternative item.

    • I want more assistance

      Yes, more assistance is available.  Tymans Group can provide you with any assistance you require within the parameters of your contract.

      Per-guide assistance ranges from a single phone or video consultation to guided implementation or a workshop. Alternatively we can go to do-it-for-you implementation or even full-time consulting.

      Note that our guides are only available to existing advisory clients.

      Please contact me for a talk.

    I want more information to become more resilient.

    Continue reading

    Establish an Analytics Operating Model

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    • Parent Category Name: Data Management
    • Parent Category Link: /data-management
    • Organizations are struggling to understand what's involved in the analytics developer lifecycle to generate reusable insights faster.
    • Discover what it takes to become a citizen analytics developer. Identify the proper way to enable self-serve analytics.
    • Self-serve business intelligence/analytics is misunderstood and confusing to the business, especially with regards to the roles and responsibilities of IT and the business.
    • End users are dissatisfied due to a lack of access to the data and the absence of a single source of truth.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    Organizations that take data seriously should:

    • Decouple processes in which data is separated from business processes and elevate the visibility of the organization's data assets.
    • Leverage a secure platform where data can be easily exchanged for insights generation.
    • Create density for analytics where resources are mobilized around analytics ideas to generate value.

    Analytics is a journey, not a destination. This journey can eventually result in some level of sophisticated AI/machine learning in your organization. Every organization needs to mobilize its resources and enhance its analytics capabilities to quickly and incrementally add value to data products and services. However, most organizations fail to mobilize their resources in this way.

    Impact and Result

    • Firms become more agile when they realize efficiencies in their analytics operating models and can quickly implement reusable analytics.
    • IT becomes more flexible and efficient in understanding the business' data needs and eliminates redundant processes.
    • Trust in data-driven decision making goes up with collaboration, engagement, and transparency.
    • There is a clear path to continuous improvement in analytics.

    Establish an Analytics Operating Model Research & Tools

    Start here – read the Executive Brief

    Read our concise Executive Brief that outlines Info-Tech’s methodology for assessing the business' analytics needs and aligning your data governance, capabilities, and organizational structure to deliver analytics faster.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Define your analytics needs

    This phase helps you understand your organization's data landscape and current analytics environment so you gain a deeper understanding of your future analytics needs.

    • Establish an Analytics Operating Model – Phase 1: Define Your Analytics Needs

    2. Establish an analytics operating model

    This phase introduces you to data operating model frameworks and provides a step-by-step guide on how to capture the right analytics operating model for your organization.

    • Establish an Analytics Operating Model – Phase 2: Establish an Analytics Operating Model
    • Analytics Operating Model Building Tool

    3. Implement your operating model

    This phase helps you implement your chosen analytics operating model, as well as establish an engagement model and communications plan.

    • Establish an Analytics Operating Model – Phase 3: Implement Your Analytics Operating Model
    [infographic]

    Workshop: Establish an Analytics Operating Model

    Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

    1 Define Your Analytics Needs

    The Purpose

    Achieve a clear understanding and case for data analytics.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    A successful analytics operating model starts with a good understanding of your analytical needs.

    Activities

    1.1 Review the business context.

    1.2 Understand your analytics needs.

    1.3 Draft analytics ideas and use cases.

    1.4 Capture minimum viable analytics.

    Outputs

    Documentation of analytics products and services

    2 Perform an Analytics Capability Assessment

    The Purpose

    Achieve a clear understanding of your organization's analytics capability and mapping across organizational functions.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Understand your organization's data landscape and current analytics environment to gain a deeper understanding of your future analytics needs.

    Activities

    2.1 Capture your analytics capabilities.

    2.2 Map capabilities to a hub-and-spoke model.

    2.3 Document operating model results.

    Outputs

    Capability assessment results

    3 Establish an Analytics Operating Model

    The Purpose

    Capture the right analytics operating model for your organization.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Explore data operating model frameworks.

    Capture the right analytics operating model for your organization using a step-by-step guide.

    Activities

    3.1 Discuss your operating model results.

    3.2 Review your organizational structure’s pros and cons.

    3.3 Map resources to target structure.

    3.4 Brainstorm initiatives to develop your analytics capabilities.

    Outputs

    Target operating model

    4 Implement Your Analytics Operating Model

    The Purpose

    Formalize your analytics organizational structure and prepare to implement your chosen analytics operating model.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Implement your chosen analytics operating model.

    Establish an engagement model and communications plan.

    Activities

    4.1 Document your target organizational structure and RACI.

    4.2 Establish an analytics engagement model.

    4.3 Develop an analytics communications plan.

    Outputs

    Reporting and analytics responsibility matrix (RACI)

    Analytics engagement model

    Analytics communications plan

    Analytics organizational chart

    Drive Technology Adoption

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    The project isn’t over if the new product or system isn’t being used. How do you ensure that what you’ve put in place isn’t going to be ignored or only partially adopted? People are more complicated than any new system and managing them through the change needs careful planning.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    Cultivating a herd mentality, where people adopt new technology merely because everyone else is, is an important goal in getting the bulk of users using the new product or system. The herd needs to gather momentum though and this can be done by using the more tech-able and enthused to lead the rest on the journey. Identifying and engaging these key resources early in the process will greatly assist in starting the flow.

    Impact and Result

    While communication is key throughout, involving staff in proof-of-concept activities and contests and using the train-the-trainer techniques and technology champions will all start the momentum toward technology adoption. Group activities will address the bulk of users, but laggards may need special attention.

    Drive Technology Adoption Research & Tools

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Drive Technology Adoption – A brief deck describing how to encourage users to adopt newly implemented technology.

    This document will help you to ensure that newly implemented systems and technologies are correctly adopted by the intended recipients.

    • Drive Technology Adoption Storyboard
    [infographic]

    Further reading

    Drive Technology Adoption

    The project is over. The new technology is implemented. Now how do we make sure it's used?

    Executive Summary

    Your Challenge

    Technology endlessly changes and evolves. Similarly, business directions and requirements change, and these changes need to be supported by technology. Improved functionality and evolvement of systems, along with systems becoming redundant or unsupported, means that maintaining a static environment is virtually impossible.

    Enormous amounts of IT budget are allocated to these changes each year. But once the project is over, how do you manage that change and ensure the systems are being used? Planning your technology adoption is vital.

    Common Obstacles

    The obstacles to technology adoption can be many and various, covering a broad spectrum of areas including:

    • Reluctance of staff to let go of familiar processes and procedures.
    • Perception that any change will add complications but not add value, thereby hampering enthusiasm to adopt.
    • Lack of awareness of the change.
    • General fear of change.
    • Lack of personal confidence.

    Info-Tech’s Approach

    Start by identifying, understanding, categorizing, and defining barriers and put in place a system to:

    • Gain an early understanding of the different types of users and their attitudes to technology and change.
    • Review different adoption techniques and analyze which are most appropriate for your user types.
    • Use a “Follow the Leader” approach, by having technical enthusiasts and champions to show the way.
    • Prevent access to old systems and methods.

    Info-Tech Insight

    For every IT initiative that will be directly used by users, consider the question, “Will the final product be readily accepted by those who are going to use it?” There is no point in implementing a product that no one is prepared to use. Gaining user acceptance is much more than just ticking a box in a project plan once UAT is complete.

    The way change should happen is clear

    Prosci specializes in change. Its ADKAR model outlines what’s required to bring individuals along on the change journey.

    AWARENESS

    • Awareness means more than just knowing there’s a change occurring,
    • it means understanding the need for change.

    DESIRE

    • To achieve desire, there needs to be motivation, whether it be from an
    • organizational perspective or personal.

    KNOWLEDGE

    • Both knowledge on how to train during the transition and knowledge
    • on being effective after the change are required. This can only be done
    • once awareness and desire are achieved.

    ABILITY

    • Ability is not knowledge. Knowing how to do something doesn’t necessarily translate to having the skills to do it.

    REINFORCEMENT

    • Without reinforcement there can be a tendency to revert.

    When things go wrong

    New technology is not being used

    The project is seen as complete. Significant investments have been made, but the technology either isn’t being used or is only partially in use.

    Duplicate systems are now in place

    Even worse. The failure to adopt the new technology by some means that the older systems are still being used. There are now two systems that fail to interact; business processes are being affected and there is widespread confusion.

    Benefits not being realized

    Benefits promised to the business are not being realized. Projected revenue increases, savings, or efficiencies that were forecast are now starting to be seen as under threat.

    There is project blowout

    The project should be over, but the fact that the technology is not being used has created a perception that the implementation is not complete and the project needs to continue.

    Info-Tech Insight

    People are far more complicated than any technology being implemented.

    Consider carefully your approach.

    Why does it happen?

    POOR COMMUNICATION

    There isn’t always adequate communications about what’s changing in the workplace.

    FEAR

    Fear of change is natural and often not rational. Whether the fear is about job loss or not being able to adapt to change; it needs to be managed.

    TRAINING

    Training can be insufficient or ineffective and when this happens people are left feeling like they don’t have the skills to make the change.

    LACK OF EXECUTIVE SUPPORT

    A lack of executive support for change means the change is seen as less important.

    CONFLICTING VIEWS OF CHANGE

    The excitement the project team and business feels about the change is not necessarily shared throughout the business. Some may just see the change as more work, changing something that already works, or a reason to reduce staff levels.

    LACK OF CONFIDENCE

    Whether it’s a lack of confidence generally with technology or concern about a new or changing tool, a lack of confidence is a huge barrier.

    BUDGETARY CONSTRAINTS

    There is a cost with managing people during a change, and budget must be allocated to allow for it.

    Communications

    Info-Tech Insight

    Since Sigmund Freud there has been endless work to understand people’s minds.
    Don’t underestimate the effect that people’s reactions to change can have on your project.

    This is a Kubler-ross change curve graph, plotting the following Strategies: Create Alignment; Maximize Communication; Spark Motivation; Develop Capability; Share Knowledge

    Communication plans are designed to properly manage change. Managing change can be easier when we have the right tools and information to adapt to new circumstances. The Kubler-Ross change curve illustrates the expected steps on the path to acceptance of change. With the proper communications strategy, each can be managed appropriately

    Analyst perspective

    Paul Binns – Principal Research Advisor, Info-Tech

    The rapidly changing technology landscape in our world has always meant that an enthusiasm or willingness to embrace change has been advantageous. Many of us have seen how the older generation has struggled with that change and been left behind.

    In the work environment, the events of the past two years have increased pressure on those slow to adopt as in many cases they couldn't perform their tasks without new tools. Previously, for example, those who may have been reluctant to use digital tools and would instead opt for face-to-face meetings, suddenly found themselves without an option as physical meetings were no longer possible. Similarly, digital collaboration tools that had been present in the market for some time were suddenly more heavily used so everyone could continue to work together in the “online world.”

    At this stage no one is sure what the "new normal" will be in the post-pandemic world, but what has been clearly revealed is that people are prepared to change given the right motivation.

    “Technology adoption is about the psychology of change.”
    Bryan Tutor – Executive Counsellor, Info-Tech

    The Fix

    • Categorize Users
      • Gain a clear understanding of your user types.
    • Identify Adoption Techniques
      • Understand the range of different tools and techniques available.
    • Match Techniques To Categories
      • Determine the most appropriate techniques for your user base.
    • Follow-the-Leader
      • Be aware of the different skills in your environment and use them to your advantage.
    • Refresh, Retrain, Restrain
      • Prevent reversion to old methods or systems.

    Categories

    Client-Driven Insight

    Consider your staff and industry when looking at the Everett Rogers curve. A technology organization may have less laggards than a traditional manufacturing one.

    In Everett Rogers’ book Diffusion of Innovations 5th Edition (Free Press, 2005), Rogers places adopters of innovations into five different categories.

    This is an image of an Innovation Adoption Curve from Everett Rogers' book Diffusion of Innovations 5th Edition

    Category 1: The Innovator – 2.5%

    Innovators are technology enthusiasts. Technology is a central interest of theirs, either at work, at home, or both. They tend to aggressively pursue new products and technologies and are likely to want to be involved in any new technology being implemented as soon as possible, even before the product is ready to be released.

    For people like this the completeness of the new technology or the performance can often be secondary because of their drive to get new technology as soon as possible. They are trailblazers and are not only happy to step out of their comfort zone but also actively seek to do so.

    Although they only make up about 2.5% of the total, their enthusiasm, and hopefully endorsement of new technology, offers reassurance to others.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Innovators can be very useful for testing before implementation but are generally more interested in the technology itself rather than the value the technology will add to the business.

    Category 2: The Early Adopter – 13.5%

    Whereas Innovators tend to be technologists, Early Adopters are visionaries that like to be on board with new technologies very early in the lifecycle. Because they are visionaries, they tend to be looking for more than just improvement – a revolutionary breakthrough. They are prepared to take high risks to try something new and although they are very demanding as far as product features and performance are concerned, they are less price-sensitive than other groups.

    Early Adopters are often motivated by personal success. They are willing to serve as references to other adopter groups. They are influential, seen as trendsetters, and are of utmost importance to win over.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Early adopters are key. Their enthusiasm for technology, personal drive, and influence make them a powerful tool in driving adoption.

    Category 3: The Early Majority – 34%

    This group is comprised of pragmatists. The first two adopter groups belong to early adoption, but for a product to be fully adopted the mainstream needs to be won over, starting with the Early Majority.

    The Early Majority share some of the Early Adopters’ ability to relate to technology. However, they are driven by a strong sense of practicality. They know that new products aren’t always successful. Consequently, they are content to wait and see how others fare with the technology before investing in it themselves. They want to see well-established references before adopting the technology and to be shown there is no risk.

    Because there are so many people in this segment (roughly 34%), winning these people over is essential for the technology to be adopted.

    Category 4: The Late Majority – 34%

    The Late Majority are the conservatives. This group is generally about the same size as the Early Majority. They share all the concerns of the Early Majority; however, they are more resistant to change and are more content with the status quo than eager to progress to new technology. People in the Early Majority group are comfortable with their ability to handle new technology. People in the Late Majority are not.

    As a result, these conservatives prefer to wait until something has become an established standard and take part only at the end of the adoption period. Even then, they want to see lots of support and ensure that there is proof there is no risk in them adopting it.

    Category 5: The Laggard – 16%

    This group is made up of the skeptics and constitutes 16% of the total. These people want nothing to do with new technology and are generally only content with technological change when it is invisible to them. These skeptics have a strong belief that disruptive new technologies rarely deliver the value promised and are almost always worried about unintended consequences.

    Laggards need to be dealt with carefully as their criticism can be damaging and without them it is difficult for a product to become fully adopted. Unfortunately, the effort required for this to happen is often disproportional to the size of the group.

    Info-Tech Insight

    People aren’t born laggards. Technology projects that have failed in the past can alter people’s attitudes, especially if there was a negative impact on their working lives. Use empathy when dealing with people and respect their hesitancy.

    Adoption Techniques

    Different strokes for different folks

    Technology adoption is all about people; and therefore, the techniques required to drive that adoption need to be people oriented.

    The following techniques are carefully selected with the intention of being impactful on all the different categories described previously.

    Technology Adoption: Herd Mentality; Champions; Force; Group Training; One-on-One; Contests; Marketing; Proof of Concept; Train the Trainer

    There are multitudes of different methods to get people to adopt new technology, but which is the most appropriate for your situation? Generally, it’s a combination.

    Technology Adoption: Herd Mentality; Champions; Force; Group Training; One-on-One; Contests; Marketing; Proof of Concept; Train the Trainer

    Train the Trainer

    Use your staff to get your message across.

    Abstract

    This technique involves training key members of staff so they can train others. It is important that those selected are strong communicators, are well respected by others, and have some expertise in technology.

    Advantages

    • Cost effective
    • Efficient dissemination of information
    • Trusted internal staff

    Disadvantages

    • Chance of inconsistent delivery
    • May feel threatened by co-worker

    Best to worst candidates

    • Early Adopter: Influential trendsetters. Others receptive of their lead.
    • Innovator: Comfortable and enthusiastic about new technology, but not necessarily a trainer.
    • Early Majority: Tendency to take others’ lead.
    • Late Majority: Risk averse and tend to follow others, only after success is proven.
    • Laggard: Last to adopt usually. Unsuitable as Trainer.

    Marketing

    Marketing should be continuous throughout the change to encourage familiarity.

    Abstract

    Communication is key as people are comfortable with what is familiar to them. Marketing is an important tool for convincing adopters that the new product is mainstream, widely adopted and successful.

    Advantages

    • Wide communication
    • Makes technology appear commonplace
    • Promotes effectiveness of new technology

    Disadvantages

    • Reliant on staff interest
    • Can be expensive

    Best to worst candidates

    • Early Majority: Pragmatic about change. Marketing is effective encouragement.
    • Early Adopter: Receptive and interested in change. Marketing is supplemental.
    • Innovator: Actively seeks new technology. Does not need extensive encouragement.
    • Late Majority: Requires more personal approach.
    • Laggard: Resistant to most enticements.

    One-on-One

    Tailored for individuals.

    Abstract

    One-on-one training sometimes is the only way to train if you have staff with special needs or who are performing unique tasks.
    It is generally highly effective but inefficient as it only addresses individuals.

    Advantages

    • Tailored to specific need(s)
    • Only relevant information addressed
    • Low stress environment

    Disadvantages

    • Expensive
    • Possibility of inconsistent delivery
    • Personal conflict may render it ineffective

    Best to worst candidates

    • Laggard: Encouragement and cajoling can be used during training.
    • Late Majority: Proof can be given of effectiveness of new product.
    • Early Majority: Effective, but not cost efficient.
    • Early Adopter: Effective, but not cost-efficient.
    • Innovator: Effective, but not cost-efficient.

    Group Training

    Similar roles, attitudes, and abilities.

    Abstract

    Group training is one of the most common methods to start people on their journey toward new technology. Its effectiveness with the two largest groups, Early Majority and Late Majority, make it a primary tool in technology adoption.

    Advantages

    • Cost effective
    • Time effective
    • Good for team building

    Disadvantages

    • Single method may not work for all
    • Difficult to create single learning pace for all

    Best to worst candidates

    • Early Majority: Receptive. The formality of group training will give confidence.
    • Late Majority: Conservative attitude will be receptive to traditional training.
    • Early Adopter: Receptive and attentive. Excited about the change.
    • Innovator: Will tend to want to be ahead or want to move ahead of group.
    • Laggard: Laggards in group training may have a negative impact.

    Force

    The last resort.

    Abstract

    The transition can’t go on forever.

    At some point the new technology needs to be fully adopted and if necessary, force may have to be used.

    Advantages

    • Immediate full transition
    • Fixed delivery timeline

    Disadvantages

    • Alienation of some staff
    • Loss of faith in product if there are issues

    Best to worst candidates

    • Laggard: No choice but to adopt. Forces the issue.
    • Late Majority: Removes issue of reluctance to change.
    • Early Majority: Content, but worried about possible problems.
    • Early Adopter: Feel less personal involvement in change process.
    • Innovator: Feel less personal involvement in change process.

    Contests

    Abstract

    Contests can generate excitement and create an explorative approach to new technology. People should not feel pressured. It should be enjoyable and not compulsory.

    Advantages

    • Rapid improvement of skills
    • Bring excitement to the new technology
    • Good for team building

    Disadvantages

    • Those less competitive or with lower skills may feel alienated
    • May discourage collaboration

    Best to worst candidates

    • Early Adopter: Seeks personal success. Risk taker. Effective.
    • Innovator: Enthusiastic to explore limits of technology.
    • Early Majority: Less enthusiastic. Pragmatic. Less competitive.
    • Late Majority: Conservative. Not enthusiastic about new technology.
    • Laggard: Reluctant to get involved.

    Incentives

    Incentives don’t have to be large.

    Abstract

    For some staff, merely taking management’s lead is not enough. Using “Nudge” techniques to give that extra incentive is quite effective. Incentivizing staff either financially or through rewards, recognition, or promotion is a successful adoption technique for some.

    Advantages

    Encouragement to adopt from receiving tangible benefit

    Draws more attention to the new technology

    Disadvantages

    Additional expense to business or project

    Possible poor precedent for subsequent changes

    Best to worst candidates

    Early Adopter: Desire for personal success makes incentives enticing.

    Early Majority: Prepared to change, but extra incentive will assist.

    Late Majority: Conservative attitude means incentive may need to be larger.

    Innovator: Enthusiasm for new technology means incentive not necessary.

    Laggard: Sceptical about change. Only a large incentive likely to make a difference.

    Champions

    Strong internal advocates for your new technology are very powerful.

    Abstract

    Champions take on new technology and then use their influence to promote it in the organization. Using managers as champions to actively and vigorously promote the change is particularly effective.

    Advantages

    • Infectious enthusiasm encourages those who tend to be reluctant
    • Use of trusted internal staff

    Disadvantages

    • Removes internal staff from regular duties
    • Ineffective if champion not respected

    Best to worst candidates

    • Early Majority: Champions as references of success provide encouragement.
    • Late Majority: Management champions in particular are effective.
    • Laggard: Close contact with champions may be effective.
    • Early Adopter: Receptive of technology, less effective.
    • Innovator: No encouragement or promotion required.

    Herd Mentality

    Follow the crowd.

    Abstract

    Herd behavior is when people discount their own information and follow others. Ideally all adopters would understand the reason and advantages in adopting new technology, but practically, the result is most important.

    Advantages

    • New technology is adopted without question
    • Increase in velocity of adoption

    Disadvantages

    • Staff may not have clear understanding of the reason for change and resent it later
    • Some may adopt the change before they are ready to do so

    Best to worst candidates

    • Early Majority: Follow others’ success.
    • Late Majority: Likely follow an established proven standard.
    • Early Adopter: Less effective as they prefer to set trends rather than follow.
    • Innovator: Seeks new technology rather than following others.
    • Laggard: Suspicious and reluctant to change.

    Proof of Concepts

    Gain early input and encourage buy-in.

    Abstract

    Proof of concept projects give early indications of the viability of a new initiative. Involving the end users in these projects can be beneficial in gaining their support

    Advantages

    Involve adopters early on

    Valuable feedback and indications of future issues

    Disadvantages

    If POC isn’t fully successful, it may leave lingering negativity

    Usually, involvement from small selection of staff

    Best to worst candidates

    • Innovator: Strong interest in getting involved in new products.
    • Early Adopter: Comfortable with new technology and are influencers.
    • Early Majority: Less interest. Prefer others to try first.
    • Late Majority: Conservative attitude makes this an unlikely option.
    • Laggard: Highly unlikely to get involved.

    Match techniques to categories

    What works for who?

    This clustered column chart categorizes techniques by category

    Follow the leader

    Engage your technology enthusiasts early to help refine your product, train other staff, and act as champions. A combination of marketing and group training will develop a herd mentality. Finally, don’t neglect the laggards as they can prevent project completion.

    This is an inverted funnel chart with the output of: Change Destination. The inputs are: 16% Laggards; 34% Late Majority; 34% Early Majority; 13.3% Early Adopters; 2% Innovators

    Info-Tech Insight

    Although there are different size categories, none can be ignored. Consider your budget when dealing with smaller groups, but also consider their impact.

    Refresh, retrain, restrain

    We don’t want people to revert.

    Don’t assume that because your staff have been trained and have access to the new technology that they will keep using it in the way they were trained. Or that they won’t revert back to their old methods or system.

    Put in place methods to remove completely or remove access to old systems. Schedule refresh training or skill enhancement sessions and stay vigilant.

    Research Authors

    Paul Binns

    Paul Binns

    Principal Research Advisor, Info-Tech Research Group

    With over 30 years in the IT industry, Paul brings to his work his experience as a Strategic Planner, Consultant, Enterprise Architect, IT Business Owner, Technologist, and Manager. Paul has worked with both small and large companies, local and international, and has had senior roles in government and the finance industry.

    Scott Young

    Scott Young

    Principal Research Advisor, Info-Tech Research Group

    Scott Young is a Director of Infrastructure Research at Info-Tech Research Group. Scott has worked in the technology field for over 17 years, with a strong focus on telecommunications and enterprise infrastructure architecture. He brings extensive practical experience in these areas of specialization, including IP networks, server hardware and OS, storage, and virtualization.

    Related Info-Tech Research

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    Use our research to engage users and receive timely feedback through demonstrations. Our iterative methodology with a task list focused on the business’ must-have functionality allows staff to return to their daily work sooner.

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    Bibliography

    Beylis, Guillermo. “COVID-19 accelerates technology adoption and deepens inequality among workers in Latin America and the Caribbean.” World Bank Blogs, 4 March 2021. Web.

    Cleland, Kelley. “Successful User Adoption Strategies.” Insight Voices, 25 Apr. 2017. Web.

    Hiatt, Jeff. “The Prosci ADKAR ® Model.” PROSCI, 1994. Web.

    Malik, Priyanka. “The Kübler Ross Change Curve in the Workplace.” whatfix, 24 Feb. 2022. Web.

    Medhaugir, Tore. “6 Ways to Encourage Software Adoption.” XAIT, 9 March 2021. Web.

    Narayanan, Vishy. “What PwC Australia learned about fast tracking tech adoption during COVID-19” PWC, 13 Oct. 2020. Web.

    Sridharan, Mithun. “Crossing the Chasm: Technology Adoption Lifecycle.” Think Insights, 28 Jun 2022. Web.

    Build Your First RPA Bot

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    • Your organization has many business processes that rely on manual, routine, and repetitive data collection and processing work. These processes need to be automated to meet strategic priorities.
    • Your stakeholders decided to invest in robotic process automation (RPA). They are ready to begin the planning and delivery of their first RPA bot.
    • However, your organization lacks the critical foundations involved in successful RPA delivery, such as analysis of the suitability of candidate processes, business and IT collaboration, and product ownership.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • Manage your business and IT debt before you adopt RPA. RPA doubles down on your process inefficiencies, lack of operations and architectural standardization, and unenforced quality standards. RPA solutions will be fragile and prone to failure if debt is not managed.
    • Adopt BizDevOps. RPA will not be successful if your lines-of-business (LOBs) and IT are not working together. IT must empathize with how LOBs operate and proactively support the underlying operational systems. LOBs must be accountable for all products leveraging RPA and be able to rationalize RPA’s technical feasibility.
    • Start with RPA 1.0. Don’t get caught up in the AI and machine learning (RPA 2.0) hype. Evaluate the acceptance and value of RPA 1.0 to establish a sustainable and collaborative foundation for its delivery and management. Then use the lessons learned to prepare for future RPA 2.0 adoption. In many cases, RPA 1.0 is good enough.

    Impact and Result

    • Establish the right expectations. Gain a grounded understanding of RPA value and limitations in your context. Discuss current IT and business operations challenges to determine if they will impact RPA success.
    • Build your RPA governance. Clarify the roles, processes, and tools needed to support RPA delivery and management through IT and business collaboration.
    • Evaluate the fit of RPA. Obtain a thorough view of the business and technical complexities of your candidate processes. Indicate where and how RPA is expected to generate the most return.

    Build Your First RPA Bot Research & Tools

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    Read our concise Executive Brief to find out how you should build your first RPA bot, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Define your RPA governance

    Set the expectations of your first RPA bot. Define the guiding principles, ethics, and delivery capabilities that will govern RPA delivery and support.

    • Build Your First RPA Bot – Phase 1: Define Your RPA Governance

    2. Deliver and manage your bots

    Validate the fit of your candidate business processes for RPA and ensure the support of your operational system. Shortlist the features of your desired RPA vendor. Modernize your delivery process to accommodate RPA.

    • Build Your First RPA Bot – Phase 2: Deliver and Manage Your Bots

    3. Roadmap your RPA adoption

    Build a roadmap of initiatives to implement your first bot and build the foundations of your RPA practice.

    • Build Your First RPA Bot – Phase 3: Roadmap Your RPA Adoption
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    Workshop: Build Your First RPA Bot

    Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

    1 Define Your RPA Governance

    The Purpose

    State the success criteria of your RPA adoption through defined objectives and metrics.

    Define your RPA guiding principles and ethics.

    Build the RPA capabilities that will support the delivery and management of your bots.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Grounded stakeholder expectations

    RPA guiding principles

    RPA capabilities and the key roles to support RPA delivery and management

    Activities

    1.1 State Your RPA Objectives.

    1.2 Define Your RPA Principles

    1.3 Develop Your RPA Capabilities

    Outputs

    RPA objectives and metrics

    RPA guiding principles and ethics

    RPA and product ownership, RPA capabilities, RPA role definitions

    2 Deliver and Manage Your Bots

    The Purpose

    Evaluate the fit of your candidate business processes for automation.

    Define the operational platform to support your RPA solution.

    Shortlist the desired RPA vendor features.

    Optimize your product delivery process to support RPA.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Verifies the decision to implement RPA for the candidate business process

    The system changes and modifications needed to support RPA

    Prioritized list of RPA vendor features

    Target state RPA delivery process

    Activities

    2.1 Prepare Your RPA Platform

    2.2 Select Your RPA Vendor

    2.3 Deliver and Manage Your Bots

    Outputs

    Assessment of candidate business processes and supporting operational platform

    List of desired RPA vendor features

    Optimized delivery process

    3 Roadmap Your RPA Adoption

    The Purpose

    Build your roadmap to implement your first RPA bot and build the foundations of your RPA practice.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Implementation initiatives

    RPA adoption roadmap

    Activities

    3.1 Roadmap Your RPA Adoption

    Outputs

    RPA adoption roadmap

    Establish an Effective Data Protection Plan

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    • Parent Category Name: Storage & Backup Optimization
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    • Business requirements can be vague. Not knowing the business needs often results in overspending and overexposure to liability through data hoarding.
    • Backup options are abundant. Disk, tape, or cloud? Each has drawbacks, efficiencies, and cost factors that should be considered.
    • Backup infrastructure is never greenfield. Any organization with a history has been doing backup. Existing software was likely determined by past choices and architecture.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • Don’t let failure be your metric.
      The past is not an indication of future performance! Quantify the cost of your data being unavailable to demonstrate value to the business.
    • Stop offloading backup to your most junior staff.
      Data protection should not exist in isolation. Get key leadership involved to ensure you can meet organizational requirements.
    • A lot of data is useless. Neglecting to properly tag and classify data will lead to a costly data protection solution that protects redundant, useless, or outdated data

    Impact and Result

    • Determine the current state of your data protection strategy by identifying the pains and gains of the solution and create a business-facing diagram to present to relevant stakeholders.
    • Quantify the value of data to the business to properly understand the requirements for data protection through a business impact analysis.
    • Identify the attributes and necessary requirements for your data tiers to procure a fit-for-purpose solution.

    Establish an Effective Data Protection Plan Research & Tools

    Start here – read the Executive Brief

    Read this Executive Brief to understand why the business should be involved in your data protection plan, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Define the current state of your data protection plan

    Define the current state of your data protection practices by documenting the backup process and identifying problems and opportunities for the desired state.

    • Establish an Effective Data Protection Plan – Phase 1: Define the Current State of Your Data Protection Plan
    • Data Protection Value Proposition Canvas Template

    2. Conduct a business impact analysis to understand requirements for restoring data

    Understand the business priorities.

    • Establish an Effective Data Protection Plan – Phase 2: Conduct a Business Impact Analysis to Understand Requirements for Restoring Data
    • DRP Business Impact Analysis Tool
    • Legacy DRP Business Impact Analysis Tool
    • Data Protection Recovery Workflow

    3. Propose the future state of your data protection plan

    Determine the desired state.

    • Establish an Effective Data Protection Plan – Phase 3: Propose the Future State of Your Data Protection Plan

    4. Establish proper governance for your data protection plan

    Explore the component of governance required.

    • Establish an Effective Data Protection Plan – Phase 4: Establish Proper Governance for Your Data Protection Plan
    • Data Protection Proposal Template
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    Execute an Emergency Remote Work Plan

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    • Many organizations do not have developed plans for how to turn on-premises employees into remote workers in an emergency.
    • In an emergency situation, such as a pandemic, sending employees home to work remotely without time to prepare presents daunting challenges, such as trying to comprehend and prioritize the myriad of tasks that need accomplishing for human resources, the business, and IT in a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) world.
    • Security issues may arise from employees not used to working remotely. Indeed, employees sent home to work remotely in an emergency may not have been eligible otherwise. This creates security risks, including the proliferation of shadow IT.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • The emergency will restructure the business: make sure it’s done right. While your organization may need quick fixes for day one of an emergency remote work plan, these are not viable long-term solutions. The emergency will vividly reinforce to the business side that more resources need to be directed to IT to enable strong business continuity and employee safety. Make sure the right plan is put in place during the crucial first weeks. The next emergency is just around the corner.
    • Prioritize key business processes. Before getting into the details of a work from home policy, identify which crucial business processes need to continue for the company to survive. Build the remote work policy around supporting those workflows.
    • Where the “carrot” is not possible, emergencies may require the “stick.” To ensure secure endpoints and prevent proliferation of shadow IT, you may need to enforce certain rules through policy. However, disenfranchising employees is not a long-term solution: once the emergency subsides, use this basis to explore end-user requirements properly and ensure employee-driven adoption plans. Where possible, for this latter scenario, always use the carrot.

    Impact and Result

    • A prioritized plan for IT processes through Info-Tech’s cascading responsibility checklists for emergency remote work.
    • A codified emergency remote work policy document to better prepare for future emergencies.

    Execute an Emergency Remote Work Plan Research & Tools

    Start here

    Read our concise Executive Brief for why you need prioritized emergency remote work checklists and an accompanying policy document and review Info-Tech’s methodology.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    • Execute an Emergency Remote Work Plan Storyboard

    1. Day one preparations

    Prioritize key action items on day one of sending your employees home to remotely work during an emergency.

    • Emergency Remote Work Plan Checklists
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    • Checklist for Securing Remote Workers
    • None
    • Remote Access Policy
    • Equipment Loan Policy
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    • Develop a Security Awareness and Training Program That Empowers End Users – Phases 1-2
    • Remote Work Assignment Log
    • Wiki Collection for Collaboration Tools
    • Pandemic Preparation: The People Playbook

    2. One-to-two weeks preparations

    Address key action items in the one-to-two weeks following an emergency that forced your employees to work remotely.

    • None

    3. Codify an emergency remote work policy

    Turn your emergency remote work checklists into policy.

    • Emergency Remote Work Policy
    • Execute an Emergency Remote Work Plan Executive Presentation
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    Identify Opportunities to Mature the Security Architecture

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    • Organizations do not have a solid grasp on the complexity of their infrastructure and are unaware of the overall risk to their infrastructure posed by inadequate security.
    • Organizations do not understand how to properly create and deliver value propositions of technical security solutions.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • The security architecture is a living, breathing thing based on the risk profile of your organization.
    • Compliance and risk mitigation create an intertwined relationship between the business and your security architecture. The security architecture roadmap must be regularly assessed and continuously maintained to ensure security controls align with organizational objectives.

    Impact and Result

    • A right-sized security architecture can be created by assessing the complexity of the IT department, the operations currently underway for security, and the perceived value of a security architecture within the organization. This will bring about a deeper understanding of the organizational infrastructure.
    • Developing a security architecture should also result in a list of opportunities (i.e. initiatives) that an organization can integrate into a roadmap. These initiatives will seek to improve security operations and strengthen the IT department’s understanding of security’s role within the organization.
    • A better understanding of the infrastructure will help to save time on determining the correct technologies required from vendors and therefore cut down on the amount of vendor noise.
    • Creating a defensible roadmap will assist with justifying future security spend.

    Identify Opportunities to Mature the Security Architecture Research & Tools

    Start here – read the Executive Brief

    Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should develop a right-sized security architecture, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Identify the organization’s ideal security architecture

    Complete three unique assessments to define the ideal security architecture maturity for your organization.

    • Identify Opportunities to Mature the Security Architecture – Phase 1: Identify the Organization's Ideal Security Architecture
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    2. Create a security program roadmap

    Use the results of the assessments from Phase 1 of this research to create a roadmap for improving the security program.

    • Identify Opportunities to Mature the Security Architecture – Phase 2: Create a Security Program Roadmap
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    Build Your Data Quality Program

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    • Experiencing the pitfalls of poor data quality and failing to benefit from good data quality, including:
      • Unreliable data and unfavorable output.
      • Inefficiencies and costly remedies.
      • Dissatisfied stakeholders.
    • The chances of successful decision-making capabilities are hindered with poor data quality.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • Address the root causes of your data quality issues and form a viable data quality program.
      • Be familiar with your organization’s data environment and business landscape.
      • Prioritize business use cases for data quality fixes.
      • Fix data quality issues at the root cause to ensure proper foundation for your data to flow.
    • It is important to sustain best practices and grow your data quality program.

    Impact and Result

    • Implement a set of data quality initiatives that are aligned with overall business objectives and aimed at addressing data practices and the data itself.
    • Develop a prioritized data quality improvement project roadmap and long-term improvement strategy.
    • Build related practices such as artificial intelligence and analytics with more confidence and less risk after achieving an appropriate level of data quality.

    Build Your Data Quality Program Research & Tools

    Start here – read the Executive Brief

    Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should establish a data quality program, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Define your organization’s data environment and business landscape

    Learn about what causes data quality issues, how to measure data quality, what makes a good data quality practice in relation to your data and business environments.

    • Business Capability Map Template

    2. Analyze your priorities for data quality fixes

    Determine your business unit priorities to create data quality improvement projects.

    • Data Quality Problem Statement Template
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    3. Establish your organization’s data quality program

    Revisit the root causes of data quality issues and identify the relevant root causes to the highest priority business unit, then determine a strategy for fixing those issues.

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    4. Grow and sustain your data quality practices

    Identify strategies for continuously monitoring and improving data quality at the organization.

    Infographic

    Workshop: Build Your Data Quality Program

    Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

    1 Define Your Organization’s Data Environment and Business Landscape

    The Purpose

    Evaluate the maturity of the existing data quality practice and activities.

    Assess how data quality is embedded into related data management practices.

    Envision a target state for the data quality practice.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Understanding of the current data quality landscape

    Gaps, inefficiencies, and opportunities in the data quality practice are identified

    Target state for the data quality practice is defined

    Activities

    1.1 Explain approach and value proposition

    1.2 Detail business vision, objectives, and drivers

    1.3 Discuss data quality barriers, needs, and principles

    1.4 Assess current enterprise-wide data quality capabilities

    1.5 Identify data quality practice future state

    1.6 Analyze gaps in data quality practice

    Outputs

    Data Quality Management Primer

    Business Capability Map Template

    Data Culture Diagnostic

    Data Quality Diagnostic

    Data Quality Problem Statement Template

    2 Create a Strategy for Data Quality Project 1

    The Purpose

    Define improvement initiatives

    Define a data quality improvement strategy and roadmap

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Improvement initiatives are defined

    Improvement initiatives are evaluated and prioritized to develop an improvement strategy

    A roadmap is defined to depict when and how to tackle the improvement initiatives

    Activities

    2.1 Create business unit prioritization roadmap

    2.2 Develop subject areas project scope

    2.3 By subject area 1 data lineage analysis, root cause analysis, impact assessment, and business analysis

    Outputs

    Business Unit Prioritization Roadmap

    Subject area scope

    Data Lineage Diagram

    3 Create a Strategy for Data Quality Project 2

    The Purpose

    Define improvement initiatives

    Define a data quality improvement strategy and roadmap

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Improvement initiatives are defined

    Improvement initiatives are evaluated and prioritized to develop an improvement strategy

    A roadmap is defined to depict when and how to tackle the improvement initiatives

    Activities

    3.1 Understand how data quality management fits in with the organization’s data governance and data management programs

    3.2 By subject area 2 data lineage analysis, root cause analysis, impact assessment, and business analysis

    Outputs

    Data Lineage Diagram

    Root Cause Analysis

    Impact Analysis

    4 Create a Strategy for Data Quality Project 3

    The Purpose

    Determine a strategy for fixing data quality issues for the highest priority business unit

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Strategy defined for fixing data quality issues for highest priority business unit

    Activities

    4.1 Formulate strategies and actions to achieve data quality practice future state

    4.2 Formulate a data quality resolution plan for the defined subject area

    4.3 By subject area 3 data lineage analysis, root cause analysis, impact assessment, and business analysis

    Outputs

    Data Quality Improvement Plan

    Data Lineage Diagram

    5 Create a Plan for Sustaining Data Quality

    The Purpose

    Plan for continuous improvement in data quality

    Incorporate data quality management into the organization’s existing data management and governance programs

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Sustained and communicated data quality program

    Activities

    5.1 Formulate metrics for continuous tracking of data quality and monitoring the success of the data quality improvement initiative

    5.2 Workshop Debrief with Project Sponsor

    5.3 Meet with project sponsor/manager to discuss results and action items

    5.4 Wrap up outstanding items from the workshop, deliverables expectations, GIs

    Outputs

    Data Quality Practice Improvement Roadmap

    Data Quality Improvement Plan (for defined subject areas)

    Further reading

    Build Your Data Quality Program

    Quality Data Drives Quality Business Decisions

    Executive Brief

    Analyst Perspective

    Get ahead of the data curve by conquering data quality challenges.

    Regardless of the driving business strategy or focus, organizations are turning to data to leverage key insights and help improve the organization’s ability to realize its vision, key goals, and objectives.

    Poor quality data, however, can negatively affect time-to-insight and can undermine an organization’s customer experience efforts, product or service innovation, operational efficiency, or risk and compliance management. If you are looking to draw insights from your data for decision making, the quality of those insights is only as good as the quality of the data feeding or fueling them.

    Improving data quality means having a data quality management practice that is sustainably successful and appropriate to the use of the data, while evolving to keep pace with or get ahead of changing business and data landscapes. It is not a matter of fixing one data set at a time, which is resource and time intensive, but instead identifying where data quality consistently goes off the rails, and creating a program to improve the data processes at the source.

    Crystal Singh

    Research Director, Data and Analytics

    Info-Tech Research Group

    Executive Summary

    Your Challenge

    Your organization is experiencing the pitfalls of poor data quality, including:

    • Unreliable data and unfavorable output.
    • Inefficiencies and costly remedies.
    • Dissatisfied stakeholders.

    Poor data quality hinders successful decision making.

    Common Obstacles

    Not understanding the purpose and execution of data quality causes some disorientation with your data.

    • Failure to realize the importance/value of data quality.
    • Unsure of where to start with data quality.
    • Lack of investment in data quality.

    Organizations tend to adopt a project mentality when it comes to data quality instead of taking the strategic approach that would be all-around more beneficial in the long term.

    Info-Tech’s Approach

    Address the root causes of your data quality issues by forming a viable data quality program.

    • Be familiar with your organization’s data environment and business landscape.
    • Prioritize business use cases for data quality fixes.
    • Fixing data quality issues at the root cause to ensure a proper foundation for your data to flow.

    It is important to sustain best practices and grow your data quality program.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Fix data quality issues as close as possible to the source of data while understanding that business use cases will each have different requirements and expectations from data quality.

    Data is the foundation of your organization’s knowledge

    Data enables your organization to make decisions.

    Reliable data is needed to facilitate data consumers at all levels of the enterprise.

    Insights, knowledge, and information are needed to inform operational, tactical, and strategic decision-making processes. Data and information are needed to manage the business and empower business processes such as billing, customer touchpoints, and fulfillment.

    Raw Data

    Business Information

    Actionable Insights

    Data should be at the foundation of your organization’s evolution. The transformational insights that executives are constantly seeking can be uncovered with a data quality practice that makes high-quality, trustworthy information readily available to the business users who need it.

    98% of companies use data to improve customer experience. (Experian Data Quality, 2019)

    High-Level Data Architecture

    The image is a graphic, which at the top shows different stages of data, and in the lower part of the graphic shows the data processes.

    Build Your Data Quality Program

    1. Data Quality & Data Culture Diagnostics Business Landscape Exercise
    2. Business Strategy & Use Cases
    3. Prioritize Use Cases With Poor Quality

    Info-Tech Insight

    As data is ingested, integrated, and maintained in the various streams of the organization's system and application architecture, there are multiple points where the quality of the data can degrade.

    1. Understand the organization's data culture and data quality environment across the business landscape.
    2. Prioritize business use cases with poor data quality.
    3. For each use case, identify data quality issues and requirements throughout the data pipeline.
    4. Fix data quality issues at the root cause.
    5. As data flow through quality assurance monitoring checkpoints, monitor data to ensure good quality output.

    Insight:

    Proper application of data quality dimensions throughout the data pipeline will result in superior business decisions.

    Data quality issues can occur at any stage of the data flow.

    The image shows the flow of data through various stages: Data Creation; Data Ingestion; Data Accumulation and Engineering; Data Delivery; and Reporting & Analytics. At the bottom, there are two bars: the left one labelled Fix data quality root causes here...; and the right reads: ...to prevent expensive cures here.

    The image is a legend that accompanies the data flow graphic. It indicates that a white and green square icon indicates Data quality dimensions; a red cube indicates a potential point of data quality degradation; the pink square indicates Root cause of poor data quality; and a green flag indicates Quality Assurance Monitoring.

    Prevent the domino effect of poor data quality

    Data is the foundation of decisions made at data-driven organizations.

    Therefore, if there are problems with the organization’s underlying data, this can have a domino effect on many downstream business functions.

    Let’s use an example to illustrate the domino effect of poor data quality.

    Organization X is looking to migrate their data to a single platform, System Y. After the migration, it has become apparent that reports generated from this platform are inconsistent and often seem wrong. What is the effect of this?

    1. Time must be spent on identifying the data quality issues, and often manual data quality fixes are employed. This will extend the time to deliver the project that depends on system Y by X months.
    2. To repair these issues, the business needs to contract two additional resources to complete the unforeseen work. The new resources cost $X each, as well as additional infrastructure and hardware costs.
    3. Now, the strategic objectives of the business are at risk and there is a feeling of mistrust in the new system Y.

    Three key challenges impacting the ability to deliver excellent customer experience

    30% Poor data quality

    30% Method of interaction changing

    30% Legacy systems or lack of new technology

    95% Of organizations indicated that poor data quality undermines business performance.

    (Source: Experian Data Quality, 2019)

    Maintaining quality data will support more informed decisions and strategic insight

    Improving your organization’s data quality will help the business realize the following benefits:

    Data-Driven Decision Making

    Business decisions should be made with a strong rationale. Data can provide insight into key business questions, such as, “How can I provide better customer satisfaction?”

    89% Of CIOs surveyed say lack of quality data is an obstacle to good decision making. (Larry Dignan, CIOs juggling digital transformation pace, bad data, cloud lock0in and business alignment, 2020)

    Customer Intimacy

    Improve marketing and the customer experience by using the right data from the system of record to analyze complete customer views of transactions, sentiments, and interactions.

    94% Percentage of senior IT leaders who say that poor data quality impinges business outcomes. (Clint Boulton, Disconnect between CIOs and LOB managers weakens data quality, 2016)

    Innovation Leadership

    Gain insights on your products, services, usage trends, industry directions, and competitor results to support decisions on innovations, new products, services, and pricing.

    20% Businesses lose as much as 20% of revenue due to poor data quality. (RingLead Data Management Solutions, 10 Stats About Data Quality I Bet You Didn’t Know)

    Operational Excellence

    Make sure the right solution is delivered rapidly and consistently to the right parties for the right price and cost structure. Automate processes by using the right data to drive process improvements.

    10-20% The implementation of data quality initiatives can lead to reductions in corporate budget of up to 20%. (HaloBI, 2015)

    However, maintaining data quality is difficult

    Avoid these pitfalls to get the true value out of your data.

    1. Data debt drags down ROI – a high degree of data debt will hinder you from attaining the ROI you’re expecting.
    2. Lack of trust means lack of usage – a lack of confidence in data results in a lack of data usage in your organization, which negatively effects strategic planning, KPIs, and business outcomes.
    3. Strategic assets become a liability – bad data puts your business at risk of failing compliance standards, which could result in you paying millions in fines.
    4. Increased costs and inefficiency – time spent fixing bad data means less workload capacity for your important initiatives and the inability to make data-based decisions.
    5. Barrier to adopting data-driven tech – emerging technologies, such as predictive analytics and artificial intelligence, rely on quality data. Inaccurate, incomplete, or irrelevant data will result in delays or a lack of ROI.
    6. Bad customer experience – Running your business on bad data can hinder your ability to deliver to your customers, growing their frustration, which negatively impacts your ability to maintain your customer base.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Data quality suffers most at the point of entry. This is one of the causes of the domino effect of data quality – and can be one of the most costly forms of data quality errors due to the error propagation. In other words, fix data ingestion, whether through improving your application and database design or improving your data ingestion policy, and you will fix a large majority of data quality issues.

    Follow Our Data & Analytics Journey

    Data Quality is laced into Data Strategy, Data Management, and Data Governance.

    • Data Strategy
      • Data Management
        • Data Quality
        • Data Governance
          • Data Architecture
            • MDM
            • Data Integration
            • Enterprise Content Management
            • Information Lifecycle Management
              • Data Warehouse/Lake/Lakehouse
                • Reporting and Analytics
                • AI

    Data quality is rooted in data management

    Extract Maximum Benefit Out of Your Data Quality Management.

    • Data management is the planning, execution, and oversight of policies, practices, and projects that acquire, control, protect, deliver, and enhance the value of data and information assets (DAMA, 2009).
    • In other words, getting the right information, to the right people, at the right time.
    • Data quality management exists within each of the data practices, information dimensions, business resources, and subject areas that comprise the data management framework.
    • Within this framework, an effective data quality practice will replace ad hoc processes with standardized practices.
    • An effective data quality practice cannot succeed without proper alignment and collaboration across this framework.
    • Alignment ensures that the data quality practice is fit for purpose to the business.

    The DAMA DMBOK2 Data Management Framework

    • Data Governance
      • Data Quality
      • Data Architecture
      • Data Modeling & Design
      • Data Storage & Operations
      • Data Security
      • Data Integration & Interoperability
      • Documents & Content
      • Reference & Master Data
      • Data Warehousing & Business Intelligence
      • Meta-data

    (Source: DAMA International)

    Related Info-Tech Research

    Build a Robust and Comprehensive Data Strategy

    • People often think that the main problems they need to fix first are related to data quality when the issues transpire at a much larger level. This blueprint is the key to building and fostering a data-driven culture.

    Create a Data Management Roadmap

    • Refer to this blueprint to understand data quality in the context of data disciplines and methods for improving your data management capabilities.

    Establish Data Governance

    • Define an effective data governance strategy and ensure the strategy integrates well with data quality with this blueprint.

    Info-Tech’s methodology for Data Quality

    Phase Steps 1. Define Your Organization’s Data Environment and Business Landscape 2. Analyze Your Priorities for Data Quality Fixes 3. Establish Your Organization’s Data Quality Program 4. Grow and Sustain Your Data Quality Practice
    Phase Outcomes This step identifies the foundational understanding of your data and business landscape, the essential concepts around data quality, as well as the core capabilities and competencies that IT needs to effectively improve data quality. To begin addressing specific, business-driven data quality projects, you must identify and prioritize the data-driven business units. This will ensure that data improvement initiatives are aligned to business goals and priorities. After determining whose data is going to be fixed based on priority, determine the specific problems that they are facing with data quality, and implement an improvement plan to fix it. Now that you have put an improvement plan into action, make sure that the data quality issues don’t keep cropping up. Integrate data quality management with data governance practices into your organization and look to grow your organization’s overall data maturity.

    Info-Tech Insight

    “Data Quality is in the eyes of the beholder.”– Igor Ikonnikov, Research Director

    Data quality means tolerance, not perfection

    Data from Info-Tech’s CIO Business Vision Diagnostic, which represents over 400 business stakeholders, shows that data quality is very important when satisfaction with data quality is low.

    However, when data quality satisfaction hit a threshold, it became less important.

    The image is a line graph, with the X-axis labelled Satisfaction with Data Quality, and the Y axis labelled Rated Importance for Data Quality. The line begins high, and then descends. There is text inside the graph, which is transcribed below.

    Respondents were asked “How satisfied are you with the quality, reliability, and effectiveness of the data you use to manage your group?” as well as to rank how important data quality was to their organization.

    When the business satisfaction of data quality reached a threshold value of 71-80%, the rated importance reached its lowest value.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Data needs to be good, but truly spectacular data may go unnoticed.

    Provide the right level of data quality, with the appropriate effort, for the correct usage. This blueprint will help you to determine what “the right level of data quality” means, as well as create a plan to achieve that goal for the business.

    Data Roles and Responsibilities

    Data quality occurs through three main layers across the data lifecycle

    Data Strategy

    Data Strategy should contain Data Quality as a standard component.

    ← Data Quality issues can occur throughout at any stage of the data flow →

    DQ Dimensions

    Timeliness – Representation – Usability – Consistency – Completeness – Uniqueness – Entry Quality – Validity – Confidence – Importance

    Source System Layer

    • Data Resource Manager/Collector: Enters data into a database and ensures that data collection sources are accurate

    Data Transformation Layer

    • ETL Developer: Designs data storage systems
    • Data Engineer: Oversees data integrations, data warehouses and data lakes, data pipelines
    • Database Administrator: Manages database systems, ensures they meet SLAs, performances, backups
    • Data Quality Engineer: Finds and cleanses bad data in data sources, creates processes to prevent data quality problems

    Consumption Layer

    • Data Scientist: Gathers and analyses data from databases and other sources, runs models, and creates data visualizations for users
    • BI Analyst: Evaluates and mines complex data and transforms it into insights that drive business value. Uses BI software and tools to analyze industry trends and create visualizations for business users
    • Data Analyst: Extracts data from business systems, analyzes it, and creates reports and dashboards for users
    • BI Engineer: Documents business needs on data analysis and reporting and develops BI systems, reports, and dashboards to support them
    Data Creation → [SLA] Data Ingestion [ QA] →Data Accumulation & Engineering → [SLA] Data Delivery [QA] →Reporting & Analytics
    Fix Data Quality root causes here… → to prevent expensive cures here.

    Executive Brief Case Study

    Industry: Healthcare

    Source: Primary Info-Tech Research

    Align source systems to maximize business output.

    A healthcare insurance agency faced data quality issues in which a key business use case was impacted negatively. Business rules were not well defined, and default values instead of real value caused a concern. When dealing with multiple addresses, data was coming from different source systems.

    The challenge was to identify the most accurate address, as some were incomplete, and some lacked currency and were not up to date. This especially challenged a key business unit, marketing, to derive business value in performing key activities by being unable to reach out to existing customers to advertise any additional products.

    For this initiative, this insurance agency took an economic approach by addressing those data quality issues using internal resources.

    Results

    Without having any MDM tools or having a master record or any specific technology relating to data quality, this insurance agency used in-house development to tackle those particular issues at the source system. Data quality capabilities such as data profiling were used to uncover those issues and address them.

    “Data quality is subjective; you have to be selective in terms of targeting the data that matters the most. When getting business tools right, most issues will be fixed and lead to achieving the most value.” – Asif Mumtaz, Data & Solution Architect

    Info-Tech offers various levels of support to best suit your needs

    DIY Toolkit

    "Our team has already made this critical project a priority, and we have the time and capability, but some guidance along the way would be helpful."

    Guided Implementation

    "Our team knows that we need to fix a process, but we need assistance to determine where to focus. Some check-ins along the way would help keep us on track."

    Workshop

    "We need to hit the ground running and get this project kicked off immediately. Our team has the ability to take this over once we get a framework and strategy in place."

    Consulting

    "Our team does not have the time or the knowledge to take this project on. We need assistance through the entirety of this project."

    Diagnostic and consistent frameworks are used throughout all four options.

    Guided Implementation

    What does a typical GI on this topic look like?

    Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4
    • Call #1: Learn about the concepts of data quality and the common root causes of poor data quality.
    • Call #2: Identify the core capabilities of IT for improving data quality on an enterprise scale.
    • Call #3: Determine which business units use data and require data quality remediation.
    • Call #4: Create a plan for addressing business unit data quality issues according to priority of the business units based on value and impact of data.
    • Call #5: Revisit the root causes of data quality issues and identify the relevant root causes to the highest priority business unit.
    • Call #6: Determine a strategy for fixing data quality issues for the highest priority business unit.
    • Call #7: Identify strategies for continuously monitoring and improving data quality at the organization.
    • Call #8: Learn how to incorporate data quality practices in the organization’s larger data management and data governance frameworks.
    • Call #9: Summarize results and plan next steps on how to evolve your data landscape.

    A Guided Implementation (GI) is a series of calls with an Info-Tech analyst to help implement our best practices in your organization.

    A typical GI is between eight to twelve calls over the course of four to six months.

    Workshop Overview

    Contact your account representative for more information. workshops@infotech.com 1-888-670-8889

    Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5
    Define Your Organization’s Data Environment and Business Landscape Create a Strategy for Data Quality Project 1 Create a Strategy for Data Quality Project 2 Create a Strategy for Data Quality Project 3 Create a Plan for Sustaining Data Quality
    Activities
    1. Explain approach and value proposition.
    2. Detail business vision, objectives, and drivers.
    3. Discuss data quality barriers, needs, and principles.
    4. Assess current enterprise-wide data quality capabilities.
    5. Identify data quality practice future state.
    6. Analyze gaps in data quality practice.
    1. Create business unit prioritization roadmap.
    2. Develop subject areas project scope.
    3. By subject area 1:
    • Data lineage analysis
    • Root cause analysis
    • Impact assessment
    • Business analysis
    1. Understand how data quality management fits in with the organization’s data governance and data management programs.
    2. By subject area 2:
    • Data lineage analysis
    • Root cause analysis
    • Impact assessment
    • Business analysis
    1. Formulate strategies and actions to achieve data quality practice future state.
    2. Formulate data quality resolution plan for defined subject area.
    3. By subject area 3:
    • Data lineage analysis
    • Root cause analysis
    • Impact assessment
    • Business analysis
    1. Formulate metrics for continuous tracking of data quality and monitoring the success of the data quality improvement initiative.
    2. Workshop Debrief with Project Sponsor.
    • Meet with project sponsor/manager to discuss results and action items.
    • Wrap up outstanding items from the workshop, deliverables expectations, GIs.
    Deliverables
    1. Data Quality Management Primer
    2. Business Capability Map Template
    3. Data Culture Diagnostic
    4. Data Quality Diagnostic
    5. Data Quality Problem Statement Template
    1. Business Unit Prioritization Roadmap
    2. Subject area scope
    3. Data Lineage Diagram
    1. Data Lineage Diagram
    2. Root Cause Analysis
    3. Impact Analysis
    1. Data Lineage Diagram
    2. Data Quality Improvement Plan
    1. Data Quality Practice Improvement Roadmap
    2. Data Quality Improvement Plan (for defined subject areas)

    Phase 1

    Define Your Organization’s Data Environment and Business Landscape

    Build Your Data Quality Program

    Data quality is a methodology and must be treated as such

    A comprehensive data quality practice includes appropriate business requirements gathering, planning, governance, and oversight capabilities, as well as empowering technologies for properly trained staff, and ongoing development processes.

    Some common examples of appropriate data management methodologies for data quality are:

    • The data quality team has the necessary competencies and resources to perform the outlined workload.
    • There are processes that exist for continuously evaluating data quality performance capabilities.
    • Improvement strategies are designed to increase data quality performance capabilities.
    • Policies and procedures that govern data quality are well-documented, communicated, followed, and updated.
    • Change controls exist for revising policies and procedures, including communication of updates and changes.
    • Self-auditing techniques are used to ensure business-IT alignment when designing or recalibrating strategies.

    Effective data quality practices coordinate with other overarching data disciplines, related data practices, and strategic business objectives.

    “You don’t solve data quality with a Band-Aid; you solve it with a methodology.” – Diraj Goel, Growth Advisor, BC Tech

    Data quality can be defined by four key quality indicators

    Similar to measuring the acidity of a substance with a litmus test, the quality of your data can be measured using a simple indicator test. As you learn about common root causes of data quality problems in the following slides, think about these four quality indicators to assess the quality of your data:

    • Completeness – Closeness to the correct value. Encompasses accuracy, consistency, and comparability to other databases.
    • Usability – The degree to which data meets current user needs. To measure this, you must determine if the user is satisfied with the data they are using to complete their business functions.
    • Timeliness – Length of time between creation and availability of data.
    • Accessibility – How easily a user can access and understand the data (including data definitions and context). Interpretability can also be used to describe this indicator.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Quality is a relative term. Data quality is measured in terms of tolerance. Perfect data quality is both impossible and a waste of time and effort.

    How to get investment for your data quality program

    Follow these steps to convince leadership of the value of data quality:

    “You have to level with people, you cannot just start talking with the language of data and expect them to understand when the other language is money and numbers.” – Izabela Edmunds, Information Architect at Mott MacDonald

    1. Perform Phases 0 & 1 of this blueprint as this will offer value in carrying out the following steps.
    2. Build credibility. Show them your understanding of data and how it aligns to the business.
    3. Provide tangible evidence of how significant business use cases are impacted by poor quality data.
    4. Present the ROI of fixing the data quality issues you have prioritized.
    5. Explain how the data quality program will be established, implemented, and sustained.
    6. Prove the importance of fixing data quality issues at the source and how it is the most efficient, effective, and cost-friendly solution.

    Phase 1 deliverables

    Each of these deliverables serve as inputs to detect key outcomes about your organization and to help complete this blueprint:

    1. Data Culture Diagnostic

    Use this report to understand where your organization lies across areas relating to data culture.

    While the Quality & Trust area of the report might be most prevalent to this blueprint, this diagnostic may point out other areas demanding more attention.

    Please speak to your account manager for access

    2. Business Capability Map Template

    Perform this process to understand the capabilities that enable specific value streams. The output of this deliverable is a high-level view of your organization’s defined business capabilities.

    Download this tool

    Info-Tech Insight

    Understanding your data culture and business capabilities are foundational to starting the journey of data quality improvement.

    Key deliverable:

    3. Data Quality Diagnostic

    The Data Quality Report is designed to help you understand, assess, and improve key organizational data quality issues. This is where respondents across various areas in the organization can assess Data Quality across various dimensions.

    Download this tool

    Data Quality Diagnostic Value

    Prioritize business use cases with our data quality dimensions.

    • Complete this diagnostic for each major business use case. The output from the Data Culture Diagnostic and the Business Capability Map should help you understand which use cases to address.
    • Involve all key stakeholders involved in the business use case. There may be multiple business units involved in a single use case.
    • Prioritize the business use cases that need the most attention pertaining to data quality by comparing the scores of the Importance and Confidence data quality dimensions.

    If there are data elements that are considered of high importance and low confidence, then they must be prioritized.

    Sample Scorecard

    The image shows a screen capture of a scorecard, with sample information filled in.

    The image shows a screen capture of a scorecard, with sample information filled in.

    Poor data quality develops due to multiple root causes

    After you get to know the properties of good quality data, understand the underlying causes of why those indicators can point to poor data quality.

    If you notice that the usability, completeness, timeliness, or accessibility of the organization’s data is suffering, one or more of the following root causes are likely plaguing your data:

    Common root causes of poor data quality, through the lens of Info-Tech’s Five-Tier Data Architecture:

    The image shows a graphic of Info-Tech's Five-Tier Data Architecture, with root causes of poor data quality identified. In the data creation and ingestion stages, the root causes are identified as Poor system/application design, Poor database design, Inadequate enterprise integration. The root causes identified in the latter stages are: Absence of data quality policies, procedures, and standards, and Incomplete/suboptimal business processes

    These root causes of poor data quality are difficult to avoid, not only because they are often generated at an organization’s beginning stages, but also because change can be difficult. This means that the root causes are often propagated through stale or outdated business processes.

    Data quality problems root cause #1:

    Poor system or application design

    Application design plays one of the largest roles in the quality of the organization’s data. The proper design of applications can prevent data quality issues that can snowball into larger issues downstream.

    Proper ingestion is 90% of the battle. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. This is true in many different topics, and data quality is one of them. Designing an application so that data gets entered properly, whether by internal staff or external customers, is the single most effective way to prevent data quality issues.

    Some common causes of data quality problems at the application/system level include:

    • Too many open fields (free-form text fields that accept a variety of inputs).
    • There are no lookup capabilities present. Reference data should be looked up instead of entered.
    • Mandatory fields are not defined, resulting in blank fields.
    • No validation of data entries before writing to the underlying database.
    • Manual data entry encourages human error. This can be compounded by poor application design that facilitates the incorrect data entry.

    Data quality problems root cause #2:

    Poor database design

    Database design also affects data quality. How a database is designed to handle incoming data, including the schema and key identification, can impact the integrity of the data used for reporting and analytics.

    The most common type of database is the relational database. Therefore, we will focus on this type of database.

    When working with and designing relational databases, there are some important concepts that must be considered.

    Referential integrity is a term that is important for the design of relational database schema, and indicates that table relationships must always be consistent.

    For table relationships to be consistent, primary keys (unique value for each row) must uniquely identify entities in columns of the table. Foreign keys (field that is defined in a second table but refers to the primary key in the first table) must agree with the primary key that is referenced by the foreign key. To maintain referential integrity, any updates must be propagated to the primary parent key.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Other types of databases, including databases with unstructured data, need data quality consideration. However, unstructured data may have different levels of quality tolerance.

    At the database level, some common root causes include:

    1. Lack of referential integrity.
    2. Lack of unique keys.
    3. Don’t have restricted data range.
    4. Incorrect datatype, string fields that can hold too many characters.
    5. Orphaned records.

    Databases and People:

    Even though database design is a technology issue, don’t forget about the people.

    A lack of training employees on database permissions for updating/entering data into the physical databases is a common problem for data quality.

    Data quality problems root cause #3:

    Improper integration and synchronization of enterprise data

    Data ingestion is another category of data-quality-issue root causes. When moving data in Tier 2, whether it is through ETL, ESB, point-to-point integration, etc., the integrity of the data during movement and/or transformation needs to be maintained.

    Tier 2 (the data ingestion layer) serves to move data for one of two main purposes:

    • To move data from originating systems to downstream systems to support integrated business processes.
    • To move data to Tier 3 where data rests for other purposes. This movement of data in its purest form means we move raw data to storage locations in an overall data warehouse environment reflecting any security, compliance and other standards in our choices for how to store. Also, it is where data is transformed for unique business purpose that will also be moved to a place of rest or a place of specific use. Data cleansing and matching and other data-related blending tasks occur at this layer.

    This ensures the data is pristine throughout the process and improves trustworthiness of outcomes and speed to task completion.

    At the integration layer, some common root causes of data quality problems include:

    1. No data mask. For example, zip code should have a mask of five numeric characters.
    2. Questionable aggregation, transformation process, or incorrect logic.
    3. Unsynchronized data refresh process in an integrated environment.
    4. Lack of a data matching tool.
    5. Lack of a data quality tool.
    6. Don’t have data profiling capability.
    7. Errors with data conversion or migration processes – when migrating, decommissioning, or converting systems – movement of data sets.
    8. Incorrect data mapping between data sources and targets.

    Data quality problems root cause #4:

    Insufficient and ineffective data quality policies and procedures

    Data policies and procedures are necessary for establishing standards around data and represent another category of data-quality-issue root causes. This issue spans across all five of the 5 Tier Architecture.

    Data policies are short statements that seek to manage the creation, acquisition, integrity, security, compliance, and quality of data. These policies vary amongst organizations, depending on your specific data needs.

    • Policies describe what to do, while standards and procedures describe how to do something.
    • There should be few data policies, and they should be brief and direct. Policies are living documents and should be continuously updated to respond to the organization’s data needs.
    • The data policies should highlight who is responsible for the data under various scenarios and rules around how to manage it effectively.

    Some common root causes of data quality issues related to policies and procedures include:

    1. Policies are absent or out of date.
    2. Employees are largely unaware of policies in effect.
    3. Policies are unmonitored and unenforced.
    4. Policies are in multiple locations.
    5. Multiple versions of the same policy exist.
    6. Policies are managed inconsistently across different silos.
    7. Policies are written poorly by untrained authors.
    8. Inadequate policy training program.
    9. Draft policies stall and lose momentum.
    10. Weak policy support from senior management.

    Data quality problems root cause #5:

    Inefficient or ineffective business processes

    Some common root causes of data quality issues related to business processes include:

    1. Multiple entries of the same record leads to duplicate records proliferating in the database.
    2. Many business definitions of data.
    3. Failure to document data manipulations when presenting data.
    4. Failure to train people on how to understand data.
    5. Manually intensive processes can result in duplication of effort (creates room for errors).
    6. No clear delineation of dependencies of business processes within or between departments, which leads to a siloed approach to business processes, rather than a coordinated and aligned approach.

    Business processes can impact data quality. How data is entered into systems, as well as employee training and knowledge about the correct data definitions, can impact the quality of your organization’s data.

    These problematic business process root causes can lead to:

    Duplicate records

    Incomplete data

    Improper use of data

    Wrong data entered into fields

    These data quality issues will result in costly and inefficient manual fixes, wasting valuable time and resources.

    Phase 1 Summary

    1. Data Quality Understanding

    • Understanding that data quality is a methodology and should be treated as such.
    • Data quality can be defined by four key indicators which are completeness, usability, timeliness, and accessibility.
    • Explained how to get investment for your data quality program and showcasing its value to leadership.

    2. Phase 0 Deliverables

    Introduced foundational tools to help you throughout this blueprint:

    • Complete the Data Culture Diagnostic and Business Capability Map Template as they are foundational in understanding your data culture and business capabilities to start the journey of data quality improvement.
    • Involve key relevant stakeholders when completing the Data Quality Diagnostic for each major business use case. Use the Importance and Confidence dimensions to help you prioritize which use case to address.

    3. Common Root Causes

    Addressed where multiple root causes can occur throughout the flow of your data.

    Analyzed the following common root causes of data quality:

    1. Poor system or application design
    2. Poor database design
    3. Improper integration and synchronization of enterprise data
    4. Insufficient and ineffective data quality policies and procedures
    5. Inefficient or ineffective business processes

    Phase 2

    Analyze Your Priorities for Data Quality Fixes

    Build Your Data Quality Program

    Business Context & Data Quality

    Establish the business context of data quality improvement projects at the business unit level to find common goals.

    • To ensure the data improvement strategy is business driven, start your data quality project evaluation by understanding the business context. You will then determine which business units use data and create a roadmap for prioritizing business units for data quality repairs.
    • Your business context is represented by your corporate business vision, mission, goals and objectives, differentiators, and drivers. Collectively, they provide essential information on what is important to your organization, and some hints on how to achieve that. In this step, you will gather important information about your business view and interpret the business view to establish a data view.

    Business Vision

    Business Goals

    Business Drivers

    Business Differentiators

    Not every business unit uses data to the same extent

    A data flow diagram can provide value by allowing an organization to adopt a proactive approach to data quality. Save time by knowing where the entry points are and where to look for data flaws.

    Understanding where data lives can be challenging as it is often in motion and rarely resides in one place. There are multiple benefits that come from taking the time to create a data flow diagram.

    • Mapping out the flow of data can help provide clarity on where the data lives and how it moves through the enterprise systems.
    • Having a visual of where and when data moves helps to understand who is using data and how it is being manipulated at different points.
    • A data flow diagram will allow you to elicit how data is used in a different use case.

    Info-Tech’s Four-Column Model of Data will help you to identify the essential aspects of your data:

    Business Use Case →Used by→Business Unit →Housed in→Systems→Used for→Usage of the Data

    Not every business unit requires the same standard of data quality

    To prioritize your business units for data quality improvement projects, you must analyze the relative importance of the data they use to the business. The more important the data is to the business, the higher the priority is of fixing that data. There are two measures for determining the importance of data: business value and business impact.

    Business Value of Data

    Business value of data can be evaluated by thinking about its ties to revenue generation for the organization, as well as how it is used for productivity and operations at the organization.

    The business value of data is assessed by asking what would happen to the following parameters if the data is not usable (due to poor quality, for example):

    • Loss of Revenue
    • Loss of Productivity
    • Increased Operating Costs

    Business Impact of Data

    Business impact of data should take into account the effects of poor data on both internal and external parties.

    The business impact of data is assessed by asking what the impact would be of bad data on the following parameters:

    • Impact on Customers
    • Impact on Internal Staff
    • Impact on Business Partners

    Value + Impact = Data Priority Score

    Ensure that the project starts on the right foot by completing Info-Tech’s Data Quality Problem Statement Template

    Before you can identify a solution, you must identify the problem with the business unit’s data.

    Download this tool

    Use Info-Tech’s Data Quality Problem Statement Template to identify the symptoms of poor data quality and articulate the problem.

    Info-Tech’s Data Quality Problem Statement Template will walk you through a step-by-step approach to identifying and describing the problems that the business unit feels regarding its data quality.

    Before articulating the problem, it helps to identify the symptoms of the problem. The following W’s will help you to describe the symptoms of the data quality issues:

    What

    Define the symptoms and feelings produced by poor data quality in the business unit.

    Where

    Define the location of the data that are causing data quality issues.

    When

    Define how severe the data quality issues are in frequency and duration.

    Who

    Define who is affected by the data quality problems and who works with the data.

    Info-Tech Best Practice

    Symptoms vs. Problems. Often, people will identify a list of symptoms of a problem and mistake those for the problem. Identifying the symptoms helps to define the problem, but symptoms do not help to identify the solution. The problem statement helps you to create solutions.

    Define the project problem to articulate the purpose

    1 hour

    Input

    • Symptoms of data quality issues in the business unit

    Output

    • Refined problem description

    Materials

    • Data Quality Problem Statement Template

    Participants

    • Data Quality Improvement Project team
    • Business line representatives

    A defined problem helps you to create clear goals, as well as lead your thinking to determine solutions to the problem.

    A problem statement consists of one or two sentences that summarize a condition or issue that a quality improvement team is meant to address. For the improvement team to fix the problem, the problem statement therefore has to be specific and concise.

    Instructions

    1. Gather the Data Quality Improvement Project Team in a room and start with an issue that is believed to be related to data quality.
    2. Ask what are the attributes and symptoms of that reality today; do this with the people impacted by the issue. This should be an IT and business collaboration.
    3. Draw your conclusions of what it all means: what have you collectively learned?
    4. Consider the implications of your conclusions and other considerations that must be taken into account such as regulatory needs, compliance, policy, and targets.
    5. Develop solutions – Contain the problem to something that can be solved in a realistic timeframe, such as three months.

    Download the Data Quality Problem Statement Template

    Case Study

    A strategic roadmap rooted in business requirements primes a data quality improvement plan for success.

    MathWorks

    Industry

    Software Development

    Source

    Primary Info-Tech Research

    As part of moving to a formalized data quality practice, MathWorks leveraged an incremental approach that took its time investigating business cases to support improvement actions. Establishing realistic goals for improvement in the form of a roadmap was a central component for gaining executive approval to push the project forward.

    Roadmap Creation

    In constructing a comprehensive roadmap that incorporated findings from business process and data analyses, MathWorks opted to document five-year and three-year overall goals, with one-year objectives that supported each goal. This approach ensured that the tactical actions taken were directed by long-term strategic objectives.

    Results – Business Alignment

    In presenting their roadmap for executive approval, MathWorks placed emphasis on communicating the progression and impact of their initiatives in terms that would engage business users. They focused on maintaining continual lines of communication with business stakeholders to demonstrate the value of the initiatives and also to gradually shift the corporate culture to one that is invested in an effective data quality practice.

    “Don’t jump at the first opportunity, because you may be putting out a fire with a cup of water where a fire truck is needed.” – Executive Advisor, IT Research and Advisory Firm

    Use Info-Tech’s Practice Assessment and Project Planning Tool to create your strategy for improving data quality

    Assess IT’s capabilities and competencies around data quality and plan to build these as the organization’s data quality practice develops. Before you can fix data quality, make sure you have the necessary skills and abilities to fix data quality correctly.

    The following IT capabilities are developed on an ongoing basis and are necessary for standardizing and structuring a data quality practice:

    • Meeting Business Needs
    • Services and Projects
    • Policies, Procedures, and Standards
    • Roles and Organizational Structure
    • Oversight and Communication
    • Data Quality of Different Data Types

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    Data Handling and Remediation Competencies:

    • Data Standardization: Formatting values into consistent standards based on industry standards and business rules.
    • Data Cleansing: Modification of values to meet domain restrictions, integrity constraints, or other business rules for sufficient data quality for the organization.
    • Data Matching: Identification, linking, and merging related entries in or across sets of data.
    • Data Validation: Checking for correctness of the data.

    After these capabilities and competencies are assessed for a current and desired target state, the Data Quality Practice Assessment and Project Planning Tool will suggest improvement actions that should be followed in order to build your data quality practice. In addition, a roadmap will be generated after target dates are set to create your data quality practice development strategy.

    Benchmark current and identify target capabilities for your data quality practice

    1 hour

    Input

    • Current and desired data quality practices in the organization

    Output

    • Assessment of where the gaps lie in your data quality practice

    Materials

    • Data Quality Practice Assessment and Project Planning Tool

    Participants

    • Data Quality Project Lead
    • Business Line Representatives
    • Business Architects

    Use the Data Quality Practice Assessment and Project Planning Tool to evaluate the baseline and target capabilities of your practice in terms of how data quality is approached and executed.

    Download this Tool

    Instructions

    1. Invite the appropriate stakeholders to participate in this exercise. Examples:
      1. Business executives will have input in Tab 2
      2. Unique stakeholders: communications expert or executive advisors may have input
    2. On Tab 2: Practice Components, assess the current and target states of each capability on a scale of 1–5. Note: “Ad hoc” implies a capability is completed, but randomly, informally, and without a standardized method.

    These results will set the baseline against which you will monitor performance progress and keep track of improvements over time.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Focus on early alignment. Assessing capabilities within specific people’s job functions can naturally result in disagreement or debate, especially between business and IT people. Remind everyone that data quality should ultimately serve business needs wherever possible.

    Visualization improves the holistic understanding of where gaps exist in your data quality practice

    To enable deeper analysis on the results of your practice assessment, Tab 3: Data Quality Practice Scorecard in the Data Quality Practice Assessment and Project Planning Tool creates visualizations of the gaps identified in each of your practice capabilities and related data management practices. These diagrams serve as analysis summaries.

    Gap assessment of “Meeting Business Needs” capabilities

    The image shows a screen capture of the Gap assessment of “Meeting Business Needs” capabilities, with sample information filled in.

    Visualization of gap assessment of data quality practice capabilities

    The image shows a bar graph titled Data Quality Capabilities.

    1. Enhance your gap analyses by forming a relative comparison of total gaps in key practice capability areas, which will help in determining priorities.
    • Example: In Tab 2 compare your capabilities within “Policies, Procedures, and Standards.” Then in Tab 3, compare your overall capabilities in “Policies, Procedures, and Standards” versus “Empowering Technologies.”
  • Put these up on display to improve discussion in the gap analyses and prioritization sessions.
  • Improve the clarity and flow of your strategy template, final presentations, and summary documents by copying and pasting the gap assessment diagrams.

    • Before engaging in the data quality improvement project plan, receive signoff from IT regarding feasibility

    The final piece of the puzzle is to gain sign-off from IT.

    Hofstadter's law: It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter’s Law.

    This means that before engaging IT in data quality projects to fix the business units’ data in Phase 2, IT must assess feasibility of the data quality improvement plan. A feasibility analysis is typically used to review the strengths and weaknesses of the projects, as well as the availability of required skills and technologies needed to complete them. Use the following workflow to guide you in performing a feasibility analysis:

    Project evaluation process:

    Present capabilities

    • Operational Capabilities
    • System Capabilities
    • Schedule Capabilities
      • Summary of Evaluation Results
        • Recommendations/ modifications to the project plan

    Info-Tech Best Practice

    While the PMO identifies and coordinates projects, IT must determine how long and for how much.

    Conduct gap analysis sessions to review and prioritize the capability gaps

    1 hour

    Input

    • Current and Target State Assessment

    Output

    • Documented initiatives to help you get to the target state

    Materials

    • Data Quality Practice Assessment and Project Planning Tool

    Participants

    • Data Quality team
    • IT representatives

    Instructions

    • Analyze Gap Analysis Results – As a group, discuss the high-level results on Tab 3: Data Quality Practice Score. Discuss the implications of the gaps identified.
    • Do a line-item review of the gaps between current and target levels for each assessed capability by using Tab 2: Practice Components.
    • Brainstorm Alignment Strategies – Brainstorm the effort and activities that will be necessary to support the practice in building its capabilities to the desired target level. Ask the following questions:
      • What activities must occur to enable this capability?
      • What changes/additions to resources, process, technology, business involvement, and communication must occur?
    • Document Data Quality Initiatives – Turn activities into initiatives by documenting them in Tab 4. Data Quality Practice Roadmap. Review the initiatives and estimate the start and end dates of each one.
    • Continue to evaluate the assessment results in order to create a comprehensive set of data quality initiatives that support your practice in building capabilities.

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    Create the organization’s data quality improvement strategy roadmap

    1 hour

    Input

    • Data quality practice gaps and improvement actions

    Output

    • Data quality practice improvement roadmap

    Materials

    • Data Quality Practice Assessment and Project Planning Tool

    Participants

    • Data Quality Project Lead
    • Business Executives
    • IT Executives
    • Business Architects

    Generating Your Roadmap

    1. Plan the sequence, starting time, and length of each initiative in the Data Quality Practice Assessment and Project Planning Tool.
    2. The tool will generate a Gantt chart based on the start and length of your initiatives.
    3. The Gantt chart is generated in Tab 4: Data Quality Practice Roadmap, and can be used to organize and ensure that all of the essential aspects of data quality are addressed.

    Use the Practice Roadmap to plan and improve data quality capabilities

    Download this Tool

    Info-Tech Best Practice

    To help get you started, Info-Tech has provided an extensive list of data quality improvement initiatives that are commonly undertaken by organizations looking to improve their data quality.

    Establish Baseline Metrics

    Baseline metrics will be improved through:

    2 hours

    Create practice-level metrics to monitor your data quality practice.

    Instructions:

    1. Establish metrics for both the business and IT that will be used to determine if the data quality practice development is effective.
    2. Set targets for each metric.
    3. Collect current data to calculate the metrics and establish a baseline.
    4. Assign an owner for tracking each metric to be accountable for performance.
    Metric Current Goal
    Usage (% of trained users using the data warehouse)
    Performance (response time)
    Performance (response time)
    Resource utilization (memory usage, number of machine cycles)
    User satisfaction (quarterly user surveys)
    Data quality (% values outside valid values, % fields missing, wrong data type, data outside acceptable range, data that violates business rules. Some aspects of data quality can be automatically tracked and reported)
    Costs (initial installation and ongoing, Total Cost of Ownership including servers, software licenses, support staff)
    Security (security violations detected, where violations are coming from, breaches)
    Patterns that are used
    Reduction in time to market for the data
    Completeness of data that is available
    How many "standard" data models are being used
    What is the extra business value from the data governance program?
    How much time is spent for data prep by BI & analytics team?

    Phase 2 summary

    As you improve your data quality practice and move from reactive to stable, don’t rest and assume that you can let data quality keep going by itself. Rapidly changing consumer requirements or other pains will catch up to your organization and you will fall behind again. By moving to the proactive and predictive end of the maturity scale, you can stay ahead of the curve. By following the methodology laid out in Phase 1, the data quality practices at your organization will improve over time, leading to the following results:

    Chaotic

    Before Data Quality Practice Improvements

    • No standards to data quality

    Reactive

    Year 1

    • Processes defined
    • Data cleansing approach to data quality

    Stable

    Year 2

    • Business rules/ stewardship in place
    • Education and training

    Proactive

    Year 3

    • Data quality practices fully in place and embedded in the culture
    • Trusted and intelligent enterprise

    (Global Data Excellence, Data Excellence Maturity Model)

    Phase 3

    Establish Your Organization’s Data Quality Program

    Build Your Data Quality Program

    Create a data lineage diagram to map the data journey and identify the data subject areas to be targeted for fixes

    It is important to understand the various data that exist in the business unit, as well as which data are essential to business function and require the highest degree of quality efforts.

    Visualize your databases and the flow of data. A data lineage diagram can help you and the Data Quality Improvement Team visualize where data issues lie. Keeping the five-tier architecture in mind, build your data lineage diagram.

    Reminder: Five-Tier Architecture

    The image shows the Five-Tier Architecture graphic.

    Use the following icons to represent your various data systems and databases.

    The image shows four icons. They are: the image of a square and a computer monitor, labelled Application; the image of two sheets of paper, labelled Desktop documents; the image of a green circle next to a computer monitor, labelled Web Application; and a blue cylinder labelled Database.

    Use Info-Tech’s Data Lineage Diagram to document the data sources and applications used by the business unit

    2 hours

    Input

    • Data sources and applications used by the business unit

    Output

    • Data lineage diagram

    Materials

    • Data Lineage Diagram Template

    Participants

    • Business Unit Head/Data Owner
    • Business Unit SMEs
    • Data Analysts/Architects

    Map the flow and location of data within a business unit by creating a system context diagram.

    Gain an accurate view of data locations and uses: Engage business users and representatives with a wide breadth of knowledge-related business processes and the use of data by related business operations.

    1. Sit down with key business representatives of the business unit.
    2. Document the sources of data and processes in which they’re involved, and get IT confirmation that the sources of the data are correct.
    3. Map out the sources and processes in a system context diagram.

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    Sample Data Lineage Diagram

    The image shows a sample data lineage diagram, split into External Applications and Internal Applications, and showing the processes involved in each.

    Leverage Info-Tech’s Data Quality Practice Assessment and Project Planning Tool to document business context

    1 hour

    Input

    • Business vision, goals, and drivers

    Output

    • Business context for the data quality improvement project

    Materials

    • Data Quality Practice Assessment and Project Planning Tool

    Participants

    • Data Quality project lead
    • Business line representatives
    • IT executives

    Develop goals and align them with specific objectives to set the framework for your data quality initiatives.

    In the context of achieving business vision, mission, goals, and objectives and sustaining differentiators and key drivers, think about where and how data quality is a barrier. Then brainstorm data quality improvement objectives that map to these barriers. Document your list of objectives in Tab 5. Prioritize business units of the Data Quality Practice Assessment and Project Planning Tool.

    Establishing Business Context Example

    Healthcare Industry
    Vision To improve member services and make service provider experience more effective through improving data quality and data collection, aggregation, and accessibility for all the members.
    Goals

    Establish meaningful metrics that guide to the improvement of healthcare for member effectiveness of health care providers:

    • Data collection
    • Data harmonization
    • Data accessibility and trust by all constituents.
    Differentiator Connect service consumers with service providers, that comply with established regulations by delivering data that is accurate, trusted, timely, and easy to understand to connect service providers and eliminate bureaucracy and save money and time.
    Key Driver Seamlessly provide a healthcare for members.

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    Document the identified business units and their associated data

    30 minutes

    Input

    • Business units

    Output

    • Documented business units to begin prioritization

    Materials

    • Data Quality Practice Assessment and Project Planning Tool

    Participants

    • Project Manager

    Instructions

    1. Using Tab 5: Prioritize Business Units of the Data Quality Practice Assessment and Project Planning Tool, document the business units that use data in the organization. This will likely be all business units in the organization.
    2. Next, document the primary data used by those business units.
    3. These inputs will then be used to assess business unit priority to generate a data quality improvement project roadmap.

    The image shows a screen capture of Tab 5: Prioritize Business Units, with sample information inputted.

    Reminder – Not every business unit requires the same standard of data quality

    To prioritize your business units for data quality improvement projects, you must analyze the relative importance of the data they use to the business. The more important the data is to the business, the higher the priority is of fixing that data. There are two measures for determining the importance of data: business value and business impact.

    Business Value of Data

    Business value of data can be evaluated by thinking about its ties to revenue generation for the organization, as well as how it is used for productivity and operations at the organization.

    The business value of data is assessed by asking what would happen to the following parameters if the data is not usable (due to poor quality, for example):

    • Loss of Revenue
    • Loss of Productivity
    • Increased Operating Costs

    Business Impact of Data

    Business impact of data should take into account the effects of poor data on both internal and external parties.

    The business impact of data is assessed by asking what the impact would be of bad data on the following parameters:

    • Impact on Customers
    • Impact on Internal Staff
    • Impact on Business Partners

    Value + Impact = Data Priority Score

    Assess the business unit priority order for data quality improvements

    2 hours

    Input

    • Assessment of value and impact of business unit data

    Output

    • Prioritization list for data quality improvement projects

    Materials

    • Data Quality Practice Assessment and Project Planning Tool

    Participants

    • Project Manager
    • Data owners

    Instructions

    Instructions In Tab 5: Prioritize Business Units of the Data Quality Practice Assessment and Project Planning Tool, assess business value and business impact of the data within each documented business unit.

    Use the ratings High, Medium, and Low to measure the financial, productivity, and efficiency value and impact of each business unit’s data.

    In addition to these ratings, assess the number of help desk tickets that are submitted to IT regarding data quality issues. This parameter is an indicator that the business unit’s data is high priority for data quality fixes.

    Download this Tool

    Create a business unit order roadmap for your data quality improvement projects

    1 hour

    Input

    • Rating of importance of data for each business unit

    Output

    • Roadmap for data quality improvement projects

    Materials

    • Data Quality Practice Assessment and Project Planning Tool

    Participants

    • Project Manager
    • Product Manager
    • Business line representatives

    Instructions

    After assessing the business units for the business value and business impact of their data, the Data Quality Practice Assessment and Project Planning Tool automatically assesses the prioritization of the business units based on your ratings. These prioritizations are then summarized in a roadmap on Tab 6: Data Quality Project Roadmap. The following is an example of a project roadmap:

    The image shows an example of a project roadmap, with three business units listed vertically along the left hand side, and a Gantt chart showing the time periods in which each Business Unit would work. At the bottom, a table shows the Length of the Project in days (100), and the start date for the first project.

    On Tab 6, insert the timeline for your data quality improvement projects, as well as the starting date of your first data quality project. The roadmap will automatically update with the chosen timing and dates.

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    Identify metrics at the business unit level to track data quality improvements

    As you improve the data quality for specific business units, measuring the benefits of data quality improvements will help you demonstrate the value of the projects to the business.

    Use the following table to guide you in creating business-aligned metrics:

    Business Unit Driver Metrics Goal
    Sales Customer Intimacy Accuracy of customer data. Percent of missing or incomplete records. 10% decrease in customer record errors.

    Marketing

    		 Customer Intimacy Accuracy of customer data. Percent of missing or incomplete records. 10% decrease in customer record errors.
    Finance Operational Excellence Relevance of financial reports. Decrease in report inaccuracy complaints.
    HR Risk Management Accuracy of employee data. 10% decrease in employee record errors.
    Shipping Operational Excellence Timeliness of invoice data. 10% decrease in time to report.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Relating data governance success metrics to overall business benefits keeps executive management and executive sponsors engaged because they are seeing actionable results. Review metrics on an ongoing basis with those data owners/stewards who are accountable, the data governance steering committee, and the executive sponsors.

    Case Study

    Address data quality with the right approach to maximize the ROI

    EDC

    Industry: Government

    Source: Environment Development of Canada (EDC)

    Challenge

    Environment Development Canada (EDC) would initially identify data elements that are important to the business purely based on their business instinct.

    Leadership attempted to tackle the enterprise’s data issues by bringing a set of different tools into the organization.

    It didn’t work out because the fundamental foundational layer, which is the data and infrastructure, was not right – they didn't have the foundational capabilities to enable those tools.

    Solution

    Leadership listened to the need for one single team to be responsible for the data persistence.

    Therefore, the data platform team was granted that mandate to extensively execute the data quality program across the enterprise.

    A data quality team was formed under the Data & Analytics COE. They had the mandate to profile the data and to understand what quality of data needed to be achieved. They worked constantly with the business to build the data quality rules.

    Results

    EDC tackled the source of their data quality issues through initially performing a data quality management assessment with business stakeholders.

    From then on, EDC was able to establish their data quality program and carry out other key initiatives that prove the ROI on data quality.

    Begin your data quality improvement project starting with the highest priority business unit

    Now that you have a prioritized list for your data quality improvement projects, identify the highest priority business unit. This is the business unit you will work through Phase 3 with to fix their data quality issues.

    Once you have initiated and identified solutions for the first business unit, tackle data quality for the next business unit in the prioritized list.

    The image is a graphic labelled as Phase 2. On the left, there is a vertical arrow pointing upward labelled Priority of Business Units. Next to it, there are three boxes, with downward pointing arrows between them, each box labelled as each Business Unit's Data Quality Improvement Project. From there an arrow points right to a circle. Inside the circle are the steps necessary to complete the data quality improvement project.

    Create and document your data quality improvement team

    1 hour

    Input

    • Individuals who fit the data quality improvement plan team roles

    Output

    • Project team

    Materials

    • Data Quality Improvement Plan Template

    Participants

    • Data owner
    • Project Manager
    • Product Manager

    The Data Quality Improvement Plan is a concise document that should be created for each data quality project (i.e. for each business unit) to keep track of the project.

    Instructions

    1. Meet with the data owner of the business unit identified for the data quality improvement project.
    2. Identify individuals who fit the data quality improvement plan team roles.
    3. Using the Data Quality Improvement Plan Template to document the roles and individuals who will fit those roles.
    4. Have an introductory meeting with the Improvement team to clarify roles and responsibilities for the project.

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    Team role Assigned to
    Data Owner [Name]
    Project Manager [Name]
    Business Analyst/BRM [Name]
    Data Steward [Name]
    Data Analyst [Name]

    Document the business context of the Data Quality Improvement Plan

    1 hour

    Input

    • Project team
    • Identified data attributes

    Output

    • Business context for the data quality improvement plan

    Materials

    • Data Quality Improvement Plan Template

    Participants

    • Data owner
    • Project Sponsor
    • Product owner

    Data quality initiatives have to be relevant to the business, and the business context will be used to provide inputs to the data improvement strategy. The context can then be used to determine exactly where the root causes of data quality issues are, which will inform your solutions.

    Instructions

    The business context of the data quality improvement plan includes documenting from previous activities:

    1. The Data Quality Improvement Team.
    2. Your Data Lineage Diagram.
    3. Your Data Quality Problem Statement.

    Info-Tech Best Practice

    While many organizations adopt data quality principles, not all organizations express them along the same terms. Have multiple perspectives within your organization outline principles that fit your unique data quality agenda. Anyone interested in resolving the day-to-day data quality issues that they face can be helpful for creating the context around the project.

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    Now that you have a defined problem, revisit the root causes of poor data quality

    You previously fleshed out the problem with data quality present in the business unit chosen as highest priority. Now it is time to figure out what is causing those problems.

    In the table below, you will find some of the common categories of causes of data quality issues, as well as some specific root causes.

    Category Description
    1. System/Application Design Ineffective, insufficient, or even incorrect system/application design accepts incorrect and missing data elements to the source applications and databases. The data records in those source systems may propagate into systems in tiers 2, 3, 4, and 5 of the 5-tier architecture, creating domino and ripple effects.
    2. Database design Database is created and modeled in an incorrect manner so that the management of the data records is incorrect, resulting in duplicated and orphaned records, and records that are missing data elements or records that contain incorrect data elements. Poor operational data in databases often leads to issues in tiers 2, 3, 4, and 5.
    3. Enterprise Integration Data or information is improperly integrated, transformed, masked, and aggregated in tier 2. In addition, some data integration tasks might not be timely, resulting in out-of-date data or even data that contradicts with other data. Enterprise integration is a precursor of loading a data warehouse and data marts. Issues in this layer affect tier 3, 4 and 5 on the 5-tier architecture.
    4. Policies and Procedures Policies and procedures are not effectively used to reinforce data quality. In some situations, policy gaps are found. In others, policies are overlapped and duplicated. Policies may also be out-of-date or too complex, affecting the users’ ability to interpret the policy objectives. Policies affect all tiers in the 5-tier architecture.
    5. Business Processes Improper business process design introduces poor data into the data systems. Failure to create processes around approving data changes, failure to document key data elements, and failure to train employees on the proper uses of data make data quality a burning problem.

    Leverage a root cause analysis approach to pinpoint the origins of your data issues

    A root cause analysis is a systematic approach to decompose a problem into its components. Use fishbone diagrams to help reveal the root causes of data issues.

    The image shows a fishbone diagram on the left, which starts with Process on the left, and then leads to Application and Integration, and then Database and Policies. This section is titled Root causes. The right hand section is titled Lead to problems with data... and includes 4 circles with the word or in between each. The circles are labelled: Completeness; Usability; Timeliness; Accessibility.

    Info-Tech recommends five root cause categories for assessing data quality issues:

    Application Design. Is the issue caused by human error at the application level? Consider internal employees, external partners/suppliers, and customers.

    Database Design. Is the issue caused by a particular database and stems from inadequacies in its design?

    Integration. Data integration tools may not be fully leveraged, or data matching rules may be poorly designed.

    Policies and Procedures. Do the issues take place because of lack of governance?

    Business Processes. Do the issues take place due to insufficient processes?

    For Example:

    When performing a deeper analysis of your data issues related to the accuracy of the business unit’s data, you would perform a root cause analysis by assessing the contribution of each of the five categories of data quality problem root causes:

    The image shows another fishbone diagram, with example information filled in. The first section on the left is titled Application Design, and includes the text: Data entry problems lead to incorrect accounting entries. The second is Integration, and includes the text: Data integration tools are not fully leveraged. The third section is Policies, and includes the text: No policy on standardizing name and address. The last section is Database design, with text that reads: Databases do not contain unique keys. The diagram ends with an arrow pointing right to a blue circle with Accuracy in it.

    Leverage a combination of data analysis techniques to identify and quantify root causes

    Info-Tech Insight

    Including all attributes of the key subject area in your data profiling activities may produce too much information to make sense of. Conduct data profiling primarily at the table level and undergo attribute profiling only if you are able to narrow down your scope sufficiently.

    Data Profiling Tool

    Data profiling extracts a sample of the target data set and runs it through multiple levels of analysis. The end result is a detailed report of statistics about a variety of data quality criteria (duplicate data, incomplete data, stale data, etc.).

    Many data profiling tools have built-in templates and reports to help you uncover data issues. In addition, they quantify the occurrences of the data issues.

    E-Discovery Tool

    This supplements a profiling tool. For Example, use a BI tool to create a custom grouping of all the invalid states (e.g. “CAL,” “AZN,” etc.) and visualize the percentage of invalid states compared to all states.

    SQL Queries

    This supplements a profiling tool. For example, use a SQL statement to group the customer data by customer segment and then by state to identify which segment–state combinations contain poor data.

    Identify the data issues for the particular business unit under consideration

    2 hours

    Input

    • Issues with data quality felt by the business unit
    • Data lineage diagram

    Output

    • Categorized data quality issues

    Materials

    • Whiteboard, markers, sticky notes
    • Data Quality Improvement Plan Template

    Participants

    • Data quality improvement project team
    • Business line representatives

    Instructions

    1. Gather the data quality improvement project team in a room, along with sticky notes and a whiteboard.
    2. Display your previously created data lineage diagram on the whiteboard.
    3. Using color-coded sticky notes, attach issues to each component of the data lineage diagram that team members can identify. Use different colors for the four quality attributes: Completeness, Usability, Timeliness, and Accessibility.

    Example:

    The image shows the data lineage diagram that has been shown in previous sections. In addition, the image shows 4 post-its arranges around the diagram, labelled: Usability; Completeness; Timeliness; and Accessibility.

    Map the data issues on fishbone diagrams to identify root causes

    1 hour

    Input

    • Categorized data quality issues

    Output

    • Completed fishbone diagrams

    Materials

    • Whiteboard, markers, sticky notes
    • Data Quality Improvement Plan Template

    Participants

    • Data quality improvement project team

    Now that you have data quality issues classified according to the data quality attributes, map these issues onto four fishbone diagrams.

    The image shows a fishbone diagram, which is titled Example: Root cause analysis diagram for data accuracy.

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    Get to know the root causes behind system/application design mistakes

    Suboptimal system/application design provides entry points for bad data.

    Business Process
    Usually found in → Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3 Tier 4 Tier 5
    Issue Root Causes Usability Completeness Timeliness Accessibility
    Insufficient data mask No data mask is defined for a free-form text field in a user interface. E.g. North American phone number should have 4 masks – country code (1-digit), area code (3-digit), and local number (7-digit). X X
    Too many free-form text fields Incorrect use of free-form text fields (fields that accept a variety of inputs). E.g. Use a free-form text field for zip code instead of a backend look up. X X
    Lack of value lookup Reference data is not looked up from a reference list. E.g. State abbreviation is entered instead of being looked up from a standard list of states. X X
    Lack of mandatory field definitions Mandatory fields are not identified and reinforced. Resulting data records with many missing data elements. E.g. Some users may fill up 2 or 3 fields in a UI that has 20 non-mandatory fields. X

    The image shows a fishbone diagram, with the following sections, from left to right: Application Design; Integration; Processes; Policies; Database Design; Data Quality Measure. The Application Design section is highlighted.

    Get to know the root causes behind common database design mistakes

    Improper database design allows incorrect data to be stored and propagated.

    Business Process
    Usually found in → Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3 Tier 4 Tier 5
    Issue Root Causes Usability Completeness Timeliness Accessibility
    Incorrect referential integrity Referential integrity constraints are absent or incorrectly implemented, resulting in child records without parent records, or related records are updated or deleted in a cascading manner. E.g. An invoice line item is created before an invoice is created. X X
    Lack of unique keys Lack of unique keys creating scenarios where record uniqueness cannot be guaranteed. E.g. Customer records with the same customer_ID. X X
    Data range Fail to define a data range for incoming data, resulting in data values that are out of range. E.g. The age field is able to store an age of 999. X X
    Incorrect data type Incorrect data types are used to store data fields. E.g. A string field is used to store zip codes. Some users use that to store phone numbers, birthdays, etc. X X

    The image shows a fishbone diagram, with the following sections, from left to right: Application Design; Integration; Processes; Policies; Database Design; Data Quality Measure. The Database Design section is highlighted

    Get to know the root causes behind enterprise integration mistakes

    Improper data integration or synchronization may create poor analytical data.

    Business Process
    Usually found in → Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3 Tier 4 Tier 5
    Issue Root Causes Usability Completeness Timeliness Accessibility
    Incorrect transformation Transformation is done incorrectly. A wrong formula may have been used, transformation is done at the wrong data granularity, or aggregation logic is incorrect. E.g. Aggregation is done for all customers instead of just active customers. X X
    Data refresh is out of sync Data is synchronized at different intervals, resulting in a data warehouse where data domains are out of sync. E.g. Customer transactions are refreshed to reflect the latest activities but the account balance is not yet refreshed. X X
    Data is matched incorrectly Fail to match records from disparate systems, resulting in duplications and unmatched records. E.g. Unable to match customers from different systems because they have different cust_ID. X X
    Incorrect data mapping Fields from source systems are not properly matched with data warehouse fields. E.g. Status fields from different systems are mixed into one field. X X

    The image shows a fishbone diagram, with the following sections, from left to right: Application Design; Integration; Processes; Policies; Database Design; Data Quality Measure. The Integration section is highlighted

    Get to know the root causes behind policy and procedure mistakes

    Suboptimal policies and procedures undermine the effect of best practices.

    Business Process
    Usually found in → Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3 Tier 4 Tier 5
    Issue Root Causes Usability Completeness Timeliness Accessibility
    Policy Gaps There are gaps in the policy landscape in terms of some missing key policies or policies that are not refreshed to reflect the latest changes. E.g. A data entry policy is absent, leading to inconsistent data entry practices. X X
    Policy Communications Policies are in place but the policies are not communicated effectively to the organization, resulting in misinterpretation of policies and under-enforcement of policies. E.g. The data standard is created but very few developers are aware of its existence. X X
    Policy Enforcement Policies are in place but not proactively re-enforced and that leads to inconsistent application of policies and policy adoption. E.g. Policy adoption is dropping over time due to lack of reinforcement. X X
    Policy Quality Policies are written by untrained authors and they do not communicate the messages. E.g. A non-technical data user may find a policy that is loaded with technical terms confusing. X X

    The image shows a fishbone diagram, with the following sections, from left to right: Application Design; Integration; Processes; Policies; Database Design; Data Quality Measure. The Policies section is highlighted

    Get to know the root causes behind common business process mistakes

    Ineffective and inefficient business processes create entry points for poor data.

    Business Process
    Usually found in → Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3 Tier 4 Tier 5
    Issue Root Causes Usability Completeness Timeliness Accessibility
    Lack of training Key data personnel and business analysts are not trained in data quality and data governance, leading to lack of accountability. E.g. A data steward is not aware of downstream impact of a duplicated financial statement. X X
    Ineffective business process The same piece of information is entered into data systems two or more times. Or a piece of data is stalled in a data system for too long. E.g. A paper form is scanned multiple times to extract data into different data systems. X X
    Lack of documentation Fail to document the work flows of the key business processes. A lack of work flow results in sub-optimal use of data. E.g. Data is modeled incorrectly due to undocumented business logic. X X
    Lack of integration between business silos Business silos hold on to their own datasets resulting in data silos in which data is not shared and/or data is transferred with errors. E.g. Data from a unit is extracted as a data file and stored in a shared drive with little access. X X

    The image shows a fishbone diagram, with the following sections, from left to right: Application Design; Integration; Processes; Policies; Database Design; Data Quality Measure. The Processes section is highlighted

    Phase 3 Summary

    1. Data Lineage Diagram
    • Creating the data lineage diagram is recommended to help visualize the flow of your data and to map the data journey and identify the data subject areas to be targeted for fixes.
    • The data lineage diagram was leveraged multiple times throughout this Phase. For example, the data lineage diagram was used to document the data sources and applications used by the business unit
  • Business Context
    • Business context was documented through the Data Quality Practice Assessment and Project Planning Tool.
    • The same tool was used to document identified business units and their associated data.
    • Metrics were also identified at the business unit level to track data quality improvements.
  • Common Root Causes
    • Leverage a root cause analysis approach to pinpoint the origins of your data quality issues.
    • Analyzed and got to know the root causes behind the following:
      1. System/application design mistakes
      2. Common database design mistakes
      3. Enterprise integration mistakes
      4. Policies and procedures mistakes
      5. Common business processes mistakes

    • Phase 4

    Grow and Sustain Your Data Quality Program

    Build Your Data Quality Program

    For the identified root causes, determine the solutions for the problem

    As you worked through the previous step, you identified the root causes of your data quality problems within the business unit. Now, it is time to identify solutions.

    The following slides provide an overview of the solutions to common data quality issues. As you identify solutions that apply to the business unit being addressed, insert the solution tables in Section 4: Proposed Solutions of the Data Quality Improvement Plan Template.

    All data quality solutions have two components to them:

    • Technology
    • People

    For the next five data quality solution slides, look for the slider for the contributions of each category to the solution. Use this scale to guide you in creating solutions.

    When designing solutions, keep in mind that solutions to data quality problems are not mutually exclusive. In other words, an identified root cause may have multiple solutions that apply to it.

    For example, if an application is plagued with inaccurate data, the application design may be suboptimal, but also the process that leads to data being entered may need fixing.

    Data quality improvement strategy #1:

    Fix data quality issues by improving system/application design.

    Technology

    Application Interface Design

    Restrict field length – Capture only the characters you need for your application.

    Leverage data masks – Use data masks in standardized fields like zip code and phone number.

    Restrict the use of open text fields and use reference tables – Only present open text fields when there is a need. Use reference tables to limit data values.

    Provide options – Use radio buttons, drop-down lists, and multi-select instead of using open text fields.

    Data Validation at the Application Level

    Validate data before committing – Use simple validation to ensure the data entered is not random numbers and letters.

    Track history – Keep track of who entered what fields.

    Cannot submit twice – Only design for one-time submission.

    People

    Training

    Data-entry training – Training that is related to data entry, creating, or updating data records.

    Data resolution training – Training data stewards or other dedicated data personnel on how to resolve data records that are not entered properly.

    Continuous Improvement

    Standards – Develop application design principles and standards.

    Field testing – Field data entry with a few people to look for abnormalities and discrepancies.

    Detection and resolution – Abnormal data records should be isolated and resolved ASAP.

    Application Testing

    Thorough testing – Application design is your first line of defence against poor data. Test to ensure bad data is kept out of the systems.

    Case Study

    HMS

    Industry: Healthcare

    Source: Informatica

    Improve your data quality ingestion procedures to provide better customer intimacy for your users

    Healthcare Management Systems (HMS) provides cost containment services for healthcare sponsors and payers, and coordinates benefits services. This is to ensure that healthcare claims are paid correctly to both government agencies and individuals. To do so, HMS relies on data, and this data needs to be of high quality to ensure the correct decisions are made, the right people get the correct claims, and the appropriate parties pay out.

    To improve the integrity of HMS’s customer data, HMS put in place a framework that helped to standardize the collection of high volume and highly variable data.

    Results

    Working with a data quality platform vendor to establish a framework for data standardization, HMS was able to streamline data analysis and reduce new customer implementations from months to weeks.

    HMS data was plagued with a lack of standardization of data ingestion procedures.

    Before improving data quality processes After improving data quality processes
    Data Ingestion Data Ingestion
    Many standards of ingestion. Standardized data ingestion
    Data Storage Data Storage
    Lack of ability to match data, creating data quality errors.
    Data Analysis Data Analysis
    = =
    Slow Customer Implementation Time 50% Reduction in Customer Implementation Time

    Data quality improvement strategy #2:

    Fix data quality issues using proper database design.

    Technology

    Database Design Best Practices

    Referential integrity – Ensure parent/child relationships are maintained in terms of cascade creation, update, and deletion.

    Primary key definition – Ensure there is at least one key to guarantee the uniqueness of the data records, and primary key should not allow null.

    Validate data domain – Create triggers to check the data values entered in the database fields.

    Field type and length – Define the most suitable data type and length to hold field values.

    One-Time Data Fix (more on the next slide)

    Explore solutions – Where to fix the data issues? Is there a case to fix the issues?

    Running profiling tools to catch errors – Run scans on the database with defined criteria to identify occurrences of questionable data.

    Fix a sample before fixing all records – Use a proof-of-concept approach to explore fix options and evaluate impacts before fixing the full set.

    People

    The DBA Team

    Perform key tasks in pairs – Take a pair approach to perform key tasks so that validation and cross-check can happen.

    Skilled DBAs – DBAs should be certified and accredited.

    Competence – Assess DBA competency on an ongoing basis.

    Preparedness – Develop drills to stimulate data issues and train DBAs.

    Cross train – Cross train team members so that one DBA can cover another DBA.

    Data quality improvement strategy #3:

    Improve integration and synchronization of enterprise data.

    Technology

    Integration Architecture

    Info-Tech’s 5-Tier Architecture – When doing transformations, it is good practice to persist the integration results in tier 3 before the data is further refined and presented in tier 4.

    Timing, timing, and timing – Think of the sequence of events. You may need to perform some ETL tasks before other tasks to achieve synchronization and consistence.

    Historical changes – Ensure your tier 3 is robust enough to include historical data. You need to enable type 2 slowly, changing dimension to recreate the data at a point in time.

    Data Cleansing

    Standardize – Leverage data standardization to standardize name and address fields to improve matching and integration.

    Fuzzy matching – When there are no common keys between datasets. The datasets can only be matched by fuzzy matching. Fuzzy matching is not hard science; define a confidence level and think about a mechanism to deal with the unmatched.

    People

    Reporting and Documentations

    Business data glossary and data lineage – Define a business data glossary to enhance findability of key data elements. Document data mappings and ETL logics.

    Create data quality reports – Many ETL platforms provide canned data quality reports. Leverage those quality reports to monitor the data health.

    Code Review

    Create data quality reports – Many ETL platforms provide canned data quality reports. Leverage those quality reports to monitor the data health.

    ARB (architectural review board) – All ETL codes should be approved by the architectural review board to ensure alignment with the overall integration strategy.

    Data quality improvement strategy #4:

    Improve data quality policies and procedures.

    Technology

    Policy Reporting

    Data quality reports – Leverage canned data quality reports from the ETL platforms to monitor data quality on an on-going basis. When abnormalities are found, provoke the right policies to deal with the issues.

    Store policies in a central location that is well known and easy to find and access. A key way that technology can help communicate policies is by having them published on a centralized website.

    Make the repository searchable and easily navigable. myPolicies helps you do all this and more.

    myPolicies helps you do all this and more.

    Go to this link

    People

    Policy Review and Training

    Policy review – Create a schedule for reviewing policies on a regular basis – invite professional writers to ensure polices are understandable.

    Policy training – Policies are often unread and misread. Training users and stakeholders on policies is an effective way to make sure those users and stakeholders understand the rationale of the policies. It is also a good practice to include a few scenarios that are handled by the policies.

    Policy hotline/mailbox – To avoid misinterpretation of the policies, a policy hotline/mailbox should be set up to answer any data policy questions from the end users/stakeholders.

    Policy Communications

    Simplified communications – Create handy one-pagers and infographic posters to communicate the key messages of the polices.

    Policy briefing – Whenever a new data project is initiated, a briefing of data policies should be given to ensure the project team follows the policies from the very beginning.

    Data quality improvement strategy #5:

    Streamline and optimize business processes.

    Technology

    Requirements Gathering

    Data Lineage – Leverage a metadata management tool to construct and document data lineage for future reference.

    Documentations Repository – It is a best practice to document key project information and share that knowledge across the project team and with the stakeholder. An improvement understanding of the project helps to identify data quality issues early on in the project.

    “Automating creation of data would help data quality most. You have to look at existing processes and create data signatures. You can then derive data off those data codes.” – Patrick Bossey, Manager of Business Intelligence, Crawford and Company

    People

    Requirements Gathering

    Info-Tech’s 4-Column Model – The datasets may exist but the business units do not have an effective way of communicating the quality needs. Use our four-column model and the eleven supporting questions to better understand the quality needs. See subsequent slides.

    I don’t know what the data means so I think the quality is poor – It is not uncommon to see that the right data presented to the business but the business does not trust the data. They also do not understand the business logic done on the data. See our Business Data Glossary in subsequent slides.

    Understand the business workflow – Know the business workflow to understand the manual steps associated with the workflow. You may find steps in which data is entered, manipulated, or consumed inappropriately.

    “Do a shadow data exercise where you identify the human workflows of how data gets entered, and then you can identify where data entry can be automated.” – Diraj Goel, Growth Advisor, BC Tech

    Brainstorm solutions to your data quality issues

    4 hours

    Input

    • Data profiling results
    • Preliminary root cause analyses

    Output

    • Proposals for data fix
    • Fixed issues

    Materials

    • Data Quality Improvement Plan Template

    Participants

    • Business and Data Analysts
    • Data experts and stewards

    After walking through the best-practice solutions to data quality issues, propose solutions to fix your identified issues.

    Instructions

    1. Review Root Cause Analyses: Revisit the root cause analysis and data lineage diagram you have generated in Step 3.2. to understand the issues in greater details.
    2. Characterize Each Issue: You may need to generate a data profiling report to characterize the issue. The report can be generated by using data quality suites, BI platforms, or even SQL statements.
    3. Brainstorm the Solutions: As a group, discuss potential ways to fix the issue. You can tackle the issues by approaching from these areas:
    Solution Approaches
    Technology Approach
    People Approach

    X crossover with

    Problematic Areas
    Application/System Design
    Database Design
    Data Integration and Synchronization
    Policies and Procedures
    Business Processes
    1. Document and Communicate: Document the solutions to your data issues. You may need to reuse or refer to the solutions. Also brainstorm some ideas on how to communicate the results back to the business.

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    Sustaining your data quality requires continuous oversight through a data governance practice

    Quality data is the ultimate outcome of data governance and data quality management. Data governance enables data quality by providing the necessary oversight and controls for business processes in order to maintain data quality. There are three primary groups (at right) that are involved in a mature governance practice. Data quality should be tightly integrated with all of them.

    Define an effective data governance strategy and ensure the strategy integrates well with data quality with Info-Tech’s Establish Data Governance blueprint.

    Visit this link

    Data Governance Council

    This council establishes data management practices that span across the organization. This should be comprised of senior management or C-suite executives that can represent the various departments and lines of business within the organization. The data governance council can help to promote the value of data governance, facilitate a culture that nurtures data quality, and ensure that the goals of the data governance program are well aligned with business objectives.

    Data Owners

    Identifying the data owner role within an organization helps to create a greater degree of accountability for data issues. They often oversee how the data is being generated as well as how it is being consumed. Data owners come from the business side and have legal rights and defined control over a data set. They ensure data is available to the right people within the organization.

    Data Stewards

    Conflict can occur within an organization’s data governance program when a data steward’s role is confused with that of the steering committee’s role. Data stewards exist to enforce decisions made about data governance and data management. Data stewards are often business analysts or power users of a particular system/dataset. Where a data owner is primarily responsible for access, a data steward is responsible for the quality of a dataset.

    Integrate the data quality management strategy with existing data governance committees

    Ongoing and regular data quality management is the responsibility of the data governance bodies of the organization.

    The oversight of ongoing data quality activities rests on the shoulders of the data governance committees that exist in the organization.

    There is no one-size-fits-all data governance structure. However, most organizations follow a similar pattern when establishing committees, councils, and cross-functional groups. They strive to identify roles and responsibilities at a strategic, tactical, and operational level:

    The image shows a pyramid, with Executive Sponsors at the top, with the following roles in descending order: DG Council; Steering Committee; Working Groups; Data Owners and Data Stewards; and Data Users. Along the left side of the pyramid, there are three labels, in ascending order: Operational, Tactical, and Strategic.

    The image is a flow chart showing project roles, in two sections: the top section is labelled Governing Bodies, and the lower section is labelled Data Quality Improvement Team. There is a note indicating that the Data Owner reports to and provides updates regarding the state of data quality and data quality initiatives.

    Create and update the organization’s Business Data Glossary to keep up with current data definitions

    2 hours

    Input

    • Metrics and goals for data quality

    Output

    • Regularly scheduled data quality checkups

    Materials

    • Business Data Glossary Template
    • Data Quality Dashboard

    Participants

    • Data steward

    A crucial aspect of data quality and governance is the Business Data Glossary. The Business Data Glossary helps to align the terminology of the business with the organization’s data assets. It allows the people who interact with the data to quickly identify the applications, processes, and stewardship associated with it, which will enhance the accuracy and efficiency of searches for organization data definitions and attributes, enabling better access to the data. This will, in turn, enhance the quality of the organization’s data because it will be more accurate, relevant, and accessible.

    Use the Business Data Glossary Template to document key aspects of the data, such as:

    • Definition
    • Source System
    • Possible Values
    • Data Steward
    • Data Sensitivity
    • Data Availability
    • Batch or Live
    • Retention

    Data Element

    • Mkt-Product
    • Fin-Product

    Info-Tech Insight

    The Business Data Glossary ensures that the crucial data that has key business use by key business systems and users is appropriately owned and defined. It also establishes rules that lead to proper data management and quality to be enforced by the data owners.

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    Data Steward(s): Use the Data Quality Improvement Plan of the business unit for ongoing quality monitoring

    Integrating your data quality strategy into the organization’s data governance program requires passing the strategy over to members of the data governance program. The data steward role is responsible for data quality at the business unit level, and should have been involved with the creation and implementation of the data quality improvement project. After the data quality repairs have been made, it is the responsibility of the data steward to regularly monitor the quality of the business unit’s data.

    Create Improvement Plan ↓
    • Data Quality Improvement Team identifies root cause issues.
    • Brainstorm solutions.
    Implement Improvement Plan ↓
    • Data Quality Improvement Team works with IT.
    Sustain Improvement Plan
    • Data Steward should regularly monitor data quality.

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    See Info-Tech’s Data Steward Job Description Template for a detailed understanding of the roles and responsibilities of the data steward.

    Responsible for sustaining

    The image shows a screen capture of a document entitled Business Context & Subject Area Selection.

    Develop a business-facing data quality dashboard to show improvements or a sudden dip in data quality

    One tool that the data steward can take advantage of is the data quality dashboard. Initiatives that are implemented to address data quality must have metrics defined by business objectives in order to demonstrate the value of the data quality improvement projects. In addition, the data steward should have tools for tracking data quality in the business unit to report issues to the data owner and data governance steering committee.

    • Example 1: Marketing uses data for direct mail and e-marketing campaigns. They care about customer data in particular. Specifically, they require high data quality in attributes such as customer name, address, and product profile.
    • Example 2: Alternatively, Finance places emphasis on financial data, focusing on attributes like account balance, latency in payment, credit score, and billing date.

    The image is Business dashboard on Data Quality for Marketing. It features Data Quality metrics, listed in the left column, and numbers for each quarter over the course of one year, on the right.

    Notes on chart:

    General improvement in billing address quality

    Sudden drop in touchpoint accuracy may prompt business to ask for explanations

    Approach to creating a business-facing data quality dashboard:

    1. Schedule a meeting with the functional unit to discuss what key data quality metrics are essential to their business operations. You should consider the business context, functional area, and subject area analyses you completed in Phase 1 as a starting point.
    2. Discuss how to gather data for the key metrics and their associated calculations.
    3. Discuss and decide the reporting intervals.
    4. Discuss and decide the unit of measurement.
    5. Generate a dashboard similar to the example. Consider using a BI or analytics tool to develop the dashboard.

    Data quality management must be sustained for ongoing improvements to the organization’s data

    • Data quality is never truly complete; it is a set of ongoing processes and disciplines that requires a permanent plan for monitoring practices, reviewing processes, and maintaining consistent data standards.
    • Setting the expectation to stakeholders that a long-term commitment is required to maintain quality data within the organization is critical to the success of the program.
    • A data quality maintenance program will continually revise and fine-tune ongoing practices, processes, and procedures employed for organizational data management.

    Data quality is a program that requires continual care:

    →Maintain→Good Data →

    Data quality management is a long-term commitment that shifts how an organization views, manages, and utilizes its corporate data assets. Long-term buy-in from all involved is critical.

    “Data quality is a process. We are trying to constantly improve the quality over time. It is not a one-time fix.” – Akin Akinwumi, Manager of Data Governance, Startech.com

    Define a data quality review agenda for data quality sustainment

    2 hours

    Input

    • Metrics and goals for data quality

    Output

    • Regularly scheduled data quality checkups

    Materials

    • Data Quality Diagnostic
    • Data Quality Dashboard

    Participants

    • Data Steward

    As a data steward, you are responsible for ongoing data quality checks of the business unit’s data. Define an improvement agenda to organize the improvement activities. Organize the activities yearly and quarterly to ensure improvement is done year-round.

    Quarterly

    • Measure data quality metrics against milestones. Perform a regular data quality health check with Info-Tech’s Data Quality Diagnostic.
    • Review the business unit’s Business Data Glossary to ensure that it is up to date and comprehensive.
    • Assess progress of practice area initiatives (time, milestones, budget, benefits delivered).
    • Analyze overall data quality and report progress on key improvement projects and corrective actions in the executive dashboard.
    • Communicate overall status of data quality to oversight body.

    Annually

    • Calculate your current baseline and measure progress by comparing it to previous years.
    • Set/revise quality objectives for each practice area and inter-practice hand-off processes.
    • Re-evaluate/re-establish data quality objectives.
    • Set/review data quality metrics and tracking mechanisms.
    • Set data quality review milestones and timelines.
    • Revisit data quality training from an end-user perspective and from a practitioner perspective.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Do data quality diagnostic at the beginning of any improvement plan, then recheck health with the diagnostic at regular intervals to see if symptoms are coming back. This should be a monitoring activity, not a data quality fixing activity. If symptoms are bad enough, repeat the improvement plan process.

    Take the next step in your Data & Analytics Journey

    After establishing your data quality program, look to increase your data & analytics maturity.

    • Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a concept that many organizations strive to implement. AI can really help in areas such as data preparation. However, implementing AI solutions requires a level of maturity that many organizations are not at.
    • While a solid data quality foundation is essential for AI initiatives being successful, AI can also ensure high data quality.
    • An AI analytics solution can address data integrity issues at the earliest point of data processing, rapidly transforming these vast volumes of data into trusted business information. This can be done through Anomaly detection, which flags “bad” data, identifying suspicious anomalies that can impact data quality. By tracking and evaluating data, anomaly detection gives critical insights into data quality as data is processed. (Ira Cohen, The End to a Never-Ending Story? Improve Data Quality with AI Analytics, anodot, 2020)

    Consider… “Garbage in, garbage out.”

    Lay a solid foundation by addressing your data quality issues prior to investing heavily in an AI solution.

    Related Info-Tech Research

    Are You Ready for AI?

    • Use AI as a compelling event to expedite funding, resources, and project plans for your data-related initiatives. Check out this note to understand what it takes to be ready to implement AI solutions.

    Get Started With Artificial Intelligence

    • Current AI technology is data-enabled, automated, adaptive decision support. Once you believe you are ready for AI, check out this blueprint on how to get started.

    Build a Data Architecture Roadmap

    • The data lineage diagram was a key tool used in establishing your data quality program. Check out this blueprint and learn how to optimize your data architecture to provide greatest value from data.

    Create an Architecture for AI

    • Build your target state architecture from predefined best practice building blocks. This blueprint assists members first to assess if they have the maturity to embrace AI in their organization, and if so, which AI acquisition model fits them best.

    Phase 4 Summary

    1. Data Quality Improvement Strategy
    • Brainstorm solutions to your data quality issues using the following data quality improvement strategies as a guide:
      1. Fix data quality issues by improving system/application design
      2. Fix data quality issues using proper database design
      3. Improve integration and synchronization of enterprise data
      4. Improve data quality policies and procedures
      5. Streamline and optimize business processes
  • Sustain Your Data Quality Program
    • Quality data is the ultimate outcome of data governance and data quality management.
    • Sustaining your data quality requires continuous oversight through a data governance practice.
    • There are three primary groups (Data Governance Council, Data Owners, and Data Stewards) that are involved in a mature governance practice.
  • Grow Your Data & Analytics Maturity
    • After establishing your data quality program, take the next step in increasing your data & analytics maturity.
    • Good data quality is the foundation of pursuing different ways of maximizing the value of your data such as implementing AI solutions.
    • Continue your data & analytics journey by referring to Info-Tech’s quality research.

    • Research Contributors and Experts

    Izabela Edmunds

    Information Architect Mott MacDonald

    Akin Akinwumi

    Manager of Data Governance Startech.com

    Diraj Goel

    Growth Advisor BC Tech

    Sujay Deb

    Director of Data Analytics Technology and Platforms Export Development Canada

    Asif Mumtaz

    Data & Solution Architect Blue Cross Blue Shield Association

    Patrick Bossey

    Manager of Business Intelligence Crawford and Company

    Anonymous Contributors

    Ibrahim Abdel-Kader

    Research Specialist Info-Tech Research Group

    Ibrahim is a Research Specialist at Info-Tech Research Group. In his career to date he has assisted many clients using his knowledge in process design, knowledge management, SharePoint for ECM, and more. He is expanding his familiarity in many areas such as data and analytics, enterprise architecture, and CIO-related topics.

    Reddy Doddipalli

    Senior Workshop Director Info-Tech Research Group

    Reddy is a Senior Workshop Director at Info-Tech Research Group, focused on data management and specialized analytics applications. He has over 25 years of strong industry experience in IT leading and managing analytics suite of solutions, enterprise data management, enterprise architecture, and artificial intelligence–based complex expert systems.

    Andy Neill

    Practice Lead, Data & Analytics and Enterprise Architecture Info-Tech Research Group

    Andy leads the data and analytics and enterprise architecture practices at ITRG. He has over 15 years of experience in managing technical teams, information architecture, data modeling, and enterprise data strategy. He is an expert in enterprise data architecture, data integration, data standards, data strategy, big data, and development of industry standard data models.

    Crystal Singh

    Research Director, Data & Analytics Info-Tech Research Group

    Crystal is a Research Director at Info-Tech Research Group. She brings a diverse and global perspective to her role, drawing from her professional experiences in various industries and locations. Prior to joining Info-Tech, Crystal led the Enterprise Data Services function at Rogers Communications, one of Canada’s leading telecommunications companies.

    Igor Ikonnikov

    Research Director, Data & Analytics Info-Tech Research Group

    Igor is a Research Director at Info-Tech Research Group. He has extensive experience in strategy formation and execution in the information management domain, including master data management, data governance, knowledge management, enterprise content management, big data, and analytics.

    Andrea Malick

    Research Director, Data & Analytics Info-Tech Research Group

    Andrea Malick is a Research Director at Info-Tech Research Group, focused on building best practices knowledge in the enterprise information management domain, with corporate and consulting leadership in enterprise architecture and content management (ECM).

    Natalia Modjeska

    Research Director, Data & Analytics Info-Tech Research Group

    Natalia Modjeska is a Research Director at Info-Tech Research Group. She advises members on topics related to AI, machine learning, advanced analytics, and data science, including ethics and governance. Natalia has over 15 years of experience in developing, selling, and implementing analytical solutions.

    Rajesh Parab

    Research Director, Data & Analytics Info-Tech Research Group

    Rajesh Parab is a Research Director at Info-Tech Research Group. He has over 20 years of global experience and brings a unique mix of technology and business acumen. He has worked on many data-driven business applications. In his previous architecture roles, Rajesh created a number of product roadmaps, technology strategies, and models.

    Bibliography

    Amidon, Kirk. "Case Study: How Data Quality Has Evolved at MathWorks." The Fifth MIT Information Quality Industry Symposium. 13 July 2011. Web. 19 Aug. 2015.

    Boulton, Clint. “Disconnect between CIOs and LOB managers weakens data quality.” CIO. 05 February 2016. Accessed June 2020.

    COBIT 5: Enabling Information. Rolling Meadows, IL: ISACA, 2013. Web.

    Cohen, Ira. “The End to a Never-Ending Story? Improve Data Quality with AI Analytics.” anodot. 2020.

    “DAMA Guide to the Data Management Body of Knowledge (DAMA-DMBOK Guide).” First Edition. DAMA International. 2009. Digital. April 2014.

    "Data Profiling: Underpinning Data Quality Management." Pitney Bowes. Pitney Bowes - Group 1 Software, 2007. Web. 18 Aug. 2015.

    Data.com. “Data.com Clean.” Salesforce. 2016. Web. 18 Aug. 2015.

    “Dawn of the CDO." Experian Data Quality. 2015. Web. 18 Aug. 2015.

    Demirkan, Haluk, and Bulent Dal. "Why Do So Many Analytics Projects Fail?" The Data Economy: Why Do so Many Analytics Projects Fail? Analytics Magazine. July-Aug. 2014. Web.

    Dignan, Larry. “CIOs juggling digital transformation pace, bad data, cloud lock-in and business alignment.” ZDNet. 11 March 2020. Accessed July.

    Dumbleton, Janani, and Derek Munro. "Global Data Quality Research - Discussion Paper 2015." Experian Data Quality. 2015. Web. 18 Aug. 2015.

    Eckerson, Wayne W. "Data Quality and the Bottom Line - Achieving Business Success through a Commitment to High Quality Data." The Data Warehouse Institute. 2002. Web. 18 Aug. 2015.

    “Infographic: Data Quality in BI the Costs and Benefits.” HaloBI. 2015 Web.

    Lee, Y.W. and Strong, D.M. “Knowing-Why About Data Processes and Data Quality.” Journal of Management Information Systems. 2004.

    “Making Data Quality a Way of Life.” Cognizant. 2014. Web. 18 Aug. 2015.

    "Merck Serono Achieves Single Source of Truth with Comprehensive RIM Solutions." www.productlifegroup.com. ProductLife Group. 15 Apr. 2015. Web. 23 Nov. 2015.

    Myers, Dan. “List of Conformed Dimensions of Data Quality.” Conformed Dimensions of Data Quality (CDDQ). 2019. Web.

    Redman, Thomas C. “Make the Case for Better Data Quality.” Harvard Business Review. 24 Aug. 2012. Web. 19 Aug. 2015.

    RingLead Data Management Solutions. “10 Stats About Data Quality I Bet You Didn’t Know.” RingLead. Accessed 7 July 2020.

    Schwartzrock, Todd. "Chrysler's Data Quality Management Case Study." Online video clip. YouTube. 21 April. 2011. Web. 18 Aug. 2015

    “Taking control in the digital age.” Experian Data Quality. Jan 2019. Web.

    “The data-driven organization, a transformation in progress.” Experian Data Quality. 2020. Web.

    "The Data Quality Benchmark Report." Experian Data Quality. Jan. 2015. Web. 18 Aug. 2015.

    “The state of data quality.” Experian Data Quality. Sept. 2013. Web. 17 Aug. 2015.

    Vincent, Lanny. “Differentiating Competence, Capability and Capacity.” Innovation Management Services. Web. June 2008.

    “7 ways poor data quality is costing your business.” Experian Data Quality. July 2020. Web.

    Select an EA Tool Based on Business and User Need

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    • Parent Category Name: Architecture Domains
    • Parent Category Link: /architecture-domains
    • A mature EA function is increasingly becoming an organizational priority to drive innovation, provide insight, and define digital capabilities.
    • Proliferation of digital technology has increased complexity, straining the EA function to deliver insights.
    • An EA tool increases the efficiency with which the EA function can deliver insights, but a large number of organizations have not a selected an EA tool that suits their needs.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • EA tool value largely comes from tying organizational context and requirements to the selection process.
    • Organizations that have selected an EA tool often fail to have it adopted and show its true value. To ensure successful adoption and value delivery, the EA tool selection process must account for the needs of business stakeholders and tool users.

    Impact and Result

    • Link the need for the EA tool to your organization’s EA value proposition. The connection enables the EA tool to address the future needs of stakeholders and the design style of the EA team.
    • Use Info-Tech’s EA Solution Recommendation Tool to create a shortlist of EA tools that is suited to the preferences of the organization.
    • Gather additional information on the shortlist of EA tool vendors to narrow down the selection using the EA Tool Request for Information Template.

    Select an EA Tool Based on Business and User Need Research & Tools

    Start here – read the Executive Brief

    Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should procure an EA tool in the digital age, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    • Select an EA Tool Based on Business and User Need – Executive Brief
    • Select an EA Tool Based on Business and User Need – Phases 1-3

    1. Make the case

    Decide if an EA tool is needed in your organization and define the requirements of EA tool users.

    • Select an EA Tool Based on Business and User Need – Phase 1: Make the Case
    • EA Value Proposition Template
    • EA Tool User Requirements Template

    2. Shortlist EA tools

    Determine your organization’s preferences in terms of product capabilities and vendor characteristics.

    • Select an EA Tool Based on Business and User Need – Phase 2: Shortlist EA Tools
    • EA Solution Recommendation Tool

    3. Select and communicate the process

    Gather information on shortlisted vendors and make your final decision.

    • Select an EA Tool Based on Business and User Need – Phase 3: Select and Communicate the Process
    • EA Tool Request for Information Template
    • EA Tool Demo Script Template
    • Request for Proposal (RFP) Template
    • EA Tool Selection Process Template
    [infographic]

    Implement Infrastructure Shared Services

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    • Parent Category Name: Operations Management
    • Parent Category Link: /i-and-o-process-management
    • Organizations have service duplications for unique needs. These duplications increase business expenditure.
    • Lack of collaboration between business units to share their services increases business cost and reduces business units’ faith to implement shared services.
    • Transitioning infrastructure to shared services is challenging for many organizations. It requires an accurate planning and efficient communication between participating business units.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • Identify your current process, tool, and people capabilities before implementing shared services. Understand the financial compensations prior to implementation and assess if your organization is ready for transitioning to shared services model.
    • Do not implement shared services when the nature of the services differs greatly between business units.

    Impact and Result

    • Understand benefits of shared services for the business and determine whether transitioning to shared services would benefit the organization.
    • Identify the best implementation plan based on goals, needs, and services.
    • Build a shared-services process to manage the plan and ensure its success.

    Implement Infrastructure Shared Services Research & Tools

    Start here – Read the Executive Brief

    Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should implement shared services, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the ways we can support you in completing this project.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Conduct gap analysis

    Identify benefits of shared services to your organization and define implementation challenges.

    • Implement Infrastructure Shared Services – Phase 1: Conduct Gap Analysis
    • Shared Services Implementation Executive Presentation
    • Shared Services Implementation Business Case Template
    • Shared Services Implementation Assessment Tool

    2. Choose the right path

    Identify your process and staff capabilities and discover which services will be transitioned to shared services plan. It will also help you to figure out the best model to choose.

    • Implement Infrastructure Shared Services – Phase 2: Choose the Right Path
    • Sample Enterprise Services

    3. Plan the transition

    Discuss an actionable plan to implement shared services to track the project. Walk through a communication plan to document the goals, progress, and expectations with customer stakeholders.

    • Implement Infrastructure Shared Services – Phase 3: Plan the Transition
    • Shared Services Implementation Roadmap Tool
    • Shared Services Implementation Customer Communication Plan
    [infographic]

    Workshop: Implement Infrastructure Shared Services

    Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

    1 Identify Challenges

    The Purpose

    Establish the need for change.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Set a clear understanding about benefits of shared services to your organization.

    Activities

    1.1 Identify your organization’s main drivers for using a shared services model.

    1.2 Define if it is beneficial to implement shared services.

    Outputs

    Shared services mission

    Shared services goals

    2 Assess Your Capabilities

    The Purpose

    Become aware of challenges to implement shared services and your capabilities for such transition.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Discover the primary challenges for transitioning to shared services, eliminate resistance factors, and identify your business potentials for implementation.

    Activities

    2.1 Identify your organization’s resistance to implement shared services.

    2.2 Assess process and people capabilities.

    Outputs

    Shared Services Business Case

    Shared Services Assessment

    3 Define the Model

    The Purpose

    Determine the shared services model.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Identify the core services to be shared and the best model that fits your organization.

    Activities

    3.1 Define core services that will be moved to shared services.

    3.2 Assess different models of shared services and pick the one that satisfies your goals and needs.

    Outputs

    List of services to be transferred to shared services

    Shared services model

    4 Implement and Communicate

    The Purpose

    Define and communicate the tasks to be delivered.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Confidently approach key stakeholders to make the project a reality.

    Activities

    4.1 Define the roadmap for implementing shared services.

    4.2 Make a plan to communicate changes.

    Outputs

    List of initiatives to reach the target state, strategy risks, and their timelines

    Draft of a communication plan

    Modernize Your SDLC

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    • Parent Category Name: Development
    • Parent Category Link: /development
    • Today’s rapidly scaling and increasingly complex products create mounting pressure on delivery teams to release new features and changes quickly and with sufficient quality.
    • Many organizations lack the critical capabilities and resources needed to satisfy their growing backlog, jeopardizing product success.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • Delivery quality and throughput go hand in hand. Focus on meeting minimum process and product quality standards first. Improved throughput will eventually follow.
    • Business integration is not optional. The business must be involved in guiding delivery efforts, and ongoing validation and verification product changes.
    • The software development lifecycle (SDLC) must deliver more than software. Business value is generated through the products and services delivered by your SDLC. Teams must provide the required product support and stakeholders must be willing to participate in the product’s delivery.

    Impact and Result

    • Standardize your definition of a successful product. Come to an organizational agreement of what defines a high-quality and successful product. Accommodate both business and IT perspectives in your definition.
    • Clarify the roles, processes, and tools to support business value delivery and satisfy stakeholder expectations. Indicate where and how key roles are involved throughout product delivery to validate and verify work items and artifacts. Describe how specific techniques and tools are employed to meet stakeholder requirements.
    • Focus optimization efforts on most affected stages. Reveal the health of your SDLC from the value delivery, business and technical practice quality standards, discipline, throughput, and governance perspectives with a diagnostic. Identify and roadmap the solutions to overcome the root causes of your diagnostic results.

    Modernize Your SDLC Research & Tools

    Start here – read the Executive Brief

    Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should modernize your SDLC, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Set your SDLC context

    State the success criteria of your SDLC practice through the definition of product quality and organizational priorities. Define your SDLC current state.

    • Modernize Your SDLC – Phase 1: Set Your SDLC Context
    • SDLC Strategy Template

    2. Diagnose your SDLC

    Build your SDLC diagnostic framework based on your practice’s product and process objectives. Root cause your improvement opportunities.

    • Modernize Your SDLC – Phase 2: Diagnose Your SDLC
    • SDLC Diagnostic Tool

    3. Modernize your SDLC

    Learn of today’s good SDLC practices and use them to address the root causes revealed in your SDLC diagnostic results.

    • Modernize Your SDLC – Phase 3: Modernize Your SDLC
    [infographic]

    Workshop: Modernize Your SDLC

    Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

    1 Set Your SDLC Context

    The Purpose

    Discuss your quality and product definitions and how quality is interpreted from both business and IT perspectives.

    Review your case for strengthening your SDLC practice.

    Review the current state of your roles, processes, and tools in your organization.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Grounded understanding of products and quality that is accepted across the organization.

    Clear business and IT objectives and metrics that dictate your SDLC practice’s success.

    Defined SDLC current state people, process, and technologies.

    Activities

    1.1 Define your products and quality.

    1.2 Define your SDLC objectives.

    1.3 Measure your SDLC effectiveness.

    1.4 Define your current SDLC state.

    Outputs

    Product and quality definitions.

    SDLC business and technical objectives and vision.

    SDLC metrics.

    SDLC capabilities, processes, roles and responsibilities, resourcing model, and tools and technologies.

    2 Diagnose Your SDLC

    The Purpose

    Discuss the components of your diagnostic framework.

    Review the results of your SDLC diagnostic.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    SDLC diagnostic framework tied to your SDLC objectives and definitions.

    Root causes to your SDLC issues and optimization opportunities.

    Activities

    2.1 Build your diagnostic framework.

    2.2 Diagnose your SDLC.

    Outputs

    SDLC diagnostic framework.

    Root causes to SDLC issues and optimization opportunities.

    3 Modernize Your SDLC

    The Purpose

    Discuss the SDLC practices used in the industry.

    Review the scope and achievability of your SDLC optimization initiatives.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Knowledge of good practices that can improve the effectiveness and efficiency of your SDLC.

    Realistic and achievable SDLC optimization roadmap.

    Activities

    3.1 Learn and adopt SDLC good practices.

    3.2 Build your optimization roadmap.

    Outputs

    Optimization initiatives and target state SDLC practice.

    SDLC optimization roadmap, risks and mitigations, and stakeholder communication flow.

    Leadership Workshop Overview

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    • Parent Category Name: Leadership Development Programs
    • Parent Category Link: /leadership-development-programs

    Leadership has evolved over time. The velocity of change has increased and leadership for the future looks different than the past.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    Development of the leadership mind should never stop. This program will help IT leaders continue to craft their leadership competencies to navigate the ever-changing world in which we operate.

    Impact and Result

    • Embrace and lead change through active sharing, transparency, and partnerships.
    • Encourage growth mindset to enhance innovative ideas and go past what has always been done.
    • Actively delegate responsibilities and opportunities that engage and develop team members to build on current skills and prepare for the future.

    Leadership Workshop Overview Research & Tools

    Start here – read the Workshop Overview

    Read our concise Workshop Overview to find out how this program can support the development needs of your IT leadership teams.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    • Info-Tech Leadership Workshop Overview
    [infographic]

    Tame the Project Backlog

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    • Parent Category Name: Portfolio Management
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    • Unmanaged project backlogs can become the bane of IT departments, tying IT leaders and PMO staff down to an ever-growing receptacle of project ideas that provides little by way of strategic value and that typically represents a lack of project intake and approval discipline.
    • Decision makers frequently use the backlog to keep the peace. Lacking the time to assess the bulk of requests, or simply wanting to avoid difficult conversations with stakeholders, they “approve” everything and leave it to IT to figure it out.
    • As IT has increasing difficulty assessing – let alone starting – any of the projects in the backlog, stakeholder relations suffer. Requestors view inclusion in the backlog as a euphemism for “declined,” and often characterize the backlog as the place where good project ideas go to die.
    • Faced with these challenges, you need to make your project backlog more useful and reliable. The backlog may contain projects worth doing, but in its current untamed state, you have difficulty discerning, let alone capitalizing upon, those instances of value.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • Project backlogs are an investment and need to be treated as such. Incurring a cost impact that can be measured in terms of time and money, the backlog needs to be actively managed to ensure that you’re investing wisely and getting a good return in terms of strategic value and project throughput.
    • Unmanageable project backlogs are rooted in bad habits and poorly-defined processes. Identifying the sources that fuel backlog growth is key to long-term success. Unless the problem is addressed at the root, any gains made in the near-term will simply fade away as old, unhealthy habits re-emerge and take hold.
    • Backlog management should facilitate executive awareness about the status of backlog items as new work is being approved. In the long run, this ongoing executive engagement will not only help to keep the backlog manageable, but it will also help to bring more even workloads to IT project staff.

    Impact and Result

    • Keep the best, forget the rest. Develop a near-term approach to limit the role of the backlog to include only those items that add value to the business.
    • Shine a light. Improve executive visibility into the health and status of the backlog so that the backlog is taken into account when decision makers approve new work.
    • Evolve the organizational culture. Effectively employ organizational change management practices to evolve the culture that currently exists around the project backlog in order to ensure customer-service needs are more effectively addressed.
    • Ensure long-term sustainability. Institute processes to make sure that your list of pending projects – should you still require one after implementing this blueprint – remains minimal, maintainable, and of high value.

    Tame the Project Backlog Research & Tools

    Start here – read the Executive Brief

    Read our concise Executive Brief to find out how a more disciplined approach to managing your project backlog can help you realize increased value and project throughput.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Create a project backlog battle plan

    Calculate the cost of the project backlog and assess the root causes of its unmanageability.

    • Tame the Project Backlog – Phase 1: Create a Backlog Battle Plan
    • Project Backlog ROI Calculator

    2. Execute a near-term backlog cleanse

    Increase the manageability of the backlog by updating stale requests and removing dead weight.

    • Tame the Project Backlog – Phase 2: Execute a Near-Term Backlog Cleanse
    • Project Backlog Management Tool
    • Project Backlog Stakeholder Communications Template

    3. Ensure long-term backlog manageability

    Develop and maintain a manageable backlog growth rate by establishing disciplined backlog management processes.

    • Tame the Project Backlog – Phase 3: Ensure Long-Term Backlog Manageability
    • Project Backlog Operating Plan Template
    • Project Backlog Manager
    [infographic]

    Workshop: Tame the Project Backlog

    Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

    1 Create a Project Backlog Battle Plan

    The Purpose

    Gauge the manageability of your project backlog in its current state.

    Calculate the total cost of your project backlog investments.

    Determine the root causes that contribute to the unmanageability of your project backlog.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    An understanding of the organizational need for more disciplined backlog management.

    Visibility into the costs incurred by the project backlog.

    An awareness of the sources that feed the growth of the project backlog and make it a challenge to maintain.

    Activities

    1.1 Calculate the sunk and marginal costs that have gone into your project backlog.

    1.2 Estimate the throughput of backlog items.

    1.3 Survey the root causes of your project backlog.

    Outputs

    The total estimated cost of the project backlog.

    A project backlog return-on-investment score.

    A project backlog root cause analysis.

    2 Execute a Near-Term Project Backlog Cleanse

    The Purpose

    Identify the most organizationally appropriate goals for your backlog cleanse.

    Pinpoint those items that warrant immediate removal from the backlog and establish a game plan for putting a bullet in them.

    Communicate backlog decisions with stakeholders in a way that minimizes friction and resistance. 

    Key Benefits Achieved

    An effective, achievable, and organizationally right-sized approach to cleansing the backlog.

    Criteria for cleanse outcomes and a protocol for carrying out the near-term cleanse.

    A project sponsor outreach plan to help ensure that decisions made during your near-term cleanse stick. 

    Activities

    2.1 Establish roles and responsibilities for the near-term cleanse.

    2.2 Determine cleanse scope.

    2.3 Develop backlog prioritization criteria.

    2.4 Prepare a communication strategy.

    Outputs

    Clear accountabilities to ensure the backlog is effectively minimized and outcomes are communicated effectively.

    Clearly defined and achievable goals.

    Effective criteria for cleansing the backlog of zombie projects and maintaining projects that are of strategic and operational value.

    A communication strategy to minimize stakeholder friction and resistance.

    3 Ensure Long-Term Project Backlog Manageability

    The Purpose

    Ensure ongoing backlog manageability.

    Make sure the executive layer is aware of the ongoing status of the backlog when making project decisions.

    Customize a best-practice toolkit to help keep the project backlog useful. 

    Key Benefits Achieved

    A list of pending projects that is minimal, maintainable, and of high value.

    Executive engagement with the backlog to ensure intake and approval decisions are made with a view of the backlog in mind.

    A backlog management tool and processes for ongoing manageability. 

    Activities

    3.1 Develop a project backlog management operating model.

    3.2 Configure a project backlog management solution.

    3.3 Assign roles and responsibilities for your long-term project backlog management processes.

    3.4 Customize a project backlog management operating plan.

    Outputs

    An operating model to structure your long-term strategy around.

    A right-sized management tool to help enable your processes and executive visibility into the backlog.

    Defined accountabilities for executing project backlog management responsibilities.

    Clearly established processes for how items get in and out of the backlog, as well as for ongoing backlog review.

    Stabilize Release and Deployment Management

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    Lack of control over the release process, poor collaboration between teams, and manual deployments lead to poor quality releases at a cost to the business.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • Manage risk. Release management should stabilize the IT environment. A poorly designed release can take down the whole business. Rushing releases out the door leads to increased risk for the business.
    • Quality processes are key. Standardized process will enable your release and deployment management teams to have a framework to deploy new releases with minimal chance of costly downtime further down the production chain.
    • Business must own the process. Release managers need oversight of the business to remain good stewards of the release management process.

    Impact and Result

    • Be prepared with a release management policy. With vulnerabilities discovered and published at an alarming pace, organizations have to build a plan to address and fix them quickly. A detailed release and patch policy should map out all the logistics of the deployment in advance, so that when necessary, teams can handle rollouts like a well-oiled machine.
    • Automate your software deployment and patch management strategy. Replace tedious and time-consuming manual processes with the use of automated release and patch management tools. Some organizations have a variety of release tools for various tasks and processes to ensure all or most of the required processes are covered across a diverse development environment.
    • Test deployments and monitor your releases. Larger organizations may have the luxury of a test environment prior to deployment, but that may be cost prohibitive for smaller organizations. If resources are a constraint, roll out the patch gradually and closely monitor performance to be able to quickly revert in the event of an issue.

    Stabilize Release and Deployment Management Research & Tools

    Start here – read the Executive Brief

    Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should control and stabilize your release and deployment management practice while improving the quality of releases and deployments, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Analyze current state

    Begin improving release management by assessing the current state and gaining a solid understanding of how core operational processes are actually functioning within the organization.

    • Stabilize Release and Deployment Management – Phase 1: Analyze Current State
    • Release Management Maturity Assessment
    • Release Management Project Roadmap Tool
    • Release Management Workflow Library (Visio)
    • Release Management Workflow Library (PDF)
    • Release Management Standard Operating Procedure
    • Patch Management Policy
    • Release Management Policy
    • Release Management Deployment Tracker
    • Release Management Build Procedure Template

    2. Plan releases and deployments

    Plan releases to gather all the pieces in one place and define what, why, when, and how a release will happen.

    • Stabilize Release and Deployment Management – Phase 2: Release and Deployment Planning

    3. Build, test, deploy

    Take a holistic and comprehensive approach to effectively designing and building releases. Get everything right the first time.

    • Stabilize Release and Deployment Management – Phase 3: Build, Test, Deploy

    4. Measure, manage, improve

    Determine desired goals for release management to ensure both IT and the business see the benefits of implementation.

    • Stabilize Release and Deployment Management – Phase 4: Measure, Manage, Improve
    [infographic]

    Workshop: Stabilize Release and Deployment Management

    Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

    1 Analyze Current State

    The Purpose

    Release management improvement begins with assessment of the current state.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    A solid understanding of how core operational processes are actually functioning within the organization.

    Activities

    1.1 Evaluate process maturity.

    1.2 Assess release management challenges.

    1.3 Define roles and responsibilities.

    1.4 Review and rightsize existing policy suite.

    Outputs

    Maturity Assessment

    Release Management Policy

    Release Management Standard Operating Procedure

    Patch Management Policy

    2 Release Management Planning

    The Purpose

    In simple terms, release planning puts all the pertinent pieces in one place.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    It defines the what, why, when, and how a release will happen.

    Activities

    2.1 Design target state release planning process.

    2.2 Define, bundle, and categorize releases.

    2.3 Standardize deployment plans and models.

    Outputs

    Release Planning Workflow

    Categorization and prioritization schemes

    Deployment models aligned to release types

    3 Build, Test, and Deploy

    The Purpose

    Take a holistic and comprehensive approach to effectively designing and building releases.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Standardize build and test procedures to begin to drive consistency.

    Activities

    3.1 Standardize build procedures for deployments.

    3.2 Standardize test plans aligned to release types.

    Outputs

    Build procedure for hardware and software releases

    Test models aligned to deployment models

    4 Measure, Manage, and Improve

    The Purpose

    Determine and define the desired goals for release management as a whole.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Agree to key metrics and success criteria to start tracking progress and establish a post-deployment review process to promote continual improvement.

    Activities

    4.1 Determine key metrics to track progress.

    4.2 Establish a post-deployment review process.

    4.3 Understand and define continual improvement drivers.

    Outputs

    List of metrics and goals

    Post-deployment validation checklist

    Project roadmap

    Identify and Reduce Agile Contract Risk

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    • Customer maturity levels with Agile are low, with 67% of organizations using Agile for less than five years.
    • Customer competency levels with Agile are also low, with 84% of organizations stating they are below a high level of competency.
    • Contract disputes are the number one or two types of disputes faced by organizations across all industries.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • Agile contracts require different wording and protections than traditional or waterfall contracts.
    • Agile buzzwords by themselves do not create an Agile contract.
    • There is a delicate balance between being overly prescriptive in an Agile contract and too lax.

    Impact and Result

    • Identify options for Agile contract provisions.
    • Manage Agile contract risk by selecting the appropriate level of protections for an Agile project.
    • Harness the power of Agile development and collaboration with the vendor while preserving contractual flexibility.
    • Focus on the correct contract clauses to manage Agile risk.

    Identify and Reduce Agile Contract Risk Research & Tools

    Start here – read the Executive Brief

    Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should treat Agile contracts differently from traditional or waterfall contracts, and review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the twelve contract clauses that are different for Agile contracts.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Identify and evaluate options

    Use the information in this blueprint and Info-Tech’s Agile Contract Playbook-Checklist to review and assess your Agile contracts, ensuring that the provisions and protections are suitable for Agile contracts specifically.

    • Agile Contracts Playbook-Checklist
    [infographic]

    Workshop: Identify and Reduce Agile Contract Risk

    Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

    1 Identify and Evaluate Options

    The Purpose

    To understand Agile-specific contract clauses, to improve risk identification, and to be more effective at negotiating Agile contract terms.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Increased awareness of how Agile contract provisions are different from traditional or waterfall contracts in 12 key areas.

    Understanding available options.

    Understanding the impact of being too prescriptive.

    Activities

    1.1 Review the Agile Contract Playbook-Checklist.

    1.2 Review 12 contract provisions and reinforce key learnings with exercises.

    Outputs

    Configured Playbook-Checklist as applicable

    Exercise results and debrief

    IBM i Migration Considerations

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    IBM i remains a vital platform and now many CIOs, CTOs, and IT leaders are faced with the same IBM i challenges regardless of industry focus: how do you evaluate the future viability of this platform, assess the future fit and purpose, develop strategies, and determine the future of this platform for your organization?

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    For organizations that are struggling with the iSeries/IBM i platform, resourcing challenges are typically the culprit. An aging population of RPG programmers and system administrators means organizations need to be more pro-active in maintaining in-house expertise. Migrating off the iSeries/IBM i platform is a difficult option for most organizations due to complexity, switching costs in the short term, and a higher long-term TCO.

    Impact and Result

    The most common tactic is for the organization to better understand their IBM i options and adopt some level of outsourcing for the non-commodity platform retaining the application support/development in-house. To make the evident, obvious; the options here for the non-commodity are not as broad as with commodity server platforms. Options include co-location, onsite outsourcing, managed and public cloud services.

    IBM i Migration Considerations Research & Tools

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. IBM i Migration Considerations – A brief deck that outlines key migration options for the IBM i platforms.

    This project will help you evaluate the future viability of this platform; assess the fit, purpose, and price; develop strategies for overcoming potential challenges; and determine the future of this platform for your organization.

    • IBM i Migration Considerations Storyboard

    2. Infrastructure Outsourcing IBM i Scoring Tool – A tool to collect vendor responses and score each vendor.

    Use this scoring sheet to help you define and evaluate IBM i vendor responses.

    • Infrastructure Outsourcing IBM i Scoring Tool
    [infographic]

    Further reading

    IBM i Migration Considerations

    Don’t be overwhelmed by IBM i migration options.

    Executive Summary

    Your Challenge

    IBM i remains a vital platform and now many CIO, CTO, and IT leaders are faced with the same IBM i challenges regardless of industry focus; how do you evaluate the future viability of this platform, assess the future fit and purpose, develop strategies, and determine the future of this platform for your organization?

    Common Obstacles

    For organizations that are struggling with the iSeries/IBM i platform, resourcing challenges are typically the culprit. An aging population of RPG programmers and system administrators means organizations need to be more proactive in maintaining in-house expertise. Migrating off the iSeries/IBM i platform is a difficult option for most organizations due to complexity, switching costs in the short term, and a higher long-term TCO.

    Info-Tech Approach

    The most common tactic is for the organization to better understand its IBM i options and adopt some level of outsourcing for the non-commodity platform, retaining the application support/development in-house. To make the evident, obvious: the options here for the non-commodity are not as broad as with commodity server platforms. Options include co-location, onsite outsourcing, managed hosting, and public cloud services.

    Info-Tech Insight

    “For over twenty years, IBM was ‘king,’ dominating the large computer market. By the 1980s, the world had woken up to the fact that the IBM mainframe was expensive and difficult, taking a long time and a lot of work to get anything done. Eager for a new solution, tech professionals turned to the brave new concept of distributed systems for a more efficient alternative. On June 21, 1988, IBM announced the launch of the AS/400, their answer to distributed computing.” (Dale Perkins)

    Review

    We help IT leaders make the most of their IBM i environment.

    Problem Statement:

    The IBM i remains a vital platform for many businesses and continues to deliver exceptional reliability and performance and play a key role in the enterprise. With the limited resources at hand, CIOs and the like must continually review and understand their migration path with the same regard as any other distributed system roadmap.

    This research is designed for:

    • IT strategic direction decision makers
    • IT managers responsible for an existing iSeries or IBM i platform
    • Organizations evaluating platforms for mission-critical applications

    This research will help you:

    1. Evaluate the future viability of this platform.
    2. Assess the fit, purpose, and price.
    3. Develop strategies for overcoming potential challenges.
    4. Determine the future of this platform for your organization.

    The “fit for purpose” plot

    Thought Model

    We will investigate the aspect of different IBM i scenarios as they impact business, what that means, and how that can guide the questions that you are asking as you move to an aligned IBM i IT strategy. Our model considers:

    • Importance to Business Outcomes
      • Important to strategic objectives
      • Provides competitive advantage
      • Non-commodity IT service or process
      • Specialized in-house knowledge required
    • Vendor’s Performance Advantage
      • Talent or access to skills
      • Economies of scale or lower cost at scale
      • Access to technology

    Info-Tech Insights

    With multiple control points to be addressed, care must be taken in simplifying your options while addressing all concerns to ease operational load.

    		Map different 'IBM i' scenarios with axes 'Importance to Business Outcomes - Low to High' and 'Vendor’s Performance Advantage - Low to High'. Quadrant labels are '[LI/LA] Potentially Outsource: Service management, Help desk, desk-side support, Asset management', '[LI/HA] Outsource: Application & Infra Support, Web Hosting, SAP Support, Email Services, Infrastructure', '[HI/LA] Insource (For Now): Application development tech support', and '[HI/HA] Potentially Outsource: Onshore or offshore application maintenance'.

    IBM i environments are challenging

    “The IBM i Reality” – Darin Stahl

    Most members relying on business applications/workloads running on non-commodity platforms (zSeries, IBM i, Solaris, AIX, etc.) are first motivated to get out from under the perceived higher costs for the hardware platform.

    An additional challenge for non-commodity platforms is that from an IT Operations Management perspective they become an island with a diminishing number of integrated operations skills and solutions such as backup/restore and monitoring tools.

    The most common tactic is for the organization to adopt some level of outsourcing for the non-commodity platform, retaining the application support and development in-house.

    		Key challenges with current IBM i environments:
    1. DR Requirements
      Understand what the business needs are and where users and resources are located.
    2. Market Lack of Expertise
      Skilled team members are hard to find.
    3. Cost Management
      There is a perceived cost disadvantage to managing on-prem solutions.
    4. Aging Support Teams
      Current support teams are aging with little backfill in skill and experience.

    Understand your options

    Co-Location

    A customer transitions their hardware environment to a provider’s data center. The provider can then manage the hardware and “system.”

    		Onsite Outsourcing

    A provider will support the hardware/system environment at the client’s site.

    		Managed Hosting

    A customer transitions their legacy application environment to an off-prem hosted, multi-tenanted environment.

    		Public Cloud

    A customer can “re-platform” the non-commodity workload into public cloud offerings or in a few offerings “re-host.”

    Co-Location

    Provider manages the data center hardware environment.

    Abstract

    Here a provider manages the system data center environment and hardware; however, the client’s in-house IBM i team manages the IBM i hardware environment and the system applications. The client manages all of the licenses associated with the platform as well as the hardware asset management considerations. This is typically part of a larger services or application transformation. This effectively outsources the data center management while maintaining all IBM i technical operations in-house.

    Advantages

    • On-demand bandwidth
    • Cost effective
    • Secure and compliant environment
    • On-demand remote “hands and feet” services
    • Improved IT DR services
    • Data center compliance

    Considerations

    • Application transformation
    • CapEx cost
    • Fluctuating network bandwidth costs
    • Secure connectivity
    • Disaster recovery and availability of vendor
    • Company IT DR and BC planning
    • Remote system maintenance (HW)

    Info-Tech Insights

    This model is extremely attractive for organizations looking to reduce their data center management footprint. Idea for the SMB.

    Onsite Sourcing

    A provider will support the hardware/system environment at the client’s site.

    Abstract

    Here a provider will support and manage the hardware/system environment at the client’s site. The provider may acquire the customer’s hardware and provide software licenses. This could also include hiring or “rebadging” staff supporting the platform. This type of arrangement is typically part of a larger services or application transformation. While low risk, it is not as cost-effective as other deployment models.

    Advantages

    • Managed environment within company premises
    • Cost effective (OpEx expense)
    • Economies of scale
    • On-demand “as-a-service” model
    • Improved IT DR staffing services
    • 24x7 monitoring and support

    Considerations

    • Outsourced IT talent
    • Terms and contract conditions
    • IT staff attrition
    • Increased liability
    • Modified technical support and engagement
    • Secure connectivity and communication
    • Internal problem and change management

    Info-Tech Insights

    Depending on the application lifecycle and viability, in-house skill and technical depth is a key consideration when developing your IBM i strategy.

    Managed Hosting

    Transition legacy application environment to an off-prem hosted multi-tenanted environment.

    Abstract

    This type of arrangement is typically part of an application migration or transformation. In this model, a client can “re-platform” the application into an off-premises-hosted provider platform. This would yield many of the cloud benefits however in a different scaling capacity as experienced with commodity workloads (e.g. Windows, Linux) and the associated application.

    Advantages

    • Turns CapEx into OpEx
    • Reduces in-house need for diminishing or scarce human resources
    • Allows the enterprise to focus on the value of the IBM i platform through the reduction of system administrative toil
    • Improved IT DR services
    • Data center compliance

    Considerations

    • Application transformation
    • Network bandwidth
    • Contract terms and conditions
    • Modified technical support and engagement
    • Secure connectivity and communication
    • Technical security and compliance
    • Limited providers; reduced options

    Info-Tech Insights

    There is a difference between a “re-host” and “re-platform” migration strategy. Determine which solution aligns to the application requirements.

    Public Cloud

    Leverage “public cloud” alternatives with AWS, Google, or Microsoft AZURE.

    Abstract

    This type of arrangement is typically part of a larger migration or application transformation. While low risk, it is not as cost-effective as other deployment models. In this model, client can “re-platform” the non-commodity workload into public cloud offerings or in a few offerings “re-host.” This would yield many of the cloud benefits however in a different scaling capacity as experienced with commodity workloads (e.g. Windows, Linux).

    Advantages

    • Remote workforce accessibility
    • OpEx expense model
    • Improved IT DR services
    • Reduced infrastructure and system administration
    • Vendor management
    • 24x7 monitoring and support

    Considerations

    • Contract terms and conditions
    • Modified technical support and engagement
    • Secure connectivity and communication
    • Technical security and compliance
    • Limited providers; reduced options
    • Vendor/cloud lock-in
    • Application migration/”re-platform”
    • Application and system performance

    Info-Tech Insights

    This model is extremely attractive for organizations that consume primarily cloud services and have a large remote workforce.

    Understand your vendors

    • To best understand your options, you need to understand what IBM i services are provided by the industry vendors.
    • Within the following slides, you will find a defined activity with a working template that will create “vendor profiles” for each vendor.
    • As a working example, you can review the following partners:
    • Connectria (United States)
    • Rowton IT Solutions Ltd (United Kingdom)
    • Mid-Range (Canada)

    Info-Tech Insights

    Creating vendor profiles will help quickly filter the solution providers that directly meet your IBM i needs.

    Vendor Profile #1

    Rowton IT

    Summary of Vendor

    “Rowton IT thrive on creating robust and simple solutions to today's complex IT problems. We have a highly skilled and motivated workforce that will guarantee the right solution.

    Working with select business partners, we can offer competitive and cost effective packages tailored to suit your budget and/or business requirements.

    Our knowledge and experience cover vast areas of IT including technical design, provision and installation of hardware (Wintel and IBM Midrange), technical engineering services, support services, IT project management, application testing, documentation and training.”

    IBM i Services

    • ✔ IBM Power Hardware Sales
    • ✔ Co-Managed Services
    • ✔ DR/High Available Config
    • ✔ Full Managed Services
    • ✖ Co-Location Services
    • ✔ Public Cloud Services (AWS)

    URL
    rowtonit.com

    Regional Coverage:
    United Kingdom

    		Logo for RowtonIT.com.

    Vendor Profile #2

    Connectria

    Summary of Vendor

    “Every journey starts with a single step and for Connectria, that step happened to be with the world’s largest bank, Deutsche Bank. Followed quickly by our second client, IBM. Since then, we have added over 1,000 clients worldwide. For 25 years, each customer, large or small, has relied on Connectria to deliver on promises made to make it easy to do business with us through flexible terms, scalable solutions, and straightforward pricing. Join us on our journey.”

    IBM i Services

    • ✔ IBM Power Hardware Sales
    • ✔ Co-Managed Services
    • ✔ DR/High Available Config
    • ✔ Full Managed Services
    • ✔ Co-Location Services
    • ✔ Public Cloud Services (AWS)

    URL
    connectria.com

    Regional Coverage:
    United States

    		Logo for Connectria.

    Vendor Profile #3

    Mid-Range

    Summary of Vendor

    “Founded in 1988 and profitable throughout all of those 31 years, we have a solid track record of success. At Mid-Range, we use our expertise to assess your unique needs, in order to proactively develop the most effective IT solution for your requirements. Our full-service approach to technology and our diverse and in-depth industry expertise keep our clients coming back year after year.

    Serving clients across North America in a variety of industries, from small and emerging organizations to large, established enterprises – we’ve seen it all. Whether you need hardware or software solutions, disaster recovery and high availability, managed services or hosting or full ERP services with our JD Edwards offerings – we have the methods and expertise to help.”

    IBM i Services

    • ✔ IBM Power Hardware Sales
    • ✔ Co-Managed Services
    • ✔ DR/High Available Config
    • ✔ Full Managed Services
    • ✔ Co-Location Services
    • ✔ Public Cloud Services (AWS)

    URL
    midrange.ca

    Regional Coverage:
    Canada

    		Logo for Mid-Range.

    Activity

    Understand your vendor options

    Activities:
    1. Create your vendor profiles
    2. Score vendor responses
    3. Develop and manage your vendor agenda

    This activity involves the following participants:

    • IT strategic direction decision makers
    • IT managers responsible for an existing iSeries or IBM i platform

    Outcomes of this step:

    • Vendor Profile Template
    • Completed IT Infrastructure Outsourcing Scoring Tool

    Info-Tech Insights

    This check-point process creates transparency around agreement costs with the business and gives the business an opportunity to re-evaluate its requirements for a potentially leaner agreement.

    1. Create your vendor profiles

    Define what you are looking for:

    • Create a vendor profile for every vendor of interest.
    • Leverage our starting list and template to track and record the advantages of each vendor.

    Mindshift

    First National Technology Solutions

    Key Information Systems

    MainLine

    Direct Systems Support

    T-Systems

    Horizon Computer Solutions Inc.

    Vendor Profile Template

    [Vendor Name]

    Summary of Vendor

    [Vendor Summary]
    *Detail the Vendor Services as a Summary*

    IBM i Services

    • ✔ IBM Power Hardware Sales
    • ✔ Co-Managed Services
    • ✔ DR/High Available Config
    • ✔ Full Managed Services
    • ✔ Co-Location Services
    • ✔ Public Cloud Services (AWS)
    *Itemize the Vendor Services specific to your requirements*

    URL
    https://www.url.com/
    *Insert the Vendor URL*

    Regional Coverage:
    [Country\Region]
    *Insert the Vendor Coverage & Locations*

    		*Insert the Vendor Logo*

    2. Score your vendor responses

    Use the IT Infrastructure Outsourcing Scoring Tool to manage vendor responses.
    Use Info-Tech’s IT Infrastructure Outsourcing Scoring Tool to systematically score your vendor responses.

    The overall quality of the IBM i questions can help you understand what it might be like to work with the vendor.

    Consider the following questions:

    • Is the vendor clear about what it’s able to offer? Is its response transparent?
    • How much effort did the vendor put into answering the questions?
    • Does the vendor seem like someone you would want to work with?

    Once you have the vendor responses, you will select two or three vendors to continue assessing in more depth leading to an eventual final selection.

    		Screenshot of the IT Infrastructure Outsourcing Scoring Tool's Scoring Sheet. There are three tables: 'Scoring Scale', 'Results', and one with 'RFP Questions'. Note on Results table says 'Top Scoring Vendors', and note on questions table says 'List your IBM i questions (requirements)'.

    Info-Tech Insights

    Watch out for misleading scores that result from poorly designed criteria weightings.

    3. Develop your vendor agenda

    Vendor Conference Call

    Develop an agenda for the conference call. Here is a sample agenda:
    • Review the vendor questions.
    • Go over answers to written vendor questions previously submitted.
    • Address new vendor questions.

    Commonly Debated Question:
    Should vendors be asked to remain anonymous on the call or should each vendor mention their organization when they join the call?

    Many organizations worry that if vendors can identify each other, they will price fix. However, price fixing is extremely rare due to its consequences and most vendors likely have a good idea which other vendors are participating in the bid. Another thought is that revealing vendors could either result in a higher level of competition or cause some vendors to give up:

    • A vendor that hears its rival is also bidding may increase the competitiveness of its bid and response.
    • A vendor that feels it doesn’t have a chance may put less effort into the process.
    • A vendor that feels it doesn’t have real competition may submit a less competitive or detailed response than it otherwise would have.

    Vendor Workshop

    A vendor workshop day is an interactive way to provide context to your vendors and to better understand the vendors’ offerings. The virtual or in-person interaction also offers a great way to understand what it’s like to work with each vendor and decide whether you could build a partnership with them in the long run.

    The main focus of the workshop is the vendors’ service solution presentation. Here is a sample agenda for a two-day workshop:

    Day 1
    • Meet and greet
    • Welcome presentation with objectives, acquisition strategy, and company overview
    • Overview of the current IT environment, technologies, and company expectations
    • Question and answer session
    • Site walk
    Day 2
    • Review Day 1 activities
    • Vendor presentations and solution framing
    Use the IT Infrastructure Outsourcing Scoring Tool to manage vendor responses.

    Related Info-Tech Research

    Effectively Acquire Infrastructure Services
    Acquiring a service is like buying an experience. Don’t confuse the simplicity of buying hardware with buying an experience.

    Outsource IT Infrastructure to Improve System Availability, Reliability, and Recovery
    There are very few IT infrastructure components you should be housing internally – outsource everything else.

    Build Your Infrastructure Roadmap
    Move beyond alignment: Put yourself in the driver’s seat for true business value.

    Define Your Cloud Vision
    Make the most of cloud for your organization.

    Document Your Cloud Strategy
    Drive consensus by outlining how your organization will use the cloud.

    Create a Right-Sized Disaster Recovery Plan
    Close the gap between your DR capabilities and service continuity requirements.

    Create a Better RFP Process
    Improve your RFPs to gain leverage and get better results.

    Research Authors

    Photo of Darin Stahl, Principal Research Advisor, Info-Tech Research Group.Darin Stahl, Principal Research Advisor, Info-Tech Research Group

    Principal Research Advisor within the Infrastructure Practice and leveraging 38+ years of experience, his areas of focus include: IT Operations Management, Service Desk, Infrastructure Outsourcing, Managed Services, Cloud Infrastructure, DRP/BCP, Printer Management, Managed Print Services, Application Performance Monitoring (APM), Managed FTP, and non-commodity servers (zSeries, mainframe, IBM i, AIX, Power PC).

    Photo of Troy Cheeseman, Practice Lead, Info-Tech Research Group.Troy Cheeseman, Practice Lead, Info-Tech Research Group

    Troy has over 24 years of experience and has championed large, enterprise-wide technology transformation programs, remote/home office collaboration and remote work strategies, BCP, IT DRP, IT Operations and expense management programs, international right placement initiatives, and large technology transformation initiatives (M&A). Additionally, he has deep experience working with IT solution providers and technology (cloud) start-ups.

    Research Contributors

    Photo of Dan Duffy, President & Owner, Mid-Range.Dan Duffy, President & Owner, Mid-Range

    Dan Duffy is the President and Founder of Mid-Range Computer Group Inc., an IBM Platinum Business Partner. Dan and his team have been providing the Canadian and American IBM Power market with IBM infrastructure solutions including private cloud, hosting and disaster recovery, high availability and data center services since 1988. He has served on numerous boards and associations including the Toronto Users Group for Mid-Range Systems (TUG), the IBM Business Partners of the Americas Advisory Council, the Cornell Club of Toronto, and the Notre Dame Club of Toronto. Dan holds a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University.

    Photo of George Goodall, Executive Advisor, Info-Tech Research Group.George Goodall, Executive Advisor, Info-Tech Research Group

    George Goodall is an Executive Advisor in the Research Executive Services practice at Info-Tech Research Group. George has over 20 years of experience in IT consulting, enterprise software sales, project management, and workshop delivery. His primary focus is the unique challenges and opportunities in organizations with small and constrained IT operations. In his long tenure at Info-Tech, George has covered diverse topics including voice communications, storage, and strategy and governance.

    Bibliography

    “Companies using IBM i (formerly known as i5/OS).” Enlyft, 21 July 2021. Web.

    Connor, Clare. “IBM i and Meeting the Challenges of Modernization.” Ensono, 22 Mar. 2022. Web.

    Huntington, Tom. “60+ IBM i User Groups and Communities to Join?” HelpSystems, 16 Dec. 2021. Web.

    Perkins, Dale. “The Road to Power Cloud: June 21st 1988 to now. The Journey Continues.” Mid-Range, 1 Nov. 2021. Web.

    Prickett Morgan, Timothy. “How IBM STACKS UP POWER8 AGAINST XEON SERVERS.” The Next Platform, 13 Oct. 2015. Web.

    “Why is AS/400 still used? Four reasons to stick with a classic.” NTT, 21 July 2016. Web.

    Appendix

    Public Cloud Provider Notes

    Appendix –
    Cloud
    Providers


    “IBM Power (IBM i and AIX) workloads are also available in the so-called ‘cloud.’” (Darin Stahl)

    AWS

    Appendix –
    Cloud
    Providers



    “IBM Power (IBM i and AIX) workloads are also available in the so-called ‘cloud.’” (Darin Stahl)

    Google

    • Google Cloud console supports IBM Power Systems.
    • This offering provides cloud instances running on IBM Power Systems servers with PowerVM.
    • The service uses a per-day prorated monthly subscription model for cloud instance plans with different capacities of compute, memory, storage, and network. Standard plans are listed below and custom plans are possible.
    • There is no IBM i offering yet that we are aware of.
    • For AIX on Power, this would appear to be a better option than AWS (Converge Enterprise Cloud with IBM Power for Google Cloud).

    Appendix –
    Cloud
    Providers



    “IBM Power (IBM i and AIX) workloads are also available in the so-called ‘cloud.’” (Darin Stahl)

    Azure

    • Azure has partners using the Azure Dedicated Host offerings to deliver “native support for IBM POWER Systems to Azure data centres” (PowerWire).
    • Microsoft has installed Power servers in an couple Azure data centers and Skytap manages the IBM i, AIX, and Linux environments for clients.
    • As far as I am aware there is no ability to install IBM i or AIX within an Azure Dedicated Host via the retail interfaces – these must be worked through a partner like Skytap.
    • The cloud route for IBM i or AIX might be the easiest working with Skytap and Azure. This would appear to be a better option than AWS in my opinion.

    Appendix –
    Cloud
    Providers



    “IBM Power (IBM i and AIX) workloads are also available in the so-called ‘cloud.’” (Darin Stahl)

    IBM

    Prototype With an Innovation Design Sprint

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    • Parent Category Name: Innovation
    • Parent Category Link: /innovation
    • The business has a mandate for IT-led innovation.
    • IT doesn’t have the budget it wants for high-risk, high-reward initiatives.
    • Many innovation projects have failed in the past.
    • Many projects that have moved through the approval process failed to meet their expectations.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. Think like a start-up and use experimentation and rapid re-iteration to get your innovative ideas off the ground.

    Impact and Result

    • Build and test a prototype in four days using Info-Tech’s Innovation Design Sprint Methodology.
    • Create an environment for co-creation between IT and the business.
    • Learn techniques for socializing and selling your ideas to business stakeholders.
    • Refine your prototype through rapid iteration and user-experience testing.
    • Socialize design thinking culture, tactics, and methods with the business.

    Prototype With an Innovation Design Sprint Research & Tools

    Start here – read the Executive Brief

    Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should evaluate your ideas using a design sprint, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Understand and ideate

    Define the problem and start ideating potential solutions.

    • Prototype With an Innovation Design Sprint – Day 1: Understand and Ideate
    • Prototyping Workbook

    2. Divide and conquer

    Split off into prototyping teams to build and test the first-iteration prototypes

    • Prototype With an Innovation Design Sprint – Day 2: Divide and Conquer
    • Research Study Log Tool

    3. Unite and integrate

    Integrate the best ideas from the first iterations and come up with a team solution to the problem.

    • Prototype With an Innovation Design Sprint – Day 3: Unite and Integrate
    • Prototype One Pager

    4. Build and sell

    Build and test the team’s integrated prototype, decide on next steps, and come up with a pitch to sell the solution to business executives.

    • Prototype With an Innovation Design Sprint – Day 4: Build and Sell
    [infographic]

    Workshop: Prototype With an Innovation Design Sprint

    Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

    1 Understand and Ideate

    The Purpose

    Align the team around a well-defined business problem and start ideating solutions.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Ideate solutions in the face of organizational cconstraints and characterize the success of the prototype.

    Activities

    1.1 Frame the problem.

    1.2 Develop evaluation criteria.

    1.3 Diverge and converge.

    Outputs

    Problem statement(s)

    Evaluation criteria

    Ideated solutions

    2 Divide and Conquer

    The Purpose

    Break off into teams to try and develop solutions that address the problem in unique ways.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Develop and test a first-iteration prototype.

    Activities

    2.1 Design first prototypes in teams.

    2.2 Conduct UX testing.

    Outputs

    First-iteration prototypes

    User feedback and data

    3 Unite and Integrate

    The Purpose

    Bring the team back together to develop a team vision of the final prototype.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Integrated, second-iteration prototype.

    Activities

    3.1 Create and deliver prototype pitches.

    3.2 Integrate prototypes.

    Outputs

    Prototype practice pitches

    Second-iteration prototype

    4 Build and Sell

    The Purpose

    Build and test the second prototype and prepare to sell it to business executives.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Second-iteration prototype and a budget pitch.

    Activities

    4.1 Conduct second round of UX testing.

    4.2 Create one pager and budget pitch.

    Outputs

    User feedback and data

    Prototype one pager and budget pitch

    Improve Requirements Gathering

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    • Parent Category Name: Requirements & Design
    • Parent Category Link: /requirements-and-design
    • Poor requirements are the number one reason that projects fail. Requirements gathering and management has been an ongoing issue for IT professionals for decades.
    • If proper due diligence for requirements gathering is not conducted, then the applications that IT is deploying won’t meet business objectives and will fail to deliver adequate business value.
    • Inaccurate requirements definition can lead to significant amounts of project rework and hurt the organization’s financial performance. It will also create significant damage to the working relationship between IT and the business.
    • Often, business analysts haven’t developed the right competencies to successfully execute requirements gathering processes, even when they are in place.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • To avoid makeshift solutions, an organization needs to gather requirements with the desired future state in mind.
    • Creating a unified set of standard operating procedures is essential for effectively gathering requirements, but many organizations fail to do it.
    • Centralizing governance of requirements processes with a requirements gathering steering committee or requirements gathering center of excellence can bring greater uniformity and cohesion when gathering requirements across projects.
    • Business analysts must be targeted for competency development to ensure that the processes developed above are being successfully executed and the right questions are being asked of project sponsors and stakeholders.

    Impact and Result

    • Enhanced requirements analysis will lead to tangible reductions in cycle time and reduced project overhead.
    • An improvement in requirements analysis will strengthen the relationship between business and IT, as more and more applications satisfy stakeholder needs.
    • More importantly, the applications delivered by IT will meet all of the must-have and at least some of the nice-to-have requirements, allowing end users to successfully execute their day-to-day responsibilities.

    Improve Requirements Gathering Research & Tools

    Start here – read the Executive Brief

    Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should invest in optimizing your requirements gathering processes.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Build the target state for the requirements gathering process

    Capture a clear understanding of the target needs for the requirements process.

    • Build a Strong Approach to Business Requirements Gathering – Phase 1: Build the Target State for the Requirements Gathering Process
    • Requirements Gathering SOP and BA Playbook
    • Requirements Gathering Maturity Assessment
    • Project Level Selection Tool
    • Business Requirements Analyst
    • Requirements Gathering Communication Tracking Template

    2. Define the elicitation process

    Develop best practices for conducting and structuring elicitation of business requirements.

    • Build a Strong Approach to Business Requirements Gathering – Phase 2: Define the Elicitation Process
    • Business Requirements Document Template
    • Scrum Documentation Template

    3. Analyze and validate requirements

    Standardize frameworks for analysis and validation of business requirements.

    • Build a Strong Approach to Business Requirements Gathering – Phase 3: Analyze and Validate Requirements
    • Requirements Gathering Documentation Tool
    • Requirements Gathering Testing Checklist

    4. Create a requirements governance action plan

    Formalize change control and governance processes for requirements gathering.

    • Build a Strong Approach to Business Requirements Gathering – Phase 4: Create a Requirements Governance Action Plan
    • Requirements Traceability Matrix
    [infographic]

    Workshop: Improve Requirements Gathering

    Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

    1 Define the Current State and Target State for Requirements Gathering

    The Purpose

    Create a clear understanding of the target needs for the requirements gathering process.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    A comprehensive review of the current state for requirements gathering across people, processes, and technology.

    Identification of major challenges (and opportunity areas) that should be improved via the requirements gathering optimization project.

    Activities

    1.1 Understand current state and document existing requirement process steps.

    1.2 Identify stakeholder, process, outcome, and training challenges.

    1.3 Conduct target state analysis.

    1.4 Establish requirements gathering metrics.

    1.5 Identify project levels 1/2/3/4.

    1.6 Match control points to project levels 1/2/3/4.

    1.7 Conduct project scoping and identify stakeholders.

    Outputs

    Requirements Gathering Maturity Assessment

    Project Level Selection Tool

    Requirements Gathering Documentation Tool

    2 Define the Elicitation Process

    The Purpose

    Create best practices for conducting and structuring elicitation of business requirements.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    A repeatable framework for initial elicitation of requirements.

    Prescribed, project-specific elicitation techniques.

    Activities

    2.1 Understand elicitation techniques and which ones to use.

    2.2 Document and confirm elicitation techniques.

    2.3 Create a requirements gathering elicitation plan for your project.

    2.4 Build the operating model for your project.

    2.5 Define SIPOC-MC for your selected project.

    2.6 Practice using interviews with business stakeholders to build use case models.

    2.7 Practice using table-top testing with business stakeholders to build use case models.

    Outputs

    Project Elicitation Schedule

    Project Operating Model

    Project SIPOC-MC Sub-Processes

    Project Use Cases

    3 Analyze and Validate Requirements

    The Purpose

    Build a standardized framework for analysis and validation of business requirements.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Policies for requirements categorization, prioritization, and validation.

    Improved project value as a result of better prioritization using the MOSCOW model.

    Activities

    3.1 Categorize gathered requirements for use.

    3.2 Consolidate similar requirements and eliminate redundancies.

    3.3 Practice prioritizing requirements.

    3.4 Build the business process model for the project.

    3.5 Rightsize the requirements documentation template.

    3.6 Present the business requirements document to business stakeholders.

    3.7 Identify testing opportunities.

    Outputs

    Requirements Gathering Documentation Tool

    Requirements Gathering Testing Checklist

    4 Establish Change Control Processes

    The Purpose

    Create formalized change control processes for requirements gathering.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Reduced interjections and rework – strengthened formal evaluation and control of change requests to project requirements.

    Activities

    4.1 Review existing CR process.

    4.2 Review change control process best practices and optimization opportunities.

    4.3 Build guidelines for escalating changes.

    4.4 Confirm your requirements gathering process for project levels 1/2/3/4.

    Outputs

    Requirements Traceability Matrix

    Requirements Gathering Communication Tracking Template

    5 Establish Ongoing Governance for Requirements Gathering

    The Purpose

    Establish governance structures and ongoing oversight for business requirements gathering.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Consistent governance and oversight of the requirements gathering process, resulting in fewer “wild west” scenarios.

    Better repeatability for the new requirements gathering process, resulting in less wasted time and effort at the outset of projects.

    Activities

    5.1 Define RACI for the requirements gathering process.

    5.2 Define the requirements gathering steering committee purpose.

    5.3 Define RACI for requirements gathering steering committee.

    5.4 Define the agenda and cadence for the requirements gathering steering committee.

    5.5 Identify and analyze stakeholders for communication plan.

    5.6 Create communication management plan.

    5.7 Build the action plan.

    Outputs

    Requirements Gathering Action Plan

    Further reading

    Improve Requirements Gathering

    Back to basics: great products are built on great requirements.

    Analyst Perspective

    A strong process for business requirements gathering is essential for application project success. However, most organizations do not take a strategic approach to optimizing how they conduct business analysis and requirements definition.

    "Robust business requirements are the basis of a successful project. Without requirements that correctly articulate the underlying needs of your business stakeholders, projects will fail to deliver value and involve significant rework. In fact, an Info-Tech study found that of projects that fail over two-thirds fail due to poorly defined business requirements.

    Despite the importance of good business requirements to project success, many organizations struggle to define a consistent and repeatable process for requirements gathering. This results in wasted time and effort from both IT and the business, and generates requirements that are incomplete and of dubious value. Additionally, many business analysts lack the competencies and analytical techniques needed to properly execute the requirements gathering process.

    This research will help you get requirements gathering right by developing a set of standard operating procedures across requirements elicitation, analysis, and validation. It will also help you identify and fine-tune the business analyst competencies necessary to make requirements gathering a success."

    – Ben Dickie, Director, Enterprise Applications, Info-Tech Research Group

    Our understanding of the problem

    This Research is Designed For:

    • The IT applications director who has accountability for ensuring that requirements gathering procedures are both effective and efficient.
    • The designated business analyst or requirements gathering professional who needs a concrete understanding of how to execute upon requirements gathering SOPs.

    This Research Will Help You:

    • Diagnose your current state and identify (and prioritize) gaps that exist between your target requirements gathering needs and your current capabilities and processes.
    • Build a requirements gathering SOP that prescribes a framework for requirements governance and technology usage, as well as techniques for elicitation, analysis, and validation.

    This Research Will Also Assist:

    • The business partner/stakeholder who is interested in ways to work with IT to improve upon existing procedures for requirements gathering.
    • Systems analysts and developers who need to understand how business requirements are effectively gathered upstream.

    This Research Will Help Them:

    • Understand the significance and importance of business requirements gathering on overall project success and value alignment.
    • Create rules of engagement for assisting IT with the collection of requirements from the right stakeholders in a timely fashion.

    Executive summary

    Situation

    • Strong business requirements are essential to project success – inadequate requirements are the number one reason that projects fail.
    • Organizations need a consistent, repeatable, and prescriptive set of standard operating procedures (SOPs) that dictate how business requirements gathering should be conducted.

    Complication

    • If proper due diligence for requirements gathering is not conducted, then the applications that IT is deploying won’t meet business objectives, and they will fail to deliver adequate business value.
    • Inaccurate requirements definition can lead to significant amounts of project rework and hurt the organization’s financial performance. It will also damage the relationship between IT and the business.

    Resolution

    • To avoid delivering makeshift solutions (paving the cow path), organizations need to gather requirements with the desired future state in mind. Organizations need to keep an open mind when gathering requirements.
    • Creating a unified set of SOPs is essential for effectively gathering requirements; these procedures should cover not just elicitation, analysis, and validation, but also include process governance and documentation.
    • BAs who conduct requirements gathering must demonstrate proven competencies for stakeholder management, analytical techniques, and the ability to speak the language of both the business and IT.
    • An improvement in requirements analysis will strengthen the relationship between business and IT, as more and more applications satisfy stakeholder needs. More importantly, the applications delivered by IT will meet all of the must-have and at least some of the nice-to-have requirements, allowing end users to execute their day-to-day responsibilities.

    Info-Tech Insight

    1. Requirements gathering SOPs should be prescriptive based on project complexity. Complex projects will require more analytical rigor. Simpler projects can be served by more straightforward techniques like user story development.
    2. Business analysts (BA) can make or break the execution of the requirements gathering process. A strong process still needs to be executed well by BAs with the right blend of skills and knowledge.

    Understand what constitutes a strong business requirement

    A business requirement is a statement that clearly outlines the functional capability that the business needs from a system or application. There are several attributes to look at in requirements:

    Verifiable
    Stated in a way that can be easily tested

    Unambiguous
    Free of subjective terms and can only be interpreted in one way

    Complete
    Contains all relevant information

    Consistent
    Does not conflict with other requirements

    Achievable
    Possible to accomplish with budgetary and technological constraints

    Traceable
    Trackable from inception through to testing

    Unitary
    Addresses only one thing and cannot be decomposed into multiple requirements

    Agnostic
    Doesn’t pre-suppose a specific vendor or product

    Not all requirements will meet all of the attributes.

    In some situations, an insight will reveal new requirements. This requirement will not follow all of the attributes listed above and that’s okay. If a new insight changes the direction of the project, re-evaluate the scope of the project.

    Attributes are context specific.

    Depending on the scope of the project, certain attributes will carry more weight than others. Weigh the value of each attribute before elicitation and adjust as required. For example, verifiable will be a less-valued attribute when developing a client-facing website with no established measuring method/software.

    Build a firm foundation: requirements gathering is an essential step in any project, but many organizations struggle

    Proper requirements gathering is critical for delivering business value from IT projects, but it remains an elusive and perplexing task for most organizations. You need to have a strategy for end-to-end requirements gathering, or your projects will consistently fail to meet business expectations.

    50% of project rework is attributable to problems with requirements. (Info-Tech Research Group)

    45% of delivered features are utilized by end users. (The Standish Group)

    78% of IT professionals believe the business is “usually” or “always” out of sync with project requirements. (Blueprint Software Systems)

    45% of IT professionals admit to being “fuzzy” about the details of a project’s business objectives. (Blueprint Software Systems)

    Requirements gathering is truly an organization-spanning issue, and it falls directly on the IT directors who oversee projects to put prudent SOPs in place for managing the requirements gathering process. Despite its importance, the majority of organizations have challenges with requirements gathering.

    What happens when requirements are no longer effective?

    • Poor requirements can have a very visible and negative impact on deployed apps.
    • IT receives the blame for any project shortcomings or failures.
    • IT loses its credibility and ability to champion future projects.
    • Late projects use IT resources longer than planned.

    Requirements gathering is a core component of the overall project lifecycle that must be given its due diligence

    PMBOK’s Five Phase Project Lifecycle

    Initiate – Plan: Requirements Gathering Lives Here – Execute – Control – Close

    Inaccurate requirements is the 2nd most common cause of project failure (Project Management Institute ‒ Smartsheet).

    Requirements gathering is a critical stage of project planning.

    Depending on whether you take an Agile or Waterfall project management approach, it can be extended into the initiate and execute phases of the project lifecycle.

    Strong stakeholder satisfaction with requirements gathering results in higher satisfaction in other areas

    Organizations that had high satisfaction with requirements gathering were more likely to be highly satisfied with the other areas of IT. In fact, 72% of organizations that had high satisfaction with requirements gathering were also highly satisfied with the availability of IT capacity to complete projects.

    A bar graph measuring % High Satisfaction when projects have High Requirements Gathering vs. Not High Requirements Gathering. The graph shows a substantially higher percentage of high satisfaction on projects with High Requirements Gathering

    Note: High satisfaction was classified as organizations with a score greater or equal to 8. Not high satisfaction was every other organization that scored below 8 on the area questions.

    N=395 organizations from Info-Tech’s CIO Business Vision diagnostic

    Requirements gathering efforts are filled with challenges; review these pitfalls to avoid in your optimization efforts

    The challenges that afflict requirements gathering are multifaceted and often systemic in nature. There isn’t a single cure that will fix all of your requirements gathering problems, but an awareness of frequently encountered challenges will give you a basis for where to consider establishing better SOPs. Commonly encountered challenges include:

    Process Challenges

    • Requirements may be poorly documented, or not documented at all.
    • Elicitation methods may be inappropriate (e.g. using a survey when collaborative whiteboarding is needed).
    • Elicitation methods may be poorly executed.
    • IT and business units may not be communicating requirements in the same terms/language.
    • Requirements that conflict with one another may not be identified during analysis.
    • Requirements cannot be traced from origin to testing.

    Stakeholder Challenges

    • Stakeholders may be unaware of the requirements needed for the ideal solution.
    • Stakeholders may have difficulty properly articulating their desired requirements.
    • Stakeholders may have difficulty gaining consensus on the ideal solution.
    • Relevant stakeholders may not be consulted on requirements.
    • Sign-off may not be received from the proper stakeholders.

    70% of projects fail due to poor requirements. (Info-Tech Research Group)

    Address the root cause of poor requirements to increase project success

    Root Causes of Poor Requirements Gathering:

    • Requirements gathering procedures don’t exist.
    • Requirements gathering procedures exist but aren’t followed.
    • There isn't enough time allocated to the requirements gathering phase.
    • There isn't enough involvement or investment secured from business partners.
    • There is no senior leadership involvement or mandate to fix requirements gathering.
    • There are inadequate efforts put towards obtaining and enforcing sign-off.

    Outcomes of Poor Requirements Gathering:

    • Rework due to poor requirements leads to costly overruns.
    • Final deliverables are of poor quality.
    • Final deliverables are implemented late.
    • Predicted gains from deployed applications are not realized.
    • There are low feature utilization rates by end users.
    • There are high levels of end-user dissatisfaction.
    • There are high levels of project sponsor dissatisfaction.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Requirements gathering is the number one failure point for most development or procurement projects that don’t deliver value. This has been and continues to be the case as most organizations still don't get requirements gathering right. Overcoming organizational cynicism can be a major obstacle when it is time to optimize the requirements gathering process.

    Reduce wasted project work with clarity of business goals and analysis of requirements

    You can reduce the amount of wasted work by making sure you have clear business goals. In fact, you could see an improvement of as much as 50% by going from a low level of satisfaction with clarity of business goals (<2) to a high level of satisfaction (≥5).

    A line graph demonstrating that as the amount of wasted work increases, clarity of business goals satisfaction decreases.

    Likewise, you could see an improvement of as much as 43% by going from a low level of satisfaction with analysis of requirements (less than 2) to a high level of satisfaction (greater than or equal to 5).

    A line graph demonstrating that as the Amount of Wasted Work decreases, the level of satisfaction with analysis of requirements shifts from low to high.

    Note: Waste is measured by the amount of cancelled projects; suboptimal assignment of resources; analyzing, fixing, and re-deploying; inefficiency, and unassigned resources.

    N=200 teams from the Project Portfolio Management diagnostic

    Effective requirements gathering supports other critical elements of project management success

    Good intentions and hard work aren’t enough to make a project successful. As you proceed with a project, step back and assess the critical success factors. Make sure that the important inputs and critical activities of requirements gathering are supporting, not inhibiting, project success.

    1. Streamlined Project Intake
    2. Strong Stakeholder Management
    3. Defined Project Scope
    4. Effective Project Management
    5. Environmental Analysis

    Don’t improvise: have a structured, end-to-end approach for successfully gathering useful requirements

    Creating a unified SOP guide for requirements elicitation, analysis, and validation is a critical step for requirements optimization; it gives your BAs a common frame of reference for conducting requirements gathering.

    • The key to requirements optimization is to establish a strong set of SOPs that provide direction on how your organization should be executing requirements gathering processes. This SOP guide should be a holistic document that walks your BAs through a requirements gathering project from beginning to end.
    • An SOP that is put aside is useless; it must be well communicated to BAs. It should be treated as the veritable manifesto of requirements management in your organization.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Having a standardized approach to requirements management is critical, and SOPs should be the responsibility of a group. The SOP guide should cover all of the major bases of requirements management. In addition to providing a walk-through of the process, an SOP also clarifies requirements governance.

    Leverage Info-Tech’s proven Requirements Gathering Framework as the basis for building requirements processes

    A graphic with APPLICATIONS THAT DELIVER BUSINESS VALUE written in the middle. Three steps are named: Elicit; Analyze; Validate. Around the outer part of the graphic are 4 arrows arranged in a circle, with the labels: Plan; Monitor; Communicate; Manage.

    Info-Tech’s Requirements Gathering Framework is a comprehensive approach to requirements management that can be scaled to any size of project or organization. This framework has been extensively road-tested with our clients to ensure that it balances the needs of IT and business stakeholders to give a holistic, end-to-end approach for requirements gathering. It covers the foundational issues (elicitation, analysis, and validation) and prescribes techniques for planning, monitoring, communicating, and managing the requirements gathering process.

    Don’t forget resourcing: the best requirements gathering process will still fail if you don’t develop BA competencies

    When creating the process for requirements gathering, think about how it will be executed by your BAs, and what the composition of your BA team should look like. A strong BA needs to serve as an effective translator, being able to speak the language of both the business and IT.

    1. To ensure alignment of your BAs to the requirements gathering process, undertake a formal skills assessment to identify areas where analysts are strong, and areas that should be targeted for training and skills development.
    2. Training of BAs on the requirements gathering process and development of intimate familiarity with SOPs is essential; you need to get BAs on the same page to ensure consistency and repeatability of the requirements process.
    3. Consider implementing a formal mentorship and/or job shadowing program between senior and junior BAs. Many of our members report that leveraging senior BAs to bootstrap the competencies of more junior team members is a proven approach to building skillsets for requirements gathering.

    What are some core competencies of a good BA?

    • Strong stakeholder management.
    • Proven track record in facilitating elicitation sessions.
    • Ability to bridge the gulf between IT and the business by speaking both languages.
    • Ability to ask relevant probing questions to uncover latent needs.
    • Experience with creating project operating models and business process diagrams.
    • Ability to set and manage expectations throughout the process.

    Throughout this blueprint, look for the “BA Insight” box to learn how steps in the requirements gathering process relate to the skills needed by BAs to facilitate the process effectively.

    A mid-sized local government overhauls its requirements gathering approach and sees strong results

    CASE STUDY

    Industry

    Government

    Source

    Info-Tech Research Group Workshop

    The Client

    The organization was a local government responsible for providing services to approximately 600,000 citizens in the southern US. Its IT department is tasked with deploying applications and systems (such as HRIS) that support the various initiatives and mandate of the local government.

    The Requirements Gathering Challenge

    The IT department recognized that a strong requirements gathering process was essential to delivering value to its stakeholders. However, there was no codified process in place – each BA unilaterally decided how they would conduct requirements gathering at the start of each project. IT recognized that to enhance both the effectiveness and efficiency of requirements gathering, it needed to put in place a strong, prescriptive set of SOPs.

    The Improvement

    Working with a team from Info-Tech, the IT leadership and BA team conducted a workshop to develop a new set of SOPs that provided clear guidance for each stage of the requirements process: elicitation, analysis, and validation. As a result, business satisfaction and value alignment increased.

    The Requirements Gathering SOP and BA Playbook offers a codified set of SOPs for requirements gathering gave BAs a clear playbook.

    Info-Tech offers various levels of support to best suit your needs

    DIY Toolkit

    “Our team has already made this critical project a priority, and we have the time and capability, but some guidance along the way would be helpful.”

    Guided Implementation

    “Our team knows that we need to fix a process, but we need assistance to determine where to focus. Some check-ins along the way would help keep us on track.”

    Workshop

    “We need to hit the ground running and get this project kicked off immediately. Our team has the ability to take this over once we get a framework and strategy in place.”

    Consulting

    “Our team does not have the time or the knowledge to take this project on. We need assistance through the entirety of this project.”

    Diagnostics and consistent frameworks used throughout all four options

    Build a Strong Approach to Business Requirements Gathering – project overview

    1. Build the Target State for Requirements Gathering 2. Define the Elicitation Process 3. Analyze and Validate Requirements 4. Create a Requirements Governance Action Plan
    Best-Practice Toolkit

    1.1 Understand the Benefits of Requirements Optimization

    1.2 Determine Your Target State for Requirements Gathering

    2.1 Determine Elicitation Techniques

    2.2 Structure Elicitation Output

    3.1 Create Analysis Framework

    3.2 Validate Business Requirements

    4.1 Create Control Processes for Requirements Changes

    4.2 Build Requirements Governance and Communication Plan

    Guided Implementations
    • Review Info-Tech’s requirements gathering methodology.
    • Assess current state for requirements gathering – pains and challenges.
    • Determine target state for business requirements gathering – areas of opportunity.
    • Assess elicitation techniques and determine best fit to projects and business environment.
    • Review options for structuring the output of requirements elicitation (i.e. SIPOC).
    • Create policies for requirements categorization and prioritization.
    • Establish best practices for validating the BRD with project stakeholders.
    • Discuss how to handle changes to requirements, and establish a formal change control process.
    • Review options for ongoing governance of the requirements gathering process.
    Onsite Workshop Module 1: Define the Current and Target State Module 2: Define the Elicitation Process Module 3: Analyze and Validate Requirements Module 4: Governance and Continuous Improvement Process
    Phase 1 Results: Clear understanding of target needs for the requirements process. Phase 2 Results: Best practices for conducting and structuring elicitation. Phase 3 Results: Standardized frameworks for analysis and validation of business requirements. Phase 4 Results: Formalized change control and governance processes for requirements.

    Workshop overview

    Contact your account representative or email Workshops@InfoTech.com for more information.

    Workshop Day 1 Workshop Day 2 Workshop Day 3 Workshop Day 4 Workshop Day 5
    Activities

    Define Current State and Target State for Requirements Gathering

    • Understand current state and document existing requirement process steps.
    • Identify stakeholder, process, outcome, and reigning challenges.
    • Conduct target state analysis.
    • Establish requirements gathering metrics.
    • Identify project levels 1/2/3/4.
    • Match control points to project levels 1/2/3/4.
    • Conduct project scoping and identify stakeholders.

    Define the Elicitation Process

    • Understand elicitation techniques and which ones to use.
    • Document and confirm elicitation techniques.
    • Create a requirements gathering elicitation plan for your project.
    • Practice using interviews with business stakeholders to build use case models.
    • Practice using table-top testing with business stakeholders to build use case models.
    • Build the operating model for your project

    Analyze and Validate Requirements

    • Categorize gathered requirements for use.
    • Consolidate similar requirements and eliminate redundancies.
    • Practice prioritizing requirements.
    • Rightsize the requirements documentation template.
    • Present the business requirements document (BRD) to business stakeholders.
    • Identify testing opportunities.

    Establish Change Control Processes

    • Review existing CR process.
    • Review change control process best practices & optimization opportunities.
    • Build guidelines for escalating changes.
    • Confirm your requirements gathering process for project levels 1/2/3/4.

    Establish Ongoing Governance for Requirements Gathering

    • Define RACI for the requirements gathering process.
    • Define the requirements gathering governance process.
    • Define RACI for requirements gathering governance.
    • Define the agenda and cadence for requirements gathering governance.
    • Identify and analyze stakeholders for communication plan.
    • Create communication management plan.
    • Build the action plan.
    Deliverables
    • Requirements gathering maturity assessment
    • Project level selection tool
    • Requirements gathering documentation tool
    • Project elicitation schedule
    • Project operating model
    • Project use cases
    • Requirements gathering documentation tool
    • Requirements gathering testing checklist
    • Requirements traceability matrix
    • Requirements gathering communication tracking template
    • Requirements gathering action plan

    Phase 1: Build the Target State for the Requirements Gathering Process

    Phase 1 outline

    Call 1-888-670-8889 or email GuidedImplementations@InfoTech.com for more information.

    Complete these steps on your own, or call us to complete a guided implementation. A guided implementation is a series of 2-3 advisory calls that help you execute each phase of a project. They are included in most advisory memberships.

    Guided Implementation 1: Build the Target State

    Proposed Time to Completion: 2 weeks

    Step 1.1: Understand the Benefits of Requirements Optimization

    Start with an analyst kick off call:

    • Review Info-Tech’s requirements gathering methodology.

    Then complete these activities…

    • Hold a fireside chat.

    With these tools & templates:

    Requirements Gathering SOP and BA Playbook

    Step 1.2: Determine Your Target State for Requirements Gathering

    Review findings with analyst:

    • Assess current state for requirements gathering – pains and challenges.
    • Determine target state for business requirements gathering – areas of opportunity.

    Then complete these activities…

    • Identify your business process model.
    • Define project levels.
    • Match control points to project level.
    • Identify and analyze stakeholders.

    With these tools & templates:

    • Requirements Gathering Maturity Assessment
    • Project Level Selection Tool
    • Business Requirements Analyst job description
    • Requirements Gathering Communication Tracking Template

    Phase 1 Results & Insights:

    Clear understanding of target needs for the requirements process.

    Step 1.1: Understand the Benefits of Requirements Optimization

    Phase 1

    1.1 Understand the Benefits of Requirements Optimization

    1.2 Determine Your Target State for Requirements Gathering

    Phase 2

    2.1 Determine Elicitation Techniques

    2.2 Structure Elicitation Output

    Phase 3

    3.1 Create Analysis Framework

    3.2 Validate Business Requirements

    Phase 4

    4.1 Create Control Processes for Requirements Changes

    4.2 Build Requirements Governance and Communication Plan

    This step will walk you through the following activities:
    • Identifying challenges with requirements gathering and identifying objectives for the workshop.
    This step involves the following participants:
    • Business stakeholders
    • BAs
    Outcomes of this step
    • Stakeholder objectives identified.

    Requirements optimization is powerful, but it’s not free; gauge the organizational capital you’ll need to make it a success

    Optimizing requirements management is not something that can be done in isolation, and it’s not necessarily going to be easy. Improving your requirements will translate into better value delivery, but it takes real commitment from IT and its business partners.

    There are four “pillars of commitment” that will be necessary to succeed with requirements optimization:

    1. Senior Management Organizational Capital
      • Before organizations can establish revised SOPs for requirements gathering, they’ll need a strong champion in senior management to ensure that updated elicitation and sign-off techniques do not offend people. A powerful sponsor can lead to success, especially if they are in the business.
    2. End-User Organizational Capital
      • To overcome cynicism, you need to focus on convincing end users that there is something to be gained from participating in requirements gathering (and the broader process of requirements optimization). Frame the value by focusing on how good requirements mean better apps (e.g. faster, cheaper, fewer errors, less frustration).
    3. Staff Resourcing
      • You can have a great SOP, but if you don’t have the right resources to execute on it you’re going to have difficulty. Requirements gathering needs dedicated BAs (or equivalent staff) who are trained in best practices and can handle elicitation, analysis, and validation successfully.
    4. Dedicated Cycle Time
      • IT and the business both need to be willing to demonstrate the value of requirements optimization by giving requirements gathering the time it needs to succeed. If these parties are convinced by the concept in theory, but still try to rush moving to the development phase, they’re destined for failure.

    Rethink your approach to requirements gathering: start by examining the business process, then tackle technology

    When gathering business requirements, it’s critical not to assume that layering on technology to a process will automatically solve your problems.

    Proper requirements gathering views projects holistically (i.e. not just as an attempt to deploy an application or technology, but as an endeavor to enable new or re-engineered business processes). Neglecting to see requirements gathering in the context of business process enablement leads to failure.

    • Far too often, organizations automate an existing process without putting much thought into finding a better way to do things.
    • Most organizations focus on identifying a series of small improvements to make to a process and realize limited gains.
    • The best way to generate transformational gains is to reinvent how the process should be performed and work backwards from there.
    • You should take a top-down approach and begin by speaking with senior management about the business case for the project and their vision for the target state.
    • You should elicit requirements from the rank-and-file employees while centering the discussion and requirements around senior management’s target state. Don’t turn requirements gathering into a griping session about deficiencies with a current application.

    Leverage Info-Tech’s proven Requirements Gathering Framework as the basis for building requirements processes

    A graphic with APPLICATIONS THAT DELIVER BUSINESS VALUE written in the middle. Three steps are named: Elicit; Analyze; Validate. Around the outer part of the graphic are 4 arrows arranged in a circle, with the labels: Plan; Monitor; Communicate; Manage.

    Info-Tech’s Requirements Gathering Framework is a comprehensive approach to requirements management that can be scaled to any size of project or organization. This framework has been extensively road-tested with our clients to ensure that it balances the needs of IT and business stakeholders to give a holistic, end-to-end approach for requirements gathering. It covers both the foundational issues (elicitation, analysis, and validation) as well as prescribing techniques for planning, monitoring, communicating, and managing the requirements gathering process.

    Requirements gathering fireside chat

    1.1.1 – 45 minutes

    Output
    • Stakeholder objectives
    Materials
    • Whiteboard, markers, sticky notes
    Participants
    • BAs

    Identify the challenges you’re experiencing with requirements gathering, and identify objectives.

    1. Hand out sticky notes to participants, and ask the group to work independently to think of challenges that exist with regards to requirements gathering. (Hint: consider stakeholder challenges, process challenges, outcome challenges, and training challenges.) Ask participants to write their current challenges on sticky notes, and place them on the whiteboard.
    2. As a group, review all sticky notes and group challenges into themes.
    3. For each theme you uncover, work as a group to determine the objective that will overcome these challenges throughout the workshop and write this on the whiteboard.
    4. Discuss how these challenges will be addressed in the workshop.

    Don’t improvise: have a structured, prescriptive end-to-end approach for successfully gathering useful requirements

    Creating a unified SOP guide for requirements elicitation, analysis, and validation is a critical step for requirements optimization; it gives your BAs a common frame of reference for conducting requirements gathering.

    • The key to requirements optimization is to establish a strong set of SOPs that provide direction on how your organization should be executing requirements gathering processes. This SOP guide should be a holistic document that walks your BAs through a requirements gathering project from beginning to end.
    • An SOP that is put aside is useless; it must be well communicated to BAs. It should be treated as the veritable manifesto of requirements management in your organization.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Having a standardized approach to requirements management is critical, and SOPs should be the responsibility of a group. The SOP guide should cover all of the major bases of requirements management. In addition to providing a walk-through of the process, an SOP also clarifies requirements governance.

    Use Info-Tech’s Requirements Gathering SOP and BA Playbook to assist with requirements gathering optimization

    Info-Tech’s Requirements Gathering SOP and BA Playbook template forms the basis of this blueprint. It’s a structured document that you can fill out with defined procedures for how requirements should be gathered at your organization.

    Info-Tech’s Requirements Gathering SOP and BA Playbook template provides a number of sections that you can populate to provide direction for requirements gathering practitioners. Sections provided include: Organizational Context Governance Procedures Resourcing Model Technology Strategy Knowledge Management Elicitation SOPs Analysis SOPs Validation SOPs.

    The template has been pre-populated with an example of requirements management procedures. Feel free to customize it to fit your specific needs.

    Download the Requirements Gathering SOP and BA Playbook template.

    Step 1.2: Determine Your Target State for Requirements Gathering

    Phase 1

    1.1 Understand the Benefits of Requirements Optimization

    1.2 Determine Your Target State for Requirements Gathering

    Phase 2

    2.1 Determine Elicitation Techniques

    2.2 Structure Elicitation Output

    Phase 3

    3.1 Create Analysis Framework

    3.2 Validate Business Requirements

    Phase 4

    4.1 Create Control Processes for Requirements Changes

    4.2 Build Requirements Governance and Communication Plan

    This step will walk you through the following activities:
    • Conduct a current and target state analysis.
    • Identify requirements gathering business process model.
    • Establish requirements gathering performance metrics.
    • Define project levels – level 1/2/3/4.
    • Match control points to project level.
    • Conduct initial brainstorming on the project.
    This step involves the following participants:
    • BAs
    Outcomes of this step:
    • Requirements gathering maturity summary.
    • Requirements gathering business process model.
    • Identification of project levels.
    • Identification of control points.

    Plan for requirements gathering

    The image is the Requirements Gathering Framework from earlier slides, but with all parts of the graphic grey-out, except for the arrows containing Plan and Monitor, at the top.

    Establishing an overarching plan for requirements governance is the first step in building an SOP. You must also decide who will actually execute the requirements gathering processes, and what technology they will use to accomplish this. Planning for governance, resourcing, and technology is something that should be done repeatedly and at a higher strategic level than the more sequential steps of elicitation, analysis, and validation.

    Establish your target state for requirements gathering processes to have a cogent roadmap of what needs to be done

    Visualize how you want requirements to be gathered in your organization. Do not let elements of the current process restrict your thinking.

    • First, articulate the impetus for optimizing requirements management and establish clear goals.
    • Use these goals to drive the target state.

    For example:

    • If the goal is to improve the accuracy of requirements, then restructure the validation process.
    • If the goal is to improve the consistency of requirements gathering, then create SOPs or use electronic templates and tools.

    Refrain from only making small changes to improve the existing process. Think about the optimal way to structure the requirements gathering process.

    Define the attributes of a good requirement to help benchmark the type of outputs that you’re looking for

    Attributes of Good Requirements

    Verifiable – It is stated in a way that can be tested.

    Unambiguous – It is free of subjective terms and can only be interpreted in one way.

    Complete – It contains all relevant information.

    Consistent – It does not conflict with other requirements.

    Achievable – It is possible to accomplish given the budgetary and technological constraints.

    Traceable – It can tracked from inception to testing.

    Unitary – It addresses only one thing and cannot be decomposed into multiple requirements.

    Accurate – It is based on proven facts and correct information.

    Other Considerations:

    Organizations can also track a requirement owner, rationale, priority level (must have vs. nice to have), and current status (approved, tested, etc.).

    Info-Tech Insight

    Requirements must be solution agnostic – they should focus on the underlying need rather than the technology required to satisfy the need as it can be really easy to fall into the technology solution trap.

    Use Info-Tech’s Requirements Gathering Maturity Assessment tool to help conduct current and target state analysis

    Use the Requirements Gathering Maturity Assessment tool to help assess the maturity of your requirements gathering function in your organization, and identify the gaps between the current state and the target state. This will help focus your organization's efforts in closing the gaps that represent high-value opportunities.

    • On tab 2. Current State, use the drop-down responses to provide the answer that best matches your organization, where 1= Strongly disagree and 5 = Strongly agree. On tab 3. Target State, answer the same questions in relation to where your organization would like to be.
    • Based on your responses, tab 4. Maturity Summary will display a visual of the gap between the current and target state.

    Conduct a current and target state analysis

    1.2.1 – 1 hour

    Complete the Requirements Gathering Maturity Assessment tool to define your target state, and identify the gaps in your current state.

    Input
    • Current and target state maturity rating
    Output
    • Requirements gathering maturity summary
    Materials
    • Whiteboard
    • Markers
    Participants
    • BAs
    1. For each component of requirements gathering, write out a series of questions to evaluate your current requirements gathering practices. Use the Requirements Gathering Maturity Assessment tool to assist you in drafting questions.
    2. Review the questions in each category, and agree on a rating from 1-5 on their current maturity: 1= Strongly disagree and 5 = Strongly agree. (Note: it will likely be very rare that they would score a 5 in any category, even for the target state.)
    3. Once the assigned categories have been completed, have groups present their assessment to all, and ensure that there is consensus. Once consensus has been reached, input the information into the Current State tab of the tool to reveal the overall current state of maturity score for each category.
    4. Now that the current state is complete, go through each category and define the target state goals.
    5. Document any gaps or action items that need to be addressed.

    Example: Conduct a current and target state analysis

    The Requirements Gathering Maturity Assessment - Target State, with example data inputted.

    Select the project-specific KPIs that will be used to track the value of requirements gathering optimization

    You need to ensure your requirements gathering procedures are having the desired effect and adjust course when necessary. Establishing an upfront list of key performance indicators that will be benchmarked and tracked is a crucial step.

    • Without following up on requirements gathering by tracking project metrics and KPIs, organizations will not be able to accurately gauge if the requirements process re-engineering is having a tangible, measurable effect. They will also not be able to determine what changes (if any) need to be made to SOPs based on project performance.
    • This is a crucial step that many organizations overlook. Creating a retroactive list of KPIs is inadequate, since you must benchmark pre-optimization project metrics in order to assess and isolate the value generated by reducing errors and cycle time and increasing value of deployed applications.

    Establish requirements gathering performance metrics

    1.2.2 – 30 minutes

    Input
    • Historical metrics
    Output
    • Target performance metrics
    Materials
    • Whiteboard
    • Markers
    • Paper
    Participants
    • BAs
    1. Identify the following information for the last six months to one year:
      1. Average number of reworks to requirements.
      2. Number of change requests.
      3. Percent of feature utilization by end users.
      4. User adoption rate.
      5. Number of breaches in regulatory requirements.
      6. Percent of final deliverables implemented on time.
      7. End-user satisfaction score (if possible).
    2. As a group, look at each metric in turn and set your target metrics for six months to one year for each of these categories.

    Document the output from this exercise in section 2.2 of the Requirements Gathering SOP and BA Playbook.

    Visualize your current and target state process for requirements gathering with a business process model

    A business process model (BPM) is a simplified depiction of a complex process. These visual representations allow all types of stakeholders to quickly understand a process, how it affects them, and enables more effective decision making. Consider these areas for your model:

    Stakeholder Analysis

    • Identify who the right stakeholders are
    • Plan communication
    • Document stakeholder responsibilities in a RACI

    Elicitation Techniques

    • Get the right information from stakeholders
    • Document it in the appropriate format
    • Define business need
    • Enterprise analysis

    Documentation

    • How are outputs built?
    • Process flows
    • Use cases
    • Business rules
    • Traceability matrix
    • System requirements

    Validation & Traceability

    • Make sure requirements are accurate and complete
    • Trace business needs to requirements

    Managing Requirements

    • Organizing and prioritizing
    • Gap analysis
    • Managing scope
    • Communicating
    • Managing changes

    Supporting Tools

    • Templates to standardize
    • Checklists
    • Software to automate the process

    Your requirements gathering process will vary based on the project level

    It’s important to determine the project levels up front, as each project level will have a specific degree of elicitation, analysis, and validation that will need to be completed. That being said, not all organizations will have four levels.

    Level 4

    • Very high risk and complexity.
    • Projects that result in a transformative change in the way you do business. Level 4 projects affect all lines of business, multiple technology areas, and have significant costs and/or risks.
    • Example: Implement ERP

    Level 3

    • High risk and complexity.
    • Projects that affect multiple lines of business and have significant costs and/or risks.
    • Example: Implement CRM

    Level 2

    • Medium risk and complexity.
    • Projects with broader exposure to the business that present a moderate level of risk to business operations.
    • Example: Deploy Office 365

    Level 1

    • Low risk and complexity.
    • Routine/straightforward projects with limited exposure to the business and low risk of negative business impact.
    • Example: SharePoint Update

    Use Info-Tech’s Project Level Selection Tool to classify your project level and complexity

    1.3 Project Level Selection Tool

    The Project Level Selection Tool will classify your projects into four levels, enabling you to evaluate the risk and complexity of a particular project and match it with an appropriate requirements gathering process.

    Project Level Input

    • Consider the weighting criteria for each question and make any needed adjustments to better reflect how your organization values each of the criterion.
    • Review the option levels 1-4 for each of the six questions, and make any modifications necessary to better suit your organization.
    • Review the points assigned to each of the four buckets for each of the six questions, and make any modifications needed.

    Project Level Selection

    • Use this tab to evaluate the project level of each new project.
    • To do so, answer each of the questions in the tool.

    Define project levels – Level 1/2/3/4

    1.2.3 – 1 hour

    Input
    • Project level assessment criteria
    Output
    • Identification of project levels
    Materials
    • Whiteboard
    • Markers
    Participants
    • BAs

    Define the project levels to determine the appropriate requirements gathering process for each.

    1. Begin by asking participants to review the six criteria for assessing project levels as identified in the Project Level Selection Tool. Have participants review the list and ensure agreement around the factors. Create a chart on the board using Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, and Level 4 as column headings.
    2. Create a row for each of the chosen factors. Begin by filling in the chart with criteria for a level 4 project: What constitutes a level 4 project according to these six factors?
    3. Repeat the exercise for Level 3, Level 2, and Level 1. When complete, you should have a chart that defines the four project levels at your organization.
    4. Input this information into the tool, and ask participants to review the weighting factors and point allocations and make modifications where necessary.
    5. Input the details from one of the projects participants had selected prior to the workshop beginning and determine its project level. Discuss whether this level is accurate, and make any changes needed.

    Document the output from this exercise in section 2.3 of the Requirements Gathering SOP and BA Playbook.

    Define project levels

    1.2.3 – 1 hour

    Category Level 4 Level 3 Level 2 Level 1
    Scope of Change Full system update Full system update Multiple modules Minor change
    Expected Duration 12 months + 6 months + 3-6 months 0-3 months
    Impact Enterprise-wide, globally dispersed Enterprise-wide Department-wide Low users/single division
    Budget $1,000,000+ $500,000-1,000,000 $100,000-500,000 $0-100,000
    Services Affected Mission critical, revenue impacting Mission critical, revenue impacting Pervasive but not mission critical Isolated, non-essential
    Confidentiality Yes Yes No No

    Define project levels

    1.2.3 – 1 hour

    The tool is comprised of six questions, each of which is linked to at least one type of project risk.

    Using the answers provided, the tool will calculate a level for each risk category. Overall project level is a weighted average of the individual risk levels, based on the importance weighting of each type of risk set by the project manager.

    This tool is an excerpt from Info-Tech’s exhaustive Project Level Assessment Tool.

    The image shows the Project Level Tool, with example data filled in.

    Build your initial requirements gathering business process models: create different models based on project complexity

    1.2.4 – 30 minutes

    Input
    • Current requirements gathering process flow
    Output
    • Requirements gathering business process model
    Materials
    • Whiteboard
    • Markers
    Participants
    • BAs

    Brainstorm the ideal target business process flows for your requirements gathering process (by project level).

    1. As a group, create a process flow on the whiteboard that covers the entire requirements gathering lifecycle, incorporating the feedback from exercise 1.2.1. Draw the process with input from the entire group.
    2. After the process flow is complete, compare it to the best practice process flow on the following slide. You may want to create different process flows based on project level (i.e. a process model for Level 1 and 2 requirements gathering, and a process model for how to collect requirements for Level 3 and 4). As you work through the blueprint, revisit and refine these models – this is the initial brainstorming!

    Document the output from this exercise in section 2.4 of the Requirements Gathering SOP and BA Playbook.

    Example: requirements gathering business process model

    An example of the requirements gathering business process model. The model depicts the various stages of the requirements gathering process.

    Develop your BA team to accelerate collecting, analyzing, and translating requirements

    Having an SOP is important, but it should be the basis for training the people who will actually execute the requirements gathering process. Your BA team is critical for requirements gathering – they need to know the SOPs in detail, and you need to have a plan for recruiting those with an excellent skill set.

    • The designated BA(s) for the project have responsibility for end-to-end requirements management – they are responsible for executing the SOPs outlined in this blueprint, including elicitation, analysis, and validation of requirements during the project.
    • Designated BAs must work collaboratively with their counterparts in the business and IT (e.g. developer teams or procurement professionals) to ensure that the approved requirements are met in a timely and cost-effective manner.

    The ideal candidates for requirements gathering are technically savvy analysts (but not necessarily computer science majors) from the business who are already fluent with the business’ language and cognizant of the day-to-day challenges that take place. Organizationally, these BAs should be in a group that bridges IT and the business (such as an RGCOE or PMO) and be specialists rather than generalists in the requirements management space.

    A BA resourcing strategy is included in the SOP. Customize it to suit your needs.

    "Make sure your people understand the business they are trying to provide the solution for as well if not better than the business folks themselves." – Ken Piddington, CIO, MRE Consulting

    Use Info-Tech’s Business Requirements Analyst job description template for sourcing the right talent

    1.4 Business Requirements Analyst

    If you don’t have a trained group of in-house BAs who can execute your requirements gathering process, consider sourcing the talent from internal candidates or calling for qualified applicants. Our Business Requirements Analyst job description template can help you quickly get the word out.

    • Sometimes, you will have a dedicated set of BAs, and sometimes you won’t. In the latter case, the template covers:
      • Job Title
      • Description of Role
      • Responsibilities
      • Target Job Skills
      • Target Job Qualifications
    • The template is primarily designed for external hiring, but can also be used to find qualified internal candidates.

    Info-Tech Deliverable
    Download the Business Requirements Analyst job description template.

    Standardizing process begins with establishing expectations

    CASE STUDY

    Industry Government

    Source Info-Tech Workshop

    Challenge

    A mid-sized US municipality was challenged with managing stakeholder expectations for projects, including the collection and analysis of business requirements.

    The lack of a consistent approach to requirements gathering was causing the IT department to lose credibility with department level executives, impacting the ability of the team to engage project stakeholders in defining project needs.

    Solution

    The City contracted Info-Tech to help build an SOP to govern and train all BAs on a consistent requirements gathering process.

    The teams first set about establishing a consistent approach to defining project levels, defining six questions to be asked for each project. This framework would be used to assess the complexity, risk, and scope of each project, thereby defining the appropriate level of rigor and documentation required for each initiative.

    Results

    Once the project levels were defined, the team established a formalized set of steps, tools, and artifacts to be created for each phase of the project. These tools helped the team present a consistent approach to each project to the stakeholders, helping improve credibility and engagement for eliciting requirements.

    The project level should set the level of control

    Choose a level of control that facilitates success without slowing progress.

    No control Right-sized control Over-engineered control
    Final deliverable may not satisfy business or user requirements. Control points and communication are set at appropriate stage-gates to allow for deliverables to be evaluated and assessed before proceeding to the next phase. Excessive controls can result in too much time spent on stage-gates and approvals, which creates delays in the schedule and causes milestones to be missed.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Throughout the requirements gathering process, you need checks and balances to ensure that the projects are going according to plan. Now that we know our stakeholder, elicitation, and prioritization processes, we will set up the control points for each project level.

    Plan your communication with stakeholders

    Determine how you want to receive and distribute messages to stakeholders.

    Communication Milestones Audience Artifact Final Goal
    Project Initiation Project Sponsor Project Charter Communicate Goals and Scope of Project
    Elicitation Scheduling Selected Stakeholders (SMEs, Power Users) Proposed Solution Schedule Elicitation Sessions
    Elicitation Follow-Up Selected Stakeholders Elicitation Notes Confirm Accuracy of Notes
    First Pass Validation Selected Stakeholders Consolidated Requirements Validate Aggregated Requirements
    Second Pass Validation Selected Stakeholders Prioritized Requirements Validate Requirements Priority
    Eliminated Requirements Affected Stakeholders Out of Scope Requirements Affected Stakeholders Understand Impact of Eliminated Requirements
    Solution Selection High Authority/Expertise Stakeholders Modeled Solutions Select Solution
    Selected Solution High Authority/Expertise Stakeholders and Project Sponsor Requirements Package Communicate Solution
    Requirements Sign-Off Project Sponsor Requirements Package Obtain Sign-Off

    Setting control points – approvals and sign-offs

    # – Control Point: A decision requiring specific approval or sign-off from defined stakeholders involved with the project. Control points result in accepted or rejected deliverables/documents.

    A – Plan Approval: This control point requires a review of the requirements gathering plan, stakeholders, and elicitation techniques.

    B – Requirements Validation: This control point requires a review of the requirements documentation that indicates project and product requirements.

    C – Prioritization Sign-Off: This requires sign-off from the business and/or user groups. This might be sign-off to approve a document, prioritization, or confirm that testing is complete.

    D – IT or Peer Sign-Off: This requires sign-off from IT to approve technical requirements or confirm that IT is ready to accept a change.

    Match control points to project level and identify these in your requirements business process models

    1.2.5 – 45 minutes

    Input
    • Activity 1.2.4 business process diagram
    Output
    • Identify control points
    Materials
    • Whiteboard
    • Markers
    • Sticky notes
    Participants
    • Business stakeholders
    • BAs

    Define all of the key control points, required documentation, and involved stakeholders.

    1. On the board, post the initial business process diagram built in exercise 1.2.4. Have participants suggest appropriate control points. Write the control point number on a sticky note and place it where the control point should be.
    2. Now that we have identified the control points, consider each control point and define who will be involved in each one, who provides the approval to move forward, the documentation required, and the overall goal.

    Document the output from this exercise in section 6.1 of the Requirements Gathering SOP and BA Playbook.

    A savvy BA should clarify and confirm project scope prior to embarking on requirements elicitation

    Before commencing requirements gathering, it’s critical that your practitioners have a clear understanding of the initial business case and rationale for the project that they’re supporting. This is vital for providing the business context that elicitation activities must be geared towards.

    • Prior to commencing the requirements gathering phase, the designated BA should obtain a clear statement of scope or initial project charter from the project sponsor. It’s also advisable for the BA to have an in-person meeting with the project sponsor(s) to understand the overarching strategic or tactical impetus for the project. This initial meeting should be less about eliciting requirements and more about understanding why the project is moving forward, and the business processes it seeks to enable or re-engineer (the target state).
    • During this meeting, the BA should seek to develop a clear understanding of the strategic rationale for why the project is being undertaken (the anticipated business benefits) and why it is being undertaken at this time. If the sponsor has any business process models they can share, this would be a good time to review them.

    During requirements gathering, BAs should steer clear of solutions and focus on capturing requirements. Focus on traceable, hierarchical, and testable requirements. Focusing on solution design means you are out of requirements mode.

    Identify constraints early and often, and ensure that they are adequately communicated to project sponsors and end users

    Constraints come in many forms (i.e. financial, regulatory, and technological). Identifying these constraints prior to entering requirements gathering enables you to remain alert; you can separate what is possible from what is impossible, and set stakeholder expectations accordingly.

    • Most organizations don’t inventory their constraints until after they’ve gathered requirements. This is dangerous, as clients may inadvertently signal to end users or stakeholders that an infeasible requirement is something they will pursue. As a result, stakeholders are disappointed when they don’t see it materialize.
    • Organizations need to put advanced effort into constraint identification and management. Too much time is wasted pursuing requirements that aren't feasible given existing internal (e.g. budgets and system) and external (e.g. legislative or regulatory) constraints.
    • Organizations need to manage diverse stakeholders for requirements analysis. Communication will not always be solely with internal teams, but also with suppliers, customers, vendors, and system integrators.

    Stakeholder management is a critical aspect of the BA’s role. Part of the BA’s responsibility is prioritizing solutions and demonstrating to stakeholders the level of effort required and the value attained.

    A graphic, with an arrow running down the left side, pointing downward, which is labelled Constraint Malleability. On the right side of the arrow are three rounded arrows, stacked. The top arrow is labelled Legal/Regulatory Constraints, the second is labelled System/Technical Constraints and the third is labelled Stakeholder Constraints

    Conduct initial brainstorming on the scope of a selected enterprise application project (real or a sample of your choice)

    1.2.6 – 30 minutes

    Input
    • Project details
    Output
    • Initial project scoping
    Materials
    • Whiteboard
    • Markers
    Participants
    • Business stakeholders

    Begin the requirements gathering process by conducting some initial scoping on why we are doing the project, the goals, and the constraints.

    1. Share the project intake form/charter with each member of the group, and give them a few minutes to read over the project details.
    2. On the board write the project topic and three sub-topics:
      • Why does the business want this?
      • What do you want customers (end users) to be able to do?
      • What are the constraints?
    3. As a group, brainstorm answers to each of these questions and write them on the board.

    Example: Conduct initial brainstorming on the project

    Image shows an example for initial brainstorming on a project. The image shows the overall idea, Implement CRM, with question bubbles emerging out of it, and space left blank to brainstorm the answers to those questions.

    Identify stakeholders that must be consulted during the elicitation part of the process; get a good spectrum of subject matter experts (SMEs)

    Before you can dive into most elicitation techniques, you need to know who you’re going to speak with – not all stakeholders hold the same value.

    There are two broad categories of stakeholders:

    Customers: Those who ask for a system/project/change but do not necessarily use it. These are typically executive sponsors, project managers, or interested stakeholders. They are customers in the sense that they may provide the funding or budget for a project, and may have requests for features and functionality, but they won’t have to use it in their own workflows.

    Users: Those who may not ask for a system but must use it in their routine workflows. These are your end users, those who will actually interact with the system. Users don’t necessarily have to be people – they can also be other systems that will require inputs or outputs from the proposed solution. Understand their needs to best drive more granular functional requirements.

    "The people you need to make happy at the end of the day are the people who are going to help you identify and prioritize requirements." – Director of IT, Municipal Utilities Provider

    Need a hand with stakeholder identification? Leverage Info-Tech’s Stakeholder Planning Tool to catalog and prioritize the stakeholders your BAs will need to contact during the elicitation phase.

    Exercise: Identify and analyze stakeholders for the application project prior to beginning formal elicitation

    1.2.7 – 45 minutes

    Input
    • List of stakeholders
    Output
    • Stakeholder analysis
    Materials
    • Whiteboard
    • Markers
    • Sticky notes
    Participants
    • BAs

    Practice the process for identifying and analyzing key stakeholders for requirements gathering.

    1. As a group, generate a complete list of the project stakeholders. Consider who is involved in the problem and who will be impacted by the solution, and record the names of these stakeholders/stakeholder groups on a sticky note. Categories include:
      1. Who is the project sponsor?
      2. Who are the user groups?
      3. Who are the project architects?
      4. Who are the specialty stakeholders (SMEs)?
      5. Who is your project team?
    2. Now that you’ve compiled a complete list, review each user group and indicate their level of influence against their level of involvement in the project to create a stakeholder power map by placing their sticky on a 2X2 grid.
    3. At the end of the day, record this list in the Requirements Gathering Communication Tracking Template.

    Use Info-Tech’s Requirements Gathering Communication Tracking Template

    1.5 Requirements Gathering Communication Tracking Template

    Use the Requirements Gathering Communication Tracking Template for structuring and managing ongoing communications among key requirements gathering implementation stakeholders.

    An illustration of the Stakeholder Power Map Template tab of the Requirements Gathering Communication Tracking Template

    Use the Stakeholder Power Map tab to:

    • Identify the stakeholder's name and role.
    • Identify their position on the power map using the drop-down menu.
    • Identify their level of support.
    • Identify resisters' reasons for resisting as: unwilling, unable, and/or unknowing.
    • Identify which committees they currently sit on, and which they will sit on in the future state.
    • Identify any key objections the stakeholder may have.

    Use the Communication Management Plan tab to:

    • Identify the vehicle/communication medium (status update, meeting, training, etc.).
    • Identify the audience for the communication.
    • Identify the purpose for communication.
    • Identify the frequency.
    • Identify who is responsible for the communication.
    • Identify how the communication will be distributed, and the level of detail.

    Right-size your investments in requirements management technology; sometimes the “suite spot” isn’t necessary

    Recording and analyzing requirements needs some kind of tool, but don’t overinvest in a dedicated suite if you can manage with a more inexpensive solution (such as Word, Excel, and/or Visio). Top-tier solutions may be necessary for an enterprise ERP deployment, but you can use a low-cost solution for low-level productivity application.

    • Many companies do things in the wrong order. Organizations need to right-size the approach that they take to recording and analyzing requirements. Taking the suite approach isn’t always better – often, inputting the requirements into Word or Excel will suffice. An RM suite won’t solve your problems by itself.
    • If you’re dealing with strategic approach or calculated approach projects, their complexity likely warrants a dedicated RM suite that can trace system dependencies. If you’re dealing with primarily elementary or fundamental approach projects, use a more basic tool.

    Your SOP guide should specify the technology platform that your analysts are expected to use for initial elicitation as well as analysis and validation. You don’t want them to use Word if you’ve invested in a full-out IBM RM solution.

    The graphic shows a pyramid shape next to an arrow, pointing up. The arrow is labelled Project Complexity. The pyramid includes three text boxes, reading (from top to bottom) Dedicated RM Suite; RM Module in PM Software; and Productivity APP (Word/Excel/Visio)

    If you need to opt for a dedicated suite, these vendors should be strong contenders in your consideration set

    Dedicated requirements management suites are a great (although pricey) way to have full control over recording, analysis, and hierarchical categorization of requirements. Consider some of the major vendors in the space if Word, Excel, and Visio aren’t suitable for you.

    • Before you purchase a full-scale suite or module for requirements management, ensure that the following contenders have been evaluated for your requirements gathering technology strategy:
      • Micro Focus Requirements Management
      • IBM Requisite Pro
      • IBM Rational DOORS
      • Blueprint Requirements Management
      • Jama Software
      • Polarion Software (a Siemens Company)

    A mid-sized consulting company overhauls its requirement gathering software to better understand stakeholder needs

    CASE STUDY

    Industry Consulting

    Source Jama Software

    Challenge

    ArcherPoint is a leading Microsoft Partner responsible for providing business solutions to its clients. Its varied customer base now requires a more sophisticated requirements gathering software.

    Its process was centered around emailing Word documents, creating versions, and merging issues. ArcherPoint recognized the need to enhance effectiveness, efficiency, and accuracy of requirements gathering through a prescriptive set of elicitation procedures.

    Solution

    The IT department at ArcherPoint recognized that a strong requirements gathering process was essential to delivering value to stakeholders. It needed more scalable and flexible requirements gathering software to enhance requirements traceability. The company implemented SaaS solutions that included traceability and seamless integration features.

    These features reduced the incidences of repetition, allowed for tracing of requirements relationships, and ultimately led to an exhaustive understanding of stakeholders’ needs.

    Results

    Projects are now vetted upon an understanding of the business client’s needs with a thorough requirements gathering collection and analysis.

    A deeper understanding of the business needs also allows ArcherPoint to better understand the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders. This allows for the implementation of structures and policies which makes the requirements gathering process rigorous.

    There are different types of requirements that need to be gathered throughout the elicitation phase

    Business Requirements

    • Higher-level statements of the goals, objectives, or needs of the enterprise.
    • Describe the reasons why a project has been initiated, the objectives that the project will achieve, and the metrics that will be used to measure its success.
    • Business requirements focus on the needs of the organization as a whole, not stakeholders within it.
    • Business requirements provide the foundation on which all further requirements analysis is based:
      • Ultimately, any detailed requirements must map to business requirements. If not, what business need does the detailed requirement fulfill?

    Stakeholder Requirements

    • Statements of the needs of a particular stakeholder or class of stakeholders, and how that stakeholder will interact with a solution.
    • Stakeholder requirements serve as a bridge between business requirements and the various classes of solution requirements.
    • When eliciting stakeholder requirements, other types of detailed requirements may be identified. Record these for future use, but keep the focus on capturing the stakeholders’ needs over detailing solution requirements.

    Solution options or preferences are not requirements. Be sure to identify these quickly to avoid being forced into untimely discussions and sub-optimal solution decisions.

    Requirement types – a quick overview (continued)

    Solution Requirements: Describe the characteristics of a solution that meet business requirements and stakeholder requirements. They are frequently divided into sub-categories, particularly when the requirements describe a software solution:

    Functional Requirements

    • Describe the behavior and information that the solution will manage. They describe capabilities the system will be able to perform in terms of behaviors or operations, i.e. specific information technology application actions or responses.
    • Functional requirements are not detailed solution specifications; rather, they are the basis from which specifications will be developed.

    Non-Functional Requirements

    • Capture conditions that do not directly relate to the behavior or functionality of the solution, but rather describe environmental conditions under which the solution must remain effective or qualities that the systems must have. These can include requirements related to capacity, speed, security, availability, and the information architecture and presentation of the user interface.
    • Non-functional requirements often represent constraints on the ultimate solution. They tend to be less negotiable than functional requirements.
    • For IT solutions, technical requirements would fit in this category.
    Info-Tech Insight

    Remember that solution requirements are distinct from solution specifications; in time, specifications will be developed from the requirements. Don’t get ahead of the process.

    If you want additional support, have our analysts guide you through this phase as part of an Info-Tech workshop

    Book a workshop with our Info-Tech analysts:

    • To accelerate this project, engage your IT team in an Info-Tech workshop with an Info-Tech analyst team.
    • Info-Tech analysts will join you and your team onsite at your location or welcome you to Info-Tech’s historic Toronto office to participate in an innovative onsite workshop.
    • Contact your account manager (www.infotech.com/account), or email Workshops@InfoTech.com for more information.

    The following are sample activities that will be conducted by Info-Tech analysts with your team:

    1.2.1 Conduct current and target state analysis

    An analyst will facilitate a discussion to assess the maturity of your requirements gathering process and identify any gaps in the current state.

    1.2.2 Establish requirements gathering performance metrics

    Speak to an analyst to discuss and determine key metrics for measuring the effectiveness of your requirements gathering processes.

    1.2.4 Identify your requirements gathering business process model

    An analyst will facilitate a discussion to determine the ideal target business process flow for your requirements gathering.

    1.2.3; 1.2.5 Define control levels and match control points

    An analyst will assist you with determining the appropriate requirements gathering approach for different project levels. The discussion will highlight key control points and define stakeholders who will be involved in each one.

    1.2.6; 1.2.7 Conduct initial scoping and identify key stakeholders

    An analyst will facilitate a discussion to highlight the scope of the requirements gathering optimization project as well as identify and analyze key stakeholders in the process.

    Phase 2: Define the Elicitation Process

    Phase 2 outline

    Call 1-888-670-8889 or email GuidedImplementations@InfoTech.com for more information.

    Complete these steps on your own, or call us to complete a guided implementation. A guided implementation is a series of 2-3 advisory calls that help you execute each phase of a project. They are included in most advisory memberships.

    Guided Implementation 2: Define the Elicitation Process

    Proposed Time to Completion: 2 weeks

    Step 2.1: Determine Elicitation Techniques

    Start with an analyst kick off call:

    • Understand and assess elicitation techniques.
    • Determine best fit to projects and business environment.

    Then complete these activities…

    • Understand different elicitation techniques.
    • Record the approved elicitation techniques.
    Step 2.2: Structure Elicitation Output

    Review findings with analyst:

    • Review options for structuring the output of requirements elicitation.
    • Build the requirements gathering operating model.

    Then complete these activities…

    • Build use case model.
    • Use table-top testing to build use case models.
    • Build the operating model.

    With these tools & templates:

    • Business Requirements Document Template
    • Scrum Documentation Template
    Phase 2 Results & Insights:
    • Best practices for conducting and structuring elicitation.

    Step 2.1: Determine Elicitation Techniques

    Phase 1

    1.1 Understand the Benefits of Requirements Optimization

    1.2 Determine Your Target State for Requirements Gathering

    Phase 2

    2.1 Determine Elicitation Techniques

    2.2 Structure Elicitation Output

    Phase 3

    3.1 Create Analysis Framework

    3.2 Validate Business Requirements

    Phase 4

    4.1 Create Control Processes for Requirements Changes

    4.2 Build Requirements Governance and Communication Plan

    This step will walk you through the following activities:

    • Understand requirements elicitation techniques.

    This step involves the following participants:

    • BAs
    • Business stakeholders

    Outcomes of this step

    • Select and record best-fit elicitation techniques.

    Eliciting requirements is all about effectively creating the initial shortlist of needs the business has for an application

    The image is the Requirements Gathering Framework, shown earlier. All parts of the framework are greyed-out, except for the arrow containing the word Elicit in the center of the image, with three bullet points beneath it that read: Prepare; Conduct; Confirm.

    The elicitation phase is where the BAs actually meet with project stakeholders and uncover the requirements for the application. Major tasks within this phase include stakeholder identification, selecting elicitation techniques, and conducting the elicitation sessions. This phase involves the most information gathering and therefore requires a significant amount of time to be done properly.

    Good requirements elicitation leverages a strong elicitation framework and executes the right elicitation techniques

    A mediocre requirements practitioner takes an order taker approach to elicitation: they elicit requirements by showing up to a meeting with the stakeholder and asking, “What do you want?” This approach frequently results in gaps in requirements, as most stakeholders cannot free-form spit out an accurate inventory of their needs.

    A strong requirements practitioner first decides on an elicitation framework – a mechanism to anchor the discussion about the business requirements. Info-Tech recommends using business process modelling (BPM) as the most effective framework. The BA can now work through several key questions:

    • What processes will this application need to support?
    • What does the current process look like?
    • How could we improve the process?
    • In a target state process map, what are the key functional requirements necessary to support this?

    The second key element to elicitation is using the right blend of elicitation techniques: the tactical approach used to actually collect the requirements. Interviews are the most popular means, but focus groups, JAD sessions, and observational techniques can often yield better results – faster. This section will touch on BPM/BPI as an elicitation framework, then do deep dive on different elicitation techniques.

    The elicitation phase of most enterprise application projects follows a similar four-step approach

    Prepare

    Stakeholders must be identified, and elicitation frameworks and techniques selected. Each technique requires different preparation. For example, brainstorming requires ground rules; focus groups require invitations, specific focus areas, and meeting rooms (perhaps even cameras). Look at each of these techniques and discuss how you would prepare.

    Conduct

    A good elicitor has the following underlying competencies: analytical thinking, problem solving, behavioral characteristics, business knowledge, communication skills, interaction skills, and proficiency in BA tools. In both group and individual elicitation techniques, interpersonal proficiency and strong facilitation is a must. A good BA has an intuitive sense of how to manage the flow of conversations, keep them results-oriented, and prevent stakeholder tangents or gripe sessions.

    Document

    How you document will depend on the technique you use. For example, recording and transcribing a focus group is probably a good idea, but you still need to analyze the results and determine the actual requirements. Use cases demand a software tool – without one, they become cumbersome and unwieldy. Consider how you would document the results before you choose the technique. Some analysts prefer to use solutions like OneNote or Evernote for capturing the raw initial notes, others prefer pen and paper: it’s what works best for the BA at hand.

    Confirm

    Review the documentation with your stakeholder and confirm the understanding of each requirement via active listening skills. Revise requirements as necessary. Circulating the initial notes of a requirements interview or focus group is a great practice to get into – it ensures jargon and acronyms are correctly captured, and that nothing has been lost in the initial translation.

    BPM is an extremely useful framework for framing your requirements elicitation discussions

    What is BPM? (Source: BPMInstitute.org)

    BPMs can take multiple forms, but they are created as visual process flows that depict a series of events. They can be customized at the discretion of the requirements gathering team (swim lanes, legends, etc.) based on the level of detail needed from the input.

    When to use them?

    BPMs can be used as the basis for further process improvement or re-engineering efforts for IT and applications projects. When the requirements gathering process owner needs to validate whether or not a specific step involved in the process is necessary, BPM provides the necessary breakdown.

    What’s the benefit?

    Different individuals absorb information in a variety of ways. Visual representations of a process or set of steps tend to be well received by a large sub-set of individuals, making BPMs an effective analysis technique.

    This related Info-Tech blueprint provides an extremely thorough overview of how to leverage BPM and process improvement approaches.

    Use a SIPOC table to assist with zooming into a step in a BPM to help define requirements

    Build a Sales Report
    • Salesforce
    • Daily sales results
    • Sales by product
    • Sales by account rep
    • Receive customer orders
    • Process invoices
    • GL roll-up
    • Sales by region
    • Sales by rep
    • Director of Sales
    • CEO
    • Report is accurate
    • Report is timely
    • Balance to GL
    • Automated email notification

    Source: iSixSigma

    Example: Extract requirements from a BPM for a customer service solution

    Look at an example for a claims process, and focus on the Record Claim task (event).

    Task Input Output Risks Opportunities Condition Sample Requirements
    Record Claim Customer Email Case Record
    • An agent accidentally misses the email and the case is not submitted.
    • The contents of the email are not properly ported over into the case for the claim.
    • The claim is routed to the wrong recipient within the claims department.
    • There is translation risk when the claim is entered in another language from which it is received.
    • Reduce the time to populate a customer’s claim information into the case.
    • Automate the data capture and routing.
    • Pre-population of the case with the email contents.
    • Suggested routing based on the nature of the case.
    • Multi-language support.

    Business:

    • The system requires email-to-case functionality.

    Non-Functional:

    • The cases must be supported in multiple languages.
    • Case management requires Outlook integration.

    Functional:

    • The case must support the following information:
    • Title; Customer; Subject; Case Origin; Case Type; Owner; Status; Priority
    • The system must pre-populate the claims agent based on the nature of the case.

    The image is an excerpt from a table, with the title Claims Process at the top. The top row is labelled Customer Service, and includes a textbox that reads Record Claim. The bottom row is labelled Claims, and includes a textbox that reads Manage Claim. A downward-pointing arrow connects the two textboxes.

    Identify the preferred elicitation techniques in your requirements gathering SOP: outline order of operations

    Conducting elicitation typically takes the greatest part of the requirements management process. During elicitation, the designated BA(s) should be reviewing documentation, and conducting individual and group sessions with key stakeholders.

    • When eliciting requirements, it’s critical that your designated BAs use multiple techniques; relying only on stakeholder interviews while neglecting to conduct focus groups and joint whiteboarding sessions will lead to trouble.
    • Avoid makeshift solutions by focusing on target state requirements, but don’t forget about the basic user needs. These can often be neglected because one party assumes that the other already knows about them.
    • The SOP guide should provide your BAs with a shortlist of recommended/mandated elicitation techniques based on business scenarios (examples in this section). Your SOP should also suggest the order in which BAs use the techniques for initial elicitation. Generally, document review comes first, followed by group, individual, and observational techniques.

    Elicitation is an iterative process – requirements should be refined in successive steps. If you need more information in the analysis phases, don’t be afraid to go back and conduct more elicitation.

    Understand different elicitation techniques

    2.1.1 – 1 hour

    Input
    • Elicitation techniques
    Output
    • Elicitation technique assessment
    Materials
    • Whiteboard
    • Markers
    • Paper
    Participants
    • BAs
    1. For this exercise, review the following elicitation techniques: observation, document review, surveys, focus groups, and interviews. Use the material in the next slides to brainstorm around the following questions:
      1. What types of information can the technique be used to collect?
      2. Why would you use this technique over others?
      3. How will you prepare to use the technique?
      4. How will you document the technique?
      5. Is this technique suitable for all projects?
      6. When wouldn’t you use it?
    2. Have each group present their findings from the brainstorming to the group.

    Document any changes to the elicitation techniques in section 4.0 of the Requirements Gathering SOP and BA Playbook.

    Understand different elicitation techniques – Interviews

    Technique Description Assessment and Best Practices Stakeholder Effort BA Effort
    Structured One-on-One Interview In a structured one-on-one interview, the BA has a fixed list of questions to ask the stakeholder and follows up where necessary. Structured interviews provide the opportunity to quickly home in on areas of concern that were identified during process mapping or group elicitation techniques. They should be employed with purpose, i.e. to receive specific stakeholder feedback on proposed requirements or to help identify systemic constraints. Generally speaking, they should be 30 minutes or less. Low Medium
    Unstructured One-on-One Interview In an unstructured one-on-one interview, the BA allows the conversation to flow free form. The BA may have broad themes to touch on but does not run down a specific question list. Unstructured interviews are most useful for initial elicitation, when brainstorming a draft list of potential requirements is paramount. Unstructured interviews work best with senior stakeholders (sponsors or power users), since they can be time consuming if they’re applied to a large sample size. It’s important for BAs not to stifle open dialogue and allow the participants to speak openly. They should be 60 minutes or less. Medium Low
    Info-Tech Insight

    Interviews should be used with high-value targets. Those who receive one-on-one face time can help generate good requirements, as well as allow effective communication around requirements at a later point (i.e. during the analysis and validation phases).

    Understand the diverse approaches for interviews

    Use a clear interview approach to guide the preparation, facilitation styles, participants, and interview schedules you manage for a specific project.

    Depending on your stakeholder audience and interview objectives, apply one or more of the following approaches to interviews.

    Interview Approaches

    • Unstructured
    • Semi-structured
    • Structured

    The Benefits of Interviews

    Fosters direct engagement

    IT is able to hear directly from stakeholders about what they are looking to do with a solution and the level of functionality that they expect from it.

    Offers greater detail

    With interviews, a greater degree of insight can be gained by leveraging information that wouldn’t be collected through traditional surveys. Face-to-face interactions provide thorough answers and context that helps inform requirements.

    Removes ambiguity

    Face-to-face interactions allow opportunities for follow-up around ambiguous answers. Clarify what stakeholders are looking for and expect in a project.

    Enables stakeholder management

    Interviews are a direct line of communication with a project stakeholder. They provide input and insight, and help to maintain alignment, plan next steps, and increase awareness within the IT organization.

    Select an interview structure based on project objectives and staff types

    Consider stakeholder types and characteristics, in conjunction with the best way to maximize time, when selecting which of the three interview structures to leverage during the elicitation phase of requirements gathering.

    Structured Interviews

    • Interviews conducted using this structure are modelled after the typical Q&A session.
    • The interviewer asks the participant a variety of closed-ended questions.
    • The participant’s response is limited to the scope of the question.

    Semi-Structured Interviews

    • The interviewer may prepare a guide, but it acts as more of an outline.
    • The goal of the interview is to foster and develop conversation.
    • Participants have the ability to answer questions on broad topics without compromising the initial guide.

    Unstructured Interviews

    • The interviewer may have a general interview guide filled with open-ended questions.
    • The objective of the questions is to promote discussion.
    • Participants may discuss broader themes and topics.

    Select the best interview approach

    Review the following questions to determine what interview structure you should utilize. If you answer the question with “Yes,” then follow the corresponding recommendations for the interview elements.

    Question Structure Type Facilitation Technique # of Participants
    Do you have to interview multiple participants at once because of time constraints? Semi-structured Discussion 1+
    Does the business or stakeholders want you to ask specific questions? Structured Q&A 1
    Have you already tried an unsuccessful survey to gather information? Semi-structured Discussion 1+
    Are you utilizing interviews to understand the area? Unstructured Discussion 1+
    Do you need to gather requirements for an immediate project? Structured Q&A 1+

    Decisions to make for interviews

    Interviews should be used with high-value targets. Those who receive one-on-one face time can help generate good requirements and allow for effective communication around requirements during the analysis and validation stages.

    Who to engage?

    • Individuals with an understanding of the project scope, constraints and considerations, and high-level objectives.
    • Project stakeholders from across different functional units to solicit a varied set of requirement inputs.

    How to engage?

    • Approach selected interview candidate(s) with a verbal invitation to participate in the requirements gathering process for [Project X].
    • Take the initiative to book time in the candidate’s calendar. Include in your calendar invitation a description of the preparation required for the interview, the anticipated outputs, and a brief timeline agenda for the interview itself.

    How to drive participant engagement?

    • Use introductory interview questions to better familiarize yourself with the interviewee and to create an environment in which the individual feels welcome and at ease.
    • Once acclimatized, ensure that you hold the attention of the interviewee by providing further probing, yet applicable, interview questions.

    Manage each point of the interaction in the interview process

    Interviews generally follow the same workflow regardless of which structure you select. You must manage the process to ensure that the interview runs smoothly and results in an effective gathering requirements process.

    1. Prep Schedule
      • Recommended Actions
        • Send an email with a proposed date and time for the meeting.
        • Include an overview of what you will be discussing.
        • Mention if other people will be joining (if group interview).
    2. Meeting Opening
      • Recommended Actions
        • Provide context around the meeting’s purpose and primary focal points.
        • Let interviewee(s) know how long the interview will last.
        • Ask if they have any blockers that may cause the meeting to end early.
    3. Meeting Discussion
      • Recommended Actions
        • Ask questions and facilitate discussion in accordance with the structure you have selected.
        • Ensure that the meeting’s dialogue is being either recorded using written notes (if possible) or a voice recorder.
    4. Meeting Wrap-Up
      • Recommended Actions
        • Provide a summary of the big findings and what was agreed upon.
        • Outline next steps or anything else you will require from the participant.
        • Let the interviewee(s) know that you will follow up with interview notes, and will require feedback from them.
    5. Meeting Follow-Up
      • Recommended Actions
        • Send an overview of what was covered and agreed upon during the interview.
        • Show the mock-ups of your work based on the interview, and solicit feedback.
        • Give the interviewee(s) the opportunity to review your notes or recording and add value where needed.

    Solve the problem before it occurs with interview troubleshooting techniques

    The interview process may grind to a halt due to challenging situations. Below are common scenarios and corresponding troubleshooting techniques to get your interview back on track.

    Scenario Technique
    Quiet interviewee Begin all interviews by asking courteous and welcoming questions. This technique will warm the interviewee up and make them feel more comfortable. Ask prompting questions during periods of silence in the interview. Take note of the answers provided by the interviewee in your interview guide, along with observations and impact statements that occur throughout the duration of the interview process.
    Disgruntled interviewee Avoid creating a hostile environment by eliminating the interviewee’s perception that you are choosing to focus on issues that the interviewee feels will not be resolved. Ask questions to contextualize the issue. For example, ask why they feel a particular way about the issue, and determine whether they have valid concerns that you can resolve.
    Interviewee has issues articulating their answer Encourage the interviewee to use a whiteboard or pen and paper to kick start their thought process. Make sure you book a room with these resources readily available.

    Understand different elicitation techniques – Observation

    Technique Description Assessment and Best Practices Stakeholder Effort BA Effort
    Casual Observation The process of observing stakeholders performing tasks where the stakeholders are unaware they are being observed. Capture true behavior through observation of stakeholders performing tasks without informing them they are being observed. This information can be valuable for mapping business process; however, it is difficult to isolate the core business activities from unnecessary actions. Low Medium
    Formal Observation The process of observing stakeholders performing tasks where the stakeholders are aware they are being observed. Formal observation allows BAs to isolate and study the core activities in a business process because the stakeholder is aware they are being observed. Stakeholders may become distrusting of the BA and modify their behavior if they feel their job responsibilities or job security are at risk Low Medium

    Info-Tech Insight

    Observing stakeholders does not uncover any information about the target state. Be sure to use contextual observation in conjunction with other techniques to discover the target state.

    Understand different elicitation techniques – Surveys

    Technique Description Assessment and Best Practices Stakeholder Effort BA Effort
    Closed-Response Survey A survey that has fixed responses for each answer. A Likert-scale (or similar measures) can be used to have respondents evaluate and prioritize possible requirements. Closed response surveys can be sent to large groups and used to quickly gauge user interest in different functional areas. They are easy for users to fill out and don’t require a high investment of time. However, their main deficit is that they are likely to miss novel requirements not listed. As such, closed response surveys are best used after initial elicitation or brainstorming to validate feature groups. Low Medium
    Open-Response Survey A survey that has open-ended response fields. Questions are fixed, but respondents are free to populate the field in their own words. Open-response surveys take longer to fill out than closed, but can garner deeper insights. Open-response surveys are a useful supplement (and occasionally replacement) for group elicitation techniques, like focus groups, when you need to receive an initial list of requirements from a broad cross-section of stakeholders. Their primary shortcoming is the analyst can’t immediately follow up on interesting points. However, they are particularly useful for reaching stakeholders who are unavailable for individual one-on-ones or group meetings. Low Medium

    Info-Tech Insight

    Surveys can be useful mechanisms for initial drafting of raw requirements (open-response) and gauging user interest in proposed requirements or feature sets (closed-response). However, they should not be the sole focus of your elicitation program due to lack of interactivity and two-way dialogue with the BA.

    Be aware: Know the implications of leveraging surveys

    What are surveys?

    Surveys take a sample population’s written responses for data collection. Survey respondents can identify themselves or choose to remain anonymous. Anonymity removes the fear of repercussions for giving critical responses to sensitive topics.

    Who needs to be involved?

    Participants of a survey include the survey writer, respondent(s), and results compiler. There is a moderate amount of work that comes from both the writer and compiler, with little work involved on the end of the respondent.

    What are the benefits?

    The main benefit of surveys is their ability to reach large population groups and segments without requiring personal interaction, thus saving money. Surveys are also very responsive and can be created and modified rapidly to address needs as they arise on an on-going basis.

    When is it best to employ a survey method?

    Surveys are most valuable when completed early in the requirements gathering stage.

    Intake and Scoping → Requirements Gathering → Solution Design → Development/ Procurement → Implementation/ Deployment

    When a project is announced, develop surveys to gauge what users consider must-have, should-have, and could-have requirements.

    Use surveys to profile the demand for specific requirements.

    It is often difficult to determine if requirements are must haves or should haves. Surveys are a strong method to assist in narrowing down a wide range of requirements.

    • If all survey respondents list the same requirement, then that requirement is a must have.
    • If no participants mention a requirement, then that requirement is not likely to be important to project success.
    • If the results are scattered, it could be that the organization is unsure of what is needed.

    Are surveys worth the time and effort? Most of the time.

    Surveys can generate insights. However, there are potential barriers:

    • Well-constructed surveys are difficult to make – asking the right questions without being too long.
    • Participants may not take surveys seriously, giving non-truthful or half-hearted answers.

    Surveys should only be done if the above barriers can easily be overcome.

    Scenario: Survey used to gather potential requirements

    Scenario

    There is an unclear picture of the business needs and functional requirements for a solution.

    Survey Approach

    Use open-ended questions to allow respondents to propose requirements they see as necessary.

    Sample questions

    • What do you believe _______ (project) should include to be successful?
    • How can _______ (project) be best made for you?
    • What do you like/dislike about ________ (process that the project will address)?

    What to do with your results

    Take a step back

    If you are using surveys to elicit a large number of requirements, there is probably a lack of clear scope and vision. Focus on scope clarification. Joint development sessions are a great technique for defining your scope with SMEs.

    Moving ahead

    • Create additional surveys. Additional surveys can help narrow down the large list of requirements. This process can be reiterated until there is a manageable number of requirements.
    • Move onto interviews. Speak directly with the users to get a grasp of the importance of the requirements taken from surveys.

    Employ survey design best practices

    Proper survey design determines how valuable the responses will be. Review survey principles released by the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

    Provide context

    Include enough detail to contextualize questions to the employee’s job duties.

    Where necessary:

    • Include conditions
    • Timeline considerations
    • Additional pertinent details

    Give clear instructions

    When introducing a question identify if it should be answered by giving one answer, multiple answers, or a ranking of answers.

    Avoid IT jargon

    Ensure the survey’s language is easily understood.

    When surveying colleagues from the business use their own terms, not IT’s.

    E.g. laptops vs. hardware

    Saying “laptops” is more detailed and is a universal term.

    Use ranges

    Recommended:

    In a month your Outlook fails:

    • 1-3 times
    • 4-7 times
    • 7+ times

    Not Recommended:

    Your Outlook fails:

    • Almost never
    • Infrequently
    • Frequently
    • Almost always

    Keep surveys short

    Improve responses and maintain stakeholder interest by only including relevant questions that have corresponding actions.

    Recommended: Keep surveys to ten or less prompts.

    Scenario: Survey used to narrow down requirements

    Scenario

    There is a large list of requirements and the business is unsure of which ones to further pursue.

    Survey Approach

    Use closed-ended questions to give degrees of importance and rank requirements.

    Sample questions

    • How often do you need _____ (requirement)?
      • 1-3 times a week; 4-6 times a week; 7+ times a week
    • Given the five listed requirements below, rank each requirement in order of importance, with 1 being the most important and 5 being the least important.
    • On a scale from 1-5, how important is ________ (requirement)?
      • 1 – Not important at all; 2 – Would provide minimal benefit; 3 – Would be nice to have; 4 – Would provide substantial benefit; 5 – Crucial to success

    What to do with your results

    Determine which requirements to further explore

    Avoid simply aggregating average importance and using the highest average as the number-one priority. Group the highest average importance requirements to be further explored with other elicitation techniques.

    Moving ahead

    The group of highly important requirements needs to be further explored during interviews, joint development sessions, and rapid development sessions.

    Scenario: Survey used to discover crucial hidden requirements

    Scenario

    The business wanted a closer look into a specific process to determine if the project could be improved to better address process issues.

    Survey Approach

    Use open-ended questions to allow employees to articulate very specific details of a process.

    Sample questions

    • While doing ________ (process/activity), what part is the most frustrating to accomplish? Why?
    • Is there any part of ________ (process/activity) that you feel does not add value? Why?
    • How would you improve _________ (process/activity)?

    What to do with your results

    Set up prototyping

    Prototype a portion with the new requirement to see if it meets the user’s needs. Joint application development and rapid development sessions pair developers and users together to collaboratively build a solution.

    Next steps

    • Use interviews to begin solution mapping. Speak to SMEs and the users that the requirement would affect. Understand how to properly incorporate the discovered requirement(s) into the solution.
    • Create user stories. User stories allow developers to step into the shoes of the users. Document the user’s requirement desires and their reason for wanting it. Give those user stories to the developers.

    Explore mediums for survey delivery

    Online

    Free online surveys offer quick survey templates but may lack customization. Paid options include customizable features. Studies show that most participants find web-based surveys more appealing, as web surveys tend to have a higher rate of completion.

    Potential Services (Not a comprehensive list)

    SurveyMonkey – free and paid options

    Good Forms – free options

    Ideal for:

    • Low complexity surveys
    • High complexity surveys
    • Quick responses
    • Low cost (free survey options)

    Paper

    Paper surveys offer complete customizability. However, paper surveys take longer to distribute and record, and are also more expensive to administer.

    Ideal for:

    • Low complexity surveys
    • High complexity surveys
    • Quick responses
    • Low cost

    Internally-developed

    Internally-developed surveys can be distributed via the intranet or email. Internal surveys offer the most customization. Cost is the creator’s time, but cost can be saved on distribution versus paper and paid online surveys.

    Ideal for:

    • Low complexity surveys
    • High complexity surveys
    • Quick responses
    • Low cost (if created quickly)

    Understand different elicitation techniques – Focus Groups

    Technique Description Assessment and Best Practices Stakeholder Effort BA Effort
    Focus Group Focus groups are sessions held between a small group (typically ten individuals or less) and an experienced facilitator who leads the conversation in a productive direction. Focus groups are highly effective for initial requirements brainstorming. The best practice is to structure them in a cross-functional manner to ensure multiple viewpoints are represented, and the conversation doesn’t become dominated by one particular individual. Facilitators must be wary of groupthink in these meetings (i.e. the tendency to converge on a single POV). Medium Medium
    Workshop Workshops are larger sessions (typically ten people or more) that are led by a facilitator, and are dependent on targeted exercises. Workshops may be occasionally decomposed into smaller group sessions. Workshops are highly versatile: they can be used for initial brainstorming, requirement prioritization, constraint identification, and business process mapping. Typically, the facilitator will use exercises or activities (such as whiteboarding, sticky note prioritization, role-playing, etc.) to get participants to share and evaluate sets of requirements. The main downside to workshops is a high time commitment from both stakeholders and the BA. Medium High

    Info-Tech Insight

    Group elicitation techniques are most useful for gathering a wide spectrum of requirements from a broad group of stakeholders. Individual or observational techniques are typically needed for further follow-up and in-depth analysis with critical power users or sponsors.

    Conduct focus groups and workshops

    There are two specific types of group interviews that can be utilized to elicit requirements: focus groups and workshops. Understand each type’s strengths and weaknesses to determine which is better to use in certain situations.

    Focus Groups Workshops
    Description
    • Small groups are encouraged to speak openly about topics with guidance from a facilitator.
    • Larger groups are led by a facilitator to complete target exercises that promote hands-on learning.
    Strengths
    • Highly effective for initial requirements brainstorming.
    • Insights can be explored in depth.
    • Any part of the requirements gathering process can be done in a workshop.
    • Use of activities can increase the learning beyond simple discussions.
    Weaknesses
    • Loudest voice in the room can induce groupthink.
    • Discussion can easily veer off topic.
    • Extremely difficult to bring together such a large group for extended periods of time.
    Facilitation Guidance
    • Make sure the group is structured in a cross-functional manner to ensure multiple viewpoints are represented.
    • If the group is too large, break the members into smaller groups. Try putting together members who would not usually interact.

    Solution mapping and joint review sessions should be used for high-touch, high-rigor BPM-centric projects

    Technique Description Assessment and Best Practices Stakeholder Effort BA Effort
    Solution Mapping Session A one-on-one session to outline business processes. BPM methods are used to write possible target states for the solution on a whiteboard and to engineer requirements based on steps in the model. Solution mapping should be done with technically savvy stakeholders with a firm understanding of BPM methodologies and nomenclature. Generally, this type of elicitation method should be done with stakeholders who participated in tier one elicitation techniques who can assist with reverse-engineering business models into requirement lists. Medium Medium
    Joint Requirements Review Session This elicitation method is sometimes used as a last step prior to moving to formal requirements analysis. During the review session, the rough list of requirements is vetted and confirmed with stakeholders. A one-on-one (or small group) requirements review session gives your BAs the opportunity to ensure that what was recorded/transcribed during previous one-on-ones (or group elicitation sessions) is materially accurate and representative of the intent of the stakeholder. This elicitation step allows you to do a preliminary clean up of the requirements list before entering the formal analysis phase. Low Low

    Info-Tech Insight

    Solution mapping and joint requirements review sessions are more advanced elicitation techniques that should be employed after preliminary techniques have been utilized. They should be reserved for technically sophisticated, high-value stakeholders.

    Interactive whiteboarding and joint development sessions should be leveraged for high-rigor BPM-based projects

    Technique Description Assessment and Best Practices Stakeholder Effort BA Effort
    Interactive White- boarding A group session where either a) requirements are converted to BPM diagrams and process flows, or b) these flows are reverse engineered to distil requirement sets. While the focus of workshops and focus groups is more on direct requirements elicitation, interactive whiteboarding sessions are used to assist with creating initial solution maps (or reverse engineering proposed solutions into requirements). By bringing stakeholders into the process, the BA benefits from a greater depth of experience and access to SMEs. Medium Medium
    Joint Application Development (JAD) JAD sessions pair end-user teams together with developers (and BA facilitators) to collect requirements and begin mapping and developing prototypes directly on the spot. JAD sessions fit well with organizations that use Agile processes. They are particularly useful when the overall project scope is ambiguous; they can be used for project scoping, requirements definition, and initial prototyping. JAD techniques are heavily dependent on having SMEs in the room – they should preference knowledge power users over the “rank and file.” High High

    Info-Tech Insight

    Interactive whiteboarding should be heavily BPM-centric, creating models that link requirements to specific workflow activities. Joint development sessions are time-consuming but create greater cohesion and understanding between BAs, developers, and SMEs.

    Rapid application development sessions add some Agile aspects to requirements elicitation

    Technique Description Assessment and Best Practices Stakeholder Effort BA Effort
    Rapid Application Development A form of prototyping, RAD sessions are akin to joint development sessions but with greater emphasis on back-and-forth mock-ups of the proposed solution. RAD sessions are highly iterative – requirements are gathered in sessions, developers create prototypes offline, and the results are validated by stakeholders in the next meeting. This approach should only be employed in highly Agile-centric environments. High High

    For more information specific to using the Agile development methodology, refer to the project blueprint Implement Agile Practices That Work.

    The role of the BA differs with an Agile approach to requirements gathering. A traditional BA is a subset of the Agile BA, who typically serves as product owner. Agile BAs have elevated responsibilities that include bridging communication between stakeholders and developers, prioritizing and detailing the requirements, and testing solutions.

    Overview of JAD and RDS techniques (Part 1)

    Use the following slides to gain a thorough understanding of both JAD and rapid development sessions (RDS) to decide which fits your project best.

    Joint Application Development Rapid Development Sessions
    Description JAD pairs end users and developers with a facilitator to collect requirements and begin solution mapping to create an initial prototype. RDS is an advanced approach to JAD. After an initial meeting, prototypes are developed and validated by stakeholders. Improvements are suggested by stakeholders and another prototype is created. This process is iterated until a complete solution is created.
    Who is involved? End users, SMEs, developers, and a facilitator (you).
    Who should use this technique? JAD is best employed in an Agile organization. Agile organizations can take advantage of the high amount of collaboration involved. RDS requires a more Agile organization that can effectively and efficiently handle impromptu meetings to improve iterations.
    Time/effort versus value JAD is a time/effort-intensive activity, requiring different parties at the same time. However, the value is well worth it. JAD provides clarity for the project’s scope, justifies the requirements gathered, and could result in an initial prototype. RDS is even more time/effort intensive than JAD. While it is more resource intensive, the reward is a more quickly developed full solution that is more customized with fewer bugs.

    Overview of JAD and RDS techniques (Part 2)

    Joint Application Development

    Timeline

    Projects that use JAD should not expect dramatically quicker solution development. JAD is a thorough look at the elicitation process to make sure that the right requirements are found for the final solution’s needs. If done well, JAD eliminates rework.

    Engagement

    Employees vary in their project engagement. Certain employees leverage JAD because they care about the solution. Others are asked for their expertise (SMEs) or because they perform the process often and understand it well.

    Implications

    JAD’s thorough process guarantees that requirements gathering is done well.

    • All requirements map back to the scope.
    • SMEs are consulted throughout the duration of the process.
    • Prototyping is only done after final solution mapping is complete.

    Rapid Development Sessions

    Timeline

    Projects that use RDS can either expect quicker or slower requirements gathering depending on the quality of iteration. If each iteration solves a requirement issue, then one can expect that the solution will be developed fairly rapidly. If the iterations fail to meet requirements the process will be quite lengthy.

    Engagement

    Employees doing RDS are typically very engaged in the project and play a large role in helping to create the solution.

    Implications

    RDS success is tied to the organization’s ability to collaborate. Strong collaboration will lead to:

    • Fewer bugs as they are eliminated in each iteration.
    • A solution that is highly customized to meet the user’s needs.

    Poor collaboration will lead to RDS losing its full value.

    When is it best to use JAD?

    JAD is best employed in an Agile organization for application development and selection. This technique best serves relatively complicated, large-scale projects that require rapid or sequential iterations on a prototype or solution as a part of requirements gathering elicitation. JAD effectuates each step in the elicitation process well, from initial elicitation to narrowing down requirements.

    When tackling a project type you’ve never attempted

    Most requirement gathering professionals will use their experience with project type standards to establish key requirements. Avoid only relying on standards when tackling a new project type. Apply JAD’s structured approach to a new project type to be thorough during the elicitation phase.

    In tandem with other elicitation techniques

    While JAD is an overarching requirements elicitation technique, it should not be the only one used. Combine the strengths of other elicitation techniques for the best results.

    When is it best to use RDS?

    RDS is best utilized when one, but preferably both, of the below criteria is met.

    When the scope of the project is small to medium sized

    RDS’ strengths lie in being able to tailor-make certain aspects of the solution. If the solution is too large, tailor-made sections are impossible as multiple user groups have different needs or there is insufficient resources. When a project is small to medium sized, developers can take the time to custom make sections for a specific user group.

    When most development resources are readily available

    RDS requires developers spending a large amount of time with users, leaving less time for development. Having developers at the ready to take on users’ improvement maintains the effectiveness of RDS. If the same developer who speaks to users develops the entire iteration, the process would be slowed down dramatically, losing effectiveness.

    Techniques to compliment JAD/RDS

    1. Unstructured conversations

    JAD relies on unstructured conversations to clarify scope, gain insights, and discuss prototyping. However, a structure must exist to guarantee that all topics are discussed and meetings are not wasted.

    2. Solution mapping and interactive white-boarding

    JAD often involves visually illustrating how high-level concepts connect as well as prototypes. Use solution mapping and interactive whiteboarding to help users and participants better understand the solution.

    3. Focus groups

    Having a group development session provides all the benefits of focus groups while reducing time spent in the typically time-intensive JAD process.

    Plan how you will execute JAD

    Before the meeting

    1. Prepare for the meeting

    Email all parties a meeting overview of topics that will be discussed.

    During the meeting

    2. Discussion

    • Facilitate the conversation according to what is needed (e.g. skip scope clarification if it is already well defined).
    • Leverage solution mapping and other visual aids to appeal to all users.
    • Confirm with SMEs that requirements will meet the users’ needs.
    • Discuss initial prototyping.

    After the meeting

    3. Wrap-up

    • Provide a key findings summary and set of agreements.
    • Outline next steps for all parties.

    4. Follow-up

    • Send the mock-up of any agreed upon prototype(s).
    • Schedule future meetings to continue prototyping.

    JAD provides a detail-oriented view into the elicitation process. As a facilitator, take detailed notes to maximize the outputs of JAD.

    Plan how you will execute RDS

    Before the meeting

    1. Prepare for the meeting

    • Email all parties a meeting overview.
    • Ask employees and developers to bring their vision of the solution, regardless of its level of detail.

    During the meeting

    2. Hold the discussion

    • Facilitate the conversation according to what is needed (e.g. skip scope clarification if already well defined).
    • Have both parties explain their visions for the solution.
    • Talk about initial prototype and current iteration.

    After the meeting

    3. Wrap-up

    • Provide a key findings summary and agreements.
    • Outline next steps for all parties.

    4. Follow-up

    • Send the mock-up of any agreed upon prototype(s).
    • Schedule future meeting to continue prototyping.

    RDS is best done in quick succession. Keep in constant contact with both employees and developers to maintain positive momentum from a successful iteration improvement.

    Develop a tailored facilitation guide for JAD and RDS

    JAD/RDS are both collaborative activities, and as with all group activities, issues are bound to arise. Be proactive and resolve issues using the following guidelines.

    Scenario Technique
    Employee and developer visions for the solution don’t match up Focus on what both solutions have in common first to dissolve any tension. Next, understand the reason why both parties have differences. Was it a difference in assumptions? Difference in what is a requirement? Once the answer has been determined, work on bridging the gaps. If there is no resolution, appoint a credible authority (or yourself) to become the final decision maker.
    Employee has difficulty understanding the technical aspect of the developer’s solution Translate the developer’s technical terms into a language that the employee understands. Encourage the employee to ask questions to further their understanding.
    Employee was told that their requirement or proposed solution is not feasible Have a high-level member of the development team explain how the requirement/solution is not feasible. If it’s possible, tell the employee that the requirement can be done in a future release and keep them updated.

    Harvest documentation from past projects to uncover reusable requirements

    Technique Description Assessment and Best Practices Stakeholder Effort BA Effort
    Legacy System Manuals The process of reviewing documentation and manuals associated with legacy systems to identify constraints and exact requirements for reuse. Reviewing legacy systems and accompanying documentation is an excellent way to gain a preliminary understanding of the requirements for the upcoming application. Be careful not to overly rely on requirements from legacy systems; if legacy systems have a feature set up one way, this does not mean it should be set up the same way on the upcoming application. If an upcoming application must interact with other systems, it is ideal to understand the integration points early. None High
    Historical Projects The process of reviewing documentation from historical projects to extract reusable requirements. Previous project documentation can be a great source of information and historical lessons learned. Unfortunately, historical projects may not be well documented. Historical mining can save a great deal of time; however, the fact that it was done historically does not mean that it was done properly. None High

    Info-Tech Insight

    Document mining is a laborious process, and as the term “mining” suggests the yield will vary. Regardless of the outcome, document mining must be performed and should be viewed as an investment in the requirements gathering process.

    Extract internal and external constraints from business rules, policies, and glossaries

    Technique Description Assessment and Best Practices Stakeholder Effort BA Effort
    Rules The process of extracting business logic from pre-existing business rules (e.g. explicit or implied workflows). Stakeholders may not be fully aware of all of the business rules or the underlying rationale for the rules. Unfortunately, business rule documents can be lengthy and the number of rules relevant to the project will vary. None High
    Glossary The process of extracting terminology and definitions from glossaries. Terminology and definitions do not directly lead to the generation of requirements. However, reviewing glossaries will allow BAs to better understand domain SMEs and interpret their requirements. None High
    Policy The process of extracting business logic from business policy documents (e.g. security policy and acceptable use). Stakeholders may not be fully aware of the different policies or the underlying rationale for why they were created. Going directly to the source is an excellent way to identify constraints and requirements. Unfortunately, policies can be lengthy and the number of items relevant to the project will vary. None High

    Info-Tech Insight

    Document mining should be the first type of elicitation activity that is conducted because it allows the BA to become familiar with organizational terminology and processes. As a result, the stakeholder facing elicitation sessions will be more productive.

    Review the different types of formal documentation (Part 1)

    1. Glossary

    Extract terminology and definitions from glossaries. A glossary is an excellent source to understand the terminology that SMEs will use.

    2. Policy

    Pull business logic from policy documents (e.g. security policy and acceptable use). Policies generally have mandatory requirements for projects, such as standard compliance requirements.

    3. Rules

    Review and reuse business logic that comes from pre-existing rules (e.g. explicit or implied workflows). Like policies, rules often have mandatory requirements or at least will require significant change for something to no longer be a requirement.

    Review the different types of formal documentation (Part 2)

    4. Legacy System

    Review documents and manuals of legacy systems, and identify reusable constraints and requirements. Benefits include:

    • Gain a preliminary understanding of general organizational requirements.
    • Ease of solution integration with the legacy system if needed.

    Remember to not use all of the basic requirements of a legacy system. Always strive to find a better, more productive solution.

    5. Historical Projects

    Review documents from historical projects to extract reusable requirements. Lessons learned from the company’s previous projects are more applicable than case studies. While historical projects can be of great use, consider that previous projects may not be well documented.

    Drive business alignment as an output from documentation review

    Project managers frequently state that aligning projects to the business goals is a key objective of effective project management; however, it is rarely carried out throughout the project itself. This gap is often due to a lack of understanding around how to create true alignment between individual projects and the business needs.

    Use company-released statements and reports

    Extract business wants and needs from official statements and reports (e.g. press releases, yearly reports). Statements and reports outline where the organization wants to go which helps to unearth relevant project requirements.

    Ask yourself, does the project align to the business?

    Documented requirements should always align with the scope of the project and the business objectives. Refer back frequently to your set of gathered requirements to check if they are properly aligned and ensure the project is not veering away from the original scope and business objectives.

    Don’t just read for the sake of reading

    The largest problem with documentation review is that requirements gathering professionals do it for the sake of saying they did it. As a result, projects often go off course due to not aligning to business objectives following the review sessions.

    • When reading a document, take notes to avoid projects going over time and budget and business dissatisfaction. Document your notes and schedule time to review the set of complete notes with your team following the individual documentation review.

    Select elicitation techniques that match the elicitation scenario

    There is a time and place for each technique. Don’t become too reliant on the same ones. Diversify your approach based on the elicitation goal.

    A chart showing Elicitation Scenarios and Techniques, with each marked for their efficacy.

    This table shows the relative strengths and weaknesses of each elicitation technique compared against the five basic elicitation scenarios.

    A typical project will encounter most of the elicitation scenarios. Therefore, it is important to utilize a healthy mix of techniques to optimize effectiveness.

    Very Strong = Very Effective

    Strong = Effective

    Medium = Somewhat Effective

    Weak = Minimally Effective

    Very Weak = Not Effective

    Record the approved elicitation techniques that your BAs should use

    2.1.2 – 30 minutes

    Input
    • Approved elicitation techniques
    Output
    • Execution procedure
    Materials
    • Whiteboard
    • Markers
    Participants
    • Business stakeholders
    • BAs

    Record the approved elicitation methods and best practices for each technique in the SOP.

    Identify which techniques should be utilized with the different stakeholder classes.

    Segment the different techniques based by project complexity level.

    Use the following chart to record the approved techniques.

    Stakeholder L1 Projects L2 Projects L3 Projects L4 Projects
    Senior Management Structured Interviews
    Project Sponsor Unstructured Interviews
    SME (Business) Focus Groups Unstructured Interviews
    Functional Manager Focus Groups Structured Interviews
    End Users Surveys; Focus Groups; Follow-Up Interviews; Observational Techniques

    Document the output from this exercise in section 4.0 of the Requirements Gathering SOP and BA Playbook.

    Confirm initial elicitation notes with stakeholders

    Open lines of communication with stakeholders and keep them involved in the requirements gathering process; confirm the initial elicitation before proceeding.

    Confirming the notes from the elicitation session with stakeholders will result in three benefits:

    1. Simple miscommunications can compound and result in costly rework if they aren’t caught early. Providing stakeholders with a copy of notes from the elicitation session will eliminate issues before they manifest themselves in the project.
    2. Stakeholders often require an absorption period after elicitation sessions to reflect on the meeting. Following up with stakeholders gives them an opportunity to clarify, enhance, or change their responses.
    3. Stakeholders will become disinterested in the project (and potentially the finished application) if their involvement in the project ends after elicitation. Confirming the notes from elicitation keeps them involved in the process and transitions stakeholders into the analysis phase.

    This is the Confirm stage of the Confirm, Verify, Approve process.

    “Are these notes accurate and complete?”

    If you want additional support, have our analysts guide you through this phase as part of an Info-Tech workshop

    Book a workshop with our Info-Tech analysts:

    • To accelerate this project, engage your IT team in an Info-Tech workshop with an Info-Tech analyst team.
    • Info-Tech analysts will join you and your team onsite at your location or welcome you to Info-Tech’s historic Toronto office to participate in an innovative onsite workshop.
    • Contact your account manager (www.infotech.com/account), or email Workshops@InfoTech.com for more information.

    The following are sample activities that will be conducted by Info-Tech analysts with your team:

    2.1.1 Understand the different elicitation techniques

    An analyst will walk you through the different elicitation techniques including observations, document reviews, surveys, focus groups, and interviews, and highlight the level of effort required for each.

    2.1.2 Select and record the approved elicitation techniques

    An analyst will facilitate the discussion to determine which techniques should be utilized with the different stakeholder classes.

    Step 2.2: Structure Elicitation Output

    Phase 1

    1.1 Understand the Benefits of Requirements Optimization

    1.2 Determine Your Target State for Requirements Gathering

    Phase 2

    2.1 Determine Elicitation Techniques

    2.2 Structure Elicitation Output

    Phase 3

    3.1 Create Analysis Framework

    3.2 Validate Business Requirements

    Phase 4

    4.1 Create Control Processes for Requirements Changes

    4.2 Build Requirements Governance and Communication Plan

    This step will walk you through the following activities:
    • Build use-case models.
    • Practice using elicitation techniques with business stakeholders to build use-case models.
    • Practice leveraging user stories to convey requirements.
    This step involves the following participants:
    • BAs
    • Business stakeholders
    Outcomes of this step
    • Understand the value of use-case models for requirements gathering.
    • Practice different techniques for building use-case models with stakeholders.

    Record and capture requirements in solution-oriented formats

    Unstructured notes for each requirement are difficult to manage and create ambiguity. Using solution-oriented formats during elicitation sessions ensures that the content can be digested by IT and business users.

    This table shows common solution-oriented formats for recording requirements. Determine which formats the development team and BAs are comfortable using and create a list of acceptable formats to use in projects.

    Format Description Examples
    Behavior Diagrams These diagrams describe what must happen in the system. Business Process Models, Swim Lane Diagram, Use Case Diagram
    Interaction Diagrams These diagrams describe the flow and control of data within a system. Sequence Diagrams, Entity Diagrams
    Stories These text-based representations take the perspective of a user and describe the activities and benefits of a process. Scenarios, User Stories

    Info-Tech Insight

    Business process modeling is an excellent way to visually represent intricate processes for both IT and business users. For complex projects with high business significance, business process modeling is the best way to capture requirements and create transformational gains.

    Use cases give projects direction and guidance from the business perspective

    Use Case Creation Process

    Define Use Cases for Each Stakeholder

    • Each stakeholder may have different uses for the same solution. Identify all possible use cases attributed to the stakeholders.
    • All use cases are possible test case scenarios.

    Define Applications for Each Use Case

    • Applications are the engines behind the use cases. Defining the applications to satisfy use cases will pinpoint the areas where development or procurement is necessary.

    Consider the following guidelines:

    1. Don’t involve systems in the use cases. Use cases just identify the key end-user interaction points that the proposed solution is supposed to cover.
    2. Some use cases are dependent on other use cases or multiple stakeholders may be involved in a single use case. Depending on the availability of these use cases, they can either be all identified up front (Waterfall) or created at various iterations (Agile).
    3. Consider the enterprise architecture perspective. Existing enterprise architecture designs can provide a foundation of current requirement mappings and system structure. Reuse these resources to reduce efforts.
    4. Avoid developing use cases in isolation. Reusability is key in reducing designing efforts. By involving multiple departments, requirement clashes can be avoided and the likelihood of reusability increases.

    Develop practical use cases to help drive the development effort in the right direction

    Evaluating the practicality and likelihood of use cases is just as important as developing them.

    Use cases can conflict with each other. In certain situations, specific requirements of these use cases may clash with one another even though they are functionally sound. Evaluate use-case requirements and determine how they satisfy the overall business need.

    Use cases are not necessarily isolated; they can be nested. Certain functionalities are dependent on the results of another action, often in a hierarchical fashion. By mapping out the expected workflows, BAs can determine the most appropriate way to implement.

    Use cases can be functionally implemented in many ways. There could be multiple ways to accomplish the same use case. Each of these needs to be documented so that functional testing and user documentation can be based on them.

    Nested Use Case Examples:

    Log Into Account ← Depends on (Nested) Ordering Products Online
    Enter username and password Complete order form
    Verify user is a real person Process order
    Send user forgotten password message Check user’s account
    Send order confirmation to user

    Build a use-case model

    2.2.1 – 45 minutes

    Input
    • Sub processes
    Output
    • Use case model
    Materials
    • Whiteboard
    • Markers
    Participants
    • Business stakeholders
    • BAs
    Demonstrate how to use elicitation techniques to build use cases for the project.
    1. Identify a sub-process to build the use-case model. Begin the exercise by giving a brief description of the purpose of the meeting.
    2. For each stakeholder, draw a stick figure on the board. Pose the question “If you need to do X, what is your first step?” Go through the process until the end goal and draw each step. Ensure that you capture triggers, causes, decision points, outcomes, tools, and interactions.
    3. Starting at the beginning of the diagram, go through each step again and check with stakeholders if the step can be broken down into more granular steps.
    4. Ask the stakeholder if there are any alternative flows that people use, or any exceptions to process steps. If there are, map these out on the board.
    5. Go back through each step and ask the stakeholder where the current process is causing them grief, and where modification should be made.
    6. Record this information in the Business Requirements Document Template.

    Build a use-case model

    2.2.1

    Example: Generate Letters

    Inspector: Log into system → Search for case → Identify recipient → Determine letter type → Print letter

    Admin: Receive letter from inspector → Package and mail letter

    Citizen: Receive letter from inspector

    Understand user stories and profiles

    What are they?

    User stories describe what requirement a user wants in the solution and why they want it. The end goal of a user story is to create a simple description of a requirement for developers.

    When to use them

    User stories should always be used in requirements gathering. User stories should be collected throughout the elicitation process. Try to recapture user stories as new project information is released to capture any changes in end-customer needs.

    What’s the benefit?

    User stories help capture target users, customers, and stakeholders. They also create a “face” for individual user requirements by providing user context. This detail enables IT leaders to associate goals and end objectives with each persona.

    Takeaway

    To better understand the characteristics driving user requirements, begin to map objectives to separate user personas that represent each of the project stakeholders.

    Are user stories worth the time and effort?

    Absolutely.

    A user’s wants and needs serve as a constant reminder to developers. Developers can use this information to focus on how a solution needs to accomplish a goal instead of only focusing on what goals need to be completed.

    Create customized user stories to guide or structure your elicitation output

    Instructions

    1. During surveys, interviews, and development sessions, ask participants the following questions:
      • What do you want from the solution?
      • Why do you want that?
    2. Separate the answer into an “I want to” and “So that” format.
      • For users who give multiple “I want to” and “So that” statements, separate them into their respective pairs.
    3. Place each story on a small card that can easily be given to developers.
    As a I want to So that Size Priority
    Developer Learn network and system constraints The churn between Operations and I will be reduced. 1 point Low

    Team member

    		Increase the number of demonstrations I can achieve greater alignment with business stakeholders. 3 points High
    Product owner Implement a user story prioritization technique I can delegate stories in my product backlog to multiple Agile teams. 3 points Medium

    How to make an effective and compelling user story

    Keep your user stories short and impactful to ensure that they retain their impact.

    Follow a simple formula:

    As a [stakeholder title], I want to [one requirement] so that [reason for wanting that requirement].

    Use this template for all user stories. Other formats will undermine the point of a user story. Multiple requirements from a single user must be made into multiple stories and given to the appropriate developer. User stories should fit onto a sticky note or small card.

    Example

    As an: I want to: So that:
    ✓ Administrator Integrate with Excel File transfer won’t possibly lose information
    X Administrator Integrate with Excel and Word File transfer won’t possibly lose information

    While the difference between the two may be small, it would still undermine the effectiveness of a user story. Different developers may work on the integration of Excel or Word and may not receive this user story.

    Assign user stories a size and priority level

    Designate a size to user stories

    Size is an estimate of how many resources must be dedicated to accomplish the want. Assign a size to each user story to help determine resource allocation.

    Assign business priority to user stories

    Based on how important the requirement is to project success, assign each user story a rating of high, medium, or low. The priority given will dictate which requirements are completed first.

    Example:

    Scope: Design software to simplify financial reporting

    User Story Estimated Size Priority
    As an administrator, I want to integrate with Excel so that file transfer won’t possibly lose information. Low High
    As an administrator, I want to simplify graph construction so that I can more easily display information for stakeholders. High Medium

    Combine both size and priority to decide resource allocation. Low-size, high-priority tasks should always be done first.

    Group similar user stories together to create greater impact

    Group user stories that have the same requirement

    When collecting user stories, many will be centered around the same requirement. Group similar user stories together to show the need for that requirement’s inclusion in the solution.

    Even if it isn’t a must-have requirement, if the number of similar user stories is high enough, it would become the most important should-have requirement.

    Group together user stories such as these:
    As an I want So that
    Administrator To be able to create bar graphs Information can be more easily illustrated
    Accountant To be able to make pie charts Budget information can be visually represented

    Both user stories are about creating charts and would be developed similarly.

    Leave these user stories separate
    As an I want So that
    Administrator The program to auto-save Information won’t be lost during power outages
    Accountant To be able to save to SharePoint My colleagues can easily view and edit my work

    While both stories are about saving documents, the development of each feature is vastly different.

    Create customized user profiles

    User profiles are a way of grouping users based on a significant shared details (e.g. in the finance department, website user).

    Go beyond the user profile

    When creating the profile, consider more than the group’s name. Ask yourself the following questions:

    • What level of knowledge and expertise does this user profile have with this type of software?
    • How much will this user profile interact with the solution?
    • What degree of dependency will this user profile have on the solution?

    For example, if a user profile has low expertise but interacts and depends heavily on the program, a more thorough tutorial of the FAQ section is needed.

    Profiles put developers in user’s shoes

    Grouping users together helps developers put a face to the name. Developers can then more easily empathize with users and develop an end solution that is directly catered to their needs.

    Leverage group activities to break down user-story sizing techniques

    Work in groups to run through the following story-sizing activities.

    Planning Poker: This approach uses the Delphi method where members estimate the size of each user story by revealing numbered cards. These estimates are then discussed and agreed upon as a group.

    • Planning poker generates discussion about variances in estimates but dominant personalities may lead to biased results or groupthink.

    Team Sort: This approach can assist in expediting estimation when you are handling numerous user stories.

    • Bucket your user stories into sizes (e.g. extra-small, small, medium, large, and extra-large) based on an acceptable benchmark that may change from project to project.
    • Collaborate as a team to conclude the final size.
    • Next, translate these sizes into points.

    The graphic shows the two activities described, Planning Poker and Team Sort. In the Planning Poker image, 3 sets of cards are shown, with the numbers 13, 5, and 1 on the top of each set. At the bottom of the image are 7 cards, labelled with: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21. In the Team Sort section, there is an arrow pointing in both directions, representing a spectrum from XS to XL. Each size is assigned a point value: XS is 1; S is 3; M is 5; L is 10; and XL is 20. Cards with User Story # written on them are arranged along the spectrum.

    Create a product backlog to communicate business needs to development teams

    Use the product backlog to capture expected work and create a roadmap for the project by showing what requirements need to be delivered.

    How is the product owner involved?

    • The product owner is responsible for keeping in close contact with the end customer and making the appropriate changes to the product backlog as new ideas, insights, and impediments arise.
    • The product owner should have good communication with the team to make accurate changes to the product backlog depending on technical difficulties and needs for clarification.

    How do I create a product backlog?

    • Write requirements in user stories. Use the format: “As a (user role), I want (function) so that (benefit).” Identify end users and understand their needs.
    • Assign each requirement a priority. Decide which requirements are the most important to deliver. Ask yourself, “Which user story will create the most value?”

    What are the approaches to generate my backlog?

    • Team Brainstorming – The product owner, team, and scrum master work together to write and prioritize user stories in a single or a series of meetings.
    • Business Case – The product owner translates business cases into user stories as per the definition of “development ready.”

    Epics and Themes

    As you begin to take on larger projects, it may be advantageous to organize and group your user stories to simplify your release plan:

    • Epics are collections of similar user stories and are used to describe significant and large development initiatives.
    • Themes are collections of similar epics and are normally used to define high-level business objectives.

    To avoid confusion, the pilot product backlog will be solely composed of user stories.

    Example:

    Theme: Increase user exposure to corporate services through mobile devices
    Epic: Access corporate services through a mobile application Epic: Access corporate services through mobile website
    User Story: As a user, I want to find the closest office so that I can minimize travel time As a user, I want to find the closest office so that I can minimize travel time User Story: As a user, I want to submit a complaint so that I can improve company processes

    Simulate product backlog creation

    Overview

    Leverage Info-Tech’s Scrum Documentation Template, using the Backlog and Planning tab, to help walk you through this activity.

    Instructions

    1. Have your product owner describe the business objectives of the pilot project.
    2. Write the key business requirements as user stories.
    3. Based on your business value drivers, identify the business value of your user stories (high, medium, low).
    4. Have your team review the user stories and question the story’s value, priority, goal, and meaning.
    5. Break down the user stories if the feature or business goal is unclear or too large.
    6. Document the perceived business value of each user story, as well as the priority, goal, and meaning.

    Examples:

    As a citizen, I want to know about road construction so that I can save time when driving. Business Value: High

    As a customer, I want to find the nearest government office so that I can register for benefits. Business Value: Medium

    As a voter, I want to know what each candidate believes in so that I can make an informed decision. Business Value: High

    If you want additional support, have our analysts guide you through this phase as part of an Info-Tech workshop

    Book a workshop with our Info-Tech analysts:

    • To accelerate this project, engage your IT team in an Info-Tech workshop with an Info-Tech analyst team.
    • Info-Tech analysts will join you and your team onsite at your location or welcome you to Info-Tech’s historic Toronto office to participate in an innovative onsite workshop.
    • Contact your account manager (www.infotech.com/account), or email Workshops@InfoTech.com for more information.

    The following are sample activities that will be conducted by Info-Tech analysts with your team:

    2.2.1 Build use-case models

    An analyst will assist in demonstrating how to use elicitation techniques to build use-case models. The analyst will walk you through the table testing to visually map out and design process flows for each use case.

    Phase 3: Analyze and Validate Requirements

    Phase 3 outline

    Call 1-888-670-8889 or email GuidedImplementations@InfoTech.com for more information.

    Complete these steps on your own, or call us to complete a guided implementation. A guided implementation is a series of 2-3 advisory calls that help you execute each phase of a project. They are included in most advisory memberships.

    Guided Implementation 3: Analyze and Validate Requirements

    Proposed Time to Completion: 1 week
    Step 3.1: Create Analysis Framework

    Start with an analyst kick off call:

    • Create policies for requirements categorization and prioritization.

    Then complete these activities…

    • Create functional requirements categories.
    • Consolidate similar requirements and eliminate redundancies.
    • Prioritize requirements.

    With these tools & templates:

    • Requirements Gathering Documentation Tool
    Step 3.2: Validate Business Requirements

    Review findings with analyst:

    • Establish best practices for validating the BRD with project stakeholders.

    Then complete these activities…

    • Right-size the BRD.
    • Present the BRD to business stakeholders.
    • Translate business requirements into technical requirements.
    • Identify testing opportunities.

    With these tools & templates:

    • Business Requirements Document Template
    • Requirements Gathering Testing Checklist

    Phase 3 Results & Insights:

    • Standardized frameworks for analysis and validation of business requirements

    Step 3.1: Create Analysis Framework

    Phase 1

    1.1 Understand the Benefits of Requirements Optimization

    1.2 Determine Your Target State for Requirements Gathering

    Phase 2

    2.1 Determine Elicitation Techniques

    2.2 Structure Elicitation Output

    Phase 3

    3.1 Create Analysis Framework

    3.2 Validate Business Requirements

    Phase 4

    4.1 Create Control Processes for Requirements Changes

    4.2 Build Requirements Governance and Communication Plan

    This step will walk you through the following activities:
    • Categorize requirements.
    • Eliminate redundant requirements.
    This step involves the following participants:
    • BAs
    Outcomes of this step
    • Prioritized requirements list.

    Analyze requirements to de-duplicate them, consolidate them – and most importantly – prioritize them!

    he image is the Requirements Gathering Framework, shown earlier. All parts of the framework are greyed-out, except for the arrow containing the word Analyze in the center of the image, with three bullet points beneath it that read: Organize; Prioritize; Verify

    The analysis phase is where requirements are compiled, categorized, and prioritized to make managing large volumes easier. Many organizations prematurely celebrate being finished the elicitation phase and do not perform adequate diligence in this phase; however, the analysis phase is crucial for a smooth transition into validation and application development or procurement.

    Categorize requirements to identify and highlight requirement relationships and dependencies

    Eliciting requirements is an important step in the process, but turning endless pages of notes into something meaningful to all stakeholders is the major challenge.

    Begin the analysis phase by categorizing requirements to make locating, reconciling, and managing them much easier. There are often complex relationships and dependencies among requirements that do not get noted or emphasized to the development team and as a result get overlooked.

    Typically, requirements are classified as functional and non-functional at the high level. Functional requirements specify WHAT the system or component needs to do and non-functional requirements explain HOW the system must behave.

    Examples

    Functional Requirement: The application must produce a sales report at the end of the month.

    Non-Functional Requirement: The report must be available within one minute after midnight (EST) of the last day of the month. The report will be available for five years after the report is produced. All numbers in the report will be displayed to two decimal places.

    Categorize requirements to identify and highlight requirement relationships and dependencies

    Further sub-categorization of requirements is necessary to realize the full benefit of categorization. Proficient BAs will even work backwards from the categories to drive the elicitation sessions. The categories used will depend on the type of project, but for categorizing non-functional requirements, the Volere Requirements Resources has created an exhaustive list of sub-categories.

    Requirements Category Elements

    Example

    Look & Feel Appearance, Style

    User Experience

    Usability & Humanity Ease of Use, Personalization, Internationalization, Learning, Understandability, Accessibility Language Support
    Performance Speed, Latency, Safety, Precision, Reliability, Availability, Robustness, Capacity, Scalability, Longevity Bandwidth
    Operational & Environmental Expected Physical Environment, Interfacing With Adjacent Systems, Productization, Release Heating and Cooling
    Maintainability & Support Maintenance, Supportability, Adaptability Warranty SLAs

    Security

    		Access, Integrity, Privacy, Audit, Immunity Intrusion Prevention
    Cultural & Political Global Differentiation Different Statutory Holidays
    Legal Compliance, Standards Hosting Regulations

    What constitutes good requirements

    Complete – Expressed a whole idea or statement.

    Correct – Technically and legally possible.

    Clear – Unambiguous and not confusing.

    Verifiable – It can be determined that the system meets the requirement.

    Necessary – Should support one of the project goals.

    Feasible – Can be accomplished within cost and schedule.

    Prioritized – Tracked according to business need levels.

    Consistent – Not in conflict with other requirements.

    Traceable – Uniquely identified and tracked.

    Modular – Can be changed without excessive impact.

    Design-independent – Does not pose specific solutions on design.

    Create functional requirement categories

    3.1.1 – 1 hour

    Input
    • Activity 2.2.1
    Output
    • Requirements categories
    Materials
    • Whiteboard
    • Markers
    • Sticky notes
    Participants
    • BAs
    Practice the techniques for categorizing requirements.
    1. Divide the list of requirements that were elicited for the identified sub-process in exercise 2.2.1 among smaller groups.
    2. Have groups write the requirements on red, yellow, or green sticky notes, depending on the stakeholder’s level of influence.
    3. Along the top of the whiteboard, write the eight requirements categories, and have each group place the sticky notes under the category where they believe they should fit.
    4. Once each group has posted the requirements, review the board and discuss any requirements that should be placed in another category.

    Document any changes to the requirements categories in section 5.1 of the Requirements Gathering SOP and BA Playbook.

    Create functional requirement categories

    The image depicts a whiteboard with different colored post-it notes grouped into the following categories: Look & Feel; Usability & Humanity; Legal; Maintainability & Support; Operational & Environmental; Security; Cultural & Political; and Performance.

    Consolidate similar requirements and eliminate redundancies

    Clean up requirements and make everyone’s life simpler!

    After elicitation, it is very common for an organization to end up with redundant, complementary, and conflicting requirements. Consolidation will make managing a large volume of requirements much easier.

    Redundant Requirements Owner Priority
    1. The application shall feed employee information into the payroll system. Payroll High
    2. The application shall feed employee information into the payroll system. HR Low
    Result The application shall feed employee information into the payroll system. Payroll & HR High
    Complementary Requirements Owner Priority
    1. The application shall export reports in XLS and PDF format. Marketing High
    2. The application shall export reports in CSV and PDF format. Finance High
    Result The application shall export reports in XLS, CSV, and PDF format. Marketing & Finance High

    Info-Tech Insight

    When collapsing redundant or complementary requirements, it is imperative that the ownership and priority metadata be preserved for future reference. Avoid consolidating complementary requirements with drastically different priority levels.

    Identify and eliminate conflict between requirements

    Conflicting requirements are unavoidable; identify and resolve them as early as possible to minimize rework and grief.

    Conflicting requirements occur when stakeholders have requirements that either partially or fully contradict one another, and as a result, it is not possible or practical to implement all of the requirements.

    Steps to Resolving Conflict:

    1. Notify the relevant stakeholders of the conflict and search for a basic solution or compromise.
    2. If the stakeholders remain in a deadlock, appoint a final decision maker.
    3. Schedule a meeting to resolve the conflict with the relevant stakeholders and the decision maker. If multiple conflicts exist between the same stakeholder groups, try to resolve as many as possible at once to save time and encourage reciprocation.
    4. Give all parties the opportunity to voice their rationale and objectively rate the priority of the requirement. Attempt to reach an agreement, consensus, or compromise.
    5. If the parties remain in a deadlock, encourage the final decision maker to weigh in. Their decision should be based on which party has the greater need for the requirement, the difficulty to implement the requirement, and which requirement better aligns with the project goals.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Resolve conflicts whenever possible during the elicitation phase by using cross-functional workshops to facilitate discussions that address and settle conflicts in the room.

    Consolidate similar requirements and eliminate redundancies

    3.1.2 – 30 minutes

    Input
    • Activity 3.1.1
    Output
    • Requirements categories
    Materials
    • Whiteboard
    • Markers
    • Sticky notes
    Participants
    • BAs

    Review the outputs from the last exercise and ensure that the list is mutually exclusive by consolidating similar requirements and eliminating redundancies.

    1. Looking at each category in turn, review the sticky notes and group similar, complementary, and conflicting notes together. Put a red dot on any conflicting requirements to be used in a later exercise.
    2. Have the group start by eliminating the redundant requirements.
    3. Have the group look at the complementary requirements, and consolidate each into a single requirement. Discard originals.
    4. Record this information in the Requirements Gathering Documentation Tool.

    Prioritize requirements to assist with solution modeling

    Prioritization is the process of ranking each requirement based on its importance to project success. Hold a separate meeting for the domain SMEs, implementation SMEs, project managers, and project sponsors to prioritize the requirements list. At the conclusion of the meeting, each requirement should be assigned a priority level. The implementation SMEs will use these priority levels to ensure efforts are targeted towards the proper requirements as well as to plan features available on each release. Use the MoSCoW Model of Prioritization to effectively order requirements.

    The MoSCoW Model of Prioritization

    The image shows the MoSCoW Model of Prioritization, which is shaped like a pyramid. The sections, from top to bottom (becoming incrementally larger) are: Must Have; Should Have; Could Have; and Won't Have. There is additional text next to each category, as follows: Must have - Requirements must be implemented for the solution to be considered successful.; Should have: Requirements are high priority that should be included in the solution if possible.; Could Have: Requirements are desirable but not necessary and could be included if resources are available.; Won't Have: Requirements won’t be in the next release, but will be considered for the future releases.

    The MoSCoW model was introduced by Dai Clegg of Oracle UK in 1994 (Source: ProductPlan).

    Base your prioritization on the right set of criteria

    Effective Prioritization Criteria

    Criteria

    Description

    Regulatory & Legal Compliance These requirements will be considered mandatory.
    Policy Compliance Unless an internal policy can be altered or an exception can be made, these requirements will be considered mandatory.
    Business Value Significance Give a higher priority to high-value requirements.
    Business Risk Any requirement with the potential to jeopardize the entire project should be given a high priority and implemented early.
    Likelihood of Success Especially in proof-of-concept projects, it is recommended that requirements have good odds.
    Implementation Complexity Give a higher priority to low implementation difficulty requirements.
    Alignment With Strategy Give a higher priority to requirements that enable the corporate strategy.
    Urgency Prioritize requirements based on time sensitivity.
    Dependencies A requirement on its own may be low priority, but if it supports a high-priority requirement, then its priority must match it.

    Info-Tech Insight

    It is easier to prioritize requirements if they have already been collapsed, resolved, and rewritten. There is no point in prioritizing every requirement that is elicited up front when some of them will eventually be eliminated.

    Use the Requirements Gathering Documentation Tool to steer your requirements gathering approach during a project

    3.1 Requirements Gathering Documentation Tool

    Use the Requirements Gathering Documentation Tool to identify and track stakeholder involvement, elicitation techniques, and scheduling, as well as to track categorization and prioritization of requirements.

    • Use the Identify Stakeholders tab to:
      • Identify the stakeholder's name and role.
      • Identify their influence and involvement.
      • Identify the elicitation techniques that you will be using.
      • Identify who will be conducting the elicitation sessions.
      • Identify if requirements were validated post elicitation session.
      • Identify when the elicitation will take place.
    • Use the Categorize & Prioritize tab to:
      • Identify the stakeholder.
      • Identify the core function.
      • Identify the business requirement.
      • Describe the requirement.
      • Identify the categorization of the requirement.
      • Identify the level of priority of the requirement.

    Prioritize requirements

    3.1.3 – 30 minutes

    Input
    • Requirements list
    • Prioritization criteria
    Output
    • Prioritized requirements
    Materials
    • Whiteboard
    • Markers
    • Sticky notes
    Participants
    • BAs
    • Business stakeholders

    Using the output from the MoSCoW model, prioritize the requirements according to those you must have, should have, could have, and won’t have.

    1. As a group, review each requirement and decide if the requirement is:
      1. Must have
      2. Should have
      3. Could have
      4. Won’t have
    2. Beginning with the must-have requirements, determine if each has any dependencies. Ensure that each of the dependencies are moved to the must-have category. Group and circle the dependent requirements.
    3. Continue the same exercise with the should-have and could-have options.
    4. Record the results in the Requirements Gathering Documentation Tool.

    Step 1 – Prioritize requirements

    3.1.3

    The image shows a whiteboard, with four categories listed at the top: Must Have; Should Have; Could Have; Won't Have. There are yellow post-it notes under each category.

    Step 2-3 – Prioritize requirements

    This image is the same as the previous image, but with the additions of two dotted line squares under the Must Have category, with arrows pointing to them from post-its in the Should have category.

    If you want additional support, have our analysts guide you through this phase as part of an Info-Tech workshop

    3.1.1 Create functional requirements categories

    An analyst will facilitate the discussion to brainstorm and determine criteria for requirements categories.

    3.1.2 Consolidate similar requirements and eliminate redundancies

    An analyst will facilitate a session to review the requirements categories to ensure the list is mutually exclusive by consolidating similar requirements and eliminating redundancies.

    3.1.3 Prioritize requirements

    An analyst will facilitate the discussion on how to prioritize requirements according to the MoSCoW prioritization framework. The analyst will also walk you through the exercise of determining dependencies for each requirement.

    Step 3.2: Validate Business Requirements

    Phase 1

    1.1 Understand the Benefits of Requirements Optimization

    1.2 Determine Your Target State for Requirements Gathering

    Phase 2

    2.1 Determine Elicitation Techniques

    2.2 Structure Elicitation Output

    Phase 3

    3.1 Create Analysis Framework

    3.2 Validate Business Requirements

    Phase 4

    4.1 Create Control Processes for Requirements Changes

    4.2 Build Requirements Governance and Communication Plan

    This step will walk you through the following activities:
    • Build the BRD.
    • Translate functional requirements to technical requirements.
    • Identify testing opportunities.

    This step involves the following participants:

    • BAs

    Outcomes of this step

    • Finalized BRD.

    Validate requirements to ensure that they meet stakeholder needs – getting sign-off is essential

    The image is the Requirements Gathering Framework shown previously. In this instance, all aspects of the graphic are greyed out with the exception of the Validate arrow, right of center. Below the arrow are three bullet points: Translate; Allocate; Approve.

    The validation phase involves translating the requirements, modeling the solutions, allocating features across the phased deployment plan, preparing the requirements package, and getting requirement sign-off. This is the last step in the Info-Tech Requirements Gathering Framework.

    Prepare a user-friendly requirements package

    Before going for final sign-off, ensure that you have pulled together all of the relevant documentation.

    The requirements package is a compilation of all of the business analysis and requirements gathering that occurred. The document will be distributed among major stakeholders for review and sign-off.

    Some may argue that the biggest challenge in the validation phase is getting the stakeholders to sign off on the requirements package; however, the real challenge is getting them to actually read it. Often, stakeholders sign the requirements document without fully understanding the scope of the application, details of deployment, and how it affects them.

    Remember, this document is not for the BAs; it’s for the stakeholders. Make the package with the stakeholders in mind. Create multiple versions of the requirements package where the length and level of technical details is tailored to the audience. Consider creating a supplementary PowerPoint version of the requirements package to present to senior management.

    Contents of Requirements Package:

    • Project Charter (if available)
    • Overarching Project Goals
    • Categorized Business Requirements
    • Selected Solution Proposal
    • Rationale for Solution Selection
    • Phased Roll-Out Plan
    • Proposed Schedule/Timeline
    • Signatures Page

    "Sit down with your stakeholders, read them the document line by line, and have them paraphrase it back to you so you’re on the same page." – Anonymous City Manager of IT Project Planning Info-Tech Interview

    Capture requirements in a dedicated BRD

    The BRD captures the original business objectives and high-level business requirements for the system/process. The system requirements document (SRD) captures the more detailed functional and technical requirements.

    The graphic is grouped into two sections, indicated by brackets on the right side, the top section labelled BRD and the lower section labelled as SRD. In the BRD section, a box reads Needs Identified in the Business Case. An arrow points from the bottom of the box down to another box labelled Use Cases. In the SRD section, there are three arrows pointing from the Use Cases box to three boxes in a row. They are labelled Functionality; Usability; and Constraints. Each of these boxes has a plus sign between it and the next in the line. At the bottom of the SRD section is a box with text that reads: Quality of Service Reliability, Supportability, and Performance

    Use Info-Tech’s Business Requirements Document Template to specify the business needs and expectations

    3.2 Business Requirements Document Template

    The Business Requirements Document Template can be used to record the functional, quality, and usability requirements into formats that are easily consumable for future analysis, architectural and design activities, and most importantly in a format that is understandable by all business partners.

    The BRD is designed to take the reader from a high-level understanding of the business processes down to the detailed automation requirements. It should capture the following:

    • Project summary and background
    • Operating model
    • Business process model
    • Use cases
    • Requirements elicitation techniques
    • Prioritized requirements
    • Assumptions and constraints

    Rightsize the BRD

    3.2.1 – 30 minutes

    Input
    • Project levels
    • BRD categories
    Output
    • BRD
    Materials
    • Whiteboard
    • Markers
    Participants
    • BAs
    • Business stakeholders

    Build the required documentation for requirements gathering.

    1. On the board, write out the components of the BRD. As a group, review the headings and decide if all sections are needed for level 1 & 2 and level 3 & 4 projects. Your level 3-4 project business cases will have the most detailed business cases; consider your level 1-2 projects, and remove any categories you don’t believe are necessary for the project level.
    2. Now that you have a right-sized template, break the team into two groups and have each group complete one section of the template for your selected project.
      1. Project overview
      2. Implementation considerations
    3. Once complete, have each group present its section, and allow the group to make additions and modifications to each section.

    Document the output from this exercise in section 6 of the Requirements Gathering SOP and BA Playbook.

    Present the BRD to business stakeholders

    3.2.2 – 1 hour

    Input
    • Activity 3.2.1
    Output
    • BRD presentation
    Materials
    • Whiteboard
    • Markers
    Participants
    • Business stakeholders

    Practice presenting the requirements document to business stakeholders.

    1. Hold a meeting with a group of selected stakeholders, and have a representative present each section of the BRD for your project.
    2. Instruct participants that they should spend the majority of their time on the requirements section, in particular the operating model and the requirements prioritization.
    3. At the end of the meeting, have the business stakeholders validate the requirements, and approve moving forward with the project or indicate where further requirements gathering must take place.

    Example:

    Typical Requirements Gathering Validation Meeting Agenda
    Project overview 5 minutes
    Project operating model 10 minutes
    Prioritized requirements list 5 minutes
    Business process model 30 minutes
    Implementation considerations 5 minutes

    Translate business requirements into technical requirements

    3.2.3 – 30 minutes

    Input
    • Business requirements
    Output
    • BRD presentation
    Materials
    • Whiteboard
    • Markers
    Participants
    • Business stakeholders
    • BAs
    • Developers

    Practice translating business requirements into system requirements.

    1. Bring in representatives from the development team, and have a representative walk them through the business process model.
    2. Present a detailed account of each business requirement, and work with the IT team to build out the system requirements for each.
    3. Document the system requirements in the Requirements Gathering Documentation Tool.

    For requirements traceability, ensure you’re linking your requirements management back to your test strategy

    After a solution has been fully deployed, it’s critical to create a strong link between your software testing strategy and the requirements that were collected. User acceptance testing (UAT) is a good approach for requirement verification.

    • Many organizations fail to create an explicit connection between their requirements gathering and software testing strategies. Don’t follow their example!
    • When conducting UAT, structure exercises in the context of the requirements; run through the signed-off list and ask users whether or not the deployed functionality was in line with the expectations outlined in the finalized requirements documentation.
    • If not – determine whether it was a miscommunication on the requirements management side or a failure of the developers (or procurement team) to meet the agreed-upon requirements.

    Download the Requirements Gathering Testing Checklist template.

    Identify the testing opportunities

    3.2.4 – 30 minutes

    Input
    • List of requirements
    Output
    • Requirements testing process
    Materials
    • Whiteboard
    • Markers
    Participants
    • BAs
    • Developers

    Identify how to test the effectiveness of different requirements.

    1. Ask the group to review the list of requirements and identify:
      1. Which kinds of requirements enable constructive testing efforts?
      2. Which kinds of requirements enable destructive testing efforts?
      3. Which kinds of requirements support end-user acceptance testing?
      4. What do these validation-enabling objectives mean in terms of requirement specificity?
    2. For each, identify who will do the testing and at what stage.

    Verify that the requirements still meet the stakeholders’ needs

    Keep the stakeholders involved in the process in between elicitation and sign-off to ensure that nothing gets lost in transition.

    After an organization’s requirements have been aggregated, categorized, and consolidated, the business requirements package will begin to take shape. However, there is still a great deal of work to complete. Prior to proceeding with the process, requirements should be verified by domain SMEs to ensure that the analyzed requirements continue to meet their needs. This step is often overlooked because it is laborious and can create additional work; however, the workload associated with verification is much less than the eventual rework stemming from poor requirements.

    All errors in the requirements gathering process eventually surface; it is only a matter of time. Control when these errors appear and minimize costs by soliciting feedback from stakeholders early and often.

    This is the Verify stage of the Confirm, Verify, Approve process.

    “Do these requirements still meet your needs?”

    Put it all together: obtain final requirements sign-off

    Use the sign-off process as one last opportunity to manage expectations, obtain commitment from the stakeholders, and minimize change requests.

    Development or procurement of the application cannot begin until the requirements package has been approved by all of the key stakeholders. This will be the third time that the stakeholders are asked to review the requirements; however, this will be the first time that the stakeholders are asked to sign off on them.

    It is important that the stakeholders understand the significance of their signatures. This is their last opportunity to see exactly what the solution will look like and to make change requests. Ensure that the stakeholders also recognize which requirements were omitted from the solution that may affect them.

    The sign-off process needs to mean something to the stakeholders. Once a signature is given, that stakeholder must be accountable for it and should not be able to make change requests. Note that there are some requests from senior stakeholders that can’t be refused; use discretion when declining requests.

    This is the Approve stage of the Confirm, Verify, Approve process.

    "Once requirements are signed off, stay firm on them!" – Anonymous Hospital Business Systems Analyst Info-Tech Interview

    If you want additional support, have our analysts guide you through this phase as part of an Info-Tech workshop

    Book a workshop with out Info-Tech analysts:

    • To accelerate this project, engage your IT team in an Info-Tech workshop with an Info-Tech analyst team.
    • Info-Tech analysts will join you and your team onsite at your location or welcome you to Info-Tech’s historic Toronto office to participate in an innovative onsite workshop.
    • Contact your account manager (www.infotech.com/account), or email Workshops@InfoTech.com for more information.

    The following are sample activities that will be conducted by Info-Tech analysts with your team:

    3.2.1; 3.2.2 Rightsize the BRD and present it to business stakeholders

    An analyst will facilitate the discussion to gather the required documentation for building the BRD. The analyst will also assist with practicing the presenting of each section of the document to business stakeholders.

    3.2.3; 3.2.4 Translate business requirements into technical requirements and identify testing opportunities

    An analyst will facilitate the session to practice translating business requirements into testing requirements and assist in determining how to test the effectiveness of different requirements.

    Phase 4: Create a Requirements Governance Action Plan

    Phase 4 outline

    Call 1-888-670-8889 or email GuidedImplementations@InfoTech.com for more information.

    Complete these steps on your own, or call us to complete a guided implementation. A guided implementation is a series of 2-3 advisory calls that help you execute each phase of a project. They are included in most advisory memberships.

    Guided Implementation 4: Create a Requirements Governance Action Plan

    Proposed Time to Completion: 3 weeks

    Step 4.1: Create Control Processes for Requirements Changes

    Start with an analyst kick off call:

    • Discuss how to handle changes to requirements and establish a formal change control process.

    Then complete these activities…

    • Develop a change control process.
    • Build the guidelines for escalating changes.
    • Confirm your requirements gathering process.
    • Define RACI for the requirements gathering process.

    With these tools & templates:

    • Requirements Traceability Matrix
    Step 4.2: Build Requirements Governance and Communication Plan

    Review findings with analyst:

    • Review options for ongoing governance of the requirements gathering process.

    Then complete these activities…

    • Define the requirements gathering steering committee purpose.
    • Define the RACI for the RGSC.
    • Define procedures, cadence, and agenda for the RGSC.
    • Identify and analyze stakeholders.
    • Create a communications management plan.
    • Build the requirements gathering process implementation timeline.

    With these tools & templates:

    Requirements Gathering Communication Tracking Template

    Phase 4 Results & Insights:
    • Formalized change control and governance processes for requirements.

    Step 4.1: Create Control Processes for Requirements Changes

    Phase 1

    1.1 Understand the Benefits of Requirements Optimization

    1.2 Determine Your Target State for Requirements Gathering

    Phase 2

    2.1 Determine Elicitation Techniques

    2.2 Structure Elicitation Output

    Phase 3

    3.1 Create Analysis Framework

    3.2 Validate Business Requirements

    Phase 4

    4.1 Create Control Processes for Requirements Changes

    4.2 Build Requirements Governance and Communication Plan

    This step will walk you through the following activities:
    • Develop change control process.
    • Develop change escalation process.
    This step involves the following participants:
    • BAs
    • Business stakeholders
    Outcomes of this step
    • Requirements gathering process validation.
    • RACI completed.

    Manage, communicate, and test requirements

    The image is the Requirement Gathering Framework graphic from previous sections. In this instance, all parts of the image are greyed out, with the exception of the arrows labelled Communicate and Manage, located at the bottom of the image.

    Although the manage, communicate, and test requirements section chronologically falls as the last section of this blueprint, that does not imply that this section is to be performed only at the end. These tasks are meant to be completed iteratively throughout the project to support the core requirements gathering tasks.

    Prevent requirements scope creep

    Once the stakeholders sign off on the requirements document, any changes need to be tracked and managed. To do that, you need a change control process.

    Thoroughly validating requirements should reduce the amount of change requests you receive. However, eliminating all changes is unavoidable.

    The BAs, sponsor, and stakeholders should have agreed upon a clearly defined scope for the project during the planning phase, but there will almost always be requests for change as the project progresses. Even a high number of small changes can negatively impact the project schedule and budget.

    To avoid scope creep, route all changes, including small ones, through a formal change control process that will be adapted depending on the level of project and impact of the change.

    Linking change requests to requirements is essential to understanding relevance and potential impact

    1. Receive project change request.
    2. Refer to requirements document to identify requirements associated with the change.
      • Matching requirement is found: The change is relevant to the project.
      • Multiple requirements are associated with the proposed change: The change has wider implications for the project and will require closer analysis.
      • The request involves a change or new business requirements: Even if the change is within scope, time, and budget, return to the stakeholder who submitted the request to identify the potentially new requirements that relate to this change. If the sponsor agrees to the new requirements, you may be able to approve the change.
    3. Findings influence decision to escalate/approve/reject change request.

    Develop a change control process

    4.1.1 – 45 minutes

    Input
    • Current change control process
    Output
    • Updated change control process
    Materials
    • Whiteboard
    • Markers
    Participants
    • BAs
    • Developers
    1. Ask the team to consider their current change control process. It might be helpful to discuss a project that is currently underway, or already completed, to provide context. Draw the process on the whiteboard through discussion with the team.
    2. If necessary, provide some cues. Below are some change control process activities:
      • Submit project change request form.
      • PM assesses change.
      • Project sponsor assesses change.
      • Bring request to project steering committee to assess change.
      • Approve/reject change.
    3. Ask participants to brainstorm a potential separate process for dealing with small changes. Add a new branch for minor changes, which will allow you to make decisions on when to bundle the changes versus implementing directly.

    Document any changes from this exercise in section 7.1 of the Requirements Gathering SOP and BA Playbook.

    Example change control process

    The image is an example of a change control process, depicted via a flowchart.

    Build guidelines for escalating changes

    4.1.2 – 1 hour

    Input
    • Current change control process
    Output
    • Updated change control process
    Materials
    • Whiteboard
    • Markers
    Participants
    • BAs
    • Developers

    Determine how changes will be escalated for level 1/2/3/4 projects.

    1. Write down the escalation options for level 3 & 4 projects on the whiteboard:
      • Final decision rests with project manager.
      • Escalate to sponsor.
      • Escalate to project steering committee.
      • Escalate to change control board.
    2. Brainstorm categories for assessing the impact of a change and begin creating a chart on the whiteboard by listing these categories in the far left column. Across the top, list the escalation options for level 3 & 4 projects.
    3. Ask the team to agree on escalation conditions for each escalation option. For example, for the final decision to rest with the project manager one condition might be:
      • Change is within original project scope.
    4. Review the output from exercise 4.1.1 and tailor the process model to meet level 3 & 4 escalation models.
    5. Repeat steps 1-4 for level 1 & 2 projects.

    Document any changes from this exercise in section 7.2 of the Requirements Gathering SOP and BA Playbook.

    Example: Change control process – Level 3 & 4

    Impact Category Final Decision Rests With Project Manager If: Escalate to Steering Committee If: Escalate to Change Control Board If: Escalate to Sponsor If:
    Scope
    • Change is within original project scope.
    • Change is out of scope.
    Budget
    • Change can be absorbed into current project budget.
    • Change will require additional funds exceeding any contingency reserves.
    • Change will require the release of contingency reserves.
    Schedule
    • Change can be absorbed into current project schedule.
    • Change will require the final project close date to be delayed.
    • Change will require a delay in key milestone dates.
    Requirements
    • Change can be linked to an existing business requirement.
    • Change will require a change to business requirements, or a new business requirement.

    Example: Change control process – Level 1 & 2

    Impact CategoryFinal Decision Rests With Project Manager If:Escalate to Steering Committee If:Escalate to Sponsor If:
    Scope
    • Change is within original project scope.
    • Change is out of scope.
    Budget
    • Change can be absorbed into current project budget, even if this means releasing contingency funds.
    • Change will require additional funds exceeding any contingency reserves.
    Schedule
    • Change can be absorbed into current project schedule, even if this means moving milestone dates.
    • Change will require the final project close date to be delayed.
    Requirements
    • Change can be linked to an existing business requirement.
    • Change will require a change to business requirements, or a new business requirement.

    Leverage Info-Tech’s Requirements Traceability Matrix to help create end-to-end traceability of your requirements

    4.1 Requirements Traceability Matrix

    Even if you’re not using a dedicated requirements management suite, you still need a way to trace requirements from inception to closure.
    • Ensuring traceability of requirements is key. If you don’t have a dedicated suite, Info-Tech’s Requirements Traceability Matrix can be used as a form of documentation.
    • The traceability matrix covers:
      • Association ID
      • Technical Assumptions and Needs
      • Functional Requirement
      • Status
      • Architectural Documentation
      • Software Modules
      • Test Case Number

    Info-Tech Deliverable
    Take advantage of Info-Tech’s Requirements Traceability Matrix to track requirements from inception through to testing.

    You can’t fully validate what you don’t test; link your requirements management back to your test strategy

    Create a repository to store requirements for reuse on future projects.

    • Reuse previously documented requirements on future projects to save the organization time, money, and grief. Well-documented requirements discovered early can even be reused in the same project.
    • If every module of the application must be able to save or print, then the requirement only needs to be written once. The key is to be able to identify and isolate requirements with a high likelihood of reuse. Typically, requirements pertaining to regulatory and business rule compliance are prime candidates for reuse.
    • Build and share a repository to store historical requirement documentation. The repository must be intuitive and easy to navigate, or users will not take advantage of it. Plan the information hierarchy in advance. Requirements management software suites have the ability to create a repository and easily migrate requirements over from past projects.
    • Assign one person to manage the repository to create consistency and accountability. This person will maintain the master requirements document and ensure the changes that take place during development are reflected in the requirements.

    Confirm your requirements gathering process

    4.1.3 – 45 minutes

    Input
    • Activity 1.2.4
    Output
    • Requirements gathering process model
    Materials
    • Whiteboard
    • Markers
    Participants
    • BAs

    Review the requirements gathering process and control levels for project levels 1/2/3/4 and add as much detail as possible to each process.

    1. Draw out the requirements gathering process for a level 4 project as created in exercise 1.2.4 on a whiteboard.
    2. Review each process step as a group, and break down each step so that it is at its most granular. Be sure to include each decision point, key documentation, and approvals.
    3. Once complete, review the process for level 3, 2 & 1. Reduce steps as necessary. Note: there may not be a lot of differentiation between your project level 4 & 3 or level 2 & 1 processes. You should see differentiation in your process between 2 and 3.

    Document the output from this exercise in section 2.4 of the Requirements Gathering SOP and BA Playbook.

    Example: Confirm your requirements gathering process

    The image is an example of a requirements gathering process, representing in the format of a flowchart.

    Define RACI for the requirements gathering process

    4.1.4 – 45 minutes

    Input
    • List of stakeholders
    Output
    • RACI matrix
    Materials
    • Whiteboard
    • Markers
    Participants
    • Business stakeholders

    Understand who is responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed for key elements of the requirements gathering process for project levels 1/2/3/4.

    1. As a group, identify the key stakeholders for requirements gathering and place those names along the top of the board.
    2. On the left side of the board, list the process steps and control points for a level 4 project.
    3. For each process step, identify who is responsible, accountable, informed, and consulted.
    4. Repeat this process for project levels 3, 2 & 1.

    Example: RACI for requirements gathering

    Project Requestor Project Sponsor Customers Suppliers Subject Matter Experts Vendors Executives Project Management IT Management Developer/ Business Analyst Network Services Support
    Intake Form A C C I R
    High-Level Business Case R A C C C C I I C
    Project Classification I I C I R A R
    Project Approval R R I I I I I I A I I
    Project Charter R C R R C R I A I R C C
    Develop BRD R I R C C C R A C C
    Sign-Off on BRD/ Project Charter R A R R R R
    Develop System Requirements C C C R I C A R R
    Sign-Off on SRD R R R I A R R
    Testing/Validation A I R C R C R I R R
    Change Requests R R C C A I R C
    Sign-Off on Change Request R A R R R R
    Final Acceptance R A R I I I I R R R I I

    If you want additional support, have our analysts guide you through this phase as part of an Info-Tech workshop

    Book a workshop with our Info-Tech analysts:

    4.1.1; 4.1.2 Develop a change control process and guidelines for escalating changes

    An analyst will facilitate the discussion on how to improve upon your organization’s change control processes and how changes will be escalated to ensure effective tracking and management of changes.

    4.1.3 Confirm your requirements gathering process

    With the group, an analyst will review the requirements gathering process and control levels for the different project levels.

    4.1.4 Define the RACI for the requirements gathering process

    An analyst will facilitate a whiteboard exercise to understand who is responsible, accountable, informed, and consulted for key elements of the requirements gathering process.

    Step 4.2: Build Requirements Governance and Communication Plan

    Phase 1

    1.1 Understand the Benefits of Requirements Optimization

    1.2 Determine Your Target State for Requirements Gathering

    Phase 2

    2.1 Determine Elicitation Techniques

    2.2 Structure Elicitation Output

    Phase 3

    3.1 Create Analysis Framework

    3.2 Validate Business Requirements

    Phase 4

    4.1 Create Control Processes for Requirements Changes

    4.2 Build Requirements Governance and Communication Plan

    This step will walk you through the following activities:

    • Developing a requirements gathering steering committee.
    • Identifying and analyzing stakeholders for requirements governance.
    • Creating a communication management plan.

    This step involves the following participants:

    • Business stakeholders
    • BAs

    Outcomes of this step

    • Requirements governance framework.
    • Communication management plan.

    Establish proper governance for requirements gathering that effectively creates and communicates guiding principles

    If appropriate governance oversight doesn’t exist to create and enforce operating procedures, analysts and developers will run amok with their own processes.

    • One of the best ways to properly govern your requirements gathering process is to establish a working committee within the framework of your existing IT steering committee. This working group should be given the responsibility of policy formulation and oversight for requirements gathering operating procedures. The governance group should be comprised of both business and IT sponsors (e.g. a director, BA, and “voice of the business” line manager).
    • The governance team will not actually be executing the requirements gathering process, but it will be deciding upon which policies to adopt for elicitation, analysis, and validation. The team will also be responsible for ensuring – either directly or indirectly through designated managers – that BAs or other requirements gathering processionals are following the approved steps.

    Requirements Governance Responsibilities

    1. Provide oversight and review of SOPs pertaining to requirements elicitation, analysis, and validation.

    2. Establish corporate policies with respect to requirements gathering SOP training and education of analysts.

    3. Prioritize efforts for requirements optimization.

    4. Determine and track metrics that will be used to gauge the success (or failure) of requirements optimization efforts and make process and policy changes as needed.

    Right-size your governance structure to your organization’s complexity and breadth of capabilities

    Not all organizations will be best served by a formal steering committee for requirements gathering. Assess the complexity of your projects and the number of requirements gathering practitioners to match the right governance structure.

    Level 1: Working Committee
    • A working committee is convened temporarily as required to do periodic reviews of the requirements process (often annually, or when issues are surfaced by practitioners). This governance mechanism works best in small organizations with an ad hoc culture, low complexity projects, and a small number of practitioners.
    Level 2: IT Steering Committee Sub-Group
    • For organizations that already have a formal IT steering committee, a sub-group dedicated to managing the requirements gathering process is desirable to a full committee if most projects are complexity level 1 or 2, and/or there are fewer than ten requirements gathering practitioners.
    Level 3: Requirements Gathering Steering Committee
    • If your requirements gathering process has more than ten practitioners and routinely deals with high-complexity projects (like ERP or CRM), a standing formal committee responsible for oversight of SOPs will provide stronger governance than the first two options.
    Level 4: Requirements Gathering Center of Excellence
    • For large organizations with multiple business units, matrix organizations for BAs, and a very large number of requirements gathering practitioners, a formal center of excellence can provide both governance as well as onboarding and training for requirements gathering.

    Identify and analyze stakeholders

    4.2.1A – 1 hour

    Input
    • Number of practitioners, project complexity levels
    Output
    • Governance structure selection
    Materials
    • Whiteboard
    • Markers
    Participants
    • Business stakeholders

    Use a power map to determine which governance model best fits your organization.

    The image is a square, split into four equal sections, labelled as follows from top left: Requirements Steering Committee; Requirements Center of Excellence; IT Steering Committee Sub-Group; Working Committee. The left and bottom edges of the square are labelled as follows: on the left, with an arrow pointing upwards, Project Complexity; on the bottom, with arrow pointing right, # of Requirements Practitioners.

    Define your requirements gathering governance structure(s) and purpose

    4.2.1B – 30 minutes

    Input
    • Requirements gathering elicitation, analysis, and validation policies
    Output
    • Governance mandate
    Materials
    • Whiteboard
    • Markers
    Participants
    • Business stakeholders

    This exercise will help to define the purpose statement for the applicable requirements gathering governance team.

    1. As a group, brainstorm key words that describe the unique role the governance team will play. Consider value, decisions, and authority.
    2. Using the themes, come up with a set of statements that describe the overall purpose statement.
    3. Document the outcome for the final deliverable.

    Example:

    The requirements gathering governance team oversees the procedures that are employed by BAs and other requirements gathering practitioners for [insert company name]. Members of the team are appointed by [insert role] and are accountable to [typically the chair of the committee].

    Day-to-day operations of the requirements gathering team are expected to be at the practitioner (i.e. BA) level. The team is not responsible for conducting elicitation on its own, although members of the team may be involved from a project perspective.

    Document the output from this exercise in section 3.1 of the Requirements Gathering SOP and BA Playbook.

    A benefits provider established a steering committee to provide consistency and standardization in requirements gathering

    CASE STUDY

    Industry Not-for-Profit

    Source Info-Tech Workshop

    Challenge

    This organization is a not-for-profit benefits provider that offers dental coverage to more than 1.5 million people across three states.

    With a wide ranging application portfolio that includes in-house, custom developed applications as well as commercial off-the-shelf solutions, the company had no consistent method of gathering requirements.

    Solution

    The organization contracted Info-Tech to help build an SOP to put in place a rigorous and efficient methodology for requirements elicitation, analysis, and validation.

    One of the key realizations in the workshop was the need for governance and oversight over the requirements gathering process. As a result, the organization developed a Requirements Management Steering Committee to provide strategic oversight and governance over requirements gathering processes.

    Results

    The Requirements Management Steering Committee introduced accountability and oversight into the procedures that are employed by BAs. The Committee’s mandate included:

    • Provide oversight and review SOPs pertaining to requirements elicitation, analysis, and validation.
    • Establish corporate policies with respect to training and education of analysts on requirements gathering SOPs.
    • Prioritize efforts for requirements optimization.
    • Determine metrics that can be used to gauge the success of requirements optimization efforts.

    Authority matrix – RACI

    There needs to be a clear understanding of who is accountable, responsible, consulted, and informed about matters brought to the attention of the requirements gathering governance team.

    • An authority matrix is often used within organizations to indicate roles and responsibilities in relation to processes and activities.
    • Using the RACI model as an example, there is only one person accountable for an activity, although several people may be responsible for executing parts of the activity.
    • In this model, accountable means end-to-end accountability for the process. Accountability should remain with the same person for all activities of a process.

    R – Responsible

    The one responsible for getting the job done.

    A – Accountable

    Only one person can be accountable for each task.

    C – Consulted

    Involvement through input of knowledge and information.

    I – Informed

    Receiving information about process execution and quality.

    Define the RACI for effective requirements gathering governance

    4.2.2 – 30 minutes

    Input
    • Members’ list
    Output
    • Governance RACI
    Materials
    • Whiteboard
    • Markers
    • Sticky notes
    Participants
    • Governance team members

    Build the participation list and authority matrix for the requirements gathering governance team.

    1. Have each participant individually consider the responsibilities of the governance team, and write five participant roles they believe should be members of the governance team.
    2. Have each participant place the roles on the whiteboard, group participants, and agree to five participants who should be members.
    3. On the whiteboard, write the responsibilities of the governance team in a column on the left, and place the sticky notes of the participant roles along the top of the board.
    4. Under the appropriate column for each activity, identify who is the “accountable,” “responsible,” “consulted,” and “informed” role for each activity.
    5. Agree to a governance chair.

    Document any changes from this exercise in section 3.1 of the Requirements Gathering SOP and BA Playbook.

    Example: Steps 2-5: Build the governance RACI

    The image shows an example governance RACI, with the top of the chart labelled with Committee Participants, and the left hand column labelled Committee Responsibilities. Some of the boxes have been filled in.

    Define your requirements gathering governance team procedures, cadence, and agenda

    4.2.3 – 30 minutes

    Input
    • Governance responsibilities
    Output
    • Governance procedures and agenda
    Materials
    • Whiteboard
    • Markers
    Participants
    • Steering committee members

    Define your governance team procedures, cadence, and agenda.

    1. Review the format of a typical agenda as well as the list of responsibilities for the governance team.
    2. Consider how you will address each of these responsibilities in the meeting, who needs to present, and how long each presentation should be.
    3. Add up the times to define the meeting duration.
    4. Consider how often you need to meet to discuss the information: monthly, quarterly, or annually? Are there different actions that need to be taken at different points in the year?
    5. As a group, decide how the governance team will approve changes and document any voting standards that should be included in the charter. Will a vote be taken during or prior to the meeting? Who will have the authority to break a tie?
    6. As a group, decide how the committee will review information and documentation. Will members commit to reviewing associated documents before the meeting? Can associated documentation be stored in a knowledge repository and/or be distributed to members prior to the meeting? Who will be responsible for this? Can a short meeting/conference call be held with relevant reviewers to discuss documentation before the official committee meeting?

    Review the format of a typical agenda

    4.2.3 – 30 minutes

    Meeting call to order [Committee Chair] [Time]
    Roll call [Committee Chair] [Time]
    Review of SOPs
    A. Requirements gathering dashboard review [Presenters, department] [Time]
    B. Review targets [Presenters, department] [Time]
    C. Policy Review [Presenters, department] [Time]

    Define the governance procedures and cadence

    4.2.3 – 30 minutes

    • The governance team or committee will be chaired by [insert role].
    • The team shall meet on a [insert time frame (e.g. monthly, semi-annual, annual)] basis. These meetings will be scheduled by the team or committee chair or designated proxy.
    • Approval for all SOP changes will be reached through a [insert vote consensus criteria (majority, uncontested, etc.)] vote of the governance team. The vote will be administered by the governance chair. Each member of the committee shall be entitled to one vote, excepting [insert exceptions].
    • The governance team has the authority to reject any requirements gathering proposal which it deems not to have made a sufficient case or which does not significantly contribute to the strategic objectives of [insert company name].
    • [Name of individual] will record and distribute the meeting minutes and documentation of business to be discussed in the meeting.

    Document any changes from this exercise in section 3.1 of the Requirements Gathering SOP and BA Playbook.

    Changing the requirements gathering process can be disruptive – be successful by gaining business support

    A successful communication plan involves making the initiative visible and creating staff awareness around it. Educate the organization on how the requirements gathering process will differ.

    People can be adverse to change and may be unreceptive to being told they must “comply” to new policies and procedures. Demonstrate the value in requirements gathering and show how it will assist people in their day-to-day activities.

    By demonstrating how an improved requirements gathering process will impact staff directly, you create a deeper level of understanding across lines-of-business, and ultimately a higher level of acceptance for new processes, rules, and guidelines.

    A proactive communication plan will:
    • Assist in overcoming issues with prioritization, alignment resourcing, and staff resistance.
    • Provide a formalized process for implementing new policies, rules, and guidelines.
    • Detail requirements gathering ownership and accountability for the entirety of the process.
    • Encourage acceptance and support of the initiative.

    Identify and analyze stakeholders to communicate the change process

    Who are the requirements gathering stakeholders?

    Stakeholder:

    • A stakeholder is any person, group, or organization who is the end user, owner, sponsor, or consumer of an IT project, change, or application.
    • When assessing an individual or group, ask whether they can impact or be impacted by any decision, change, or activity executed as part of the project. This might include individuals outside of the organization.

    Key Stakeholder:

    • Someone in a management role or someone with decision-making power who will be able to influence requirements and/or be impacted by project outcomes.

    User Group Representatives:

    • For impacted user groups, follow best practice and engage an individual to act as a representative. This individual will become the primary point of contact when making decisions that impact the group.

    Identify the reasons for resistance to change

    Stakeholders may resist change for a variety of reasons, and different strategies are necessary to address each.

    Unwilling – Individuals who are unwilling to change may need additional encouragement. For these individuals, you’ll need to reframe the situation and emphasize how the change will benefit them specifically.

    Unable – All involved requirements gathering will need some form of training on the process, committee roles, and responsibilities. Be sure to have training and support available for employees who need it and communicate this to staff.

    Unaware – Until people understand exactly what is going on, they will not be able to conform to the process. Communicate change regularly at the appropriate detail to encourage stakeholder support.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Resisters who have influence present a high risk to the implementation as they may encourage others to resist as well. Know where and why each stakeholder is likely to resist to mitigate risk. A detailed plan will ensure you have the needed documentation and communications to successfully manage stakeholder resistance.

    Identify and analyze stakeholders

    4.2.4 – 1 hour

    Input
    • Requirements gathering stakeholders list
    Output
    • Stakeholder power map
    Materials
    • Whiteboard
    • Markers
    • Sticky notes
    Participants
    • RGSC members

    Identify the impact and level of resistance of all stakeholders to come up with the right communication plan.

    1. Through discussion, generate a complete list of stakeholders for requirements gathering and record the names on the whiteboard or flip chart. Group related stakeholders together.
    2. Using the template on the next slide, draw the stakeholder power map.
    3. Evaluate each stakeholder on the list based on:
      1. Influence: To what degree can this stakeholder impact progress?
      2. Involvement: How involved is the stakeholder already?
      3. Support: Label supporters with green sticky notes, resisters with red notes, and the rest with a third color.
    4. Based on the assessment, write the stakeholder’s name on a green, red, or other colored sticky note, and place the sticky note in the appropriate place on the power map.
    5. For each of the stakeholders identified as resisters, determine why you think they would be resistant. Is it because they are unwilling, unable, and/or unknowing?
    6. Document changes to the stakeholder analysis in the Requirements Gathering Communication Tracking Template.

    Identify and analyze stakeholders

    4.2.4 – 1 hour

    Use a power map to plot key stakeholders according to influence and involvement.

    The image shows a power map, which is a square divided into 4 equally-sized sections, labelled from top left: Focused Engagement; Key Players; Keep Informed; Minimal Engagement. On the left side of the square, there is an arrow pointing upwards labelled Influence; at the bottom of the square, there is an arrow pointing right labelled Involvement. On the right side of the image, there is a legend indicating that a green dot indicates a Supporter; a grey dot indicated Neutral; and a red dot indicates a Resister.

    Example: Identify and analyze stakeholders

    Use a power map to plot key stakeholders according to influence and involvement.

    The image is the same power map image from the previous section, with some additions. A red dot is located at the top left, with a note: High influence with low involvement? You need a strategy to increase engagement. A green dot is located mid-high on the right hand side. Grey dots are located left and right in the bottom of the map. The bottom right grey dot has the note: High involvement with lower influence? Make sure to keep these stakeholders informed at regular intervals and monitor engagement.

    Stakeholder analysis: Reading the power map

    High Risk:

    Stakeholders with high influence who are not as involved in the project or are heavily impacted by the project are less likely to give feedback throughout the project lifecycle and need to be engaged. They are not as involved but have the ability to impact project success, so stay one step ahead.

    Do not limit your engagement to kick-off and close – you need to continue seeking input and support at all stages of the project.

    Mid Risk:

    Key players have high influence, but they are also more involved with the project or impacted by its outcomes and are thus easier to engage.

    Stakeholders who are heavily impacted by project outcomes will be essential to your organizational change management strategy. Do not wait until implementation to engage them in preparing the organization to accept the project – make them change champions.

    Low Risk:

    Stakeholders with low influence who are not impacted by the project do not pose as great of a risk, but you need to keep them consistently informed of the project and involve them at the appropriate control points to collect feedback and approval.

    Inputs to the communications plan

    Stakeholder analysis should drive communications planning.

    Identify Stakeholders
    • Who is impacted by this project?
    • Who can affect project outcomes?
    Assess Stakeholders
    • Influence
    • Involvement
    • Support
    Stakeholder Change Impact Assessment
    • Identify change supporters/resistors and craft change messages to foster acceptance.
    Stakeholder Register
    • Record assessment results and preferred methods of communication.
    The Communications Management Plan:
    • Who will receive information?
    • What information will be distributed?
    • How will information be distributed?
    • What is the frequency of communication?
    • What will the level of detail be?
    • Who is responsible for distributing information?

    Communicate the reason for the change and stay on message throughout the change

    Leaders of successful change spend considerable time developing a powerful change message: a compelling narrative that articulates the desired end state and makes the change concrete and meaningful to staff. They create the change vision with staff to build ownership and commitment.

    The change message should:

    • Explain why the change is needed.
    • Summarize the things that will stay the same.
    • Highlight the things that will be left behind.
    • Emphasize the things that are being changed.
    • Explain how the change will be implemented.
    • Address how the change will affect the various roles in the organization.
    • Discuss staff’s role in making the change successful.

    The five elements of communicating the reason for the change:

    COMMUNICATING THE CHANGE

    What is the change?

    Why are we doing it?

    How are we going to go about it?

    How long will it take us?

    What will the role be for each department and individual?

    Create a communications management plan

    4.2.5 – 45 minutes

    Input
    • Exercise 4.1.1
    Output
    • Communications management plan
    Materials
    • Whiteboard
    • Markers
    Participants
    • RGSC members

    Build the communications management plan around your stakeholders’ needs.

    1. Build a chart on the board using the template on the next slide.
    2. Using the list from exercise 4.1.1, brainstorm a list of communication vehicles that will need to be used as part of the rollout plan (e.g. status updates, training).
    3. Through group discussion, fill in all these columns for at least three communication vehicles:
      • (Target) audience
      • Purpose (description)
      • Frequency (of the communication)
        • The method, frequency, and content of communication vehicles will change depending on the stakeholder involved. This needs to be reflected by your plan. For example, you may have several rows for “Status Report” to cover the different stakeholders who will be receiving it.
      • Owner (of the message)
      • Distribution (method)
      • (Level of) details
        • High/medium/low + headings
    4. Document your stakeholder analysis in the Requirements Gathering Communication Tracking Template.

    Communications plan template

    4.2.5 – 45 minutes

    Sample communications plan: Status reports

    Vehicle Audience Purpose Frequency Owner Distribution Level of Detail
    Communications Guidelines
    • Regardless of complexity, it is important not to overwhelm stakeholders with information that is not relevant to them. Sending more detailed information than is necessary might mean that it does not get read.
    • Distributing reports too widely may lead to people assuming that someone else is reading it, causing them to neglect reading it themselves.
    • Only distribute reports to the stakeholders who need the information. Think about what information that stakeholder requires to feel comfortable.

    Example: Identify and analyze stakeholders

    Sample communications plan: Status reports

    Vehicle Audience Purpose Frequency Owner Distribution Level of Detail
    Status Report Sponsor Project progress and deliverable status Weekly Project Manager Email

    Details for

    • Milestones
    • Deliverables
    • Budget
    • Schedule
    • Issues
    Status Report Line of Business VP Project progress Monthly Project Manager Email

    High Level for

    • Major milestone update

    Build your requirements gathering process implementation timeline

    4.2.6 – 45 minutes

    Input
    • Parking lot items
    Output
    • Implementation timeline
    Materials
    • Whiteboard
    • Markers
    • Sticky notes
    Participants
    • RGSC members

    Build a high-level timeline for the implementation.

    1. Collect the action items identified throughout the week in the “parking lot.”
    2. Individually or in groups, brainstorm any additional action items. Consider communication, additional training required, approvals, etc.
      • Write these on sticky notes and add them to the parking lot with the others.
    3. As a group, start organizing these notes into logical groupings.
    4. Assign each of the tasks to a person or group.
    5. Identify any risks or dependencies.
    6. Assign each of the tasks to a timeline.
    7. Following the exercise, the facilitator will convert this into a Gantt chart using the roadmap for requirements gathering action plan.

    Step 3: Organize the action items into logical groupings

    4.2.6 – 45 minutes

    The image shows a board with 5 categories: Documentation, Approval, Communication, Process, and Training. There are groups of post-it notes under each category title.

    Steps 4-6: Organize the action items into logical groupings

    4.2.6 – 45 minutes

    This image shows a chart with Action Items to be listed in the left-most column, Person or Group Responsible in the next column, Risks/Dependencies in the next columns, and periods of time (i.e. 1-3 months, 2-6 months, etc.) in the following columns. The chart has been partially filled in as an exemplar.

    Recalculate the selected requirements gathering metrics

    Measure and monitor the benefits of requirements gathering optimization.

    • Reassess the list of selected and captured requirements management metrics.
    • Recalculate the metrics and analyze any changes. Don’t expect a substantial result after the first attempt. It will take a while for BAs to adjust to the Info-Tech Requirements Gathering Framework. After the third project, results will begin to materialize.
    • Understand that the project complexity and business significance will also affect how long it takes to see results. The ideal projects to beta the process on would be of low complexity and high business significance.
    • Realize that poor requirements gathering can have negative effects on the morale of BAs, IT, and project managers. Don’t forget to capture the impact of these through surveys.

    Major KPIs typically used for benchmarking include:

    • Number of application bugs/defects (for internally developed applications).
    • Number of support requests or help desk tickets for the application, controlled for user deployment levels.
    • Overall project cycle time.
    • Overall project cost.
    • Requirements gathering as a percentage of project time.

    Revisit the requirements gathering metrics selected in the planning phase and recalculate them after requirements gathering optimization has been attempted.

    If you want additional support, have our analysts guide you through this phase as part of an Info-Tech workshop

    Book a workshop with our Info-Tech analysts:

    • To accelerate this project, engage your IT team in an Info-Tech workshop with an Info-Tech analyst team.
    • Info-Tech analysts will join you and your team onsite at your location or welcome you to Info-Tech’s historic Toronto office to participate in an innovative onsite workshop.
    • Contact your account manager (www.infotech.com/account), or email Workshops@InfoTech.com for more information.

    The following are sample activities that will be conducted by Info-Tech analysts with your team:

    4.2.1; 4.2.2; 4.2.3 – Build a requirements gathering steering committee

    The analyst will facilitate the discussion to define the purpose statement of the steering committee, build the participation list and authority matrix for its members, and define the procedures and agenda.

    If you want additional support, have our analysts guide you through this phase as part of an Info-Tech workshop

    Book a workshop with our Info-Tech analysts:

    4.2.4 Identify and analyze stakeholders

    An analyst will facilitate the discussion on how to identify the impact and level of resistance of all stakeholders to come up with the communication plan.

    4.2.5 Create a communications management plan

    An analyst will assist the team in building the communications management plan based on the stakeholders’ needs that were outlined in the stakeholder analysis exercise.

    4.2.6 Build a requirements gathering implementation timeline

    An analyst will facilitate a session to brainstorm and document any action items and build a high-level timeline for implementation.

    Insight breakdown

    Requirements gathering SOPs should be prescriptive based on project complexity.

    • Complex projects will require more analytical rigor. Simpler projects can be served by more straightforward techniques such as user stories.

    Requirements gathering management tools can be pricy, but they can also be beneficial.

    • Requirements gathering management tools are a great way to have full control over recording, analyzing, and categorizing requirements over complex projects.

    BAs can make or break the execution of the requirements gathering process.

    • A strong process still needs to be executed well by BAs with the right blend of skills and knowledge.

    Summary of accomplishment

    Knowledge Gained

    • Best practices for each stage of the requirements gathering framework:
      • Elicitation
      • Analysis
      • Validation
    • A clear understanding of BA competencies and skill sets necessary to successfully execute the requirements gathering process.

    Processes Optimized

    • Stakeholder identification and management.
    • Requirements elicitation, analysis, and validation.
    • Requirements gathering governance.
    • Change control processes for new requirements.
    • Communication processes for requirements gathering.

    Deliverables Completed

    • SOPs for requirements gathering.
    • Project level selection framework.
    • Communications framework for requirements gathering.
    • Requirements documentation standards.

    Organizations and experts who contributed to this research

    Interviews

    • Douglas Van Gelder, IT Manager, Community Development Commission of the County of Los Angeles
    • Michael Lyons, Transit Management Analyst, Metropolitan Transit Authority
    • Ken Piddington, CIO, MRE Consulting
    • Thomas Dong, Enterprise Software Manager, City of Waterloo
    • Chad Evans, Director of IT, Ontario Northland
    • Three anonymous contributors

    Note: This research also incorporates extensive insights and feedback from our advisory service and related research projects.

    Bibliography

    “10 Ways Requirements Can Sabotage Your Projects Right From the Start.” Blueprint Software Systems, 2012. Web.

    “BPM Definition.” BPMInstitute.org, n.d. Web.

    “Capturing the Value of Project Management.” PMI’s Pulse of the Profession, 2015. Web.

    Eby, Kate. “Demystifying the 5 Phases of Project Management.” Smartsheet, 29 May 2019. Web.

    “Product Management: MoSCoW Prioritization.” ProductPlan, n.d. Web.

    “Projects Delivered on Time & on Budget Result in Larger Market Opportunities.” Jama Software, 2015. Web.

    “SIPOC Table.” iSixSigma, n.d. Web.

    “Survey Principles.” University of Wisconsin-Madison, n.d. Web.

    “The Standish Group 2015 Chaos Report.” The Standish Group, 2015. Web.

    Run Better Meetings

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    • Parent Category Name: Voice & Video Management
    • Parent Category Link: /voice-video-management

    Your newly hybrid workplace will include virtual, hybrid, and physical meetings, presenting several challenges:

    • The experience for onsite and remote attendees is not equal.
    • Employees are experiencing meeting and video fatigue.
    • Meeting rooms are not optimized for hybrid meetings.
    • The fact is that many people have not successfully run hybrid meetings before.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • Successful hybrid workplace plans must include planning around hybrid meetings. Seamless hybrid meetings are the result of thoughtful planning and documented best practices.

    Impact and Result

    • Identify your current state and the root cause of unsatisfactory meetings.
    • Review and identify meetings best practices around meeting roles, delivery models, and training.
    • Improve the technology that supports meetings.
    • Use Info-Tech’s quick checklists and decision flowchart to accelerate meeting planning and cover your bases.

    Run Better Meetings Research & Tools

    Start here – read the Executive Brief

    Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should run better meetings, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the ways we can support you in completing this project.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Identify the current state of meetings

    Understand the problem before you try to fix it. Before you can improve meetings, you need to understand what your norms and challenges currently are.

    • Checklist: Run a Virtual or Hybrid Meeting

    2. Publish best practices for how meetings should run

    Document meeting roles, expectations, and how meetings should run. Decide what kind of meeting delivery model to use and develop a training program.

    • Meeting Challenges and Best Practices
    • Meeting Type Decision Flowchart (Visio)
    • Meeting Type Decision Flowchart (PDF)

    3. Improve meeting technology

    Always be consulting with users: early in the process to set a benchmark, during and after every meeting to address immediate concerns, and quarterly to identify trends and deeper issues.

    • Team Charter
    • Communications Guide Poster Template
    [infographic]

    Workshop: Run Better Meetings

    Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

    1 Identify Current State of Meetings

    The Purpose

    Understand the current state of meetings in your organization.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    What you need to keep doing and what you need to change

    Activities

    1.1 Brainstorm meeting types.

    1.2 Document meeting norms.

    1.3 Document and categorize meeting challenges.

    Outputs

    Documented challenges with meetings

    Meeting norms

    Desired changes to meeting norms

    2 Review and Identify Best Practices

    The Purpose

    Review and implement meeting best practices.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Defined meeting best practices for your organization

    Activities

    2.1 Document meeting roles and expectations.

    2.2 Review common meeting challenges and identify best practices.

    2.3 Document when to use a hybrid meeting, virtual meeting, or an in-person meeting.

    2.4 Develop a training program.

    Outputs

    Meeting roles and expectations

    List of meeting best practices

    Guidelines to help workers choose between a hybrid, virtual, or in-person meeting

    Training plan for meetings

    3 Improve Meeting Technology

    The Purpose

    Identify opportunities to improve meeting technology.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    A strategy for improving the underlying technologies and meeting spaces

    Activities

    3.1 Empower virtual meeting attendees.

    3.2 Optimize spaces for hybrid meetings.

    3.3 Build a team of meeting champions.

    3.4 Iterate to build and improve meeting technology.

    3.5 Guide users toward each technology.

    Outputs

    Desired improvements to meeting rooms and meeting technology

    Charter for the team of meeting champions

    Communications Guide Poster

    Go the Extra Mile With Blockchain

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    • The transportation and logistics industry is facing a set of inherent flaws, such as high processing fees, fraudulent information, and lack of transparency, that blockchain is set to transform and alleviate.
    • Many companies have FOMO (fear of missing out), causing them to rush toward blockchain adoption without first identifying the optimal use case.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • Understand how blockchain can alleviate your pain points before rushing to adopt the technology. You have been hearing about blockchain for some time now and are feeling pressured to adopt it. Moreover, the series of issues hindering the transportation and logistics industry, such as the lack of transparency, poor cash flow management, and high processing fees, are frustrating business leaders and thereby adding additional pressure on CIOs to adopt the technology. While blockchain is complex, you should focus on its key features of transparency, integrity, efficiency, and security to identify how it can help your organization.
    • Ensure your use case is actually useful and can be valuable to your organization by selecting a business idea that is viable, feasible, and desirable. Applying design thinking tactics to your evaluation process provides a practical approach that will help you avoid wasting resources (both time and money) and hurting IT’s image in the eyes of the business. While it is easy to get excited and invest in a new technology to help maintain your image as a thought leader, you must ensure that your use case is fully developed prior to doing so.

    Impact and Result

    • Understand blockchain’s transformative potential for the transportation and logistics industry by breaking down how its key benefits can alleviate inherent industry flaws.
    • Identify business processes and stakeholders that could benefit from blockchain.
    • Build and evaluate an inventory of use cases to determine where blockchain could have the greatest impact on your organization.
    • Articulate the value and organizational fit of your proposed use case to the business to gain their buy-in and support.

    Go the Extra Mile With Blockchain Research & Tools

    Start here – read the Executive Brief

    Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why your organization should care about blockchain’s transformative potential for the transportation and logistics industry and how Info-Tech will support you as you identify and build your blockchain use case.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Evaluate why blockchain can disrupt the transportation and logistics industry

    Analyze the four key benefits of blockchain as they relate to the transportation and logistics industry to understand how the technology can resolve issues being experienced by industry incumbents.

    • Go the Extra Mile With Blockchain – Phase 1: Evaluate Why Blockchain Can Disrupt the Transportation and Logistics Industry
    • Blockchain Glossary

    2. Build and evaluate an inventory of use cases

    Brainstorm a set of blockchain use cases for your organization and apply design thinking tactics to evaluate and select the optimal one to pitch to your executives for prototyping.

    • Go the Extra Mile With Blockchain – Phase 2: Build and Evaluate an Inventory of Use Cases
    • Blockchain Use Case Evaluation Tool
    • Prototype One Pager
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    Build a More Effective Brand Architecture

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    Neglecting to maintain the brand architecture can have the following consequences:

    • Inconsistent branding across product lines, services, and marketing communications.
    • Employee confusion regarding product lines, services, and brand structure.
    • Difficulties in launching new products or services or integrating acquired brands.
    • Poor customer experience in navigating the website or understanding the offerings.
    • Inability to differentiate from competitors.
    • Weak brand equity and a lack of brand loyalty.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    Brand architecture is the way a company organizes and manages its portfolio of brands to achieve strategic goals. It encompasses the relationships between brands, from sub-brands to endorsed brands to independent brands, and how they interact with each other and with the master brand. With a clear brand architecture, businesses can optimize their portfolio, enhance their competitive position, and achieve sustainable growth and success in the long run.

    Impact and Result

    Establishing and upholding a well-defined brand architecture is critical to achieve:

    • Easy recognition and visibility
    • Consistent branding
    • Operational efficiency
    • Customer loyalty
    • Ability to easily adapt to changes
    • Competitive differentiation
    • Distinctive brand image
    • Business success

    Build a More Effective Brand Architecture Research & Tools

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Build a More Effective Brand Architecture Storyboard – Develop a brand architecture that supports your business goals, clarifies your brand portfolio, and enhances your overall brand equity.

    We recommend a two-step approach that involves defining or reimagining the brand architecture. This means choosing the right strategy by analyzing the current brand portfolio, identifying the core brand elements, and determining and developing the structure that fits with the brand and business goals. A well-thought-out brand architecture also facilitates the integration of new brands and new product launches.

    • Build a More Effective Brand Architecture Storyboard

    2. Brand Architecture Strategy Template – The brand architecture template is a tool for creating a coherent brand identity.

    Create a brand identity that helps you launch new products and services, prepare for acquisitions, and modify your brand strategy. Allocate resources more effectively and identify new opportunities for growth. A brand architecture can provide insights into how different brands fit together and contribute to the overall brand strategy.

    • Brand Architecture Strategy Template

    Infographic

    Workshop: Build a More Effective Brand Architecture

    Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

    1 Brand Mind Mapping

    The Purpose

    The brand mind mapping workshop is an exercise that helps with visualizing brand architecture and improving coherence and effectiveness in brand portfolio management.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    This exercise can help businesses:

    Allocate their resources more effectively.

    Identify new opportunities for growth.

    Gain a competitive advantage in their market.

    Activities

    1.1 Brand Mind Mapping

    Outputs

    Visual representation of the brand architecture and its various components

    Further reading

    Build a More Effective Brand Architecture

    Strategically optimize your portfolio to increase brand recognition and value.

    Analyst perspective

    Brand Architecture

    Nathalie Vezina, Marketing Research Director, SoftwareReviews Advisory

    Nathalie Vezina
    Marketing Research Director
    SoftwareReviews Advisory

    This blueprint highlights common brand issues faced by companies, such as inconsistencies in branding and sub-branding due to absent or inadequate planning and documentation or non-compliance with the brand architecture. It emphasizes the importance of aligning or modifying the company's brand strategy with the existing architecture to create a consistent brand when launching new products, services, or divisions or preparing for acquisitions.

    Changing the brand architecture can be challenging, as it often requires significant resources, time, and effort. Additionally, there may be resistance from stakeholders who have become attached to the existing brand architecture and may not see the value in making changes. However, it's important for companies to address suboptimal brand architecture to ensure consistency and clarity in brand messaging and support business growth and success.

    This blueprint guides brand leaders on building and updating their brand architecture for optimal clarity, consistency, adaptability, and efficiency.

    Executive summary

    Your Challenge Common Obstacles SoftwareReviews’ Approach
    A company's brand architecture can help brand managers build a stronger brand that supports the company's goals and increases brand value. Failing to maintain the brand architecture can have the following consequences:
    • Inconsistent branding across product lines, services, and marketing communications
    • Employee confusion regarding product lines, services, and brand structure.
    • Difficulties in launching new products or services or integrating acquired brands.
    • Poor customer experience in navigating the website or understanding the offerings.
    • Inability to differentiate from competitors.
    • Weak brand equity and a lack of brand loyalty.
    		 Establishing and maintaining a clear brand architecture can pose significant issues for brand leaders. Despite these obstacles, defining the brand architecture can yield substantial benefits for businesses. Common constraints are:
    • Lack of knowledge on the subject, resulting in difficulties securing buy-in from stakeholders.
    • Siloed teams and competing priorities.
    • Limited resources and time constraints.
    • Resistance to change from employees or customers.
    • Inconsistent execution and adherence to brand guidelines.
    • Lack of communication and coordination when acquiring new brands.
    		 With focused and effective efforts and guidance, brand leaders can define or reimagine their brand architecture. Developing and maintaining a clear and consistent brand architecture involves:
    • Defining the brand architecture strategy.
    • Analyzing the current brand portfolio and identifying the core brand elements.
    • Determining and developing the proper brand structure.
    • Updating brand guidelines and messaging.
    • Rolling out the brand architecture across touchpoints and assets.
    • Facilitating the integration of new brands.
    • Monitoring and adjusting the architecture as needed for relevance to business goals.

    "[B]rand architecture is like a blueprint for a house...the foundation that holds all the pieces together, making sure everything fits and works seamlessly."
    Source: Verge Marketing

    The basics of brand architecture

    The significance of brand hierarchy organization

    Brand architecture is the hierarchical organization and its interrelationships. This includes shaping the brand strategy and structuring the company's product and service portfolio.

    A well-designed brand architecture helps buyers navigate a company's product offerings and creates a strong brand image and loyalty.

    A company's brand architecture typically includes three levels:

    • Master or parent brand
    • Sub-brands
    • Endorsed brands

    Choosing the right architecture depends on business strategy, products and services, and target audience. It should be reviewed periodically as the brand evolves, new products and services are launched, or new brands are acquired.

    "A brand architecture is the logical, strategic, and relational structure for your brands, or put another way, it is the entity's 'family tree' of brands, sub-brands, and named products."
    Source: Branding Strategy Insider

    Enhancing a company's brand hierarchy for better business outcomes

    Maximize brand strategy with a well-defined and managed brand architecture.

    Align brand architecture with business goals
    A well-defined brand architecture aligned with business objectives contributes to building brand recognition, facilitating brand extension, and streamlining brand portfolio management. In addition, it improves marketing effectiveness and customer experience.
    With a clear and consistent brand architecture, companies can strengthen their brand equity, increase awareness and loyalty, and grow in their competitive environment.

    Effectively engage with the desired buyers
    A clear and consistent brand architecture enables companies to align their brand identity and value proposition with the needs and preferences of their target audience, resulting in increased customer loyalty and satisfaction.
    Establishing a unique market position and reinforcing brand messaging and positioning allows companies to create a more personalized and engaging customer experience, driving business growth.

    Maintain a competitive edge
    An effective brand architecture allows companies to differentiate themselves from their competitors by establishing their unique position in the market. It also provides a structured framework for introducing new products or services under the same brand, leveraging the existing one.
    By aligning their brand architecture with their business objectives, companies can achieve sustainable growth and outperform their competitors in the marketplace.

    "A well-defined brand architecture provides clarity and consistency in how a brand is perceived by its audience. It helps to create a logical framework that aligns with a brand's overall vision and objectives."
    Source: LinkedIn

    Pitfalls of neglecting brand guidelines

    Identifying the negative effects on business and brand value.

    Deficient brand architecture can manifest in various ways.

    Here are some common symptoms:

    • Lack of clarity around the brand's personality and values
    • Inconsistent messaging and branding
    • Inability to differentiate from competitors
    • Weak brand identity
    • Confusion among customers and employees
    • Difficulty launching new products/services or integrating acquired brands
    • Lack of recognition and trust from consumers, leading to potential negative impacts on the bottom line

    Brand architecture helps to ensure that your company's brands are aligned with your business goals and objectives, and that they work together to create a cohesive and consistent brand image.

    The most common obstacles in developing and maintaining a clear brand architecture

    Establishing and maintaining a clear brand architecture requires the commitment of the entire organization and a collaborative effort.

    Lack of stakeholder buy-in > Resistance to change

    Siloed teams > Inconsistent execution

    Limited resources > Lack of education and communication

    Types of brand architectures

    Different approaches to structuring brand hierarchy

    Brand architecture is a framework that encompasses three distinct levels, each comprising a different type of branding strategy.

    Types of brand architectures

    Examples of types of brand architectures

    Well-known brands with different brand and sub-brands structures

    Examples of types of brand architectures

    Pros and cons of each architecture types

    Different approaches to organizing a brand portfolio

    The brand architecture impacts the cohesiveness, effectiveness, and market reach. Defining or redefining organization changes is crucial for company performance.

    Branded House Endorsed Brands House of Brands
    Other Designations
    • "Monolithic brands"
    • "Sub-brands"
    • "Freestanding brands"
    Description
    • Single brand name for all products/services
    • Creates a unique and powerful image that can easily be identified
    • The master brand name endorses a range of products/services marketed under different sub-brands
    • Decentralized brands
    • Can target diverse markets with separate brand names for each product/service
    Marketing & Comms
    • Highly efficient
    • Eliminates split branding efforts by product/service
    • Product differentiation and tailoring messages to specific customer segments are limited
    • Each brand has its unique identity
    • Benefit from the support and resources of the master brand
    • Allows for unique branding and messaging per products/services for specific customer segments
    • Can experiment with different offerings and strategies
    Impact on Sales
    • Good cross-selling opportunities by leveraging a strong brand name
    • Benefit from the master brand's credibility, building customer trust and increasing sales
    • Tailored marketing to specific segments can increase market share and profitability
    • Creates competitive advantage and builds loyalty
    Cost Effectiveness
    • Cost-effective
    • No separate branding efforts per product/service
    • Lack of economy of scale
    • Fragmentation of resources and duplication of effort
    • Lack of economy of scale
    • Fragmentation of resources and duplication of effort
    Reputation and Image
    • More control over the brand image, messages, and perception, leading to strong recognition
    • Increased vulnerability to negative events can damage the entire brand, products/services offered
    • Mitigated risk, protecting the master brand's reputation and financial performance
    • Negative events with one brand can damage the master and other brands, causing a loss of credibility
    • Reduced risk, safeguarding the master brand's reputation and financial performance
    • Each brand builds its own equity, enhancing the company's financial performance and value
    Consistency
    • Ensures consistency with the company's brand image, values, and messaging
    • Helps build trust and loyalty
    • Inconsistent branding and messaging can cause confusion and misunderstandings
    • Unclear link between master/endorsed brands
    • Reduces trust and brand loyalty
    • Difficult to establish a clear and consistent corporate identity
    • Can reduce overall brand recognition and loyalty

    Brand naming decision tree

    Create a naming process for brand alignment and resonance with the target audience

    To ensure a chosen name is effective and legally/ethically sound, consider the ease of pronunciation/spelling, the availability for registration of brand/domain name, any negative connotations/associations in any language/culture, and potential legal/ethical issues.

    Brand naming decision tree

    To ensure a chosen name is effective and legally/ethically sound, consider the ease of pronunciation/spelling, the availability for registration of brand/domain name, any negative connotations/associations in any language/culture, and potential legal/ethical issues.

    Advantages of defining brand architecture

    Maximize your brand potential with a clear architecture strategy.

    Clear offering

    Adaptability

    Consistent branding

    Competitive differentiation

    Operational efficiency

    Strong brand identity

    Customer loyalty

    Business success

    "Responding to external influences, all brands must adapt and change over time. A clear system can aid in managing the process, ensuring that necessary changes are implemented effectively and efficiently."
    Source: The Branding Journal

    SoftwareReviews' brand architecture creation methodology

    Develop and Implement a Robust Brand Architecture

    Phase Steps

    		 Step 1 Research and Analysis
    1.1 Define brand architecture strategy
    1.2 Brand audit
    1.3 Identify brand core elements

    Step 2 Development and Implementation
    2.1 Determine brand hierarchy
    2.2 Develop or update brand guidelines
    2.3 Roll out brand architecture
    Phase Outcomes
    • Brand current performance is assessed
    • Issues are highlighted and can be addressed
    • Brand structure is developed and implemented across touchpoints and assets
    • Adjustments are made on an ongoing basis for consistency and relevance to business goals

    Insight summary

    Brand Architecture: Organize and manage your portfolio of brands
    Brand architecture is the way a company organizes and manages its portfolio of brands to achieve strategic goals. It encompasses the relationships between brands, from sub-brands to endorsed brands to independent brands, and how they interact with each other and with the master brand. With a clear brand architecture, businesses can optimize their portfolio, enhance their competitive position, and achieve sustainable growth and success in the long run.

    Aligning brand architecture to business strategy
    Effective brand architecture aligns with the company's business strategy, marketing objectives, and customer needs. It provides clarity and coherence to the brand portfolio, helps customers navigate product offerings, and maximizes overall equity of the brand.

    Choosing between three types of brand architecture
    A company's choice of brand architecture depends on factors like product range, target markets, and strategic objectives. Each approach, Branded House, Endorsed, or House of Brands, has its own pros and cons, and the proper option relies on the company's goals, resources, and constraints.

    A logical brand hierarchy for more clarity
    The order of importance of brands in the portfolio, including the relationships between the master and sub-brands, and the positioning of each in the market is fundamental. A clear and logical hierarchy helps customers understand the value proposition of each brand and reduces confusion.

    A win-win approach
    Clear brand architecture can help customers easily navigate and understand the product offering, reinforce the brand identity and values, and improve customer loyalty and retention. Additionally, it can help companies optimize their marketing strategies, streamline their product development and production processes, and maximize their revenue and profitability.

    Brand architecture, an ongoing process
    Brand architecture is not a one-time decision but an ongoing process that requires regular review and adjustment. As business conditions change, companies may need to revise their brand portfolio, brand hierarchy, or brand extension and acquisition strategies to remain competitive and meet customer needs.

    Brand architecture creation tools

    This blueprint comes with tools to help you develop your brand architecture.

    Brand Architecture Toolkit

    This kit includes a Brand Architecture Mini-Audit, a Brand Architecture template, and templates for Brand Matrix, Ecosystem, and Development Strategy.

    Use this kit to develop a strong brand architecture that aligns with your business goals, clarifies your brand portfolio, and enhances overall brand equity.

    Brand Architecture Toolkit

    Brand Architecture

    Develop a robust brand architecture that supports your business goals, clarifies your brand portfolio, and enhances your overall brand equity.

    "A brand architecture is the logical, strategic, and relational structure for your brands, or put another way, it is the entity's 'family tree' of brands, sub-brands, and named products."
    Source: Branding Strategy Insider

    Consequences of Neglected Brand Guidelines

    When a company neglects its brand architecture and guidelines, it can result in a number of negative consequences, such as:

    • Lack of clarity around the brand's personality and values
    • Inconsistent messaging and branding
    • Inability to differentiate from competitors
    • Weak brand identity
    • Confusion among customers and employees
    • Difficulty launching new products/services or integrating acquired brands
    • Lack of recognition and trust from consumers, leading to potential negative impacts on the bottom line.

    Benefits of SoftwareReviews' Methodology

    By following SoftwareReviews' methodology to develop and maintain a brand architecture, businesses can:

    • Establish a unique market position and stand out from competitors
    • Ensure that marketing efforts are focused and effective
    • Create personalized and engaging customer experiences
    • Reinforce messaging and positioning
    • Increase customer loyalty and satisfaction
    • Build brand recognition and awareness

    Marq, formerly Lucidpress, surveyed over 400 brand management experts and found that "if the brand was consistent, revenue would increase by 10-20%."

    Methodology for Defining Brand Architecture

    Who benefits from this research?

    This research is designed for:

    • Organizations that value their brand and want to ensure that it is communicated effectively and consistently across all touchpoints.
    • Business owners, marketers, brand managers, creative teams, and anyone involved in the development and implementation of brand strategy.

    This research will also assist:

    • Sales and customer experience teams
    • Channel partners
    • Buyers

    This research will help you:

    • Establish a unique market position and stand out from competitors.
    • Create a more personalized and engaging customer experience.
    • Ensure that marketing efforts are focused and effective.
    • Reinforce brand messaging and positioning.

    This research will help them:

    • Increase customer loyalty and satisfaction
    • Build brand recognition and awareness
    • Drive business growth and profitability.

    SoftwareReviews offers various levels of support to best suit your needs

    DIY Toolkit
    "Our team has already made this critical project a priority, and we have the time and capability, but some guidance along the way would be helpful."     		Guided Implementation
    "Our team knows that we need to fix a process, but we need assistance to determine where to focus. Some check-ins along the way would help keep us on track."    		 Workshop
    "We need to hit the ground running and get this project kicked off immediately. Our team has the ability to take this over once we get a framework and strategy in place."    		 Consulting
    "Our team does not have the time or the knowledge to take this project on. We need assistance through the entirety of this project."
    Included Within Advisory Membership Optional Add-Ons

    Guided Implementation

    What does a typical GI on this topic look like?

    Research & Analysis
    Call #1: Discuss brand architecture strategy (define objectives, scope and stakeholders). Call #3: Identify core brand components and ensure they align with the brand strategy. Call #5: Develop or update brand guidelines. Optional Calls:
    • Brand Diagnostic
    • Brand Strategy and Tactics
    • Brand Voice Guidelines
    • Asset Creation and Management
    • Brand Messaging
    Call #2: Conduct a brand audit. Call #4: Define and document the brand hierarchy. Call #6: Roll out the brand architecture and monitoring.

    A Guided Implementation (GI) is a series of calls with a SoftwareReviews Marketing Analyst to help implement our best practices in your organization.

    Your engagement managers will work with you to schedule analyst calls.

    Brand Mind Mapping Workshop Overview

    Total duration: 3-4 hours

    Activities
    Visually map out the different elements of your brand portfolio, including corporate brands, sub-brands, product brands, and their relationships with each other.

    The workshop also aims to explore additional elements, such as brand expansions, acquisitions, and extensions, and brand attributes and positioning.

    Deliverables
    Get a mind map that represents the brand architecture and its various components, which can be used to evaluate and improve the overall coherence and effectiveness of the brand portfolio. The mind map can also provide insights into how different brands fit together and contribute to the overall brand strategy.

    Participants

    • Business owners
    • Head of Branding and anyone involved with the brand strategy

    Tools

    • Brand Architecture Template, slides 7 and 8

    Brand Mind Mapping

    Contact your account representative for more information
    workshops@infotech.com | 1-888-670-8889

    Get started!

    Develop a brand architecture that supports your business goals, clarifies your brand portfolio, and enhances your overall brand equity.

    Develop and Implement a Robust Brand Architecture

    Step 1 Research and Analysis
    1.1 Define architecture strategy
    1.2 Perform brand audit
    1.3 Identify brand core elements

    Step 2 Development and Implementation
    2.1 Determine brand hierarchy
    2.2 Develop or update brand guidelines
    2.3 Roll out brand architecture

    Phase Outcome

    • Brand current performance is assessed
    • Issues are highlighted and can be addressed
    • Brand structure is developed and implemented across touchpoints and assets
    • Adjustments made on an ongoing basis for consistency and relevance to business goals

    Develop and implement a robust brand architecture

    Steps 1.1, 1.2 & 1.3 Define architecture strategy, audit brand, and identify core elements.

    Total duration: 2.5-4.5 hours

    Objective
    Define brand objectives (hierarchy, acquired brand inclusion, product distinction), scope, and stakeholders. Analyze the brand portfolio to identify gaps or inconsistencies. Identify brand components (name, logo, tagline, personality) and align them with the brand and business strategy.

    Output
    By completing these steps, you will assess your current brand portfolio and evaluate its consistency and alignment with the overall brand strategy.

    Participants

    • Business owners
    • Head of Branding and anyone involved with the brand strategy

    Tools

    • Diagnose Brand Health to Improve Business Growth Blueprint (optional)
    • Brand Awareness Strategy Template (optional)

    1.1 Define Brand Architecture Strategy
    (60-120 min.)

    Define

    Define brand objectives (hierarchy, inclusion of an acquired brand, product distinction), scope, and stakeholders.

    1.2 Conduct Brand Audit
    (30-60 min.)

    Assess

    Assess the state of your brand architecture using the "Brand architecture mini-audit checklist," slide 9 of the Brand Architecture Strategy Template. Check the boxes that correspond to the state of your brand architecture. Those left unchecked represent areas for improvement.

    For a more in-depth analysis of your brand performance, follow the instructions and use the tools provided in the Diagnose Brand Health to Improve Business Growth blueprint (optional).

    1.3 Identify Core Brand Elements
    (60-90 min.)

    Identify

    Define brand components (name, logo, tagline, personality). Align usage with strategy. You can develop your brand strategy, if not already existing, using the Brand Awareness Strategy Template (optional).

    Tip!

    Continuously monitor and adjust your brand architecture - it's not static and should evolve over time. You can also adapt your brand strategy as needed to stay relevant and competitive.

    Develop and implement a robust brand architecture

    Steps 2.1. 2.2 & 2.3 Develop brand hierarchy, guidelines, and rollout architecture.

    Total duration: 3.5-5.5 hours

    Objective
    Define your brand structure and clarify the role and market position of each. Create concise brand expression guidelines, implement them across all touchpoints and assets, and adjust as needed to stay aligned with your business goals.

    Output
    This exercise will help you establish and apply your brand structure, with a plan for ongoing updates and adjustments to maintain consistency and relevance.

    Participants

    • Business owners
    • Head of Branding and anyone involved with the brand strategy

    Tools

    • Brand Architecture Template
    • Brand Voice Guidelines
    • Brand Messaging Template
    • Asset Creation and Management List Template

    2.1 Determine Brand Hierarchy
    (30-60 min.)

    Analyze & Document

    In the Brand Architecture Strategy Template, complete the brand matrix, ecosystem, development strategy matrix, mind mapping, and architecture, to develop a strong brand architecture that aligns with your business goals and clarifies your brand portfolio and market position.

    2.2 Develop/Update Brand Guidelines
    (120-180 min.)

    Develop/Update

    Develop (or update existing) clear, concise, and actionable brand expression guidelines using the Brand Voice Guidelines and Brand Messaging Template.

    2.2 Rollout Brand Architecture
    Preparation (60-90 min.)

    Create & Implement

    Use the Asset Creation and Management List Template to implement brand architecture across touchpoints and assets.

    Monitor and Adjust

    Use slide 8, "Brand Strategy Development Matrix," of the Brand Architecture Strategy Template to identify potential and future brand development strategies to build or enhance your brand based on your current brand positioning and business goals. Monitor, and adjust as needed, for relevance to the brand and business strategy.

    Tip!

    Make your brand architecture clear and simple for your target audience, employees, and stakeholders. This will avoid confusion and help your audience understand your brand structure.

    Prioritizing clarity and simplicity will communicate your brand's value proposition effectively and create a strong brand that resonates with your audience and supports your business goals.

    Related SoftwareReviews research

    Diagnose Brand Health to Improve Business Growth

    Have a significant and well-targeted impact on business success and growth by knowing how your brand performs, identifying areas of improvement, and making data-driven decisions to fix them.

    • Increase brand awareness and equity.
    • Build trust and improve customer retention and loyalty.
    • Achieve higher and faster growth.

    Accelerate Business Growth and Valuation by Building Brand Awareness

    Successfully build awareness and help the business grow. Stand out from the competition and continue to grow in a sustainable way.

    • Get a clear understanding of the buyer's needs and your key differentiator.
    • Achieve strategy alignment and readiness.
    • Create and manage assets.

    Bibliography

    "Brand Architecture: Definition, Types, Strategies, and Examples." The Branding Journal, 2022.

    "Brand Architecture: What It Is and How to Build Your Brand's Framework." HubSpot, 2021.

    "Brand Architecture Framework." Verge Marketing, 2021.

    "Brand consistency-the competitive advantage and how to achieve it." Marq/Lucidpress, 2021.

    "Building brands for growth: A fresh perspective." McKinsey & Company. Accessed on 31 March 2023.

    Daye, Derrick. "Brand Architecture Strategy Guide." Branding Strategy Insider, The Blake Project, 13 May 2021.

    Todoran, Adrian. "Choosing the Perfect Brand Architecture Strategy for Your Business." LinkedIn, 2023.

    Select and Implement an IT PPM Solution

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    • Parent Category Name: Portfolio Management
    • Parent Category Link: /portfolio-management
    • The number of IT project resources and the quantity of IT projects and tasks can no longer be recorded, prioritized, and tracked using non-commercial project portfolio management (PPM) solutions.
    • Your organization has attained a moderate level of PPM maturity.
    • You have sufficient financial and technical resources to purchase a commercial PPM solution.
    • There is a wide variety of commercial PPM solutions; different kinds of PPM solutions are more appropriate for organizations of a certain size and a certain PPM maturity level than others.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • Implementations of PPM solutions are often unsuccessful resulting in wasted time and resources; failing to achieve sustainable adoption of the tool is a widespread pain point.
    • The costs of PPM solutions do not end after the implementation and subscription invoices are paid. Have realistic expectations about the time required to use and maintain PPM solutions to ensure success.
    • PPM solutions help PMOs serve the organization’s core decision makers. Success depends on improved service to these stakeholders.

    Impact and Result

    • Using Info-Tech’s Vendor Landscape and PPM solution use cases, you will be able to make sense of the diversity of PPM solutions available in today’s market and choose the most appropriate solution for your organization’s size and level of PPM maturity.
    • Info-Tech’s blueprint for a PPM solution selection and implementation project will provide you with a variety of tools and templates.
    • A carefully planned out and executed selection and implementation process will help ensure your organization can maximize the value of your project portfolio and will allow the PMO to improve portfolio stakeholder satisfaction.

    Select and Implement an IT PPM Solution Research & Tools

    Start here – read the Executive Brief

    Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should implement a commercial PPM solution, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Launch the PPM solution project and collect requirements

    Create a PPM solution selection and implementation project charter and gather your organizations business and technical requirements.

    • Select and Implement a PPM Solution – Phase 1: Launch the PPM Solution Project and Collect Requirements
    • PPM Solution Project Charter Template
    • PPM Implementation Work Breakdown Structure
    • PPM Solution Requirements Gathering Tool
    • PPM Solution Cost-of-Use Estimation Tool
    • PPM Solution RFP Template
    • PPM Solution Success Metrics Workbook
    • PPM Solution Use-Case Fit Assessment Tool

    2. Select a PPM solution

    Select the most appropriate PPM solution for your organization by using Info-Tech’s PPM solution Vendor Landscape and use cases to help you create a vendor shortlist, produce an RFP, and establish evaluation criteria for ranking your shortlisted solutions.

    • Select and Implement a PPM Solution – Phase 2: Select a PPM Solution
    • PPM Vendor Shortlist & Detailed Feature Analysis Tool
    • PPM Solution Vendor Response Template
    • PPM Solution Evaluation & RFP Scoring Tool
    • PPM Solution Vendor Demo Script

    3. Plan the PPM solution implementation

    Plan a PPM solution implementation that will result in long-term sustainable adoption of the tool and that will allow the PMO to meet the needs of core project portfolio stakeholders.

    • Select and Implement a PPM Solution – Phase 3: Plan the PPM Solution Implementation
    [infographic]

    Workshop: Select and Implement an IT PPM Solution

    Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

    1 Launch the PPM Solution Project and Gather Requirements

    The Purpose

    Create a PPM solution selection and implementation project charter.

    Gather the business and technical requirements for the PPM solution.

    Establish clear and measurable success criteria for your PPM solution project.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Comprehensive project plan

    Comprehensive and organized record of the various PPM solution requirements

    A record of PPM solution project goals and criteria that can be used in the future to establish the success of the project

    Activities

    1.1 Brainstorm, refine, and prioritize your PPM solution needs

    1.2 Stakeholder identification exercise

    1.3 Project charter work session

    1.4 Requirements gathering work session

    1.5 PPM solution success metrics workbook session

    Outputs

    High-level outline of PPM solution requirements

    Stakeholder consultation plan

    A draft project charter and action plan to fill in project charter gaps

    A draft requirements workbook and action plan to fill in requirement gathering gaps

    A PPM project success metrics workbook that can be used during and after the project

    2 Select a PPM Solution

    The Purpose

    Identify the PPM solutions that are most appropriate for your organization’s size and level of PPM maturity.

    Create a PPM solution and vendor shortlist.

    Create a request for proposal (RFP).

    Create a PPM solution scoring and evaluation tool.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Knowledge of the PPM solution market and the various features available

    An informed shortlist of PPM vendors

    An organized and focused method for evaluating the often long and complex responses to the RFP that vendors provide

    The groundwork for an informed and defensible selection of a PPM solution for your organization

    Activities

    2.1 Assess the size of your organization and the level of PPM maturity to select the most appropriate use case

    2.2 PPM solution requirements and criteria ranking activity

    2.3 An RFP working session

    2.4 Build an RFP evaluation tool

    Outputs

    Identification of the most appropriate use case in Info-Tech’s Vendor Landscape

    A refined and organized list of the core features that will be included in the RFP

    A draft RFP with an action plan to fill in any RFP gaps

    An Excel tool that can be used to compare and evaluate vendors’ responses to the RFP

    3 Prepare for the PPM Solution Implementation

    The Purpose

    To think ahead to the eventual implementation of the solution that will occur once the selection phase is completed

    Key Benefits Achieved

    An understanding of key insights and steps that will help avoid mistakes resulting in poor adoption or PPM solutions that end up producing little tangible value

    Activities

    3.1 Outline high-level implementation stages

    3.2 Organizational change management strategy session

    3.3 A PPM project success metrics planning session

    Outputs

    High-level implementation tasks and milestones

    A RACI chart for core implementation tasks

    A high-level PPM solution implementation organizational change management strategy

    A RACI chart for core organizational change management tasks related to the PPM solution implementation

    A PPM project success metrics schedule and plan

    Start Making Data-Driven People Decisions

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    • Parent Category Name: Leadership Development Programs
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    • Ninety-one percent of IT leaders believe that analytics is important for talent management but 59% use no workforce analytics at all, although those who use analytics are much more effective than those who don't.
    • The higher the level of analytics used, the higher the level of effectiveness of the department as a whole.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • You don't need advanced metrics and analytics to see a return on people data. Begin by getting a strong foundation in place and showing the ROI on a pilot project.
    • Complex analyses will never make up for inadequate data quality. Spend the time up front to audit and improve data quality if necessary, no matter which stage of analytics proficiency you are at.
    • Ensure you collect and analyze only data that is essential to your decision making. More is not better, and excess data can detract from the overall impact of analytics.

    Impact and Result

    • Build a small-scale foundational pilot, which will allow you to demonstrate feasibility, refine your costs estimate, and show the ROI on people analytics for your budgeting meeting.
    • Drive organizational change incrementally by identifying and communicating with the stakeholders for your people analytics pilot.
    • Choose basic analytics suitable for organizations of all sizes and understand the building blocks of data quality to support more further analytics down the line.

    Start Making Data-Driven People Decisions Research & Tools

    Start here – read the Executive Brief

    Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should strategically apply people analytics to your IT talent management.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Define the problem and apply the checklist

    From choosing the right data for the right problem to evaluating your progress toward data-driven people decisions, follow these steps to build your foundation to people analytics.

    • Start Making Data-Driven People Decisions – Phase 1: Define the Problem and Apply the Checklist
    • People Analytics Strategy Template
    • Talent Metrics Library
    [infographic]

    Choose Your Mobile Platform and Tools

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    • Parent Category Name: Mobile Development
    • Parent Category Link: /mobile-development
    • Organizations see the value of mobile applications in improving productivity and reach of day-to-day business and IT operations. This motivates leaders to begin the planning of their first application.
    • However, organizations often lack the critical foundational knowledge and skills to deliver and maintain high quality and valuable applications that meet business and user priorities and technical requirements.
    • Mobile technologies and trends are continually evolving and maturing. It is hard to predict which trends will make a significant impact and to prepare current mobile investments to harness their value of these trends.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • Mobile applications can stress the stability, reliability, and overall quality of your enterprise systems and services. They will also increase your security risks because of the exposure of your enterprise technology assets to unsecured networks and devices.
    • High costs of entry may restrict what built-in features your users can have in their mobile experience. Workarounds may not be sufficient to offset the costs of certain built-in feature needs.
    • Many operating models do not enable or encourage the collaboration required to fully understand user needs and behaviors and evaluate mobile opportunities and underlying operational systems from multiple perspectives.

    Impact and Result

    • Establish the right expectations. Understand your mobile users by learning their needs, challenges, and behaviors. Discuss the current state of your systems and your high priority non-functional requirements to determine what to expect from your mobile applications.
    • Choose the right mobile platform approach and shortlist your mobile delivery solutions. Obtain a thorough view of the business and technical complexities of your mobile opportunities, including current mobile delivery capabilities and system compatibilities.
    • Create your mobile roadmap. Describe the gradual rollout of your mobile technologies through minimal valuable products (MVPs).

    Choose Your Mobile Platform and Tools Research & Tools

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Choose Your Mobile Platform and Tools Storyboard

    This blueprint helps you develop an approach to understand the mobile experience your stakeholders want your users to have and select the appropriate platform and delivery tools to meet these expectations.

    • Choose Your Mobile Platform and Tools Storyboard

    2. Mobile Application Delivery Communication Template – Clearly communicate the goal and approach of your mobile application implementation in a language your audience understands.

    This template narrates a story to describe the need and expectations of your low- and no-code initiative to get buy-in from stakeholders and interested parties.

    • Mobile Application Delivery Communication Template

    Infographic

    Workshop: Choose Your Mobile Platform and Tools

    Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

    1 Choose Your Platform and Delivery Solution

    The Purpose

    Choose the right mobile platform.

    Shortlist your mobile delivery solution and desired features and services.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    A chosen mobile platform that meets user and enterprise needs.

    Candidate mobile delivery solutions that meet your delivery needs and capacity of your teams.

    Activities

    1.1 Select your platform approach.

    1.2 Shortlist your mobile delivery solution.

    1.3 Build your feature and service lists.

    Outputs

    Desired mobile platform approach.

    Shortlisted mobile delivery solutions.

    Desired list of vendor features and services.

    2 Create Your Roadmap

    The Purpose

    Design the mobile application minimal viable product (MVP).

    Create your mobile roadmap.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    An achievable and valuable mobile application that is scalable for future growth.

    Clear intent of business outcome delivery and completing mobile delivery activities.

    Activities

    2.1 Define your MVP release.

    2.2 Build your roadmap.

    Outputs

    MVP design.

    Mobile delivery roadmap.

    3 Set the Mobile Context

    The Purpose

    Understand your user’s environment needs, behaviors, and challenges.

    Define stakeholder expectations and ensure alignment with the holistic business strategy.

    Identify your mobile application opportunities.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Thorough understanding of your mobile user and opportunities where mobile applications can help.

    Level set stakeholder expectations and establish targeted objectives.

    Prioritized list of mobile opportunities.

    Activities

    3.1 Generate user personas with empathy maps.

    3.2 Build your mobile application canvas.

    3.3 Build your mobile backlog.

    Outputs

    User personas.

    Mobile objectives and metrics.

    Mobile opportunity backlog.

    4 Identify Your Technical Needs

    The Purpose

    Define the mobile experience you want to deliver and the features to enable it.

    Understand the state of your current system to support mobile.

    Identify your definition of mobile application quality.

    List the concerns with mobile delivery.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Clear understanding of the desired mobile experience.

    Potential issues and risks with enabling mobile on top of existing systems.

    Grounded understanding of mobile application quality.

    Holistic readiness assessment to proceed with mobile delivery.

    Activities

    4.1 Discuss your mobile needs.

    4.2 Conduct a technical assessment.

    4.3 Define mobile application quality.

    4.4 Verify your decision to deliver mobile applications.

    Outputs

    List of mobile features to enable the desired mobile experience.

    System current assessment.

    Mobile application quality definition.

    Verification to proceed with mobile delivery.

    Further reading

    Choose Your Mobile Platform and Tools

    Maximize the value of your mobile investments by prioritizing technology decisions on user experience, business priorities, and system quality.

    EXECUTIVE BRIEF

    Analyst Perspective

    Mobile is the way of working.

    Workers require access to enterprise products, data, and services anywhere at anytime on any device. Give them the device-specific features, offline access, desktop-like interfaces, and automation capabilities they need to be productive.

    To be successful, you need to instill a collaborative business-IT partnership. Only through this partnership will you be able to select the right mobile platform and tools to balance desired outcomes with enterprise security, performance, integration, quality, and other delivery capacity concerns.

    This is a picture of Andrew Kum-Seun Senior Research Analyst, Application Delivery and Application Management Info-Tech Research Group

    Andrew Kum-Seun
    Senior Research Analyst,
    Application Delivery and Application Management
    Info-Tech Research Group

    Executive Summary

    Your Challenge

    • Organizations see the value of mobile applications in improving productivity and reach of day-to-day business and IT operations. This motivates leaders to begin the planning of their first application.
    • However, organizations often lack the critical foundational knowledge and skills to deliver and maintain high quality and valuable applications that meet business and user priorities and technical requirements.
    • Mobile technologies and trends are continually evolving and maturing. It is hard to predict which trends will make a significant impact and to prepare current mobile investments to harness the value of these trends.

    Common Obstacles

    • Mobile applications can stress the stability, reliability and overall quality of your enterprise systems and services. They will also increase your security risks because of the exposure of your enterprise technology assets to unsecured networks and devices.
    • High costs of entry may restrict what native features your users can have in their mobile experience. Workarounds may not be sufficient to offset the costs of certain native feature needs.
    • Many operating models do not enable or encourage the collaboration required to fully understand user needs and behaviors and evaluate mobile opportunities and underlying operational systems from multiple perspectives.

    Info-Tech's Approach

    • Establish the right expectations. Understand your mobile users by learning their needs, challenges, and behaviors. Discuss the current state of your systems and your high priority non-functional requirements to determine what to expect from your mobile applications.
    • Choose the right mobile platform approach and shortlist your mobile delivery solutions. Obtain a thorough view of the business and technical complexities of your mobile opportunities, including current mobile delivery capabilities and system compatibilities.
    • Create your mobile roadmap. Describe the gradual rollout of your mobile technologies through minimal valuable products (MVPs).

    Insight Summary

    Overarching Info-Tech Insight

    Treat your mobile applications as digital products. Digital products are continuously modernized to ensure they are fit-for-purpose, secured, accessible, and immersive. A successful mobile experience involves more than just the software and supporting system. It involves good training and onboarding, efficient delivery turnaround, and a clear and rational vision and strategy.

    Phase 1: Set the Mobile Context

    • Build applications your users need and desire – Design the right mobile application that enables your users to address their frustrations and productivity challenges.
    • Maximize return on your technology investments – Build your mobile applications with existing web APIs, infrastructure, and services as much as possible.
    • Prioritize mobile security, performance and integration requirements – Understand the unique security, performance, and integration influences has on your desired mobile user experience. Find the right balance of functional and non-functional requirements through business and IT collaboration.

    Phase 2: Define Your Mobile Approach

    • Start with a mobile web platform - Minimize disruptions to your existing delivery process and technical stack by building against common web standards. Select a hybrid platform or cross-platform if you need device hardware access or have complicated non-functional requirements.
    • Focus your mobile solution decision on vendor support and functional complexity – Verify that your solution is not only compatible with the architecture, data, and policies of existing business systems, but satisfies IT's concerns with access to restricted technology and data, and with IT's ability to manage and operate your applications.
    • Anticipate changes, defects & failures in your roadmap - Quickly shift your mobile roadmaps according to user feedback, delivery challenges, value, and stability.

    Mobile is how the business works today

    Mobile adoption continues to grow in part due to the need to be a mobile workforce, and the shift in customer behaviors. This reality pushed the industry to transform business processes and technologies to better support the mobile way of working.

    Mobile Builds Interests
    61%
    Mobile devices drove 61% of visits to U.S. websites
    Source: Perficient, 2021

    Mobile Maintains Engagement
    54%
    Mobile devices generated 54.4% of global website traffic in Q4 2021.
    Source: Statista, 2022

    Mobile Drives Productivity
    82%
    According to 82% of IT executives, smartphones are highly important to employee productivity
    Source: Samsung and Oxford Economics, 2022

    Mobile applications enable and drive your digital business strategy

    Organizations know the criticality of mobile applications in meeting key business and digital transformation goals, and they are making significant investments. Over half (58%) of organizations say their main strategy for driving application adoption is enabling mobile access to critical enterprise systems (Enterprise CIO, 2016). The strategic positioning and planning of mobile applications are key for success.

    Mobile Can Motivate, Support and Drive Progress in Key Activities Underpinning Digital Transformation Goals

    Goal: Enhance Customer Experience

    • A shift from paper to digital communications
    • Seamless, omni-channel client experiences across devices
    • Create Digital interactive documents with sections that customers can customize to better understand their communications

    Goal: Increase Workflow Throughput & Efficiency

    • Digitized processes and use of data to improve process efficiency
    • Modern IT platforms
    • Automation through robotic process automation (RPA) where possible
    • Use of AI and machine learning for intelligent automation

    Source: Broadridge, 2022

    To learn more, visit Info-Tech's Define Your Digital Business Strategy blueprint.

    Well developed mobile applications bring unique opportunities to drive more value

    Role

    Opportunities With Mobile Applications

    Expected Value

    Stationary Worker

    Design flowcharts and diagrams, while abandoning paper and desktop applications in favor of easy-to-use, drawing tablet applications.

    Multitask by checking the application to verify information given by a vendor during their presentation or pitch.

    • Reduce materials cost to complete administrative responsibilities.
    • Digitally and automatically store and archive frequently used documents.

    Roaming Worker
    (Engineer)

    Replace physical copies of service and repair manuals with digital copies, and access them with mobile applications.

    Scan or input product bar code to determine whether a replacement part is available or needs to be ordered.

    • Readily access and update corporate data anywhere at anytime.
    • Expand employee responsibilities with minimal skills impact.

    Roaming Worker
    (Nurse)

    Log patient information according to HIPAA standards and complete diagnostics live to propose medication for a patient.

    Receive messages from senior staff about patients and scheduling while on-call.

    • Quickly and accurately complete tasks and update patient data at site.
    • Be readily accessible to address urgent issues.

    Info-Tech Insight

    If you build it, they may not come. Design and build the applications your user wants and needs, and ensure users are properly onboarded and trained. Learn how your applications are leveraged, capture feedback from the user and system dashboards, and plan for enhancements, fixes, and modernizations.

    Workers expect IT to deliver against their high mobile expectations

    Workers want sophisticated mobile applications like what they see their peers and competitors use.

    Why is IT considering building their own applications?

    • Complex and Unique Workflows: Canned templates and shells are viewed as incompatible to the workflows required to complete worker responsibilities outside the office, with the same level of access to corporate data as on premise.
    • Supporting Bring Your Own Device (BYOD): Developing your own mobile applications around your security protocols and standards can help mitigate the risks with personal devices that are already in your workforce.
    • Long-Term Architecture Misalignment: Outsourcing mobile development risks the mobile application misaligned with your quality standards or incompatible with other enterprise and third-party systems.

    Continuously meeting aggressive user expectations will not be easy

    Value Quickly Wears Off
    39.9% of users uninstall an application because it is not in use.
    40%
    Source: n=2,000, CleverTap, 2021

    Low Tolerance to Waiting
    Keeping a user waiting for 3 seconds is enough to dissatisfy 43% of users.
    43%
    Source: AppSamurai, 2018

    Quick Fixes Are Paramount
    44% of defects are found by users
    44%
    Source: Perfecto Mobile, 2014

    Mobile emphasizes the importance of good security, performance, and integration

    Today's mobile workers are looking for new ways to get more work done quickly. They want access to enterprise solutions and data directly on their mobile devices, which can reside on multiple legacy systems and in the cloud and third-party infrastructure. This presents significant performance, integration, and security risks.

    Cloud Solutions: Can I use my existing APIs?. Solutions in Corporate Networks: Do my legacy systems have the capacity to support mobile?; How do I integrate solutions and data from multiple sources into a single view?; Third Party Solutions: Will I have a significant performance bottleneck?; Single View on Mobile Devices: How is corporate data stored on the device?; What new technology dependencies must I account for in my architecture and operational support capabilities?

    Accept change as the norm

    IT is challenged with keeping up with disruptive technologies, such as mobile, which are arriving and changing faster and faster.

    What is the issue? Mobile priorities, concepts, and technologies do not remain static. For example, current Google's Pixels benefit from at least three versions of Android updates and at least three years of monthly security patches after their release (NextPit, 2022). Keeping up to date with anything mobile is difficult if you do not have the right delivery and product management practices in place.

    What is the impact on IT? Those who fail to prepare for changing requirements and technologies will quickly run into maintainability, extensibility, and flexibility issues. Mobile applications will quickly become stale and misaligned with the maturity of other enterprise infrastructure and applications.

    Continuously look at the trends, vendor roadmaps, and your user's feedback to envision where your mobile applications should be. Learning from your past attempts gives you insights on the opportunities and impacts changes will have on your people, process, and technology.

    How do I address this issue? A well-defined mobile vision and roadmap ensures your initiatives are aligned with your holistic business and technology strategies, the right problem is being solved, and resources are available to deliver high priority changes.

    To learn more, visit Info-Tech's Deliver on Your Digital Product Vision blueprint.

    Address the difficulties in managing enterprise mobile technologies

    Adaptability During Development

    Teams must be ready to alter their mobile approach when new insights and issues arise during and after the delivery of your mobile application and its updates.

    High Cybersecurity Standards

    Cybersecurity should be a top priority given the high security exposure of mobiles and the sensitive data mobile applications need to operate. Role-based access, back-up systems, advanced scanning, and protection software and encryption should all be implemented.

    Integration with Other Systems

    Your application will likely be integrated with other systems to expand service offerings and optimize performance and user experience. Your enterprise integration strategy ensures all systems connect against a common pattern with compatible technologies.

    Finding the Right Mobile Developers

    Enterprise mobile delivery requires a broad skillset to build valuable applications against extensive non-functional requirements in complex and integration environments. The right resources are even harder to find when native applications are preferred over web-based ones.

    Source: Radoslaw Szeja, Netguru, 2022.

    Build and manage the right experience by treating mobile as digital products

    Digital products are continuously modernized to ensure they are fit-for-purpose, secured, insightful, accessible, and interoperable. A good experience involves more than just technology.

    First, deliver the experience end users want and expect by designing the application against digital application principles.

    Business Value

    Continuous modernization

    • Fit for purpose
    • User-centric
    • Adaptable
    • Accessible
    • Private and secured
    • Informative and insightful
    • Seamless application connection
    • Relationship and network building

    To learn more, visit Info-Tech's Modernize Your Applications blueprint.

    Then, deliver a long-lasting experience by supporting your applications with key governance and management capabilities.

    • Product Strategy and Roadmap
    • External Relationships
    • User Adoption and Organizational Change Management
    • Funding
    • Knowledge Management
    • Stakeholder Management
    • Product Governance
    • Maintenance & Enhancement
    • User Support
    • Managing and Governing Data
    • Requirements Analysis and Design
    • Research & Development

    To learn more, visit Info-Tech's Make the Case for Product Delivery blueprint.

    Choose Your Mobile Platform and Tools

    Maximize the value of your mobile investments by prioritizing technology decisions on user experience, business priorities, and system quality.

    WORKFLOW

    1. Capture Your User Personas and Journey workflow: Trigger: Step 1; Step 2; Step 3; Step 4; Outcome
    2. Select Your Platform Nine datapoints are arranged on a graph where the x axis s labeled: User Centric Needs; and the Y axis is labeled: Enterprise-centric needs. The datapoints are, in order from left to right, top to bottom: Hybrid; Cross- Platform; Native; Web; Hybrid or Cross- Platform; Cros-s Platform; Web; Web; Hybrid or Cross- Platform.
    3. Shortlist Your Solutions A quadrant analysis is depicted. the top data is labeled Complex Mobile Features; the right side is labeled Organization-Managed Stack; the bottom is labeled Simple Mobile Features; and the left side is labeled Vendor-Managed Stack. The quadrants are labeled the following, in order from left to right, top to bottom. Vendor- Hosted Mobile Platform; Custom Native Development Solutions; Commercial-Off-the-Shelf Solutions; Custom Web Development Solutions. In the middle of the graph are the following, in order from top to bottom: Cross-Platform Development Solutions; Hybrid Development Solutions

    Strategic Perspective
    Business and Product Strategies

    1. End-User Perspective

    End User Needs

    • Productivity
    • Innovation
    • Transformation

    Native User Experience

    • Anytime, Anywhere
    • Visually Pleasing & Fulfilling
    • Personalized & Insightful
    • Hands-Off & Automated
    • Integrated Ecosystem

    2. Platform Perspective

    Technical Requirements

    Security

    Performance

    Integration

    Mobile Platform

    3. Solution Perspective

    Vendor Support

    Services

    Stack Mgmt.

    Quality & Risk

    Mobile Delivery Solutions

    Make user experience (UX) the standard

    User experience (UX) focuses on a user's emotions, beliefs, and physical and psychological responses that occur before, during, or after interacting with a service or product.

    For a mobile application to be meaningful, the functions, aesthetics and content must be:

    • Usable
      • Users can intuitively navigate through your mobile application and complete their desired tasks.
    • Desirable
      • The application elements are used to evoke positive emotions and appreciation.
    • Accessible
      • Users can easily use your mobile application, including those with disabilities.
    • Valuable
      • Users find the content useful, and it fulfills a need.

    Enable a greater experience with UX-driven thinking

    Designing for a high-quality experience requires more than just focusing on the UI. It also requires the merging of multiple business, technical, and social disciplines in order to create an immersive, practical, and receptive application. The image on the right explains the disciplines involved in UX. This is critical for ensuring users have a strong desire to use the mobile application, it is adequately supported technically, and it supports business objectives.

    To learn more, visit Info-Tech's Implement and Mature Your User Experience Design Practice blueprint.

    A Venn diagram is depicted, demonstrating the inputs that lead to an interactive design, with interactive elements, usability, and accessibility. This work by Mark Roden is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

    Source: Marky Roden, Xomino, 2018

    Define the mobile experience your end users want

    • Anytime, Anywhere
      • The user can access, update and analyze data and corporate products and services whenever they want, in all networks, and on any device.
    • Hands-Off and Automated
      • The application can perform various workflows and tasks without the user's involvement and notify the user when specific triggers are hit.
    • Personalized and Insightful
      • Content presentation and subject are tailored for the user based on specific inputs from the user, device hardware, or predicted actions.
    • Integrated Ecosystem
      • The application supports a seamless experience across various third-party and enterprise applications and services the user needs.
    • Visually Pleasing and Fulfilling
      • The UI is intuitive and aesthetically gratifying, with little security and performance trade-offs to use the full breadth of its functions and services.

    Each mobile platform has its own take on the mobile native experience. The choice ultimately depends on whether the costs and effort are worth the anticipated value.

    Mobile value is dependent on the platform you choose

    What is a platform?

    "A platform is a set of software and a surrounding ecosystem of resources that helps you to grow your business. A platform enables growth through connection: its value comes not only from its own features, but from its ability to connect external tools, teams, data, and processes." (Source: Emilie Nøss Wangen, 2021) In the mobile context, applications in a platform execute and communicate through a loosely-coupled API architecture, whether the supporting system is managed and supported by your organization or by third-party providers.

    Web

    Mobile web applications are deployed and executed within the mobile web browser. They are often developed with a combination of web and scripting languages, such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Web often takes two forms on mobile:

    • Progressive Web Applications (PWA)
    • Mobile Web Sites

    Hybrid

    Hybrid applications are developed with web technologies but are deployed as native applications. The code is wrapped using a framework so that it runs locally within a native container. It uses the device's browser runtime engine to support more sophisticated designs and features than to the web approach.

    Cross-Platform

    Cross-platform applications are developed within a distinct programming or scripting environment that uses its own scripting language (often like web languages) and APIs. The solution compiles the code into device-specific builds for native deployment.

    Native

    Native applications are developed and deployed to specific devices and OSs using platform-specific software development kits (SDKs) provided by the operating system vendors. The programming language and framework are dictated by the targeted device, such as Java for Android.

    Start mobile development on a mobile web platform

    Start with what you have: begin with a mobile web platform to minimize impacts to your existing delivery skill sets and technical stack while addressing business needs. Resort to a hybrid first. Then consider a cross-platform application if you require device access or need to meet specific non-functional requirements.

    Why choose a mobile web platform?

    Pros

    The latest versions of the most popular web languages (HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript) abstract away from the granular, physical components of the application, simplifying the development process. HTML5 offer some mobile features (e.g. geolocation, accelerometer) that can meet your desired experience without the need for native development skills. Native look-and-feel, high performance, and full device access are just a few tradeoffs of going with web languages.

    Cons

    Native mobile platforms depend on device-specific code which follows specific frameworks and leverages unique programming libraries, such as Objective C for iOS and Java for Android. Each language requires a high level of expertise in the coding structure and hardware of specific devices. This requires resources with specific skillsets and different tools to support development and testing.

    Other Notable Benefits with Web Languages

    • Modern browsers in most mobile devices can execute and render many mobile features developed in web languages, allowing for greater portability and sophistication of code across multiple devices. However, this flexibility comes at the cost of performance since the browser's runtime engine will not perform as well as a native engine.
    • Web languages are well known by developers, minimizing skills and resourcing impacts. Consequently, changes can be quickly accommodated and updated uniformly across all end users.

    Select your mobile platform

    Drive your mobile platform selection against user-centric needs (e.g. device access, aesthetics) and enterprise-centric needs (e.g. security, system performance).

    When does a platform makes sense to use?

    Web

    • Desire to maximize current web technologies investments (people, process, and technologies).
    • Use cases do not require significant computational resources on the device or are tightly constrained by non-functional requirements.
    • Limited budget to acquire mobile development resources.
    • Access to device hardware is not a high priority.

    Hybrid / Cross-Platform

    • The need to quickly spin up native-like applications for multiple platforms and devices.
    • Desire to leverage existing web development skills, but also a need for device access and meeting specific non-functional requirements.
    • Vendor support is needed for the entire mobile delivery process.

    Native

    • Developers are experts in the target programming language and with the device's hardware.
    • Strong need for high performance, security, and device-specific access and customizations.
    • Application use cases require significant computing resources.

    Nine datapoints are arranged on a graph where the x axis s labeled: User Centric Needs; and the Y axis is labeled: Enterprise-centric needs. The datapoints are, in order from left to right, top to bottom: Hybrid; Cross- Platform; Native; Web; Hybrid or Cross- Platform; Cros-s Platform; Web; Web; Hybrid or Cross- Platform.

    Understand the common attributes of a mobile delivery solution

    • Source Code Management – Built-in or having the ability to integrate with code management solutions for branching, merging, and versioning. Debugging and coding assistance capabilities may be available.
    • Single Code Base – Capable of programming in a standard coding and scripting language for deployment into several platforms and devices. This code base is aligned to a common industry framework (e.g. AngularJS, Java) or a vendor-defined one.
    • Out-of-the-Box Connectors & Plug-ins – Pre-built APIs enhance the solution's capabilities with third-party tools and systems to deliver and manage high quality and valuable mobile applications.
    • Emulators – Ability to virtualize an application's execution on a target platform and device.
    • Support for Native Features – Supports plug-ins and APIs for access to device-specific features.

    What are mobile delivery solutions?

    A mobile delivery solution provides the tools, resources, and support to enable or build your mobile application. It can provide pre-built applications, vendor supported components to allow some configurations, or resources for full stack customizations. Solutions can be barebone software development kits (SDKs), or comprehensive suites offering features to support the entire software delivery lifecycle, such as:

    • Mobile application management
    • Testing and publishing to app stores
    • Content management
    • Cloud hosting
    • Application performance management

    Info-Tech Insight

    Mobile enablement and development capabilities are already embedded in many common productivity tools and enterprise applications, such as Microsoft PowerApps and ERP modules. They can serve as a starting point in the initial rollout of new management and governance practices without the need to acquire new tools.

    Select your mobile delivery solutions

    1. Set the scope of your framework.
    • The initial context of this framework is based on the mobile functions needed to support your desired mobile experience and on the current state of your enterprise and 3rd party systems.
  • Define the decision factors for your solution selection.
    • Review the decision factors that will influence the selection of your mobile delivery solution for each mobile opportunity:
    • Stack Management – Who will be hosting and supporting your mobile application stack?
    • Workflows Complexity & Native Experience – How complex is your desired mobile experience and how will native device features be leveraged?
  • Select your solution type.
    • Mobile delivery solutions are broadly defined in the following groups:
    • Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) – Pre-built mobile applications requiring little to no configurations or implementation effort.
    • Vendor Hosted Mobile Platform – Back-end and mid-tier infrastructure and operational support are managed by a vendor.
    • Cross-Platform Development – Frameworks that transform a single code base into platform-specific builds.
    • Hybrid Development – Tools that wrap a single code base into a locally deployable build.
    • Custom Web Development – Environment enabling full stack development for mobile web applications.
    • Custom Native Development – Environment enabling full stack development for mobile native applications.
    • A quadrant analysis is depicted. the top data is labeled Complex Mobile Features; the right side is labeled Organization-Managed Stack; the bottom is labeled Simple Mobile Features; and the left side is labeled Vendor-Managed Stack. The quadrants are labeled the following, in order from left to right, top to bottom. Vendor- Hosted Mobile Platform; Custom Native Development Solutions; Commercial-Off-the-Shelf Solutions; Custom Web Development Solutions. In the middle of the graph are the following, in order from top to bottom: Cross-Platform Development Solutions; Hybrid Development Solutions

    Optimize your software delivery process

    Mobile brings new delivery and management challenges that are often difficult for organizations that are tied to legacy systems, hindered by rigid and slow delivery lifecycles, and are unable to adopt leading-edge technologies. Many of these challenges stem from the fact that mobile is a significant shift from desktop development:

    • Mobile devices and operating systems are heavily fragmented, especially in the Android space.
    • Test coverage is significantly expanded to include physical environments and multiple network connections.
    • Mobile devices do not have the same performance capabilities and memory storage as their desktop counterparts.
    • The user interface must be strategically designed to accommodate the limited screen size.
    • Mobile applications are highly susceptible to security breaches.
    • Mobile users often expect quick turnaround time on fixes and enhancements due to continuously changing technology, business priorities, and user needs.

    To learn more, visit Info-Tech's Modernize Your SDLC blueprint.

    How should the process change?

    • Cross-functional collaboration – Bringing business and IT together at the most opportune times to clarify user needs and business priorities, and set realistic expectations given technology and capacity constraints. The appropriate tactics and techniques are used to improve decision making and delivery effectiveness according to the type of work.
    • Iterative delivery – Frequent delivery of progressive changes minimizes the risk of low-quality features by containing and simplifying scope, and enables responsive turnarounds of fixes, enhancements, and priority changes.
    • Feedback loops –Mobile application owners constantly review, update and refine their backlog of mobile features and changes to reflect user feedback and system performance metrics. Delivery teams proactively prepare the application for future scaling based on lessons and feedback learned from earlier releases.

    Achieve mobile success with MVPs

    By delivering mobile capabilities in small iterations, teams recognize value sooner and reduce accumulated risk. Both benefits are realized as the iteration enters validation testing and release.

    This image depicts a graph of the learn-build-measure cycle over time, adapted from Managing the Development of Large Software Systems, Dr. Winston W. Royce, 1970

    An MVP focuses on a small set of functions, involves minimal possible effort to deliver a working and valuable solution, and is designed to satisfy a specific user group. Its purpose is to:

    • Maximize learning.
    • Evaluate the value and acceptance of mobile applications.
    • Inform the building of a mobile delivery practice.

    The build-measure-learn loop suggests mobile delivery teams should perpetually take an idea and develop, test, and validate it with the mobile development solution, then expand on the MVP using the lessons learned and evolving ideas. In this sense the MVP is just the first iteration in the loop.

    Gauge the value with the right metrics

    Metrics are a powerful way to drive behavior change in your organization. But metrics are highly prone to creating unexpected outcomes so they must be used with great care. Use metrics judiciously to avoid gaming or ambivalent behavior, productivity loss, and unintended consequences.

    To learn more, visit Info-Tech's Select and Use SDLC Metrics Effectively blueprint.

    What should I measure?

    1. Mobile Application Engagement, Retention and User Satisfaction
      1. The activeness of users on the applications, the number of returning users, and the happiness of the users.
      2. Example: Number of tasks completed, number of active and returning users, session length and intervals, user satisfaction
    2. Value Driven from Mobile Applications
      1. The business value that the user directly or indirectly receives with the mobile application.
      2. Example: Mobile application revenue, business operational costs, worker productivity, business reputation and image
    3. Delivery Throughput and Quality
      1. The health and quality of your mobile applications throughout their lifespan and the speed to deliver working applications that meet stakeholder expectations.
      2. Example: Frequency of release, lead time, request turnaround, escaped defects, test coverage.

    Use Info-Tech's diagnostic to evaluate the reception of your mobile applications

    Info-Tech's Application Portfolio Assessment (APA) Diagnostic is a canned end-user satisfaction survey used to evaluate your application portfolio health to support data-driven decisions.

    This image contains a screenshot from Info-Tech's Application Portfolio Assessment (APA) Diagnostic

    USE THE PROGRAM DIAGNOSTIC TO:

    • Assess the importance and satisfaction of enterprise applications.
    • Solicit feedback from your end users on applications being used.
    • Understand the strengths and weaknesses of your current applications.
    • Perform a high-level application rationalization initiative.

    INTEGRATE DIAGNOSTIC RESULTS TO:

    • Target which applications to analyze in greater detail.
    • Expand on the initial application rationalization results with a more comprehensive and business-value-focused criteria.

    Grow your mobile delivery practice

    Level 1: Mobile Delivery Foundations

    You understand the opportunities and impacts mobile has on your business operations and its disruptive nature on your enterprise systems. Your software delivery lifecycle was optimized to incorporate the specific practices and requirements needed for mobile. A mobile platform was selected based on stakeholder needs that are weighed against current skillsets, high priority non-functional requirements, the available capacity and scalability of your stack, and alignment to your current delivery process.

    Level 2: Scaled Mobile Delivery

    New features and mobile use cases are regularly emerging in the industry. Ensuring your mobile platform and delivery process can easily scale to incorporate constantly changing mobile features and technologies is key. This can help minimize the impact these changes will have on your mobile stack and the resulting experience.

    Achieving this state requires three competencies: mobile security, performance optimization, and integration practices.

    Level 3: Leading-Edge Mobile Delivery

    Many of today's mobile trends involve, in one form or another, hardware components on the mobile device (e.g., NFC receivers, GPS, cameras). You understand the scope of native features available on your end user's mobile device and the required steps and capabilities to enable and leverage them.

    Hit a home run with your stakeholders

    Use a data-driven approach to select the right tooling vendor for your needs – fast.

    Awareness Education & Discovery Evaluation Selection

    Negotiation & Configuration

    1.1 Proactively Lead Technology Optimization & Prioritization 2.1 Understand Marketplace Capabilities & Trends 3.1 Gather & Prioritize Requirements & Establish Key Success Metrics 4.1 Create a Weighted Selection Decision Model 5.1 Initiate Price Negotiation with Top Two Venders
    1.2 Scope & Define the Selection Process for Each Selection Request Action 2.2 Discover Alternate Solutions & Conduct Market Education 3.2 Conduct a Data Driven Comparison of Vendor Features & Capabilities 4.2 Conduct Investigative Interviews Focused on Mission Critical Priorities with Top 2-4 Vendors 5.2 Negotiate Contract Terms & Product Configuration

    1.3 Conduct an Accelerated Business Needs Assessment

    		2.3 Evaluate Enterprise Architecture & Application Portfolio Narrow the Field to Four Top Contenders 4.3 Validate Key Issues with Deep Technical Assessments, Trial Configuration & Reference Checks 5.3 Finalize Budget Approval & Project
    1.4 Align Stakeholder Calendars to Reduce Elapsed Time & Asynchronous Evaluation 2.4 Validate the Business Case 5.4 Invest in Training & Onboarding Assistance

    Investing time improving your software selection methodology has big returns.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Not all software selection projects are created equal – some are very small, some span the entire enterprise. To ensure that IT is using the right framework, understand the cost and complexity profile of the application you're looking to select. Info-Tech's Rapid Application Selection Framework approach is best for commodity and mid-tier enterprise applications; selecting complex applications is better handled by the methodology in Info-Tech's Implement a Proactive and Consistent Vendor Selection Process.

    Pitch your mobile delivery approach with Info-Tech's template

    Communicate the justification of your approach to mobile applications with Info-Tech's Mobile Application Delivery Communication Template:

    • Level set your mobile application goals and objectives by weighing end user expectations with technical requirements.
    • Define the high priority opportunities for mobile applications.
    • Educate decision makers of the limitations and challenges of delivering specific mobile experiences with the various mobile platform options.
    • Describe your framework to select the right mobile platform and delivery tools.
    • Lay out your mobile delivery roadmap and initiatives.

    INFO-TECH DELIVERABLE

    This is a screenshot from Info-Tech's Mobile Application Delivery Communication Template

    Info-Tech's methodology for mobile platform and delivery solution selection

    1. Set the Mobile Context

    2. Define Your Mobile Approach

    Phase Steps

    Step 1.1 Build Your Mobile Backlog

    Step 1.2 Identify Your Technical Needs

    Step 1.3 Define Your Non-Functional Requirements

    Step 2.1 Choose Your Platform Approach

    Step 2.2 Shortlist Your Mobile Delivery Solution

    Step 2.3 Create a Roadmap for Mobile Delivery

    Phase Outcomes

    • User personas
    • Mobile objectives and metrics
    • Mobile opportunity backlog
    • List of mobile features to enable the desired mobile experience
    • System current assessment
    • Mobile application quality definition
    • Readiness for mobile delivery
    • Desired mobile platform approach
    • Shortlisted mobile delivery solutions
    • Desired list of vendor features and services
    • MVP design
    • Mobile delivery roadmap

    Info-Tech offers various levels of support to best suit your needs

    DIY Toolkit

    "Our team has already made this critical project a priority, and we have the time and capability, but some guidance along the way would be helpful."

    Guided Implementation

    "Our team knows that we need to fix a process, but we need assistance to determine where to focus. Some check-ins along the way would help keep us on track."

    Workshop

    "We need to hit the ground running and get this project kicked off immediately. Our team has the ability to take this over once we get a framework and strategy in place."

    Consulting

    "Our team does not have the time or the knowledge to take this project on. We need assistance through the entirety of this project."

    Diagnostics and consistent frameworks used throughout all four options

    Guided Implementation

    What does a typical GI on this topic look like?

    Phase 1 Phase 2

    Call #1: Understand the case and motivators for mobile applications.

    Call #2: Discuss the end user and desired mobile experience.

    Call #5: Discuss the desired mobile platform.

    Call #8: Discuss your mobile MVP.

    Call #3: Review technical complexities and non-functional requirements.

    Call #6: Shortlist mobile delivery solutions and desired features.

    Call #9: Review your mobile delivery roadmap.

    A Guided Implementation (GI) is a series of calls with an Info-Tech analyst to help implement our best practices in your organization.

    A typical GI is 6 to 9 calls over the course of 2 to 3 months.

    Workshop Overview

    Contact your account representative for more information.
    workshops@infotech.com 1-888-670-8889

    Module 1 Module 2 Module 3 Module 4 Post-Workshop
    Activities Set the Mobile Context Identify Your Technical Needs Choose Your Platform & Delivery Solution Create Your Roadmap Next Steps andWrap-Up (offsite)

    1.1 Generate user personas with empathy maps

    1.2 Build your mobile application canvas

    1.3 Build your mobile backlog

    2.1 Discuss your mobile needs

    2.2 Conduct a technical assessment

    2.3 Define mobile application quality

    2.4 Verify your decision to deliver mobile applications

    3.1 Select your platform approach

    3.2 Shortlist your mobile delivery solution

    3.3 Build your feature and service lists

    4.1 Define your MVP release

    4.2 Build your roadmap

    5.1 Complete in-progress deliverables from previous four days.

    5.2 Set up review time for workshop deliverables and to discuss next steps.

    Deliverables

    • User personas
    • Mobile objectives and metrics
    • Mobile opportunity backlog
    • List of mobile features to enable the desired mobile experience
    • System current assessment
    • Mobile application quality definition
    • Verification to proceed with mobile delivery
    • Desired mobile platform approach
    • Shortlisted mobile delivery solutions
    • Desired list of vendor features and services
    • MVP design
    • Mobile delivery roadmap
    • Completed workshop output deliverable
    • Next steps

    Phase 1

    Set the Mobile Context

    Choose Your Mobile Platform and Tools

    This phase will walk you through the following steps:

    • Step 1.1 – Build Your Mobile Backlog
    • Step 1.2 – Identify Your Technical Needs
    • Step 1.3 – Define Your Non-Functional Requirements

    This phase involves the following participants:

    • Applications Manager
    • Product and Platform Owners
    • Software Delivery Teams
    • Business and IT Leaders

    Step 1.1

    Build Your Mobile Backlog

    Activities

    1.1.1 Generate user personas with empathy maps

    1.1.2 Build your mobile application canvas

    1.1.3 Build your mobile backlog

    Set the Mobile Context

    This step involves the following participants:

    • Applications Manager
    • Product and Platform Owners
    • Software Delivery Teams
    • Business and IT Leaders

    Outcomes of this step

    • User personas
    • Mobile objectives and metrics
    • Mobile opportunity backlog

    Users expect your organization to support their mobile way of working

    Today, users expect sophisticated and personalized features, immersive interactions, and cross-platform capabilities from their mobile applications and be able to access information and services anytime, anywhere and on any device. These demands are pushing organizations to become more user-driven, placing greater importance on user experience (UX) with enterprise-grade technologies.

    How has technologies evolved to easily enable mobile capabilities?

    • Desktop-Like Features
      • Native-like features, such as geolocation and local caching, are supported through web language or third-party plugins and extensions.
    • Extendable & Scalable
      • Plug-and-play architecture is designed to allow software delivery teams to explore new use cases and mobile capabilities with out-of-the-box connectors and/or customizable REST APIs.
    • Low Barrier to Entry
      • Low- and no-code development tools, full-stack solutions, and plug-and-play architectures allow non-technical users to easily build and implement applications without direct IT involvement.
    • Templates & Shells
      • Vendors provide UI templates and application shells that contain pre-built native features and multiple aesthetic layouts in a publishing-friendly and configurable way.
    • Personalized Content
      • Content can be uniquely tailored to a user's preference or be automatically generated based on the user's profile or activity history.
    • Hands-Off Operations
      • Many mobile solutions operate in a as-a-service model where the underlying and integrated technologies are managed by the vendor and abstracted away.

    Make user experience (UX) the standard

    User experience (UX) focuses on a user's emotions, beliefs, and physical and psychological responses that occur before, during, or after interacting with a service or product.

    For a mobile application to be a meaningful experience, the functions, aesthetics and content must be:

    • Usable
      • Users can intuitively navigate through your mobile application and complete their desired tasks.
    • Desirable
      • The application elements are used to evoke positive emotions and appreciation.
    • Accessible
      • Users can easily use your mobile application, including those with disabilities.
    • Valuable
      • Users find the content useful, and it fulfills a need.

    Enable a greater experience with UX-driven thinking

    Designing for a high-quality experience requires more than just focusing on the UI. It also requires the merging of multiple business, technical, and social disciplines in order to create an immersive, practical, and receptive application. The image on the right explains the disciplines involved in UX. This is critical for ensuring users have a strong desire to use the mobile application, it is adequately supported technically, and it supports business objectives.

    To learn more, visit Info-Tech's Implement and Mature Your User Experience Design Practice blueprint.

    A Venn diagram is depicted, demonstrating the inputs that lead to an interactive design, with interactive elements, usability, and accessibility. This work by Mark Roden is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

    Source: Marky Roden, Xomino, 2018

    UX-driven mobile apps bring together a compelling UI with valuable functionality

    Info-Tech Insight

    Organizations often over-rotate on the UI. Receptive and satisfying applications require more than just pretty pictures, bold colors, and flashy animations. UX-driven mobile applications require the seamless merging of enticing design elements and valuable functions that are specifically tailored to the behaviors of the users. Take a deep look at how each design element and function is used and perceived by the user, and how your application can sufficiently support user needs.

    UI-Function Balance to Achieve Highly Satisfying Mobile Applications

    An application's UI and function both contribute to UX, but they do so in different ways.

    • The UI generates the visual, audio, and vocal cues to draw the attention of users to key areas of the application while stimulating the user's emotions.
    • Functions give users the means to satisfy their needs effortlessly.

    Finding the right balance of UI and function is dependent on the organization's understanding of user emotions, needs, and tendencies. However, these factors are often left out of an application's design. Having the right UX competencies is key in assuring user behaviors are appropriately accommodated early in the delivery process.

    To learn more, visit Info-Tech's Modernize Your Corporate Website to Drive Business Value blueprint.

    Focus your efforts on all items that drive high user experience and satisfaction

    UX-driven mobile applications involve all interaction points and system components working together to create an immersive experience while being actively supported by delivery and operations teams. Many organizations commonly focus on visual and content design to improve the experience, but this is only a small fraction of the total UX design. Look beyond the surface to effectively enhance your application's overall UX.

    Typical Focus of Mobile UX

    Aesthetics
    What Are the Colors & Fonts?

    Relevance & Modern
    Will Users Receive Up to Date Content and Trending Features?

    UI Design
    Where Are the Interaction Points?

    Content Layout
    How Is Content Organized?

    Critical Areas of Mobile UX That Are Often Ignored

    Web Infrastructure
    How Will Your Application Be Operationally Supported?

    Human Behavior
    What Do the Users Feel About Your Application?

    Coding Language
    What Is the Best Language to Use?

    Cross-Platform Compatibility
    How Does It Work in a Browser Versus Each Mobile Platform?

    Application Quality
    How are Functional and Non-Functional Needs Balanced?

    Adoption & Retention
    How Do I Promote Adoption and Maintain User Engagement?

    Application Support
    How Will My Requests and Issues Be Handled?

    Use personas to envision who will be using your mobile application

    What Are Personas?

    Personas are detailed descriptions of the targeted audience of your mobile application. It represents a type of user in a particular scenario. Effective personas:

    • Express and focus on the major needs and expectations of the most important user groups.
    • Give a clear picture of the typical user's behavior.
    • Aid in uncovering critical features and functionalities.
    • Describe real people with backgrounds, goals, and values.

    Why Are Personas Important to UX?

    They are important because they help:

    • Focus the development of mobile application features on the immediate needs of the intended audience.
    • Detail the level of customization needed to ensure content is valuable to and resonates with the user.
    • Describe how users may behave when certain audio and visual stimulus are triggered from the mobile application.
    • Outline the special design considerations required to meet user accessibility needs.

    Key Elements of a Persona:

    • Professional and Technical Skills and Experiences (e.g., knowledge of mobile applications, area of expertise)
    • Persona Group (e.g., executives)
    • Technological Environment of User (e.g., devices, browsers, network connection)
    • Demographics (e.g., nationality, age, language spoken)
    • Typical Behaviors and Tendencies (e.g., goes to different website when cannot find information in 20 seconds)
    • Purpose of Using the Mobile Application (e.g., search for information, submit registration form)

    Create empathy maps to gain a deeper understanding of stakeholder personas

    Empathy mapping draws out the characteristics, motivations, and mannerisms of a potential end user.

    This image contains an image of an empathy map from XPLANE, 2017. it includes the following list: 1. Who are we empathizing with; 2. What do they need to DO; 3. What do they SEE; 4. What do they SAY?; 5. What do they DO; 6. What do they HEAR; 7. What do they THINK and FEEL.

    Source: XPLANE, 2017

    Empathy mapping focuses on identifying the problems, ambitions, and frustrations they are looking to resolve and describes their motivations for wanting to resolve them. This analysis helps your teams:

    • Better understand the reason behind the struggles, frustrations and motivators through a user's perspective.
    • Verify the accuracy of assertions made about the user.
    • Pinpoint the specific problem the mobile application will be designed to solve and the constraints to its successful adoption and on-going use.
    • Read more about empathy mapping and download the empathy map PDF template here.

    To learn more, visit Info-Tech's Use Experience Design to Drive Empathy with the Business blueprint.

    1.1.1 Generate user personas with empathy maps

    1-3 hours

    1. Download the Empathy Map Canvas and draw the map on a whiteboard or project it on the screen.
    2. Choose an end user to be the focus of your empathy map. Using sticky notes, fill out the sections of the empathy map in the following order:
      1. Start by filling out the goals section. State who the subject of the empathy map will be and what activity or task you would like them to do.
        1. Focus on activities and tasks that may benefit from mobile.
      2. Next, complete the outer sections in clockwise order (see, say, do, hear). The purpose of this is to think in terms of what the subject of your empathy map is observing, sensing, and experiencing.
        1. Indicate the mobile devices and OS users will likely use and the environments they will likely be in (e.g., places with poor connections)
        2. Discuss accessibility needs and how user prefer to consume content.
      3. Last, complete the inner circle of the empathy map (pains and gains). Since you spent the last step of the exercise thinking about the external influences on your stakeholder, you can think about how those stimuli affect their emotions.
    3. Document your end user persona into Info-Tech's Mobile Application Delivery Communication Template.

    Input

    		Output
    • List of potential mobile application users
    • User personas
    Materials Participants
    • Whiteboard/Flip Charts
    • Mobile Application Delivery Communication Template
    • Applications Manager
    • Product and Platform Owners
    • Software Delivery Teams
    • Business and IT Leaders

    1.1.1 cont'd

    This image contains an image of an empathy map from XPLANE, 2017. it includes the following list: 1. Who are we empathizing with; 2. What do they need to DO; 3. What do they SEE; 4. What do they SAY?; 5. What do they DO; 6. What do they HEAR; 7. What do they THINK and FEEL.

    Download the Empathy Map Canvas

    Many business priorities are driving mobile

    Mobile Applications

    • Product Roadmap
      • Upcoming enterprise technology releases and updates offer mobile capabilities to expand its access to a broader userbase.
    • Cost Optimization
      • Maximizing business value in processes and technologies through disciplined and strategic cost and spending reduction practices with mobile applications.
    • Competitive Differentiation
      • Developing and optimizing your organization's distinct products and services quickly with mobile applications.
    • Digital Transformation
      • Transitioning processes, data and systems to a digital environment to broaden access to enterprise data and services anywhere at anytime.
    • Operational Efficiency
      • Improving software delivery and business process throughput by increasing worker productivity with mobile applications.
    • Other Business Priorities
      • New corporate products and services, business model changes, application rationalization and other priorities may require modernization, innovation and a mobile way of working.

    Focus on the mobile business and end user problem, not the solution

    People are naturally solution-focused. The onus isn't on them to express their needs in the form of a problem statement!

    When refining your mobile problem statement, attempt to answer the following four questions:

    • Who is impacted?
    • What is the (user or organizational) challenge that needs to be addressed?
    • Where does it happen?
    • Why does it matter?

    There are many ways of writing problem statements, a clear approach follows the format:

    • "Our (who) has the problem that (what) when (where). Our solution should (why)."
    • Example: "Our system analysts has the problem that new tickets take too long to update when working on user requests. Our approach should enable the analyst to focus on working with customers and not on administration."

    Adapted from: "Design Problem Statements – What and How to Frame Them"

    How to write a vision statement

    It's ok to dream a little!

    When thinking about a vision statement, think about:

    • Who is it for?
    • What does the customer need?
    • What can we do for them?
    • And why is this special?

    There are different statement templates available to help form your vision statements. Some include:

    1. For [our target customer], who [customer's need], the [product] is a [product category or description] that [unique benefits and selling points]. Unlike [competitors or current methods], our product [main differentiators]. (Crossing the Chasm)
    2. "We believe (in) a [noun: world, time, state, etc.] where [persona] can [verb: do, make, offer, etc.], for/by/with [benefit/goal].
    3. To [verb: empower, unlock, enable, create, etc.] [persona] to [benefit, goal, future state].
    4. Our vision is to [verb: build, design, provide], the [goal, future state], to [verb: help, enable, make it easier to...] [persona]."

    (Numbers 2-4 from: How to define a product vision)

    Info-Tech Best Practice

    A vision shouldn't be so far out that it doesn't feel real and so short term that it gets bogged down in minutiae and implementation details. Finding that right balance will take some trial and error and will be different depending on your organization.

    Ensure mobile supports ongoing value delivery and stakeholder expectations

    Success hinges on your team's ability to deliver business value. Well-developed mobile applications instill stakeholder confidence in ongoing business value delivery and stakeholder buy-in, provided proper expectations are set and met.

    Business value defines the success criteria of an organization, and it is interpreted from four perspectives:

    • Profit Generation – The revenue generated from a business capability with mobile applications.
    • Cost Reduction – The cost reduction when performing business capabilities with mobile applications.
    • Service Enablement – The productivity and efficiency gains of internal business operations with mobile applications.
    • Customer and Market Reach – Metrics measuring the improved reach and insights of the business in existing or new markets.

    See our Build a Value Measurement Framework blueprint for more information about business value definition.

    This image contains a quadrant analysis with the following labels: Left - Improved Capabilities; Top - Outward; Right - Financial Benefit; Bottom - Inward. the quadrants are labeled the following, in order from left to right, top to bottom. Customer and Market Reach; Profit Generation; Service Enhancement; Cost Reduction

    Set realistic mobile goals

    Mobile applications enables the exploration of new and different ways to improve worker productivity and deliver business value. However, the realities of mobile applications may limit your ability to meet some of your objectives:

    • On the day of installation, the average retention rate for public-facing applications was 25.3%. By day 30, the retention rate drops to 5.7%. (Source: Statista, 2020)
    • 63% of 3,335 most popular Android mobile applications on the Google Play Store contained open-source components with known security vulnerabilities and other pervasive security concerns including exposing sensitive data (Source: Synopsys, 2021)
    • 62% of users would delete the application because of performance issues, such as crashes, freezes and other errors (Source: Intersog, 2021).

    These realities are not guaranteed to occur or impede your ability to deliver valuable mobile applications, but they can lead to unachievable expectations. Ensure your stakeholders are not oversold on advertised benefits and hold you accountable for unrealistic objectives. Recognize that the organization must also change how it works and operates to see the full benefit and adoption of mobile applications and overcome the known and unknown challenges and hurdles that often come with mobile delivery.

    Benchmarks present enticing opportunities, but should be used to set reasonable expectations

    66%
    Improve Market Reach
    66% of the global population uses a mobile device
    Source: DataReportal, 2021

    20%
    Connected Workers are More Productive
    Nearly 20 percent of mobile professionals estimate they miss more than three hours of working time a week not being able to get connected to the internet
    Source: iPass, 2017

    80%
    Increase Brand Recognition
    80% of smartphone users are more likely to purchase from companies whose mobile sites of apps help them easily find answers to their questions
    Source: Google, 2018

    Gauge the value with the right metrics

    Metrics are a powerful way to drive behavior change in your organization. But metrics are highly prone to creating unexpected outcomes so they must be used with great care. Use metrics judiciously to avoid gaming or ambivalent behavior, productivity loss, and unintended consequences.

    To learn more, visit Info-Tech's Select and Use SDLC Metrics Effectively blueprint.

    What should I measure?

    1. Mobile Application Engagement, Retention and User Satisfaction
      • The activeness of users on the applications, the number of returning users, and the happiness of the users.
      • Example: Number of tasks completed, number of active and returning users, session length and intervals, user satisfaction
    2. Value Driven from Mobile Applications
      • The business value that the user directly or indirectly receives with the mobile application.
      • Example: Mobile application revenue, business operational costs, worker productivity, business reputation and image
    3. Delivery Throughput and Quality
      • The health and quality of your mobile applications throughout their lifespan and the speed to deliver working applications that meet stakeholder expectations.
      • Example: Frequency of release, lead time, request turnaround, escaped defects, test coverage.

    Use Info-Tech's diagnostic to evaluate the reception of your mobile applications

    Info-Tech's Application Portfolio Assessment (APA) Diagnostic is a canned end user satisfaction survey used to evaluate your application portfolio health to support data-driven decisions.

    This image contains a screenshot from Info-Tech's Application Portfolio Assessment (APA) Diagnostic

    USE THE PROGRAM DIAGNOSTIC TO:

    • Assess the importance and satisfaction of enterprise applications.
    • Solicit feedback from your end users on applications being used.
    • Understand the strengths and weaknesses of your current applications.
    • Perform a high-level application rationalization initiative.

    INTEGRATE DIAGNOSTIC RESULTS TO:

    • Target which applications to analyze in greater detail.
    • Expand on the initial application rationalization results with a more comprehensive and business-value-focused criteria.

    Use a canvas to define key elements of your mobile initiative

    Mobile Application Initiative Name

    Owner:
    Parent Initiative:
    Updated:

    NAME
    LINK
    October 05, 2022

    Problem Statement

    Vision

    The problem or need mobile applications are addressing

    Vision, unique value proposition, elevator pitch, or positioning statement

    Business Goals & Metrics

    Capabilities, Processes & Application Systems

    List of business objectives or goals for the mobile application initiative.

    List of business capabilities, processes and application systems related to this initiative.

    Personas/Customers/Users

    Stakeholders

    List of groups who consume the mobile application

    List of key resources, stakeholders, and teams needed to support the process, systems and services

    To learn more, visit Info-Tech's Deliver on Your Digital Product Vision blueprint.

    1.1.2 Build your mobile application canvas

    1-3 hours

    1. Complete the following fields to build your mobile application canvas:
      • Mobile application initiative name
      • Mobile application owner
      • Parent initiative name
      • Problem that mobile applications are intending to solve and your vision. See the outcome from the previous exercise.
      • Mobile application business goals and metrics.
      • Capabilities, processes and application systems involved
      • Primary customers/users (For additional help with your product personas, download and complete to Deliver on Your Digital Product Vision.)
    2. Stakeholders
    3. Document your findings and discussions into Info-Tech's Mobile Application Delivery Communication Template.

    Download the Mobile Application Delivery Communication Template

    Input

    		Output
    • User personas
    • Business strategy
    • Problem and vision statements
    • Mobile objectives and metrics
    • Mobile application canvas
    MaterialsParticipants
    • Whiteboard/Flip Charts
    • Mobile Application Delivery Communication Template
    • Applications Manager
    • Product and Platform Owners
    • Software Delivery Teams
    • Business and IT Leaders

    1.1.2 cont'd

    Mobile Application Initiative Name

    Owner:
    Parent Initiative:
    Updated:

    NAME
    LINK
    October 05, 2022

    Problem Statement

    Vision

    [Problem Statement]

    [Vision]

    Business Goals & Metrics

    Capabilities, Processes & Application Systems

    [Business Goal 1, Metric]
    [Business Goal 2, Metric]
    [Business Goal 3, Metric]

    [Business Capability]
    [Business Process]
    [Application System]

    Personas/Customers/Users

    Stakeholders

    [User 1]
    [User 2]
    [User 3]

    [Stakeholder 1]
    [Stakeholder 2]
    [Stakeholder 3]

    Create your mobile backlog

    Your backlog gives you a holistic understanding of the demand for mobile applications across your organization.

    Opportunities
    Trends
    MVP

    External Sources

    Internal Sources

    • Market Trends Analysis
    • Competitive Analysis
    • Regulations & Industry Standards
    • Customer & Reputation Analysis
    • Application Rationalization
    • Capability & Value Stream Analysis
    • Business Requests & Incidents
    • Discovery & Mining Capabilities

    A mobile application minimum viable product (MVP) focuses on a small set of functions, involves minimal possible effort to deliver a working and valuable solution, and is designed to satisfy a specific user group. Its purpose is to maximize learning, evaluate value and acceptance, and inform the development of a full-fledged mobile delivery practice.

    Find your mobile opportunities

    Modern mobile technologies enable users to access, analyze and change data anywhere with native device features, which opens the door to enhanced processes and new value sources.

    Examples of Mobile Opportunities:

    • Mobile Payment
      • Cost alternative to credit card transaction fees.
      • Loyalty systems are updated upon payment without need of a physical card.
      • Quicker completion of transactions.
    • Inventory Management
      • Update inventory database when shipments arrive or deliveries are made.
      • Inform retailers and consumers of current stock on website.
      • Alert staff of expired or outdated products.
    • Quick and Small Data Transfer
      • Embed tags into posters to transfer URIs, which sends users to sites containing product or location information.
      • Replace entry tags, fobs, or smart cards at doors.
      • Exchange contact details.
    • Location Sensitive Information
      • Proactively send promotions and other information (e.g. coupons, event details) to users within a defined area.
      • Inform employees of nearby prospective clients.
    • Supply Chain Management
      • Track the movement and location of goods and delivery trucks.
      • Direct drivers to the most optimal route.
      • Location-sensitive billing apps such as train and bus ticket purchases.
    • Education and Learning
      • Educate users about real-world objects and places with augmented books and by pushing relevant learning materials.
      • Visualize theories and other text with dynamic 3D objects.
    • Augmented Reality (AR)
      • Provide information about the user's surroundings and the objects in the environment through the mobile device.
      • Interactive and immersive experiences with the inclusion of virtual reality.
    • Architecture and Planning
      • Visualize historic buildings or the layout of structural projects and development plans.
      • Develop a digital tour with location-based audio initiated with location-based services or a camera.
    • Navigation
      • Provide directions to users to navigate and provide contextual travelling instructions.
      • Push traffic notifications and route changes to travelling users.
    • Tracking User Movement
      • Predict the future location of users based on historic information and traffic modelling.
      • Proactively push information to users before they reach their destination.

    1.1.3 Build your mobile backlog

    1-3 hours

    1. As a group, discuss the use and value mobile already has within your organization for each persona.
      1. What are some of the apps being used?
      2. What enterprise systems and applications are already exposed to the web and accessible by mobile devices?
      3. How critical is mobile to business operations, marketing campaigns, etc.?
    2. Discuss how mobile can bring additional business value to other areas of your organization for each persona.
      1. Can mobile enhance your customer reach? Do your customers care that your services are offered through mobile?
      2. Are employees asking for better access to enterprise systems in order to improve their productivity?
    3. Write your mobile opportunities in the following form: As a [end user persona], I want to [process or capability to enable with mobile applications], so that [organizational benefit]. Prioritize each opportunity against feasibility, desirability, and viability.
    4. Document your findings and discussions into Info-Tech's Mobile Application Delivery Communication Template.

    Input

    		Output
    • Problem and vision statements
    • Mobile objectives and metrics
    • Mobile application canvas
    • Mobile opportunities backlog
    MaterialsParticipants
    • Whiteboard/Flip Charts
    • Mobile Application Delivery Communication Template
    • Applications Manager
    • Product and Platform Owners
    • Software Delivery Teams
    • Business and IT Leaders

    Manage your mobile backlog

    Your backlog stores and organizes your mobile opportunities at various stages of readiness. It must be continuously refined to address new requests, maintenance and changing priorities.

    3 – IDEAS
    Composed of raw, vague, and potentially large ideas that have yet to go through any formal valuation.

    2 – QUALIFIED
    Researched and qualified opportunities awaiting refinement.

    1 READY
    Discrete, refined opportunities that are ready to be placed in your team's delivery plans.

    Adapted from Essential Scrum

    A well-formed backlog can be thought of as a DEEP backlog

    • Detailed Appropriately: opportunities are broken down and refined as necessary
    • Emergent: The backlog grows and evolves over time as opportunities are added and removed.
    • Estimated: The effort an opportunity requires is estimated at each tier.
    • Prioritized: The opportunity's value and priority are determined at each tier.

    (Source Perforce, 2018)

    See our Deliver on Your Digital Product Vision for more information on backlog practices.

    Step 1.2

    Identify Your Technical Needs

    Activities

    1.2.1 Discuss your mobile needs

    1.2.2 Conduct a technical assessment

    Set the Mobile Context

    This step involves the following participants:

    • Applications Manager
    • Product and Platform Owners
    • Software Delivery Teams
    • Business and IT Leaders

    Outcomes of this step

    • List of mobile features to enable the desired mobile experience
    • System current assessment

    Describe your desired mobile experiences with journey maps

    A journey map tells the story of the user's experience with an existing or prospective product or service, starting with a trigger, through the process of engagement, to create an outcome. Journey maps can focus on a particular part of the user's or the entire experience with your organization's products or services. All types of maps capture key interactions and motivations of the user in chronological order.

    Why are journey maps an important for mobile application delivery?

    Everyone has their own preferred method for completing their tasks on mobile devices – often, what differentiates one persona from another has to do with how users privately behave. Understand that the activities performed outside of IT's purview develop context for your persona's pain points and position IT to meet their needs with the appropriate solution.

    To learn more, visit Info-Tech's Use Experience Design to Drive Empathy with the Business blueprint.

    Two charts are depicted, the first shows the path from Trigger, through steps 1-4, to the outcome, and the Activities and Touchpoints for each. The second chart shows the Expectation analysis, showing which steps are must-haves, nice-to-haves, and hidden-needs.

    Pinpoint specific mobile needs in your journey map

    Realize that mobile applications may not precisely fit with your personas workflow or align to their expectations due to device and system limitations and restrictions. Flag the mobile opportunities that require significant modifications to underlying systems.

    Consider these workflow scenarios that can influence your persona's desire for mobile:

    Workflow Scenarios Ask Yourself The Key Questions Technology Constraints or Restrictions to Consider Examples of Mobile Opportunities

    Data View – Data is queried, prepared and presented to make informed decisions, but it cannot be edited.

    Where is the data located and can it be easily gathered and prepared?

    Is the data sensitive and can it be locally stored?

    What is the level of detail in my view?

    Multi-factor authentication required.

    Highly sensitive data requires encryption in transit and at rest.

    Minor calculations and preparation needed before data view.

    Generate a status report.

    View social media channels.

    View contact information.

    Data Collection – Data is inputted directly into the application and updates back-end system or integrated 3rd party services.

    Do I need special permission to add, delete and overwrite data?

    How much data can I edit?

    Is the data automatically gathered?

    Bandwidth restrictions.

    Multi-factor authentication required.

    Native device access required (e.g., camera).

    Multiple types and formats of gathered data.

    Manual and automatic data gathering

    Book appointments with clients.

    Update inventory.

    Tracking movement of company assets.

    Data Analysis & Modification – Data is evaluated, manipulated and transformed through the application, back-end system or 3rd party service.

    How complex are my calculations?

    Can computations be offloaded?

    What resources are needed to complete the analysis?

    Memory and processing limitations on device.

    Inability to configure device and enterprise hardware to support system resource demand.

    Scope and precision of analysis and modifications.

    Evaluate and propose trends.

    Gauge user sentiment.

    Propose next steps and directions.

    Define the mobile experience your end users want

    Anytime, Anywhere
    The user can access, update and analyze data, and corporate products and services whenever they want, in all networks, and on any device.

    Hands-Off & Automated
    The application can perform various workflows and tasks without the user's involvement and notify the user when specific triggers are hit.

    Personalized & Insightful
    Content presentation and subject are tailored for the user based on specific inputs from the user, device hardware or predicted actions.

    Integrated Ecosystem
    The application supports a seamless experience across various 3rd party and enterprise applications and services the user needs.

    Visually Pleasing & Fulfilling
    The UI is intuitive and aesthetically gratifying with little security and performance trade-offs to use the full breadth of its functions and services.

    Each mobile platform has its own take on the mobile native experience. The choice ultimately depends on whether the costs and effort are worth the anticipated value.

    1.2.1 Discover your mobile needs

    1-3 hours

    1. Define the workflow of a high priority opportunity in your mobile backlog. This workflow can be pertaining to an existing mobile application or a workflow that can benefit with a mobile application.
      1. Indicate the trigger that will initiate the opportunity and the desired outcome.
      2. Break down the persona's desired outcome into small pieces of value that are realized in each workflow step.
    2. Identify activities and touchpoints the persona will need to complete to finish each step in the workflow. Indicate the technology used to complete the activity or to facilitate the touchpoint.
    3. Indicate which activities and touchpoints can be satisfied, complimented or enhanced with mobile.

    Input

    		Output
    • User personas
    • Mobile application canvas
    • Desired mobile experience
    • List of mobile features
    • Journey map
    MaterialsParticipants
    • Whiteboard/Flip Charts
    • Mobile Application Delivery Communication Template
    • Applications Manager
    • Product and Platform Owners
    • Software Delivery Teams
    • Business and IT Leaders

    1.2.1 cont'd

    Workflow

    Trigger

    Conduct initial analysis

    Get planning help

    Complete and submit RFP

    Design and implement solution

    Implement changes

    Activities, Channels, and Touchpoints

    Need is recognized in CIO council meeting

    See if we have a sufficient solution internally

    Seek planning help (various channels)

    *Meet with IT shared services business analyst

    Select the appropriate vendor

    Follow action plan

    Compliance rqmt triggered by new law

    See if we have a sufficient solution internally

    *Hold in-person initial meeting with IT shared services

    *Review and approve rqmts (email)

    Seek miscellaneous support

    Implement project and manage change

    Research potential solutions in the marketplace

    Excess budget identified for utilization

    Pick a "favorite" solution

    *Negotiate and sign statement of work (email)

    Prime organization for the change

    Create action plan

    If solution is unsatisfactory, plan remediation

    Current Technology

    • Email
    • Video conferencing
    • Phone
    • Meeting transcripts and recordings
    • ERP
    • IT asset management
    • Internet browser for research
    • Virtual environment to demonstrate solutions
    • Email
    • Vendor assessment and procurement solution
    • Email
    • Video conferencing
    • Phone
    • Meeting transcripts and recordings
    • PDF documents and reader
    • Digital signature
    • Email
    • Video conferencing
    • Phone
    • Meeting transcripts and recordings
    • PDF documents and reader
    • Digital signature
    • Email
    • Video conferencing
    • Phone
    • Vendor assessment and procurement solution
    • Project management solution
    • Team collaboration solution
    • Email
    • Video conferencing
    • Phone
    • Project management solution
    • Team collaboration solution
    • Vendor's solution

    Legend:

    Bold – Touchpoint

    * – Activities or Touchpoints That Can Benefit with Mobile

    1.2.1 cont'd

    1-3 hours

    1. Analyze persona expectations. Identify the persona's must-haves, then nice-to-haves, and then hidden needs to effectively complete the workflow.
      1. Must-haves. The necessary outcomes, qualities, and features of the workflow step.
      2. Nice-to-haves. Desired outcomes, qualities, or features that your persona is able to articulate or express.
      3. Hidden needs. Outcomes, qualities, or features that your persona is not aware they have a desire for; benefits that they are pleasantly surprised to receive. These will usually be unknown for your first-iteration journey map.
    2. Indicate which persona expectations can be satisfied with mobile. Discuss what would the desired mobile experience be.
    3. Discuss feedback and experiences your team has heard from the personas they engage with regularly.
    4. Document your findings and discussions into Info-Tech's Mobile Application Delivery Communication Template.

    Download the Mobile Application Delivery Communication Template

    1.2.1 cont'd

    Example

    This image contains an example workflow for determining mobile needs.

    1.2.1 cont'd

    Template:

    Workflow

    		TriggerStep 1Step 2Step 3Step 4

    Desired Outcome

    Journey Map

    Activities & Touch-points

    <>

    <>

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    <>

    <>

    <>

    Must-Haves

    <>

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    <>

    <>

    <>

    <>

    Nice-to-Haves

    <>

    <>

    <>

    <>

    <>

    <>

    Hidden Needs

    <>

    <>

    <>

    <>

    <>

    <>

    Emotional Journey

    <>

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    If you need more than four steps in the workflow, duplicate this slide.

    Understand how mobile fits with your current system

    Evaluate the risks and impacts of your desired mobile features by looking at your enterprise system architecture from top to bottom. Is your mobile vision and needs compatible with your existing business capabilities and technologies?

    An architecture is usually represented by one or more architecture views that together provide a coherent description of the application system, including demonstrating the full impact mobile will have. A single, comprehensive model is often too complex to be understood and communicated in its most detailed form, and a model too high level hides the underlying complexity of an application's structure and deployment (The Open Group, TOGAF 8.1.1 - Developing Architecture Views). Obtain a complete understanding of your architecture by assessing it through multiple levels of views to reveal different sets of concerns:

    Application Architecture Views

    1. Use Case View
    • How does your business operate, and how will users interact with your mobile applications?
  • . Process View
    • What is the user workflow impacted by mobile, and how will it change?
  • Component View
    • How are my existing applications structured? What are its various components? How will mobile expand the costs of the existing technical debt?
  • Data View
    • What is the relationship of the data and information consumed, analyzed, and transmitted? Will mobile jeopardize the quality and reliability of the data?
  • Deployment View
    • In what environment are your mobile application components deployed? How will the existing systems operate with your mobile applications?
  • System View
    • How does your mobile application communicate with other internal and external systems? How will dependencies change with mobile?

    • See our Enhance Your Solution Architecture for more information.

    Ask key questions in your current system assessment

    • How do the various components of your system communicate with each other (e.g., web APIs, middleware, and point to point)?
    • What information is exchanged during the conversation?
    • How does the data flow from one component to the next? Is the data read-only or can application and users edit and modify it?
    • What are the access points to your mid- and back-tier systems (e.g., user access through web interface, corporate networks and third-party application access through APIs)?
    • Who has access to your enterprise systems?
    • Which components are managed and operated by third-party providers? What is your level of control?
    • What are the security protocols currently enforced in your system?
    • How often are your databases updated? Is it real-time or periodic extract, transfer, and load (ETL)?
    • What are the business rules?
    • Is your mobile stack dependent on other systems?
    • Is a mobile middleware, web server, or API gateway needed to help facilitate the integration between devices and your back-end support?

    1.2.2 Conduct a technical assessment

    1-3 hours

    1. Evaluate your current systems that will support the journey map of your mobile opportunities based on two categories: system quality and system management. Use the tables on the following slides and modify the questions if needed.
    2. Discuss if the current state of your system will impede your ability to succeed with mobile. Use this discussion to verify the decision to continue with mobile applications in your current state.
    3. Document your findings and discussions into Info-Tech's Mobile Application Delivery Communication Template.

    Download the Mobile Application Delivery Communication Template

    Input

    		Output
    • Journey map
    • Understanding of current system
    • Assessment of current system
    MaterialsParticipants
    • Whiteboard/Flip Charts
    • Mobile Application Delivery Communication Template
    • Applications Manager
    • Product and Platform Owners
    • Software Delivery Teams
    • Business and IT Leaders

    1.2.2 cont'd

    Current State System Quality Assessment

    Factors Definitions Survey Responses
    Fit-for-Purpose System functionalities, services and integrations are designed and implemented for the purpose of satisfying the end users' needs and technology compatibilities. 1 (Very Poor) – 2 – 3 (Fair) – 4 – 5 (Excellent)
    Response Rate The system completes computation and processing requests within acceptable timeframes. 1 (Very Poor) – 2 – 3 (Fair) – 4 – 5 (Excellent)
    Data Quality The system delivers consumable, accurate, and trustworthy data. 1 (Very Poor) – 2 – 3 (Fair) – 4 – 5 (Excellent)
    Usability The system provides functionalities, services and integrations that are rewarding, engaging, intuitive, and emotionally satisfying. 1 (Very Poor) – 2 – 3 (Fair) – 4 – 5 (Excellent)
    Reliability The system is resilient or quickly recovers from issues and defects. 1 (Very Poor) – 2 – 3 (Fair) – 4 – 5 (Excellent)
    Accessible The system is available on demand and on the end user's preferred interface and device. 1 (Very Poor) – 2 – 3 (Fair) – 4 – 5 (Excellent)
    Secured End-user activity and data is protected from unauthorized access. 1 (Very Poor) – 2 – 3 (Fair) – 4 – 5 (Excellent)
    Adaptable The system can be quickly tailored to meet changing end-user and technology needs with reusable and customizable components. 1 (Very Poor) – 2 – 3 (Fair) – 4 – 5 (Excellent)

    1.2.2 cont'd

    Current State System Management Assessment

    Factors Definitions Survey Responses
    Documentation The system is documented, accurate, and shared in the organization. 1 (Very Poor) – 2 – 3 (Fair) – 4 – 5 (Excellent)
    Measurement The system is continuously measured against clearly defined metrics tied to business value. 1 (Very Poor) – 2 – 3 (Fair) – 4 – 5 (Excellent)
    Compliance The system is compliant with regulations and industry standards. 1 (Very Poor) – 2 – 3 (Fair) – 4 – 5 (Excellent)
    Continuous Improvement The system is routinely rationalized and enhanced. 1 (Very Poor) – 2 – 3 (Fair) – 4 – 5 (Excellent)
    Architecture There is a shared overview of how the process supports business value delivery and its dependencies with technologies and other processes. 1 (Very Poor) – 2 – 3 (Fair) – 4 – 5 (Excellent)
    Ownership & Accountability The process has a clearly defined owner who is accountable for its risks and roadmap. 1 (Very Poor) – 2 – 3 (Fair) – 4 – 5 (Excellent)
    Support Resources are available to address adoption and execution challenges. 1 (Very Poor) – 2 – 3 (Fair) – 4 – 5 (Excellent)
    Organizational Change Management Communication, onboarding, and other change management capabilities are available to facilitate technology and related role and process changes. 1 (Very Poor) – 2 – 3 (Fair) – 4 – 5 (Excellent)

    Step 1.3

    Define Your Non-Functional Requirements

    Activities

    1.3.1 Define mobile application quality

    1.3.2 Verify your decision to deliver mobile applications

    Set the Mobile Context

    This step involves the following participants:

    • Applications Manager
    • Product and Platform Owners
    • Software Delivery Teams

    Outcomes of this step

    • Mobile application quality definition
    • Readiness for mobile delivery

    Build a strong foundation of mobile application quality

    Functionality and aesthetics often take front seats in mobile application delivery. Applications are then frequently modified and changed, not because they are functionally deficient or visually displeasing, but because they are difficult to maintain or scale, too slow, vulnerable or compromised. Implementing clear quality principles (i.e., non-functional requirements) and strong quality assurance practices throughout delivery are critical to minimize the potential work of future maintenance and to avoid, mitigate and manage IT risks.

    What is Mobile Application Quality?

    • Quality requirements (i.e., non-functional requirements) are properties of a system or product that dictate how it should behave at runtime and how it should be designed, implemented, and maintained.
    • These requirements should be involved in decision making around architecture, UI and functional design changes.
    • Functionality should not dictate the level of security, availability, or performance of a product, thereby risking system quality. Functionality and quality are viewed orthogonally, and trade-offs are discussed when one impacts the other.
    • Quality attributes should never be achieved in isolation as one attribute can have a negative or positive impact on another (e.g. security and availability).

    Why is Mobile Quality Assurance Critical?

    • Quality assurance (QA) is a necessity for the validation and verification of mobile delivery, whether you are delivering applications in an Agile or Waterfall fashion. Effective QA practices implemented across the software development lifecycle (SDLC) are vital, as all layers of the mobile stack need to readily able to adjust to suddenly evolving and changing business and user needs and technologies without risking system stability and breaking business standards and expectations.
    • However, investments in QA optimizations are often afterthoughts. QA is commonly viewed as a lower priority compared to other delivery capabilities (e.g., design and coding) and is typically the first item cut when delivery is under pressure.

    See our Build a Software Quality Assurance Program for more information.

    Mobile emphasizes the importance of good security, performance and integration

    Today's mobile workforce is looking for new ways to get more work done quickly. They want access to enterprise solutions and data directly on their mobile device, which can reside on multiple legacy systems and in the cloud and third-party infrastructure. This presents significant performance, integration, and security risks.

    Cloud Solutions: Can I use my existing APIs?. Solutions in Corporate Networks: Do my legacy systems have the capacity to support mobile?; How do I integrate solutions and data from multiple sources into a single view?; Third Party Solutions: Will I have a significant performance bottleneck?; Single View on Mobile Devices: How is corporate data stored on the device?; What new technology dependencies must I account for in my architecture and operational support capabilities?

    Mobile risks opening and widening existing security gaps

    New mobile technologies and the continued expansion of the enterprise environment increase the number of entry points attackers to your corporate data and networks. The ever-growing volume, velocity, and variety of new threats puts significant pressure on mobile delivery teams who are responsible for implementing mobile security measures and maintaining alignment to your security policies and those of app stores.

    Mobile attacks can come from various vectors:

    Attack Surface: Mobile Device

    Attack Surface: Network

    Attack Surface: Data Center

    Browser:
    Phishing
    Buffer Overflow
    Data Caching

    System:
    No Passcode
    Jailbroken and Rooted OS
    No/Weak Encryption
    OS Data Caching

    Phone:
    SMSishing
    Radio Frequency Attacks

    Apps:
    Configuration Manipulation
    Runtime Injection
    Improper SSL Validation

    • Packet Sniffing
    • Session Hijacking
    • Man-in-the-Middle (circumvent password verification systems)
    • Fake SSL Certificate
    • Rogue Access Points

    Web Server:
    Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)
    Brute Force Attacks
    Server Misconfigurations

    Database:
    SQL Injection
    Data Dumping

    Understand the top web security risks and vulnerabilities seen in the industry

    Recognize mobile applications are exposed to the same risks and vulnerabilities as web applications. Learn of OWASP's top 10 web security risks.

    • Broken Access Control
      • Failures typically lead to unauthorized information disclosure, modification, or destruction of all data or performing a business function outside the user's limits.
    • Cryptographic Failures
      • Improper and incorrect protection of data in transit and at rest, especially proprietary and confidential data and those that fall under privacy laws.
    • Injection
      • Execution of malicious code and injection of hostile or unfiltered data on the mobile device via the mobile application.
    • Insecure Design
      • Missing or ineffective security controls in the application design. An insecure design cannot be fixed by a perfect implementation,. Needed security controls were never created to defend against specific attacks.
    • Security Misconfiguration
      • The security settings in the application are not securely set or configured, including poor security hardening and inadequate system upgrading practices.
    • Vulnerable and Outdated Components
      • System components are vulnerable because they are unsupported, out of date, untested or not hardened against current security concerns.
    • Identification and Authentication Failures
      • Improper or poor protection against authentication-related attacks, particularly to the user's identity, authentication and session management.
    • Software and Data Integrity Failures
      • Failures related to code and infrastructure that does not protect against integrity violations, such as an application relying upon plugins, libraries, or modules from untrusted sources, repositories, and content delivery networks
    • Security Logging and Monitoring Failures
      • Insufficient logging, detection, monitoring, and active response that hinders the ability to detect, escalate, and respond to active breaches.
    • Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF)
      • SSRF flaws occur whenever a web application is fetching a remote resource without validating the user-supplied URL.

    Good mobile application performance drives satisfaction and value delivery

    Underperforming mobile applications can cause your users to be unproductive. Your mobile applications should always aim to satisfy the productivity requirements of your end users.

    Users quickly notice applications that are slow and difficult to use. Providing a seamless experience for the user is now heavily dependent on how well your application performs. Optimizing your mobile application's processing efficiency can help your users perform their jobs properly in various environment conditions.

    Productive Users Need
    Performant Mobile Applications

    Persona

    Mobile Application Use Case

    Optimized Mobile Application

    Stationary Worker

    • Design flowcharts and diagrams, while abandoning paper and desktop apps in favor of easy-to-use, drawing tablet applications.
    • Multitask by checking the application to verify information given by a vendor during their presentation or pitch.
    • Flowcharts and diagrams are updated in real time for team members to view and edit
    • Compare vendors under assessment with a quick look-up app feature

    Roaming Worker (Engineer)

    • Replace physical copies of service and repair manuals physically stored with digital copies and access them with mobile applications.
    • Scan or input product bar code to determine whether a replacement part is available or needs to be ordered.
    • Worker is capable of interacting with other features of the mobile web app while product bar code is being verified

    Enhance the performance of the entire mobile stack

    Due to frequently changing mobile hardware, users' high performance expectations and mobile network constraints, mobile delivery teams must focus on the entire mobile stack for optimizing performance.

    Fine tune your enterprise mobile applications using optimization techniques to improve performance across the full mobile stack.

    This image contains a bar graph ranking the importance of the following datapoints: Minimize render blocking resources; Configure the mobile application viewport; Determine the right image file format ; Determine above-the-fold content; Minimize browser reflow; Adopt UI techniques to improve perceived latency; Resource minification; Data compression; Asynchronous programming; Resource HTTP caching; Minimize network roundtrips for first time to render.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Some user performance expectations can be managed with clever UI design (e.g., spinning pinwheels to indicate loading in progress and directing user focus to quick loading content) and operational choices (e.g. graceful degradation and progressive enhancements).

    Create an API-centric integration strategy

    Mobile delivery teams are tasked to keep up with the changing needs of end users and accommodate the evolution of trending mobile features. Ensuring scalable APIs is critical in quickly releasing changes and ensuring availability of corporate services and resources.

    As your portfolio of mobile applications grows, and device platforms and browsers diversify, it will become increasingly complex to provide all the data and service capabilities your mobile apps need to operate. It is important that your APIs are available, reliable, reusable, and secure for multiple uses and platforms.

    Take an API-centric approach to retain control of your mobile development and ensure reliability.

    APIs are the underlying layer of your mobile applications, enabling remote access of company data and services to end users. Focusing design and development efforts on the maintainability, reliability and scalability of your APIs enables your delivery teams to:

    • Reuse tried-and-tested APIs to deliver, test and harden applications and systems quicker by standardizing on the use and structure of REST APIs.
    • Ensure a consistent experience and performance across different applications using the same API.
    • Uniformly apply security and access control to remain compliant to security protocols, industry standards and regulations.
    • Provide reliable integration points when leveraging third-party APIs and services.

    See our Build Effective Enterprise Integration on the Back of Business Process for more information.

    Guide your integration strategy with principles

    Craft your principles around good API management and integration practices

    Expose Enterprise Data And Functionality in API-Friendly Formats
    Convert complex on-premises application services into developer-friendly RESTful APIs

    Protect Information Assets Exposed Via APIs to Prevent Misuse
    Ensure that enterprise systems are protected against message-level attack and hijack

    Authorize Secure, Seamless Access for Valid Identities
    Deploy strong access control, identity federation and social login functionality

    Optimize System Performance and Manage the API Lifecycle
    Maintain the availability of backend systems for APIs, applications and end users

    Engage, Onboard, Educate and Manage Developers
    Give developers the resources they need to create applications that deliver real value

    Source: 5 Pillars of API Management, Broadcom, 2021

    Clarify your definition of mobile quality

    Quality does not mean the same thing to everyone

    Do not expect a universal definition of mobile quality. Each department, person and industry standard will have a different interpretation of quality, and they will perform certain activities and enforce policies that meet those interpretations. Misunderstanding of what is defined as a high quality mobile application within business and IT teams can lead to further confusion behind governance, testing priorities and compliance.

    Each interpretation of quality can lead to endless testing, guardrails and constraints, or lack thereof. Be clear on the priority of each interpretation and the degree of effort needed to ensure they are met.

    For example:

    Mobile Application Owner
    What does an accessible mobile application mean?

    Persona: Customer
    I can access it on mobile phones, tablets and the web browser

    Persona: Developer
    I have access to each layer of the mobile stack including the code & data

    Persona: Operations
    The mobile application is accessible 24/7 with 95% uptime

    Example: A School Board's Quality Definition

    Quality Attribute Definitions
    Usability The product is an intuitive solution. Usability is the ease with which the user accomplishes a desired task in the application system and the degree of user support the system provides. Limited training and documentation are required.
    Performance Usability and performance are closely related. A solution that is slow is not usable. The application system is able to meet timing requirements, which is dependent on stable infrastructure to support it regardless of where the application is hosted. Baseline performance metrics are defined and changes must result in improvements. Performance is validated against peak loads.
    Availability The application system is present, accessible, and ready to carry out its tasks when needed. The application is accessible from multiple devices and platforms, is available 24x7x365, and teams communicate planned downtimes and unplanned outages. IT must serve teachers international student's parents, and other users who access the application outside normal business hours. The application should never be down when it should be up. Teams must not put undue burden on end users accessing the systems. Reasonable access requirements are published.
    Security Applications handle both private and personal data, and must be able to segregate data based on permissions to protect privacy. The application system is able to protect data and information from unauthorized access. Users want it to be secure but seamless. Vendors need to understand and implement the District School Board's security requirements into their products. Teams ensure access is authorized, maintain data integrity, and enforce privacy.
    Reusability Reusability is the capability for components and subsystems to be suitable for use in other applications and in other scenarios. This attribute minimizes the duplication of components and implementation time. Teams ensure a modular design that is flexible and usable in other applications.
    Interoperability The degree to which two or more systems can usefully exchange meaningful information via interfaces in a particular context.

    Scalability

    There are two kinds of scalability:

    • Horizontal scalability (scaling out): Adding more resources to logical units, such as adding another server to a cluster of servers.
    • Vertical scalability (scaling up): Adding more resources to a physical unit, such as adding more memory to a single computer.

    Ease of maintenance and enhancements are critical. Additional care is given to custom code because of the inherent difficulty to make it scale and update.

    Modifiability The capability to manage the risks and costs of change, considering what can be changed, the likelihood of change, and when and who makes the change. Teams minimize the barriers to change, and get business buy in to keep systems current and valuable.
    Testability The ease with which software are made to demonstrate its faults through (typically execution-based) testing. It cannot be assumed that the vendor has already tested the system against District School Board's requirements. Testability applies to all applications, operating systems, and databases.
    Supportability The ability of the system to provide information helpful for identifying and resolving issues when it fails to work correctly. Supportability applies to all applications and systems within the District School Board's portfolio, whether that be custom developed applications or vendor provided solutions. Resource investments are made to better support the system.
    Cost Efficiency The application system is executed and maintained in such a way that each area of cost is reduced to what is critically needed. Cost efficiency is critical (e.g. printers cost per page, TCO, software what does downtime cost us), and everyone must understand the financial impact of their decisions.
    Self-Service End users are empowered to make configurations, troubleshoot and make changes to their application without the involvement of IT. The appropriate controls are in place to manage the access to unauthorized access to corporate systems.
    Modifiability The capability to manage the risks and costs of change, considering what can be changed, the likelihood of change, and when and who makes the change. Teams minimize the barriers to change, and get business buy in to keep systems current and valuable.
    Testability The ease with which software are made to demonstrate its faults through (typically execution-based) testing. It cannot be assumed that the vendor has already tested the system against District School Board's requirements. Testability applies to all applications, operating systems, and databases.
    Supportability The ability of the system to provide information helpful for identifying and resolving issues when it fails to work correctly. Supportability applies to all applications and systems within the District School Board's portfolio, whether that be custom developed applications or vendor provided solutions. Resource investments are made to better support the system.

    1.3.1 Define mobile application quality

    1-3 hours

    1. List 5 quality attributes that your organization sees as important for a successful mobile application.
    2. List the core personas that will support mobile delivery and that will consume the mobile application. Start with development, operations and support, and end user.
    3. Describe each quality attributes from the perspective of each persona by asking, "What does quality mean to you?".
    4. Review each description from each persona to come to an acceptable definition.
    5. Document your findings and discussions into Info-Tech's Mobile Application Delivery Communication Template.

    Download the Mobile Application Delivery Communication Template

    Input

    		Output
    • User personas
    • Mobile application canvas
    • Journey map
    • Mobile application quality definition
    MaterialsParticipants
    • Whiteboard/Flip Charts
    • Mobile Application Delivery Communication Template
    • Applications Manager
    • Product and Platform Owners
    • Software Delivery Teams
    • Business and IT Leaders

    1.3.1 cont'd

    Example: Info-Tech Guided Implementation with a Legal and Professional Services Organization

    Quality AttributeDeveloperOperations & Support TeamEnd Users

    Usability

    • Architecture and frameworks are aligned with industry best practices
    • Regular feedback through analytics and user feedback
    • Faster development and less technical debt
    • Pride in the product
    • Satisfaction that the product is serving its purpose and is actually being used by the user
    • Increased update of product use and feedback for future lifecycle
    • Standardization and positive perception of IT processes
    • Simpler to train users to adopt products and changes
    • Trust in system and ability to promote the product in a positive light
    • Trusted list of applications
    • Intuitive (easy to use, no training required)
    • Encourage collaboration and sharing ideas between end users and delivery teams
    • The information presented is correct and accurate
    • Users understand where the data came from and the algorithms behind it
    • Users learn features quickly and retain their knowledge longer, which directly correlates to decreased training costs and time
    • High uptake in use of the product
    • Seamless experience, use less energy to work with product

    Security

    • Secure by design approach
    • Testing across all layers of the application stack
    • Security analysis of our source code
    • Good approach to security requirement definition, secure access to databases, using latest libraries and using semantics in code
    • Standardized & clear practices for development
    • Making data access granular (not all or none)
    • Secure mission critical procedures which will reduce operational cost, improve compliance and mitigate risks
    • Auditable artifacts on security implementation
    • Good data classification, managed secure access, system backups and privacy protocols
    • Confidence of protection of user data
    • Encryption of sensitive data
    Availability
    • Good access to the code
    • Good access to the data
    • Good access to APIs and other integration technologies
    • Automatic alerts when something goes wrong
    • Self-repairing/recovering
    • SLAs and uptimes
    • Code documentation
    • Proactive support from the infrastructure team
    • System availability dashboard
    • Access on any end user device, including mobile and desktop
    • 24/7 uptime
    • Rapid response to reported defects or bugs
    • Business continuity

    1.3.2 Verify your decision to deliver mobile applications

    1-3 hours

    1. Review the various end user, business and technical expectations for mobile its achievability given the current state of your system and non-functional requirements.
    2. Complete the list of questions on the following slide as an indication for your readiness for mobile delivery.

    Input

    		Output
    • Mobile application canvas
    • Assessment to proceed with mobile
    MaterialsParticipants
    • Whiteboard/Flip Charts
    • Applications Manager
    • Product and Platform Owners
    • Software Delivery Teams
    • Business and IT Leaders

    1.3.2 cont'd

    Skill Sets
    Software delivery teams have skills in creating mobile applications that stakeholders are expecting in value and quality. 1 (Strongly Disagree) – 2 – 3 (Neutral) – 4 – 5 (Strongly Agree)
    Architects look for ways to reuse existing technical asset and design for future growth and maturity in mobile. 1 (Strongly Disagree) – 2 – 3 (Neutral) – 4 – 5 (Strongly Agree)
    Resources can be committed to implement and manage a mobile platform. 1 (Strongly Disagree) – 2 – 3 (Neutral) – 4 – 5 (Strongly Agree)
    Software delivery teams and resources are adaptable and flexible to requirements and system changes. 1 (Strongly Disagree) – 2 – 3 (Neutral) – 4 – 5 (Strongly Agree)
    Delivery Process
    My software delivery process can accommodate last minute and sudden changes in mobile delivery tasks. 1 (Strongly Disagree) – 2 – 3 (Neutral) – 4 – 5 (Strongly Agree)
    Business and IT requirements for the mobile are clarified through collaboration between business and IT representatives. 1 (Strongly Disagree) – 2 – 3 (Neutral) – 4 – 5 (Strongly Agree)
    Mobile will help us fill the gaps and standardize our software delivery process process. 1 (Strongly Disagree) – 2 – 3 (Neutral) – 4 – 5 (Strongly Agree)
    My testing practices can be adapted to verify and validate the mobile functional and non-functional requirements. 1 (Strongly Disagree) – 2 – 3 (Neutral) – 4 – 5 (Strongly Agree)
    Technical Stack
    My mid-tier and back-end support has the capacity to accommodate additional traffic from mobile. 1 (Strongly Disagree) – 2 – 3 (Neutral) – 4 – 5 (Strongly Agree)
    I have access to my web infrastructure and integration technologies, and I am capable of making configurations. 1 (Strongly Disagree) – 2 – 3 (Neutral) – 4 – 5 (Strongly Agree)
    My security approaches and capabilities can be enhanced address specific mobile application risks and vulnerabilities. 1 (Strongly Disagree) – 2 – 3 (Neutral) – 4 – 5 (Strongly Agree)
    I have a sound and robust integration strategy involving web APIs that gives me the flexibility to support mobile applications. 1 (Strongly Disagree) – 2 – 3 (Neutral) – 4 – 5 (Strongly Agree)

    Phase 2

    Define Your Mobile Approach

    Choose Your Mobile Platform and Tools

    This phase will walk you through the following activities:

    • Step 2.1 – Choose Your Platform Approach
    • Step 2.2 – Shortlist Your Mobile Delivery Solution
    • Step 2.3 – Create a Roadmap for Mobile Delivery

    This phase involves the following participants:

    • Applications Manager
    • Product and Platform Owners
    • Software Delivery Teams
    • Business and IT Leaders

    Step 2.1

    Choose Your Platform Approach

    Activities

    2.1.1 Select your platform approach

    Define Your Mobile Approach

    This step involves the following participants:

    • Applications Manager
    • Product and Platform Owners
    • Software Delivery Teams
    • Business and IT Leaders

    Outcomes of this step

    • Desired mobile platform approach

    Mobile value is dependent on the platform you choose

    What is a platform?

    "A platform is a set of software and a surrounding ecosystem of resources that helps you to grow your business. A platform enables growth through connection: its value comes not only from its own features, but from its ability to connect external tools, teams, data, and processes." (Source: Emilie Nøss Wangen, 2021) In the mobile context, applications in a platform execute and communicate through a loosely coupled API architecture whether the supporting system is managed and supported by your organization or by 3rd party providers.

    Web

    The mobile web often takes on one of the following two approaches:

    • Responsive websites – Content, UI and other website elements automatically adjusts itself according to the device, creating a seamless experience regardless of the device.
    • Progressive web applications (PWAs) – PWAs uses the browser's APIs and features to offer native-like experiences.

    Mobile web applications are often developed with a combination of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript languages.

    Hybrid

    Hybrid applications are developed with web technologies but are deployed as native applications. The code is wrapped using a framework so that it runs locally within a native container, and it uses the device's browser runtime engine to support more sophisticated designs and features compared to the web approach. Hybrid mobile solutions allows teams to code once and deploy to multiple platforms.

    Some notable examples:

    • Gmail
    • Instagram

    Cross-Platform

    Cross-platform applications are developed within a distinct programming or scripting environment that uses its own scripting language (often like web languages) and APIs. Then the solution will compile the code into device-specific builds for native deployment.

    Some notable examples:

    • Facebook
    • Skype
    • Slack

    Native

    Native applications are developed and deployed to specific devices and OSs using platform-specific software development kits (SDKs) provided by the operating system vendors. The programming language and framework are dictated by the targeted device, such as Java for Android.

    With this platform, developers have direct access to local device features allowing customized operations. This enables the use of local resources, such as memory and runtime engines, which will achieve a higher performance than hybrid and cross-platform applications.

    Each platform offers unique pros and cons depending on your mobile needs

    WebHybridCross-PlatformNative

    Pros

    Cons

    Pros

    Cons

    Pros

    Cons

    Pros

    Cons

    • Modern browsers support the popular of web languages (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript).
    • Ubiquitous across multiple form factors and devices.
    • Mobile can be easily integrated into traditional web development processes and technical stacks.
    • Installations are not required, and updates are immediate.
    • Sensitive data can be wiped from memory after app is closed.
    • Limited access to local device hardware and software.
    • Local caching is available for limited offline capabilities, but the scope of tasks that can be completed in this scenario is restricted.
    • The browser's runtime engine is limited in computing power.
    • Not all browsers fully support the latest versions of HTML, CSS, or JavaScript.
    • Web languages can be used to develop a complete application.
    • Code can be reused for multiple platforms, including web.
    • Access to commonly-used native features that are not available through the web platform.
    • Quick delivery and maintenance updates compared to native and cross-platform platforms.
    • Consistent internet access is needed due to its reliance heavily reliance on web technologies to operate.
    • Limited ability to support complex workflows and features.
    • Sluggish performance compared to cross-platform and native applications.
    • Certain features may not operate the same across all platforms given the code once, deploy everywhere approach.
    • More cost-effective to develop than using native development approaches to gain similar features. Platform-specific developers are not needed.
    • Common codebase to develop applications on different applications.
    • Enables more complex application functionalities and technical customizations compared to hybrid applications.
    • Code is not portable across cross-platform delivery solutions.
    • The framework is tied to the vendor solution which presents the risk of vendor lock-in.
    • Deployment is dependent on an app store and the delivery solution may not guarantee the application's acceptance into the application store.
    • Significant training and onboarding may be needed using the cross-platform framework.
    • Tight integration with the device's hardware enables high performance and greater use of hardware features.
    • Computationally-intensive and complex tasks can be completed on the device.
    • Available offline access.
    • Apps are available through easy-to-access app stores.
    • Requires additional investments, such as app stores, app-specific support, versioning, and platform-specific extensions.
    • Developers skilled in a device-specific language are difficult to acquire and costly to train.
    • Testing is required every time a new device or OS is introduced.
    • Higher development and maintenance costs are tradeoffs for native device features.

    Start mobile development on a mobile web platform

    Start with what you have: begin with a mobile web platform to minimize impacts to your existing delivery skill sets and technical stack while addressing business needs. Resort to a hybrid first and then consider a cross-platform application if you require device access or the need to meet specific non-functional requirements.

    Why choose a mobile web platform?

    Pros

    The latest versions of the most popular web languages (HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript) abstract away from the granular, physical components of the application, simplifying the development process. HTML5 offer some mobile features (e.g., geolocation, accelerometer) that can meet your desired experience without the need for native development skills. Native look-and-feel, high performance, and full device access are just a few tradeoffs of going with web languages.

    Cons

    Native mobile platforms depend on device-specific code which follows specific frameworks and leverages unique programming libraries, such as Objective C for iOS and Java for Android. Each language requires a high level of expertise in the coding structure and hardware of specific devices requiring resources with specific skillsets and different tools to support development and testing.

    Other Notable Benefits with Web Languages

    • Modern browsers in most mobile devices are capable of executing and rendering many mobile features developed in web languages, allowing for greater portability and sophistication of code across multiple devices. However, this flexibility comes at the cost of performance since the browser's runtime engine will not perform as well as a native engine.
    • Web languages are well known by developers, minimizing skills and resourcing impacts. Consequently, changes can be quickly accommodated and updated uniformly across all end users.

    Do you need a native platform?

    Consider web workarounds if you choose a web platform but require some native experiences.

    The web platform does not give you direct access or sophisticated customizations to local device hardware and services, underlying code and integrations. You may run into the situation where you need some native experiences, but the value of these features may not offset the costs to undertake a native, hybrid or cross-platform application. When developing hybrid and cross-platform applications with a mobile delivery solution, only the APIs of the commonly used device features are available. Note that some vendors may not offer a particular native feature across all devices, inhibiting your ability to achieve feature parity or exploiting device features only available in certain devices. Workarounds are then needed.

    Consider the following workarounds to address the required native experiences on the web platform:

    Native Function Description Web Workaround Impact
    Camera Takes pictures or records videos through the device's camera. Create an upload form in the web with HTML5. Break in workflow leading to poor user experience (UX).
    Geolocation Detects the geographical location of the device. Available through HTML5. Not Applicable.
    Calendar Stores the user's calendar in local memory. Integrate with calendaring system or manually upload contacts. Costly integration initiative. Poor user experience.
    Contacts Stores contact information in local memory. Integrate app with contact system or manually upload contacts. Costly integration initiative. Poor user experience.
    Near Field Communication (NFC) Communication between devices by touching them together or bringing them into proximity. Manual transfer of data. A lot of time is consumed transferring simple information.
    Native Computation Computational power and resources needed to complete tasks on the device. Resource-intensive requests are completed by back-end systems and results sent back to user. Slower application performance given network constraints.

    Info-Tech Insight

    In many cases, workarounds are available when evaluating the gaps between web and native applications. For example, not having application-level access to the camera does not negate the user option to upload a picture taken by the camera through a web form. Tradeoffs like this will come down to assessing the importance of each platform gap for your organization and whether a workaround is good enough as a native-like experience.

    Architect and configure your entire mobile stack with a plan

    • Assess your existing technology stack that will support your mobile platform. Determine if it has the capacity to handle mobile traffic and the necessary integration between devices and enterprise and 3rd party systems are robust and reliable. Reach out to your IT teams and vendors if you are missing key mobile components, such as:
    • The acquisition and provisioning of physical or virtual mobile web servers and middleware from existing vendors.
    • Cloud services [e.g., Mobile Back-end as a Service (mBaaS)] that assists in the mobilization of back-end data sources with API SDKs, orchestration of data from multiple sources, transformation of legacy APIs to mobile formats, and satisfaction of other security, integration and performance needs.
    • Configure the services of your web server or middleware to facilitate the translation, transformation, and transfer of data between your mobile front-end and back-end. If your plan involves scripts, maintenance and other ongoing costs will likely increase.
    • Leverage the APIs or adapters provided by your vendors or device manufacturers to integrate your mobile front-end and back-end support to your web server or middleware. If you are reusing a web server, the back-end integration should already be in place. Remember, APIs implement business rules to maintain the integrity of data exchange within your mobile stack.
    • See Appendix A for examples of reference architectures of mobile platforms.

    See our Enhance Your Solution Architecture for more information.

    Do Not Forget Your Security and Performance Requirements

    Security: New threats from mobile put organizations into a difficult situation beyond simply responding to them in a timely matter. Be careful not to take the benefits of security out of the mobile context. You need to make security a first-order citizen during the scoping, design, and optimization of your systems supporting mobile. It must also be balanced with other functional and non-functional requirements with the right roles taking accountability for these decisions.

    See our Strengthen the SSDLC for Enterprise Mobile Applications for more information.

    Performance: Within a distributed mobile environment, performance has a risk of diminishing due to limited device capacity, network hopping, lack of server scalability, API bottlenecks, and other device, network and infrastructure issues. Mobile web APIs suffer from the same pain points as traditional web browsing and unplanned API call management in an application will lead to slow performance.

    See our Develop Enterprise Mobile Applications With Realistic and Relevant Performance for more information.

    Enterprise platform selection requires a shift in perspective

    Your mobile platform selection must consider both user and enterprise (i.e., non-functional) needs. Use a two-step process for your analysis:

    Begin Platform Selection with a User-Centric Approach

    Organizations appealing to end users place emphasis on the user experience: the look and appeal of the user interface, and the satisfaction, ease of use, and value of its functionalities. In this approach, IT concerns and needs are not high priorities, but many functions are completed locally or isolated from mission critical corporate networks and sensitive data. Some needs include:

    • Performance: quick execution of tasks and calculations made on the device or offloaded to web servers or the cloud.
    • User Interface: cross-platform compatibility and feature-rich design and functionality. The right native experience is critical to the user adoption and satisfaction.
    • Device Access: use of local device hardware and software to complete app use cases, such as camera, calendar, and contact lists.

    Refine Platform Selection with an Enterprise-Centric Approach

    From the enterprise perspective, emphasis is on security, system performance, integration, reuse and other non-functional requirements as the primary motivations in the selection of a mobile platform. User experience is still a contributing factor because of the mobile application's need to drive value but its priority is not exclusive. Some drivers include:

    • Openness: agreed-upon industry standards and technologies that can be applied to serve enterprise needs which support business processes.
    • Integration: increase the reuse of legacy investments and existing applications and services with integration capabilities.
    • Flexibility: support for multiple data types from applications such as JSON format for mobile.
    • Capacity: maximize the utilization of your software delivery resources beyond the initial iteration of the mobile application.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Selecting a mobile platform should not solely be made on business requirements. Key technical stakeholders should be at the table in this discussion to provide insight on the implementation and ongoing costs and benefits of each platform. Both business and technical requirements should be considered when deciding on a final platform.

    Select your mobile platform

    Drive your mobile platform selection against user-centric needs (e.g. device access, aesthetics) and enterprise-centric needs (e.g. security, system performance).

    When does a platform makes sense to use?

    Web

    • Desire to maximize current web technologies investments (people, process, and technologies).
    • Use cases do not require significant computational resources on the device or are tightly constrained by non-functional requirements.
    • Limited budget to acquire mobile development resources.
    • Access to device hardware is not a high priority.

    Hybrid / Cross-Platform

    • The need to quickly spin up native-like applications for multiple platforms and devices.
    • Desire to leverage existing web development skills, but also a need for device access and meeting specific non-functional requirements.
    • Vendor support is needed for the entire mobile delivery process.

    Native

    • Developers are experts in the target programming language and with the device's hardware.
    • Strong need for high performance, security and device-specific access and customizations.
    • Application use cases requiring significant computing resources.

    Nine datapoints are arranged on a graph where the x axis s labeled: User Centric Needs; and the Y axis is labeled: Enterprise-centric needs. The datapoints are, in order from left to right, top to bottom: Hybrid; Cross- Platform; Native; Web; Hybrid or Cross- Platform; Cros-s Platform; Web; Web; Hybrid or Cross- Platform.

    2.1.1 Select your platform approach

    1-3 hours

    1. Review your mobile objectives, end user needs and non-functional requirements.
    2. Determine which mobile platform is appropriate for each mobile opportunity or use case by answering the following questions on the following slides against two factors: user-centric and enterprise-centric needs.
    3. Calculate an average score for user-centric and one for enterprise-centric. Then, map them on the matrix to indicate possible platform options. Consider all options around the plotted point.
    4. Further discuss which platforms should be the preferred choice.
    5. Document your findings and discussions into Info-Tech's Mobile Application Delivery Communication Template.

    Download the Mobile Application Delivery Communication Template

    Input

    		Output
    • Desired mobile experience
    • List of desired mobile features
    • Current state assessments
    • Mobile platform approach
    MaterialsParticipants
    • Whiteboard/Flip Charts
    • Mobile Application Delivery Communication Template
    • Applications Manager
    • Product and Platform Owners
    • Software Delivery Teams
    • Business and IT Leaders

    2.1.1 cont'd

    User-Centric Needs: Functional Requirements

    Factors Definitions Survey Responses
    Device Hardware Access The scope of access to native device hardware features. Basic features include those that are available through current web languages (e.g., geolocation) whereas comprehensive features are those that are device-specific. 1 (Basic) – 2 – 3 (Moderate) – 4 – 5 (Comprehensive)
    Customized Execution of Device Hardware The degree of changes to the execution of local device hardware to satisfy functional needs. 1 (Use as Is) – 2 – 3 (Configure) – 4 – 5 (Customize)
    Device Software Access The scope of access to software on the user's device, such as calendars and contact. 1 (Basic) – 2 – 3 (Moderate) – 4 – 5 (Comprehensive)
    Customized Execution of Device Software The degree of changes to the execution of local device software to satisfy functional needs. 1 (Use as Is) – 2 – 3 (Configure) – 4 – 5 (Customize)
    Use Case Complexity Workflow tasks and decisions are simple and straightforward. Complex computation is not needed to acquire the desired outcome. 1 (Strongly Agree) – 2 – 3 (Neutral) – 4 – 5 (Strongly Disagree)
    Computational Resources The resources needed on the device to complete desired functional needs. 1 (Low) – 2 – 3 (Moderate) – 4 – 5 (High)
    Use Case Ambiguity The mobile use case and technical requirements are well understood and documented. Changes to the mobile application is likely. 1 (Strongly Disagree) – 2 – 3 (Neutral) – 4 – 5 (Strongly Agree)
    Mobile Application Access Enterprise systems and data are accessible to the broader organization through the mobile application. This factor does not necessarily mean that anyone can access it untracked. You may still need to identify yourself or log in, etc. 1 (Strongly Disagree) – 2 – 3 (Neutral) – 4 – 5 (Strongly Agree)
    Scope of Adoption & Impact The extent to which the mobile application is leveraged in the organization. 1 (Enterprise) – 2 – 3 (Department) – 4 – 5 (Team)
    Installable The need to locally install the mobile application. 1 (Low) – 2 – 3 (Moderate) – 4 – 5 (High)
    Targeted Devices & Platforms Mobile applications are developed for a defined set of mobile platform versions and types and device. 1 (Strongly Disagree) – 2 – 3 (Neutral) – 4 – 5 (Strongly Agree)
    Output Audience The mobile application transforms an input into a valuable output for high-priority internal or external stakeholders. 1 (Strongly Disagree) – 2 – 3 (Neutral) – 4 – 5 (Strongly Agree)

    2.1.1 cont'd

    User-Centric Needs: Native User Experience Factors

    Factors Definitions Survey Responses
    Immersive Experience The need to bridge physical world with the virtual and digital environment, such as geofencing and NFC. 1 (Internally Delivered) – 2 – 3 (3rd Party Supported) – 4 – 5 (Business Implemented)
    Timeliness of Content and Updates The speed of which the mobile application (and supporting system) responds with requested information, data and updates from enterprise systems and 3rd party services. 1 (Reasonable Delayed Response) – 2 – 3 (Partially Outsourced) – 4 – 5 (Fully Outsourced)
    Application Performance The speed of which the mobile application completes tasks is critical to its success. 1 (Strongly Disagree) – 2 – 3 (Neutral) – 4 – 5 (Strongly Agree)
    Network Accessibility The needed ability to access and use the mobile application in various network conditions. 1 (Only Available When Online) – 2 – 3 (Partially Available When Online) – 4 – 5 (Available Online)
    Integrated Ecosystem The approach to integrate the mobile application with enterprise or 3rd party systems and services. 1 (Out-of-the-Box Connectors) – 2 – 3 (Configurable Connectors) – 4 – 5 (Customized Connectors)
    Desire to Have a Native Look-and-Feel The aesthetics and UI features (e.g., heavy animations) that are only available through native and cross-platform applications. 1 (Low) – 2 – 3 (Moderate) – 4 – 5 (High)
    User Tolerance to Change The degree of willingness and ableness for a user to change their way of working to maximize the value of the mobile application. 1 (Low) – 2 – 3 (Moderate) – 4 – 5 (High)
    Mission Criticality The business could not execute its main strategy if the mobile application was removed. 1 (Strongly Disagree) – 2 – 3 (Neutral) – 4 – 5 (Strongly Agree)
    Business Value The mobile application directly adds business value to the organization. 1 (Strongly Disagree) – 2 – 3 (Neutral) – 4 – 5 (Strongly Agree)
    Industry Differentiation The mobile application provides a distinctive competitive advantage or is unique to your organization. 1 (Strongly Disagree) – 2 – 3 (Neutral) – 4 – 5 (Strongly Agree)

    2.1.1 cont'd

    Enterprise-Centric Needs: Non-Functional Requirements

    Factors Definitions Survey Responses
    Legacy Compatibility The need to integrate and operate with legacy systems. 1 (Low) – 2 – 3 (Moderate) – 4 – 5 (High)
    Code Portability The need to enable the "code once and deploy everywhere" approach. 1 (High) – 2 – 3 (Moderate) – 4 – 5 (Low)
    Vendor & Technology Lock-In The tolerance to lock into a vendor mobile delivery solution or technology framework. 1 (Low) – 2 – 3 (Moderate) – 4 – 5 (High)
    Data Sensitivity The data used by the mobile application does not fall into the category of sensitive data – meaning nothing financial, medical, or personal identity (GDPR and worldwide equivalents). The disclosure, modification, or destruction of this data would cause limited harm to the organization. 1 (Strongly Disagree) – 2 – 3 (Neutral) – 4 – 5 (Strongly Agree)
    Data Policies Policies of the mobile application's data are mandated by internal departmental standards (e.g. naming standards, backup standards, data type consistency). Policies only mandated in this way usually have limited use in a production capacity. 1 (Strongly Disagree) – 2 – 3 (Neutral) – 4 – 5 (Strongly Agree)
    Security Risks Mobile applications are connected to private data sources and its intended use will be significant if underlying data is breached. 1 (Strongly Disagree) – 2 – 3 (Neutral) – 4 – 5 (Strongly Agree)
    Business Continuity & System Integrity Risks The mobile application in question does not have much significance relative to the running of mission critical processes in the organization. 1 (Strongly Disagree) – 2 – 3 (Neutral) – 4 – 5 (Strongly Agree)
    System Openness Openness of enterprise systems to enable mobile applications from the user interface to the business logic and backend integrations and database. 1 (High) – 2 – 3 (Moderate) – 4 – 5 (Low)
    Mobile Device Management The organization's policy for the use of mobile devices to access and leverage enterprise data and services. 1 (Bring-Your-Own-Device) – 2 – 3 (Hybrid) – 4 – 5 (Corporate Devices)

    2.1.1 cont'd

    Enterprise-Centric Needs: Delivery Capacity

    Factors Definitions Survey Responses
    Ease of Mobile Delivery The desire to have out-of-the-box and packaged tools to expedite mobile application delivery using web technologies. 1 (Low) – 2 – 3 (Moderate) – 4 – 5 (High)
    Solution Competency The capability for internal staff to and learn how to implement and administer mobile delivery tools and deliver valuable, high-quality applications. 1 (Low) – 2 – 3 (Moderate) – 4 – 5 (High)
    Ease of Deployment The desire to have the mobile applications delivered by the team or person without specialized resources from outside the team. 1 (Low) – 2 – 3 (Moderate) – 4 – 5 (High)
    Delivery Approach The capability to successfully deliver mobile applications given budgetary and costing, resourcing, and supporting services constraints. 1 (Low) – 2 – 3 (Moderate) – 4 – 5 (High)
    Maintenance & Operational Support The capability of the resources to responsibly maintain and operate mobile applications, including defect fixes and the addition and extension of modules to base implementations of the digital product. 1 (Low) – 2 – 3 (Moderate) – 4 – 5 (High)
    Domain Knowledge Support The availability and accessibility of subject and domain experts to guide facilitate mobile application implementation and adoption. 1 (Low) – 2 – 3 (Moderate) – 4 – 5 (High)
    Delivery Urgency The desire to have the mobile application delivered quickly. 1 (High) – 2 – 3 (Moderate) – 4 – 5 (Low)
    Reusable Components The desire to reuse UI elements and application components. 1 (High) – 2 – 3 (Moderate) – 4 – 5 (Low)

    2.1.1 cont'd

    Example:

    Score Factors (Average) Mobile Opportunity 1: Inventory Management Mobile Opportunity 2: Remote Support
    User-Centric Needs 4.25 3
    Functional Requirements 4.5 2.25
    Native User Experience Factors 4 1.75
    Enterprise-Centric Needs 4 2
    Non-Functional Requirements 3.75 3.25
    Delivery Capacity 4.25 2.75
    Possible Mobile Platform Cross-Platform Native PWA Hybrid

    Nine datapoints are arranged on a graph where the x axis s labeled: User Centric Needs; and the Y axis is labeled: Enterprise-centric needs. The datapoints are, in order from left to right, top to bottom: Hybrid; Cross- Platform; Native; Web; Hybrid or Cross- Platform; Cros-s Platform; Web; Web; Hybrid or Cross- Platform. Two yellow circles are overlaid, one containing the phrase: Remote Support - over the box containing Progressive Web Applications (PWA) or Hybrid; and a yellow circle containing the phrase Inventory MGMT, partly covering the box containing Native; and the box containing Cross-Platform.

    Build a scalable and manageable platform

    Long-term mobile success depends on the efficiency and reliability of the underlying operational platform. This platform must support the computational and performance demands in a changing business environment, whether it is composed of off-the-self or custom-developed solutions, or a single vendor or best-of-breed.

    • Application
      • The UI design and content language is standardized and consistently applied
      • All mobile configurations and components are automatically versioned
      • Controlled administration and tooling access, automation capabilities, and update delivery
      • Holistic portfolio management
    • Data
      • Automated data management to preserve data quality (e.g. removal of duplications)
      • Defined single source of truth
      • Adherence to data governance, and privacy and security policies
      • Good content management practices, governance and architecture
    • Infrastructure
      • Containers and sandboxes are available for development and testing
      • Self-healing and self-service environments
      • Automatic system scaling and load balancing
      • Comply to budgetary and licensing constraints
    • Integration
      • Backend database and system updates are efficient
      • Loosely coupled architecture to minimize system regressions and delivery effort
      • Application, system and data monitoring

    Step 2.2

    Shortlist Your Mobile Delivery Solution

    Activities

    2.2.1 Shortlist your mobile delivery solution

    2.2.2 Build your feature and service lists

    Define Your Mobile Approach

    This step involves the following participants:

    • Applications Manager
    • Product and Platform Owners
    • Software Delivery Teams
    • Business and IT Leaders

    Outcomes of this step

    • Shortlisted mobile delivery solutions
    • Desired list of vendor features and services

    Ask yourself: should I build or buy?

    Build Buy

    Multi-Source Best-of-Breed

    Vendor Add-Ons & Integrations

    Integrate various technologies that provide subset(s) of the features needed for supporting the business functions.

    Enhance an existing vendor's offerings by using their system add-ons either as upgrades, new add-ons or integrations.

    Pros

    • Flexibility in choice of tools.
    • In some cases, cost may be lower.
    • Easier to enhance with in-house teams.

    Cons

    • Introduces tool sprawl.
    • Requires resources to understand tools and how they integrate.
    • Some of the tools necessary may not be compatible with each other.

    Pros

    • Reduces tool sprawl.
    • Supports consistent tool stack.
    • Vendor support can make enhancement easier.
    • Total cost of ownership may be lower.

    Cons

    • Vendor Lock-In.
    • The processes to enhance may require tweaking to fit tool capability.

    Multi-Source Custom

    Single Source

    Integrate systems built in-house with technologies developed by external organizations.

    Buy an application/system from one vendor only.

    Pros

    • Flexibility in choice of tools.
    • In some cases, cost may be lower.
    • Easier to enhance with in-house teams.

    Cons

    • May introduce tool sprawl.
    • Requires resources to have strong technical skills
    • Some of the tools necessary may
    • not be compatible with each other.

    Pros

    • Reduces tool sprawl.
    • Supports consistent tool stack.
    • Vendor support can make enhancement easier.
    • Total cost of ownership may be lower.

    Cons

    • Vendor Lock-In.
    • The processes to enhance may require tweaking to fit tool capability.

    Weigh the pros and cons of mobile enablement versus development

    Mobile Enablement

    Mobile Development

    Description Mobile interfaces that heavily rely on enterprise or 3rd party systems to operate. Mobile does not expand the functionality of the system but complements it with enhanced access, input and consumption capabilities. Mobile applications that are custom built or configured in a way that can operate as a standalone entity, whether they are locally deployed to a user's device or virtually hosted.
    Mobile Platform Mobile web, locally installed mobile application provided by vendor Mobile web, hybrid, cross-platform, native
    Typical Audience Internal staff, trusted users Internal and external users, general public
    Examples of Tooling Flavors Enterprise applications, point solutions, robotic & process automation Mobile enterprise application platform, web development, low and no code development, software development kits (SDKs)
    Technical Skills Required Little to no mobile delivery experience and skillsets are needed, but teams must be familiar with the supporting system to understand how a mobile interface can improve the value of the system. Have good UX-driven and quality-first practices in the mobile context. In-depth coding, networking, system and UX design, data management and security skills are needed for complex designs, functions, and architectures.
    Architecture & Integration Architecture is standardized by the vendor or enterprise with UI elements that are often minimally configurable. Extensions and integrations must be done through the system rather than the mobile interface. Much of application stack and integration approach can be customized to meet the specific functional and non-functional needs. It should still leverage web and design standards and investments currently used.
    Functional Scope Functionality is limited to the what the underlying system allows the interface to do. This often is constrained to commodity web application features (e.g., reporting) or tied to minor configurations to the vendor-provided point solution Functionality is only constrained by the platform and the targeted mobile devices whether it is performance, integration, access or security related. Teams should consider feature and content parity across all products within the organization portfolio.
    Delivery Pipeline End-to-end delivery and automated pipeline is provided by the vendor to ensure parity across all interfaces. Many vendors provide cloud-based services for hosting. Otherwise, it is directly tied to the SDLC of the supporting system. End-to-end delivery and automated pipeline is directly tied to enterprise SDLC practices or through the vendor. Some vendors provide cloud-based services for hosting. Updates are manually or automatically (through a vendor) published to app stores and can be automatically pushed to corporate users through mobile application management capabilities.
    Standards & Guardrails Quality standards and technology governance are managed by the vendor or IT with limited capabilities to tailor them to be mobile specific. Quality standards and technology governance are managed by the mobile delivery teams. The degree of customizations to these standards and guardrails is dependent on the chosen platform and delivery team competencies.

    Understand the common attributes of a mobile delivery solution

    • Source Code Management – Built-in or having the ability to integrate with code management solutions for branching, merging, and versioning. Debugging and coding assistance capabilities may be available.
    • Single Code Base – Capable of programming in a standard coding and scripting language for deployment into several platforms and devices. This code base is aligned to a common industry framework (e.g., AngularJS, Java) or a vendor-defined one.
    • Out-of-the-Box Connectors & Plug-ins – Pre-built APIs enhance the solution's capabilities with 3rd party tools and systems to deliver and manage high quality and valuable mobile applications.
    • Emulators – Ability to virtualize an application's execution on a target platform and device.
    • Support for Native Features – Supports plug-ins and APIs for access to device-specific features.

    What are mobile delivery solutions?

    A mobile delivery solution gives you the tools, resources and support to enable or build your mobile application. They can provide pre-built applications, vendor supported components to allow some configurations, or resources for full stack customizations. Some solutions can be barebone software development kits (SDKs) or comprehensive suites offering features to support the entire software delivery lifecycle, such as:

    • Mobile application management
    • Testing and publishing to app stores
    • Content management
    • Cloud hosting
    • Application performance management

    Info-Tech Insight

    Mobile enablement and development capabilities are already embedded in many common productivity tools and enterprise applications, such as Microsoft PowerApps and ERP modules. They can serve as a starting point in the initial rollout of new management and governance practices without the need of acquiring new tools.

    Select your mobile delivery solutions

    1. Set the scope of your framework.
    • The initial context of this framework is based on the mobile functions needed to support your desired mobile experience and on the current state of your enterprise and 3rd party systems.
  • Define the decision factors for your solution selection.
    • Review the decision factors that will influence the selection of your mobile delivery solution for each mobile opportunity:
    • Stack Management – Who will be hosting and supporting your mobile application stack?
    • Workflows Complexity & Native Experience – How complex is your desired mobile experience and how will native device features be leveraged?
  • Select your solution type.
    • Mobile delivery solutions are broadly defined in the following groups:
    • Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) – Pre-built mobile applications requiring little to no configurations or implementation effort.
    • Vendor Hosted Mobile Platform – Back-end and mid-tier infrastructure and operational support are managed by a vendor.
    • Cross-Platform Development – Frameworks that transform a single code base into platform-specific builds.
    • Hybrid Development – Tools that wrap a single code base into a locally deployable build.
    • Custom Web Development – Environment enabling full stack development for mobile web applications.
    • Custom Native Development – Environment enabling full stack development for mobile native applications.

    • A quadrant analysis is depicted. the top data is labeled Complex Mobile Features; the right side is labeled Organization-Managed Stack; the bottom is labeled Simple Mobile Features; and the left side is labeled Vendor-Managed Stack. The quadrants are labeled the following, in order from left to right, top to bottom. Vendor- Hosted Mobile Platform; Custom Native Development Solutions; Commercial-Off-the-Shelf Solutions; Custom Web Development Solutions. In the middle of the graph are the following, in order from top to bottom: Cross-Platform Development Solutions; Hybrid Development Solutions

    Explore the various solution options

    Vendor Hosted Mobile Platform

    • Cloud Services (Mobile Backend-as-a-Service) (Amazon Amplify, Kinvey, Back4App, Google Firebase, Apache Usergrid)
    • Low Code Mobile Platforms (Outsystems, Mendix, Zoho Creator, IBM Mobile Foundation, Pega Mobile, HCL Volt MX, Appery)
    • Mobile Development via Enterprise Application (SalesForce Heroku, Oracle Application Accelerator MAX, SAP Mobile Development Kit, NetSuite Mobile)
    • Mobile Development via Business Process Automation (PowerApps, Appian, Nintex, Quickbase)

    Cross-Platform Development SDKs

    React Native, NativeScript, Xamarin Forms, .NET MAUI, Flutter, Kotlin Multiplatform Mobile, jQuery Mobile, Telerik, Temenos Quantum

    Custom Native Development Solutions

    • Native Development Languages and Environments (Swift, Java, Objective-C, Kotlin, Xcode, NetBeans, Android Studio, AppCode, Microsoft Visual Studio, Eclipse, DriodScript, Compose, Atom)
    • Mobile Application Utilities (Unity, MonoGame, Blender, 3ds Max Design, Maya, Unreal Engine, Amazon Lumberyard, Oculus)

    Commercial-Off-the-Shelf Solutions

    • No Code Mobile Platforms (Swiftic, Betty Blocks, BuildFire, Appy Pie, Plant an App, Microsoft Power Apps, AppSheet, Wix, Quixy)
    • Mobile Application Point Solutions and Enablement via Enterprise Applications

    Hybrid Development SDKs

    Cordova Project, Sencha Touch, Electron, Ionic, Capacitor, Monaca, Voltbuilder

    Custom Web Development Solutions

    Web Development Frameworks (React, Angular, Vue, Express, Django, Rails, Spring, Ember, Backbone, Bulma, Bootstrap, Tailwind CSS, Blade)

    Get the most out of your solutions by understanding their core components

    While most of the heavy lifting is handled by the vendor or framework, understanding how the mobile application is built and operates can identify where further fine-tuning is needed to increase its value and quality.

    Platform Runtime

    Automatic provisioning, configurations, and tuning of organizational and 3rd party infrastructure for high availability, performance, security and stability. This can include cloud management and non-production environments.

    Extensions

    • Mobile delivery solutions can be extended to allow:
    • Custom development of back-end code
    • Customizable integrations and hooks where needed
    • Integrations with CI/CD pipelines and administrative services
    • Integrations with existing databases and authentication services

    Platform Services

    The various services needed to support mobile delivery and enable continuous delivery, such as:

    • Configuration & Change Management – Verifies, validates, and monitors builds, deployments and changes across all components.
    • Code Generator – Transforms UI and data models into native application components that are ready to be deployed.
    • Deployment Services – Deploys application components consistently across all target environments and app stores.
    • Application Services – Manages the mobile application at runtime, including executing scheduled tasks and instrumentation.

    Application Architecture

    Fundamentally, mobile application architecture is no different than any other application architecture so much of your design standards still applies. The trick is tuning it to best meet your mobile functional and non-functional needs.

    This image contains an example of mobile application architecture.

    Source: "HCL Volt MX", HCL.

    Build your shortlist decision criteria

    The decision on which type of mobile delivery solution to use is dependent on several key questions?

    Who is the Mobile Delivery Team?

    • Is it a worker, business or IT?
    • What skills and knowledge does this person have?
    • Who is supporting mobile delivery and management?
    • Are other skills and tools needed to support, extend or mature mobile delivery adoption?

    What are the Use Cases?

    • What is the value and priority of the use cases?
    • What native features do we need?
    • Who is the audience of the output and who is impacted?
    • What systems, data and services do I need access?
    • Is it best to build it or buy it?
    • What are the quality standards?
    • How strategic is the use case?

    How Complex is the System?

    • Is the mobile application a standalone or integrated with enterprise systems?
    • What is the system's state and architecture?
    • What 3rd party services do we need integrated?
    • Are integrations out-of-the-box or custom?
    • Is the data standardized and who can edit its definition?
    • Is the system monolithic or loosely coupled?

    How Much Can We Tolerate?

    • Risks: What are the business and technical risks involved?
    • Costs: How much can we invest in implementation, training and operations?
    • Change: What organizational changes am I expecting to make? Will these changes be accepted and adopted?

    2.2.1 Shortlist your mobile delivery solution

    1-3 hours

    1. Determine which mobile delivery solutions is appropriate for each mobile opportunity or use case by answering the following questions on the following slides against two factors: complexity of mobile workflows and native features and management of the mobile stack.
      1. Take the average of the enterprise-centric and user-centric scores from step 2.1 for your complexity of mobile workflows and native features scores.
    2. Calculate an average score for the management of the mobile stack. Then, map them on the matrix to indicate possible solution options alongside your user-centric scores. Consider all options around the plotted point.
    3. Further discuss which solution should be the preferred choice and compare those options with your selected platform approach.
    4. Document your findings and discussions into Info-Tech's Mobile Application Delivery Communication Template.

    Download the Mobile Application Delivery Communication Template

    Input

    		Output
    • Current state assessment
    • Mobile platform approach
    • Shortlist of mobile delivery solution
    MaterialsParticipants
    • Whiteboard/Flip Charts
    • Mobile Application Delivery Communication Template
    • Applications Manager
    • Product and Platform Owners
    • Software Delivery Teams
    • Business and IT Leaders

    2.2.1 cont'd

    Stack Management

    Factors Definitions Survey Responses
    Cost of Delayed Delivery The expected cost if a vendor solution or update is delayed. 1 (Low) – 2 – 3 (Moderate) – 4 – 5 (High)
    Vendor Negotiation Organization's ability to negotiate favorable terms from vendors. 1 (High) – 2 – 3 (Moderate) – 4 – 5 (Low)
    Controllable Delivery Timeline Organization's desire to control when solutions and updates are delivered. 1 (Low) – 2 – 3 (Moderate) – 4 – 5 (High)
    Solution Hosting The desired approach to host the mobile application. 1 (Fully Outsourced) – 2 – 3 (Partially Outsourced) – 4 – 5 (Internally Hosted)
    Vendor Lock-In The tolerance to be locked into a specific technology stack or vendor ecosystem. 1 (Low) – 2 – 3 (Moderate) – 4 – 5 (High)
    Operational Cost Target The primary target of the mobile application's operational budget. 1 (External Resources) – 2 – 3 (Hybrid) – 4 – 5 (Internal Resources)
    Platform Management The desired approach to manage the mobile delivery solution, platform or underlying technology. 1 (Decentralized) – 2 – 3 (Federated) – 4 – 5 (Centralized)
    Skill & Competency of Mobile Delivery Team The ability of the team to create and manage valuable and high-quality mobile applications. 1 (Low) – 2 – 3 (Moderate) – 4 – 5 (High)
    Current Investment in Enterprise Technologies The need to maximize the ROI of current enterprise technologies or integrate with legacy technologies. 1 (High) – 2 – 3 (Moderate) – 4 – 5 (Low)
    Ease of Extensibility Need to have out-of-the-box connectors and plug-ins to extend the mobile delivery solution beyond its base implementation. 1 (High) – 2 – 3 (Moderate) – 4 – 5 (Low)
    Holistic Application Strategy Organizational priorities on the types of applications the portfolio should be comprised. 1 (Buy) – 2 – 3 (Hybrid) – 4 – 5 (Build)
    Control of Delivery Pipeline The desire to control the software delivery pipeline from design to development, testing, publishing and support. 1 (Low) – 2 – 3 (Moderate) – 4 – 5 (High)
    Specific Quality Requirements Software and mobile delivery is constrained to your unique quality standards (e.g., security, performance, availability) 1 (Low) – 2 – 3 (Moderate) – 4 – 5 (High)

    2.2.1 cont'd

    Example:

    Score Factors (Average) Mobile Opportunity 1: Inventory Management Mobile Opportunity 2: Remote Support
    User-Centric & Enterprise Centric Needs (From Step 2.1) 4.125 2.5
    Stack Management 2 2.5
    Desired Mobile Delivery Solution Vendor-Hosted Mobile Platform

    Commercial-Off-the-Shelf Solution

    Hybrid Development Solution

    A quadrant analysis is depicted. the top data is labeled Complex Mobile Features; the right side is labeled Organization-Managed Stack; the bottom is labeled Simple Mobile Features; and the left side is labeled Vendor-Managed Stack. The quadrants are labeled the following, in order from left to right, top to bottom. Vendor- Hosted Mobile Platform; Custom Native Development Solutions; Commercial-Off-the-Shelf Solutions; Custom Web Development Solutions. In the middle of the graph are the following, in order from top to bottom: Cross-Platform Development Solutions; Hybrid Development Solutions.

    Consider the following in your solution selection and implementation

    • Vendor lock in – Each solution has its own approach, frameworks, and data schemas to convert designs and logic into an executable build that is stable in the targeted environment. Consequently, moving application artifacts (e.g., code and designs) from one solution or environment to another may not be easily accomplished without significant modifications or the use of application modernization or migration services.
    • Conflicting priorities and viewpoints of good delivery practices – Mobile delivery solutions are very particular on how they generate applications from designs and configurations. The solution's approach may not accommodate your interpretation of high-quality code (e.g., scalability, maintainability, extensibility, security). Technical experts should be reviewing and refactoring the generated code.
    • Incompatibility with enterprise applications and systems – The true benefit of mobile delivery solutions is their ability to connect your mobile application to enterprise and 3rd party technologies and services. This capability often requires enterprise technologies and services to be architected in a way that is compatible with your delivery solution while ensuring data, security protocols and other standards and policies are consistently enforced.
    • Integration with current application development and management tools – Mobile delivery solutions should be extensions from your existing application development and management tools that provides the versioning, testing, monitoring, and deployment capabilities to sustain a valuable application portfolio. Without this integration, IT will be unable to:
      • Root cause issues found on IT dashboards or reported to help desk.
      • Rollback defective applications to a previous stable state.
      • Obtain a complete application portfolio inventory.
      • Execute comprehensive testing for high-risk applications.
      • Trace artifacts throughout the development lifecycle.
      • Generate reports of the status of releases.

    Enhance your SDLC to support mobile delivery

    What is the SDLC?

    The software development lifecycle (SDLC) is a process that ensures valuable software products are efficiently delivered to customers. It contains a repeatable set of activities needed to intake and analyze requirements to design, build, test, deploy, and maintain software products.

    How will mobile delivery influence my SDLC?

    • Cross-functional collaboration – Bringing business and IT together at the most opportune times to clarify user needs and business priorities, and set realistic expectations given technology and capacity constraints. The appropriate tactics and techniques are used to improve decision making and delivery effectiveness according to the type of work.
    • Iterative delivery – Frequent delivery of progressive changes minimizes the risk of low-quality features by containing and simplifying scope, and enables responsive turnarounds of fixes, enhancements, and priority changes.
    • Feedback loops –Mobile application owners constantly review, update and refine their backlog of mobile features and changes to reflect user feedback and system performance metrics. Delivery teams proactively prepare the application for future scaling based on lessons and feedback learned from earlier releases.

    To learn more, visit Info-Tech's Modernize Your SDLC blueprint.

    Example: Low- & No-Code Mobile Delivery Pipeline

    Low Code

    		Data Modeling & Configuration

    No Code

    Visual Interface with Complex Data Models

    		Data Modeling & Configuration

    Visual Interfaces with Simple Data Models

    GUI Designer with Customizable Components & Entities

    UI Definition & Design

    GUI Designer with Canned Templates

    Visual Workflow and Custom Scripting

    		Business Logic Rules and Workflow Specification

    Visual Workflow and Natural Language Scripting

    Out-of-the-Box Plugins & Custom Integrations

    		Integration of External Services (via 3rd Party APIs)

    Out-of-the-Box Plugins

    Automated and Manual Build & Packaging

    		Build & Package

    Automated Build & Packaging

    Automated & Manual Testing

    		Test

    Automated Testing

    One-Click Push or IT Push to App Store

    		Publish to App Store

    One-Click Push to App Store

    Use Info-Tech's research to address your delivery gaps

    Mobile success requires more than a set of good tools.

    Overcome the Common Challenges Faced with Building Mobile Applications

    Common Challenges with Digital Applications

    Suggested Solutions

    • Time & Resource Constraints
    • Buy-In From Internal Stakeholders
    • Rapidly Changing Requirements
    • Legacy Systems
    • Low-Priority for Internal Tools
    • Insufficient Data Access

    Source: DronaHQ, 2021

    Learn the differentiators of mobile delivery solutions

    • Native Program Languages – Supports languages other than web (Java, Ruby, C/C++/C#, Objective-C).
    • IDE Integration – Available plug-ins for popular development suites and editors.
    • Debugging Tools – Finding and eliminating bugs (breakpoints, single stepping, variable inspection, etc.).
    • Application Packaging via IDE – Digitally sign applications through the IDE for it to be packaged and published in app stores.
    • Automated Testing Tools – Native or integration with automated functional and unit testing tools.
    • Low- and No- Code Designer – Tools for designing graphical user interfaces and features and managing data with drag-and-drop functionalities.
    • Publishing and Deployment Capabilities – Automated deployment to mobile device management (MDM) systems, mobile application management (MAM) systems, mobile application stores, and web servers.
    • Third-Party and Open-Source Integration – Integration with proprietary and open-source third-party modules, development tools, and systems.
    • Developer Marketplace – Out-of-the-box plug-ins, templates, and integration are available through a marketplace.
    • Mobile Application Support Capabilities – Ability to gather, manage, and address application issues and defects.
    • API Gateway, Monitoring, and Management – Services that enable the creation, publishing, maintenance, monitoring, and securing of APIs through a common interface.
    • Mobile Analytics and Monitoring – View the adoption, usage, and performance of deployed mobile applications through graphical dashboards.
    • Mobile Content Management – Publish and manage mobile content through a centralized system.
    • Mobile Application Security – Supports the securing of application access and usage, data encryption, and testing of security controls.

    Define your mobile delivery vendor selection criteria

    Focus on the key vendor attributes and capabilities that enable mobile delivery scaling and growth in your organization

    Considerations in Mobile Delivery Vendor Selection
    Platform Features & Capabilities Price to Implement & Operate Platform
    Types of Mobile Applications That Can Be Developed Ease of IT Administration & Management
    User Community & Marketplace Size Security, Privacy & Access Control Capabilities
    SME in Industry Verticals & Business Functions Vendor Product Roadmap & Corporate Strategy
    Pre-Built Designs, Templates & Application Shells Scope of Device- and OS-Specific Compatibilities
    Regulatory & Industry Compliance Integration & Technology Partners
    Importing Artifacts From and Exporting to Other Solutions Platform Architecture & Underlying Technology
    End-to-End Support for the Entire Mobile SDLC Relevance to Current Mobile Trends & Practices

    Build your features list

    Incorporate different perspectives when defining the list of mandatory and desired features of your target solution.

    Appendix B contains a list of features for low- and no-code solutions that can be used as a starting point.

    Visit Info-Tech's Implement a Proactive and Consistent Vendor Selection Process blueprint.

    Mobile Developer

    • Visual, drag-and-drop models to define data models, business logic, and user interfaces.
    • One-click deployment.
    • Self-healing capabilities.
    • Vendor-managed infrastructure.
    • Active community and marketplace.
    • Pre-built templates and libraries.
    • Optical character recognition and natural language processing.
    • Knowledgebase and document management.
    • Business value, operational costs, and other KPI monitoring.
    • Business workflow automation.

    Mobile IT Professional

    • Audit and change logs.
    • Theme and template builder.
    • Template management.
    • Role-based access.
    • Regulatory compliance.
    • Consistent design and user experience across applications.
    • Application and system performance monitoring.
    • Versioning and code management.
    • Automatic application and system refactoring and recovery.
    • Exception and error handling.
    • Scalability (e.g. load balancing) and infrastructure management.
    • Real-time debugging.
    • Testing capabilities.
    • Security management.
    • Application integration management.

    2.2.2 Build your feature and service lists

    1-3 hours

    Review the key outcomes in the previous exercises to help inform the features and vendor support you require to support your mobile delivery needs:

    End user personas and desired mobile experience

    Objectives and expectations

    Desired mobile features and platform

    Mobile delivery solutions

    Brainstorm a list of features and functionalities you require from your ideal solution vendors. Prioritize these features and functionalities. See our Implement a Proactive and Consistent Vendor Selection Process blueprint for more information on vendor procurement.

    Document your findings and discussions into Info-Tech's Mobile Application Delivery Communication Template.

    Download the Mobile Application Delivery Communication Template

    Input

    		Output
    • Shortlist of mobile solutions
    • Quality definitions
    • Mobile objectives and metrics
    • List of desired features and services of mobile delivery solution vendors
    MaterialsParticipants
    • Whiteboard/Flip Charts
    • Mobile Application Delivery Communication Template
    • Applications Manager
    • Product and Platform Owners
    • Software Delivery Teams
    • Business and IT Leaders

    Hit a home run with your stakeholders

    Use a data-driven approach to select the right tooling vendor for your needs – fast.

    AwarenessEducation & DiscoveryEvaluationSelection

    Negotiation & Configuration

    1.1 Proactively Lead Technology Optimization & Prioritization2.1 Understand Marketplace Capabilities & Trends3.1 Gather & Prioritize Requirements & Establish Key Success Metrics4.1 Create a Weighted Selection Decision Model5.1 Initiate Price Negotiation with Top Two Venders
    1.2 Scope & Define the Selection Process for Each Selection Request Action2.2 Discover Alternate Solutions & Conduct Market Education3.2 Conduct a Data Driven Comparison of Vendor Features & Capabilities4.2 Conduct Investigative Interviews Focused on Mission Critical Priorities with Top 2-4 Vendors5.2 Negotiate Contract Terms & Product Configuration

    1.3 Conduct an Accelerated Business Needs Assessment

    		2.3 Evaluate Enterprise Architecture & Application PortfolioNarrow the Field to Four Top Contenders4.3 Validate Key Issues with Deep Technical Assessments, Trial Configuration & Reference Checks5.3 Finalize Budget Approval & Project
    1.4 Align Stakeholder Calendars to Reduce Elapsed Time & Asynchronous Evaluation2.4 Validate the Business Case5.4 Invest in Training & Onboarding Assistance

    Investing time improving your software selection methodology has big returns.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Not all software selection projects are created equal – some are very small, some span the entire enterprise. To ensure that IT is using the right framework, understand the cost and complexity profile of the application you're looking to select. Info-Tech's Rapid Application Selection Framework approach is best for commodity and mid-tier enterprise applications; selecting complex applications is better handled by the methodology in Info-Tech's Implement a Proactive and Consistent Vendor Selection Process.

    Step 2.3

    Create a Roadmap for Mobile Delivery

    Activities

    2.3.1 Define your MVP release

    2.3.2 Build your roadmap

    Define Your Mobile Approach

    This step involves the following participants:

    • Applications Manager
    • Product and Platform Owners
    • Software Delivery Teams
    • Business and IT Leaders

    Outcomes of this step

    • MVP design
    • Mobile delivery roadmap

    Achieve mobile success with MVPs

    By delivering mobile capabilities in small iterations, teams recognize value sooner and reduce accumulated risk. Both benefits are realized as the iteration enters validation testing and release.

    This image depicts a graph of the learn-build-measure cycle over time, adapted from Managing the Development of Large Software Systems, Dr. Winston W. Royce, 1970

    An MVP focuses on a small set of functions, involves minimal possible effort to deliver a working and valuable solution, and is designed to satisfy a specific user group. Its purpose is to:

    • Maximize learning.
    • Evaluate the value and acceptance of mobile applications.
    • Inform the building of a mobile delivery practice.

    The build-measure-learn loop suggests mobile delivery teams should perpetually take an idea and develop, test, and validate it with the mobile development solution, then expand on the MVP using the lessons learned and evolving ideas. In this sense the MVP is just the first iteration in the loop.

    Leverage a canvas to detail your MVP

    Use the release canvas to organize and align the organization around your MVP!

    This is an example of a release canvas which can be used to detail your MVP.

    2.3.1 Define your MVP release

    1-3 hours

    1. Create a list of high priority use cases slated for mobile application delivery. Brainstorm the various supporting activities required to implement your use cases including the shortlisting of mobile delivery tools.
    2. Prioritize these use cases based on business priority (from your canvas). Size the effort of these use cases through collaboration.
    3. Define your MVPs using a release canvas as shown on the following slide.
    4. Document your findings and discussions into Info-Tech's Mobile Application Delivery Communication Template.

    Input

    		Output
    • High priority mobile opportunities
    • Mobile platform approach
    • Shortlist of mobile solutions
    • List of potential MVPs
    MaterialsParticipants
    • Whiteboard/Flip Charts
    • Mobile Application Delivery Communication Template
    • Applications Manager
    • Product and Platform Owners
    • Software Delivery Teams
    • Business and IT Leaders

    2.3.1 cont'd

    MVP Name

    Owner:
    Parent Initiative:
    Updated:

    NAME
    LINK
    October 05, 2022

    MVP Theme/Goals

    [Theme / Goal]

    Use Cases

    Value

    Costs

    [Use Case 1]
    [Use Case 2]
    [Use Case 3]

    [Business Value 1]
    [Business Value 2]
    [Business Value 3]

    [Cost Item 1]
    [Cost Item 2]
    [Cost Item 3]

    Impacted Personas

    Impacted Workflows

    Stakeholders

    [Persona 1]
    [Persona 2]
    [Persona 3]

    [Workflow 1]
    [Workflow 2]
    [Workflow 3]

    [Stakeholder 1]
    [Stakeholder 2]
    [Stakeholder 3]

    Build your mobile roadmap

    It's more than a set of colorful boxes. It's the map to align everyone to where you are going

    Your mobile roadmap

    • Lays out a strategy for your mobile application, platform and practice implementation and scaling.
    • Is a statement of intent for your mobile adoption.
    • Communicates direction for the implementation and use of mobile delivery tools, mobile applications and supporting technologies.
    • Directly connects to the organization's goals

    However, it is not:

    • Representative of a hard commitment.
    • A simple combination of your current product roadmaps

    Roadmap your MVPs against your milestones and release dates

    This is an image of an example of a roadmap for your MVPS, with milestones across Jan 2022, Feb 2022, Mar 2022, Apr 2022. under milestones, are the following points: Points in the timeline when an established set of artifacts is complete (feature-based), or to check status at a particular point in time (time-based); Typically assigned a date and used to show progress; Plays an important role when sequencing different types of artifacts. Under Release Dates are the following points: Releases mark the actual delivery of a set of artifacts packaged together in a new version of processes and applications or new mobile application and delivery capabilities. ; Release dates, firm or not, allow stakeholders to anticipate when this is coming.

    To learn more, visit Info-Tech's Deliver on Your Digital Product Vision blueprint.

    Understand what is communicated in your roadmap

    WHY is the work being done?

    Explains the overarching goal of work being done to a specific audience.

    WHO is doing the work?

    Categorizes the different groups delivering the work on the product.

    WHAT is the work being done?

    Explains the artifacts, or items of work, that will be delivered.

    WHEN is the work being done?

    Explains when the work will be delivered within your timeline.

    To learn more, visit Info-Tech's Deliver on Your Digital Product Vision blueprint.

    Pay attention to organizational changes

    Be prepared to answer:

    "How will mobile change the way I do my job?"

    • Plan how workers will incorporate mobile applications into their way of working and maximize the features it offers.
    • Address the human concerns regarding the transition to a digital world involving modern and mobile technologies and automation.
    • Accept changes, challenges and failures with open arms and instill tactics to quickly address them.
    • Build and strengthen business-IT trust, empowerment, and collaborative culture by adopting the right practices throughout the mobile delivery process.
    • Ensure continuous management and leadership support for business empowerment, operational changes, and shifts in role definitions to best support mobile delivery.
    • Establish a committee to manage the growth, adoption, and delivery of mobile as part of a grandeur digital application portfolio and address conflicts among business units and IT.

    Anticipate and prepare for changes and issues

    Verify and validate the flexibility and adaptability of your mobile applications, strategy and roadmap against various scenarios

    • Scenarios
      • Application Stores Rejecting the Application
      • Security Incidents & Risks
      • Low User Adoption, Retention & Satisfaction
      • Incompatibility with User's Device & Other Systems
      • Device & OS Patches & Updates
      • Changes in Industry Standards & Regulations

    Use the "Now, Next, Later" roadmap

    Use this when deadlines and delivery dates are not strict. This is best suited for brainstorming a product plan when dependency mapping is not required.

    Now

    What are you going to do now?

    Next

    What are you going to do very soon?

    Later

    What are you going to do in the future?

    This is a roadmap showing various points in the following categories: Now; Next; Later

    Adapted From: "Tips for Agile product roadmaps & product roadmap examples," Scrum.org, 2017

    2.3.2 Build your roadmap

    1-3 hours

    1. Identify the business outcomes your mobile application delivery and MVP is expected to deliver.
    2. Build your strategic roadmap by grouping each business outcome by how soon you need to deliver it:
      1. Now: Let's achieve this ASAP.
      2. Next: Sometime very soon, let's achieve these things.
      3. Later: Much further off in the distance, let's consider these things.
    3. Identify what the critical steps are for the organization to embrace mobile application delivery and deliver your MVP.
    4. Build your tactical roadmap by grouping each critical step by how soon you need to address it:
      1. Now: Let's do this ASAP.
      2. Next: Sometime very soon, let's do these things.
      3. Later: Much further off in the distance, let's consider these things.
    5. Document your findings and discussions into Info-Tech's Mobile Application Delivery Communication Template.

    Input

    		Output
    • List of potential MVPs
    • Mobile roadmap
    MaterialsParticipants
    • Whiteboard/Flip Charts
    • Mobile Application Delivery Communication Template
    • Applications Manager
    • Product and Platform Owners
    • Software Delivery Teams
    • Business and IT Leaders

    2.3.2 cont'd

    Example: Tactical Roadmap

    Milestone 1

    • Modify the business processes of the MVP to best leverage mobile technologies. Streamline the business processes by removing the steps that do not directly support value delivery.
    • Develop UI templates using the material design framework and the organization's design standards. Ensure it is supported on mobile devices through the mobile browser and satisfy accessibility design standards.
    • Verify and validate current security controls against latest security risks using the W3C as a starting point. Install the latest security patches to maintain compliance.
    • Acquire the Ionic SDK and upskill delivery teams.

    Milestone 2

    • Update the current web framework and third-party libraries with the latest version and align web infrastructure to latest W3C guidelines.
    • Verify and validate functionality and stability of APIs with third-party applications. Begin transition to REST APIs where possible.
    • Make minor changes to the existing data architecture to better support the data volume, velocity, variety, and veracity the system will process and deliver.
    • Update the master data management with latest changes. Keep changes to a minimum.
    • Develop and deliver the first iteration of the MVP with Ionic.

    Milestone 3

    • Standardize the initial mobile delivery practice.
    • Continuously monitor the system and proactively address business continuity, system stability and performance, and security risks.
    • Deliver a hands-on and facilitated training session to end users.
    • Develop intuitive user manuals that are easily accessible on SharePoint.
    • Consult end users for their views and perspectives of suggested business model and technology changes.
    • Regularly survey end users and the media to gauge industry sentiment toward the organization.

    Pitch your roadmap initiatives

    There are multiple audiences for your pitch, and each audience requires a different level of detail when addressed. Depending on the outcomes expected from each audience, a suitable approach must be chosen. The format and information presented will vary significantly from group to group.

    Audience

    Key Contents

    Outcome

    Outcome

    • Costs or benefits estimates

    Sign off on cost and benefit projections

    Executives and decision makers

    • Business value and financial benefits
    • Notable business risks and impacts
    • Business rationale and strategic roadmap

    Revisions, edits, and approval

    IT teams

    • Notable technical and IT risks
    • IT rationale and tactical roadmap
    • Proposed resourcing and skills capacity

    Clarity of vision and direction and readiness for delivery

    Business workers

    • Business rationale
    • Proposed business operations changes
    • Application roadmap

    Verification on proposed changes and feedback

    Continuously measure the benefits and value realized in your mobile applications

    Success hinges on your team's ability to deliver business value. Well-developed mobile applications instill stakeholder confidence in ongoing business value delivery and stakeholder buy-in, provided proper expectations are set and met.

    Business value defines the success criteria of an organization, and it is interpreted from four perspectives:

    • Profit Generation – The revenue generated from a business capability with mobile applications.
    • Cost Reduction – The cost reduction when performing business capabilities with mobile applications.
    • Service Enablement – The productivity and efficiency gains of internal business operations with mobile applications.
    • Customer and Market Reach – Metrics measuring the improved reach and insights of the business in existing or new markets.

    See our Build a Value Measurement Framework blueprint for more information about business value definition.

    Business Value Matrix

    This image contains a quadrant analysis with the following labels: Left - Improved Capabilities; Top - Outward; Right - Financial Benefit; Bottom - Inward. the quadrants are labeled the following, in order from left to right, top to bottom. Customer and Market Reach; Profit Generation; Service Enhancement; Cost Reduction

    Grow your mobile delivery practice

    We are Here
    Level 1: Mobile Delivery Foundations Level 2: Scaled Mobile Delivery Level 3: Leading-Edge Mobile Delivery

    You understand the opportunities and impacts mobile has on your business operations and its disruptive nature on your enterprise systems. Your software delivery lifecycle was optimized to incorporate the specific practices and requirements needed for mobile. A mobile platform was selected based on stakeholder needs that are weighed against current skillsets, high priority non-functional requirements, the available capacity and scalability of your stack, and alignment to your current delivery process.

    New features and mobile use cases are regularly emerging in the industry. Ensuring your mobile platform and delivery process can easily scale to incorporate constantly changing mobile features and technologies is key. This can help minimize the impact these changes will have on your mobile stack and the resulting experience.

    Achieving this state requires three competencies: mobile security, performance optimization, and integration practices.

    Many of today's mobile trends involve, in one form or another, hardware components on the mobile device (e.g., NFC receivers, GPS, cameras). You understand the scope of native features available on your end user's mobile device and the required steps and capabilities to enable and leverage them.

    Grow your mobile delivery practice (cont'd)

    Ask yourself the following questions:
    Level 1: Mobile Delivery Foundations Level 2: Scaled Mobile Delivery Level 3: Leading-Edge Mobile Delivery

    Checkpoint questions shown at the end of step 1.2 of this blueprint

    You should be at this point upon the successful delivery of your first mobile application.

    Security

    • Your mobile stack (application, data, and infrastructure) is updated to incorporate the security risks mobile apps will have on your systems and business operations.
    • Leading edge encryption, authentication management (e.g., multi-factor), and access control systems are used to bolster existing mobile security infrastructure.
    • Network traffic to and from mobile application is monitored and analyzed.

    Performance Optimization

    • Performance enhancements are made with the entire mobile stack in mind.
    • Mobile performance is monitored and assessed with both proactive (data flow) and retroactive (instrumentation) approaches.
    • Development and testing practices and technologies accommodate the performance differences between mobile and desktop applications.

    API Development

    • Existing web APIs are compatible with mobile applications, or a gateway / middleware is used to facilitate communication with backend and third-party services.
    • APIs are secured to prevent unauthorized access and misuse.
    • Web APIs are documented and standardized for reuse in multiple mobile applications.
    • Implementing APIs of native features in native and/or cross-platform and/or hybrid platforms is well understood.
    • All leading-edge mobile features are mapped to and support business requirements and objectives.
    • The new mobile use cases are well understood and account for the various scenarios/environments a user may encounter with the leading-edge mobile features.
    • The relevant non-mobile devices, readers, sensors, and other dependent systems are shortlisted and acquired to enable and support your new mobile capabilities.
    • Delivery teams are prepared to accommodate the various security, performance, and integration risks associated with implementing leading-edge mobile features. Practices and mechanisms are established to minimize the impact to business operations.
    • Metrics are used to measure the success of your leading-edge mobile features implementation by comparing its performance and acceptance against past projects.
    • Business stakeholders and development teams are up to date with the latest mobile technologies and delivery techniques.

    Summary of Accomplishment

    Choose Your Mobile Platform and Tools

    • User personas
    • Mobile objectives and metrics
    • Mobile opportunity backlog
    • List of mobile features to enable the desired mobile experience
    • System current assessment
    • Mobile application quality definition
    • Readiness for mobile delivery
    • Desired mobile platform approach
    • Shortlisted mobile delivery solutions
    • Desired list of vendor features and services
    • MVP design
    • Mobile delivery roadmap

    If you would like additional support, have our analysts guide you through other phases as part of Info-Tech workshop.

    Contact your account representative for more information

    workshops@infotech.com

    1-888-670-8889

    Research Contributors and Experts

    This is a picture of Chaim Yudkowsky, Chief Information Officer for The American Israel Public Affairs Committee

    Chaim Yudkowsky
    Chief Information Officer
    The American Israel Public Affairs Committee

    Chaim Yudkowsky is currently Chief information Officer for American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the DC headquartered not-for-profit focused on lobbying for a strong US-Israel relationship. In that role, Chaim is responsible for all traditional IT functions including oversight of IT strategy, vendor relationships, and cybersecurity program. In addition, Chaim also has primary responsibility for all physical security technology and strategy for US offices and event technology for the many AIPAC events.

    Bibliography

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    Ceci, L. "Mobile app user retention rate worldwide 2020, by vertical". Statista, 6 Apr 2022. Web.

    Clement, J. "Share of global mobile website traffic 2015-2021". Statista, 18 Feb 2022. Web

    DeVos, Jordan. "Design Problem Statements – What They Are and How to Frame Them." Toptal, n.d. Web.

    Enge, Eric. "Mobile vs. Desktop Usage in 2020". Perficient, 23 March 2021. Web.

    Engels, Antoine. "How many Android updates does Samsung, Xiaomi or OnePlus offer?" NextPit, Mar 2022. Web.

    "Fast-tracking digital transformation through next-gen technologies". Broadridge, 2022. Web.

    Gayatri. "The Pulse of Digital Transformation 2021 – Survey Results." DronaHQ, 2021. Web.

    Gray, Dave. "Updated Empathy Map Canvas." The XPLANE Collection, 15 July 2017. Web.

    "HCL Volt MX". HCL, n.d. Web.

    "iPass Mobile Professional Report 2017". iPass, 2017. Web.

    Karlsson, Johan. "Backlog Grooming: Must-Know Tips for High-Value Products." Perforce, 2019. Web.

    Karnes, KC. "Why Users Uninstall Apps: 28% of People Feel Spammed [Survey]". CleverTap, 27 July 2021. Web.

    Kemp, Simon. "Digital 2021: Global Overview Report". DataReportal, 27 Jan 2021. Web.

    Kleinberg, Sara. "Consumers are always shopping and eager for your help". Google, Aug 2018. Web.

    MaLavolta, Ivano. "Anatomy of an HTML 5 mobile web app". University of L'Aquila, 16 Apr 2012. Web.

    "Maximizing Mobile Value: To BYOD or not to BYOD?" Samsung and Oxford Economics, 2022. Web.

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    Moore, Geoffrey A. "Crossing the Chasm, 3rd Edition: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers." Harper Business, 3rd edition, 2014. Book.

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    "Why Mobile Apps Fail: Failure to Launch". Perfecto Mobile, 26 Jan 2014. Web.

    Appendix A

    Sample Reference Frameworks

    Reference Framework: Web Platform

    Most of the operations of the applications on a web platform are executed in the mid-tier or back-end servers. End users interact with the platform through the presentation layer, developed with web languages, in the browser.

    This is an image of the Reference Framework: Web Platform

    Reference Framework: Mobile Web Application

    Many mobile web applications are composed of JavaScript (the muscle of the app), HTML5 (the backbone of the app), and CSS (the aesthetics of the app). The user will make a request to the web server which will interact with the application to provide a response. Since each device has unique attributes, consider a device detection service to help adjust content for each type of device.

    this is an image of the Reference Framework: Mobile Web Application

    Source: MaLavolta, Ivono, 2012.

    Web Platform: Anatomy of a Web Server

    Web Server Services

    • Mediation Services: Perform transformation of data/messages.
    • Boundary Services: Provide interface protocol and data/message conversion capabilities.
    • Event Distribution: Provides for the enterprise-wide adoption of content and topic-based publish/subscribe event distribution.
    • Transport Services: Facilitate data transmission across the middleware/server.
    • Service Directory: Manages multiple service identifiers and locations.

    This image shows the relationships of the various web server services listed above

    Reference Framework: Hybrid Platform

    Unlike the mobile web platform, most of an application's operations on the hybrid platform is on the device within a native container. The container leverages the device browser's runtime engine and is based on the framework of the mobile delivery solution.

    This is an image of the Reference Framework: Hybrid Platform

    Reference Framework: Native Platform

    Applications on a native platform are installed locally on the device giving it access to native device hardware and software. The programming language depends on the operating system's or device's SDK.

    This is an image of the Reference Framework: Native Platform

    Appendix B

    List of Low- and No- Code Software Delivery Solution Features

    Supplementary List of Features

    Graphical user interface

    • Drag-and-drop designer - This feature enhances the user experience by permitting to drag all the items involved in making an app including actions, responses, connections, etc.
    • Point and click approach - This is similar to the drag-and-drop feature except it involves pointing on the item and clicking on the interface rather than dragging and dropping the item.
    • Pre-built forms/reports - This is off-the-shelf and most common reusable editable forms or reports that a user can use when developing an application.
    • Pre-built dashboards - This is off-the-shelf and most common dashboards that a user can use when developing an application.
    • Forms - This feature helps in creating a better user interface and user experience when developing applications. A form includes dashboards, custom forms, surveys, checklists, etc. which could be useful to enhance the usability of the application being developed.
    • Progress tracking - This features helps collaborators to combine their work and track the development progress of the application.
    • Advanced Reporting - This features enables the user to obtain a graphical reporting of the application usage. The graphical reporting includes graphs, tables, charts, etc.
    • Built-in workflows - This feature helps to concentrate the most common reusable workflows when creating applications.
    • Configurable workflows - Besides built-in workflows, the user should be able to customize workflows according to their needs.

    Interoperability support

    • Interoperability with external services - This feature is one of the most important features to incorporate different services and platforms including that of Microsoft, Google, etc. It also includes the interoperability possibilities among different low-code platforms.
    • Connection with data sources - This features connects the application with data sources such as Microsoft Excel, Access and other relational databases such as Microsoft SQL, Azure and other non-relational databases such as MongoDB.

    Security Support

    • Application security - This feature enables the security mechanism of an application which involves confidentiality, integrity and availability of an application, if and when required.
    • Platform security - The security and roles management is a key part in developing an application so that the confidentiality, integrity and authentication (CIA) can be ensured at the platform level.

    Collaborative development support

    • Off-line collaboration - Different developers can collaborate on the specification of the same application. They work off-line locally and then they commit to a remote server their changes, which need to be properly merged.
    • On-line collaboration - Different developers collaborate concurrently on the specification of the same application. Conflicts are managed at run-time.

    Reusability support

    • Built-in workflows - This feature helps to concentrate the most common reusable workflows in creating an application.
    • Pre-built forms/reports - This is off-the-shelf and most common reusable editable forms or reports that a user might want to employ when developing an application.
    • Pre-built dashboards - This is off-the-shelf and most common dashboards that a user might want to employ when developing an application.

    Scalability

    • Scalability on number of users - This features enables the application to scale-up with respect to the number of active users that are using that application at the same time.
    • Scalability on data traffic - This features enables the application to scale-up with respect to the volume of data traffic that are allowed by that application in a particular time.
    • Scalability on data storage - This features enables the application to scale-up with respect to the data storage capacity of that application.

    Business logic specification mechanisms

    • Business rules engine - This feature helps in executing one or more business rules that help in managing data according to user's requirements.
    • Graphical workflow editor - This feature helps to specify one or more business rules in a graphical manner.
    • AI enabled business logic - This is an important feature which uses Artificial Intelligence in learning the behavior of an attributes and replicate those behaviors according to learning mechanisms.

    Application build mechanisms

    • Code generation - According to this feature, the source code of the modeled application is generated and subsequently deployed before its execution.
    • Models at run-time - The model of the specified application is interpreted and used at run-time during the execution of the modeled application without performing any code generation phase.

    Deployment support

    • Deployment on cloud - This features enables an application to be deployed online in a cloud infrastructure when the application is ready to deployed and used.
    • Deployment on local infrastructures - This features enables an application to be deployed locally on the user organization's infrastructure when the application is ready to be deployed and used.

    Kinds of supported applications

    • Event monitoring - This kind of applications involves the process of collecting data, analyzing the event that can be caused by the data, and signaling any events occurring on the data to the user.
    • Process automation - This kind of applications focuses on automating complex processes, such as workflows, which can take place with minimal human intervention.
    • Approval process control - This kind of applications consists of processes of creating and managing work approvals depending on the authorization of the user. For example, payment tasks should be managed by the approval of authorized personnel only.
    • Escalation management - This kind of applications are in the domain of customer service and focuses on the management of user viewpoints that filter out aspects that are not under the user competences.
    • Inventory management - This kind of applications is for monitoring the inflow and outflow of goods and manages the right amount of goods to be stored.
    • Quality management - This kind of applications is for managing the quality of software projects, e.g., by focusing on planning, assurance, control and improvements of quality factors.
    • Workflow management - This kind of applications is defined as sequences of tasks to be performed and monitored during their execution, e.g., to check the performance and correctness of the overall workflow.

    Source: Sahay, Apurvanand et al., 2020

    Assess the Viability of M365-O365 Security Add-Ons

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    • Parent Category Name: Security Strategy & Budgeting
    • Parent Category Link: /security-strategy-and-budgeting

    The technical side of IT security demands the best security possible, but the business side of running IT demands that you determine what is cost-effective and can still do the job. You likely shrugged off the early iterations of Microsoft’s security efforts, but you may have heard that things have changed. Where do you start in evaluating Microsoft’s security products in terms of effectiveness? The value proposition sounds tremendous to the CFO, “free” security as part of your corporate license, but how does it truly measure up and how do you articulate your findings to the business?

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    Microsoft’s security products have improved to the point where they are often ranked competitively with mainstream security products. Depending on your organization’s licensing of Office 365/Microsoft 365, some of these products are included in what you’re already paying for. That value proposition is hard to deny.

    Impact and Result

    Determine what is important to the business, and in what order of priority.

    Take a close look at your current solution and determine what are table stakes, what features you would like to have in its replacement, and what your current solution is missing.

    Consider Microsoft’s security solutions using an objective methodology. Sentiment will still be a factor, but it shouldn’t dictate the decision you make for the good of the business.

    Assess the Viability of M365/O365 Security Add-Ons Research & Tools

    Start here – read the Executive Brief

    Read our concise Executive Brief to assess the viability of M365/O365 security add-ons. Review Info-Tech’s methodology and understand the four key steps to completing this project.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Review your current state

    Examine what you are licensed for, what you are paying, what you need, and what your constraints are.

    • Microsoft 365/Office 365 Security Add-Ons Assessment Tool

    2. Assess your needs

    Determine what is “good enough” security and assess the needs of your organization.

    3. Select your path

    Decide what you will go with and start planning your next steps.

    [infographic]

    Simplify Remote Deployment With Zero-Touch Provisioning

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    • Parent Category Name: End-User Computing Strategy
    • Parent Category Link: /end-user-computing-strategy

    Provide better end-user device support to a remote workforce:

    • Remain compliant while purchasing, deploying, supporting, and decommissioning devices.
    • Save time and resources during device deployment while providing a high-quality experience to remote end users.
    • Build a set of capabilities that will let you support different use cases.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • Zero-touch is more than just deployment. This is more difficult than turning on a tool and provisioning new devices to end users.
    • Consider the entire user experience and device lifecycle to show value to the organization. Don’t forget that you will eventually need to touch the device.

    Impact and Result

    Approach zero-touch provisioning and patching from the end user’s experience:

    • Align your zero-touch approach with stakeholder priorities and larger IT strategies.
    • Build your zero-touch provisioning and patching plan from both the asset lifecycle and the end-user perspective to take a holistic approach that emphasizes customer service.
    • Tailor deployment plans to more easily scope and resource deployment projects.

    Simplify Remote Deployment With Zero-Touch Provisioning Research & Tools

    Start here – read the Executive Brief

    Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should adopt zero-touch provisioning, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Design the zero-touch experience

    Design the user’s experience and build a vision to direct your zero-touch provisioning project. Update your ITAM practices to reflect the new experience.

    • Zero-Touch Provisioning and Support Plan
    • HAM Process Workflows (Visio)
    • HAM Process Workflows (PDF)
    • End-User Device Management Standard Operating Procedure

    2. Update device management, provisioning, and patching

    Leverage new tools to manage remote endpoints, keep those devices patched, and allow users to get the apps they need to work.

    • End-User Device Build Book Template

    3. Build a roadmap and communication plan

    Create a roadmap for migrating to zero-touch provisioning.

    • Roadmap Tool
    • Communication Plan Template
    [infographic]

    Develop a Targeted Flexible Work Program for IT

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    • Parent Category Name: Attract & Select
    • Parent Category Link: /attract-and-select
    • Workplace flexibility continues to be top priority for IT employees. Organizations who fail to offer flexibility will have a difficult time attracting, recruiting, and retaining talent.
    • When the benefits of remote work are not available to everyone, this raises fairness and equity concerns.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    IT excels at hybrid location work and is more effective as a business function when location flexibility is an option for its employees. But hybrid work is just a start. A comprehensive flex work program extends beyond flexible location, so organizations must understand the needs of unique employee groups to uncover the options that will attract and retain talent.

    Impact and Result

    • Uncover the needs of unique employee segments to shortlist flexible work options that employees want and will use.
    • Assess the feasibility of various flexible work options and select ones that meet employee needs and are feasible for the organization.
    • Equip leaders with the information and tools needed to implement and sustain a flexible work program.

    Develop a Targeted Flexible Work Program for IT Research & Tools

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Assess employee and organizational flexibility needs

    Identify prioritized employee segments, flexibility challenges, and the desired state to inform program goals.

    • Develop a Targeted Flexible Work Program for IT – Phases 1-3
    • Talent Metrics Library
    • Targeted Flexible Work Program Workbook
    • Fast-Track Hybrid Work Program Workbook

    2. Identify potential flex options and assess feasibility

    Review, shortlist, and assess the feasibility of common types of flexible work. Identify implementation issues and cultural barriers.

    • Flexible Work Focus Group Guide
    • Flexible Work Options Catalog

    3. Implement selected option(s)

    Equip managers and employees to adopt flexible work options while addressing implementation issues and cultural barriers and aligning HR programs.

    • Guide to Flexible Work for Managers and Employees
    • Flexible Work Time Policy
    • Flexible Work Time Off Policy
    • Flexible Work Location Policy

    Infographic

    Workshop: Develop a Targeted Flexible Work Program for IT

    Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

    1 Prepare to Assess Flex Work Feasibility

    The Purpose

    Gather information on organizational and employee flexibility needs.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Understand the flexibility needs of the organization and its employees to inform a targeted flex work program.

    Activities

    1.1 Identify employee and organizational needs.

    1.2 Identify employee segments.

    1.3 Establish program goals and metrics.

    1.4 Shortlist flexible work options.

    Outputs

    Organizational context summary

    List of shortlisted flex work options

    2 Assess Flex Work Feasibility

    The Purpose

    Perform a data-driven feasibility analysis on shortlisted work options.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    A data-driven feasibility analysis ensures your flex work program meets its goals.

    Activities

    2.1 Conduct employee/manager focus groups to assess feasibility of flex work options.

    Outputs

    Summary of flex work options feasibility per employee segment

    3 Finalize Flex Work Options

    The Purpose

    Select the most impactful flex work options and create a plan for addressing implementation challenge

    Key Benefits Achieved

    A data-driven selection process ensures decisions and exceptions can be communicated with full transparency.

    Activities

    3.1 Finalize list of approved flex work options.

    3.2 Brainstorm solutions to implementation issues.

    3.3 Identify how to overcome cultural barriers.

    Outputs

    Final list of flex work options

    Implementation barriers and solutions summary

    4 Prepare for Implementation

    The Purpose

    Create supporting materials to ensure program implementation proceeds smoothly.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Employee- and manager-facing guides and policies ensure the program is clearly documented and communicated.

    Activities

    4.1 Design employee and manager guide prototype.

    4.2 Align HR programs and policies to support flexible work.

    4.3 Create a communication plan.

    Outputs

    Employee and manager guide to flexible work

    Flex work roadmap and communication plan

    5 Next Steps and Wrap-Up

    The Purpose

    Put everything together and prepare to implement.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Our analysts will support you in synthesizing the workshop’s efforts into a cohesive implementation strategy.

    Activities

    5.1 Complete in-progress deliverables from previous four days.

    5.2 Set up review time for workshop deliverables and to discuss next steps.

    Outputs

    Completed flexible work feasibility workbook

    Flexible work communication plan

    Further reading

    Develop a Targeted Flexible Work Program for IT

    Select flexible work options that balance organizational and employee needs to drive engagement and improve attraction and retention.

    Executive Summary

    Your Challenge

    • IT leaders continue to struggle with workplace flexibility, and it is a top priority for IT employees; as a result, organizations who fail to offer flexibility will have a difficult time attracting, recruiting, and retaining talent.
    • The benefits of remote work are not available to everyone, raising fairness and equity concerns for employees.

    Common Obstacles

    • A one-size-fits-all approach to selecting and implementing flexible work options fails to consider unique employee needs and will not reap the benefits of offering a flexible work program (e.g. higher engagement or enhanced employer brand).
    • Improper structure and implementation of flexible work programs exacerbates existing challenges (e.g. high turnover) or creates new ones.

    Info-Tech's Approach

    • Uncover the needs of unique employee segments to shortlist flexible work options that employees want and will use.
    • Assess the feasibility of various flexible work options and select ones that meet employee needs and are feasible for the organization.
    • Equip leaders with the information and tools needed to implement and sustain a flexible work program.

    Info-Tech Insight

    IT excels at hybrid location work and is more effective as a business function when location flexibility is an option for its employees. But hybrid work is just a start. A comprehensive flex work program extends beyond flexible location, so organizations must understand the needs of unique employee groups to uncover the options that will attract and retain talent.

    Flexible work arrangements are a requirement in today's world of work

    Flexible work continues to gain momentum…

    A 2022 LinkedIn report found that the following occurred between 2019 and 2021:

    +362%

    Increase in LinkedIn members sharing content with the term "flexible work."

    +83%

    Increase in job postings that mention "flexibility."
    (LinkedIn, 2022)

    In 2022, Into-Tech found that hybrid was the most commonly used location work model for IT across all industries.

    ("State of Hybrid Work in IT," Info-Tech Research Group, 2022)

    …and employees are demanding more flexibility

    90%

    of employees said they want schedule and location flexibility ("Global Employee Survey," EY, 2021).

    17%

    of resigning IT employees cited lack of flexible work options as a reason ("IT Talent Trends 2022," Info-Tech Research Group, 2022).

    71%

    of executives said they felt "pressure to change working models and adapt workplace policies to allow for greater flexibility" (LinkedIn, 2021).

    Therefore, organizations who fail to offer flexibility will be left behind

    Difficulty attracting and retaining talent

    98% of IT employees say flexible work options are important in choosing an employer ("IT Talent Trends 2022," Info-Tech Research Group, 2022).

    Worsening employee wellbeing and burnout

    Knowledge workers with minimal to no schedule flexibility are 2.2x more likely to experience work-related stress and are 1.4x more likely to suffer from burnout (Slack, 2022; N=10,818).

    Offering workplace flexibility benefits organizations and employees

    Higher performance

    IT departments that offer some degree of location flexibility are more effective at supporting the organization than those who do not.

    35% of service desk functions report improved service since implementing location flexibility.
    ("State of Hybrid Work in IT," Info-Tech Research Group, 2023).

    Enhanced employer brand

    Employees are 2.1x more likely to recommend their employer to others when they are satisfied with their organization's flexible work arrangements (LinkedIn, 2021).

    Improved attraction

    41% of IT departments cite an expanded hiring pool as a key benefit of hybrid work.

    Organizations that mention "flexibility" in their job postings have 35% more engagement with their posts (LinkedIn, 2022).

    Increased job satisfaction

    IT employees who have more control over their working arrangement experience a greater sense of contribution and trust in leadership ("State of Hybrid Work in IT," Info-Tech Research Group, 2023).

    Better work-life balance

    81% of employees say flexible work will positively impact their work-life balance (FlexJobs, 2021).

    Boosted inclusivity

    • Caregivers regardless of gender, supporting them in balancing responsibilities
    • Individuals with disabilities, enabling them to work from the comfort of their homes
    • Women who may have increased responsibilities
    • Women of color to mitigate the emotional tax experienced at work

    Info-Tech Insight

    Flexible work options are not a concession to lower productivity. Properly implemented, flex work enables employees to be more productive at reaching business goals.

    Despite the popularity of flexible work options, not all employees can participate

    IT organizations differ on how much flexibility different roles can have.

    IT employees were asked what percentage of IT roles were currently in a hybrid or remote work arrangement ("State of Hybrid Work in IT," Info-Tech Research Group, 2023).

    However, the benefits of remote work are not available to all, which raises fairness and equity concerns between remote and onsite employees.

    45%

    of employers said, "one of the biggest risks will be their ability to establish fairness and equity among employees when some jobs require a fixed schedule or location, creating a 'have and have not' dynamic based on roles" ("Businesses Suffering," EY, 2021).

    Offering schedule flexibility to employees who need to be fully onsite can be used to close the fairness and equity gap.

    When offered the choice, 54% of employees said they would choose schedule flexibility over location flexibility ("Global Employee Survey," EY, 2021).

    When employees were asked "What choice would you want your employer to provide related to when you have to work?" The top three choices were:

    68%

    Flexibility on when to start and finish work

    38%

    Compressed or four-day work weeks

    33%

    Fixed hours (e.g. 9am to 5pm)

    Disclaimer: "Percentages do not sum to 100%, as each respondent could choose up to three of the [five options provided]" ("Global Employee Survey," EY, 2021).

    Beware of the "all or nothing" approach

    There is no one-size-fits-all approach to workplace flexibility.

    Understanding the needs of various employee segments in the organization is critical to the success of a flexible work program.

    Working parents want more flexibility

    82%

    of working mothers desire flexibility in where they work.

    48%

    of working fathers "want to work remotely 3 to 5 days a week."

    Historically underrepresented groups value more flexibility

    38%

    "Thirty-eight percent of Black male employees and 33% of Black female employees would prefer a fully flexible schedule, compared to 25% of white female employees and 26% of white male employees."
    (Slack, 2022; N=10,818)

    33%

    Workplace flexibility must be customized to the organization to avoid longer working hours and heavy workloads that impact employee wellbeing

    84%

    of remote workers and 61% of onsite workers reported working longer hours post pandemic. Longer working hours were attributed to reasons such as pressure from management and checking emails after working hours (Indeed, 2021).

    2.6x

    Respondents who either agreed or strongly agreed with the statement "Generally, I find my workload reasonable" were 2.6x more likely to be engaged compared to those who stated they disagreed or strongly disagreed (McLean & Company Engagement Survey Database;2022; N=5,615 responses).

    Longer hours and unsustainable workloads can contribute to stress and burnout, which is a threat to employee engagement and retention. With careful management (e.g. setting clear expectations and establishing manageable workloads), flexible work arrangement benefits can be preserved.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Employees' lived experiences and needs determine if people use flexible work programs – a flex program that has limited use or excludes people will not benefit the organization.

    Develop a flexible work program that meets employee and organizational needs

    This is an image of a sample flexible work program which meets employee and organizational needs.

    Insight summary

    Overarching insight: IT excels at hybrid location work and is more effective as a business function when location, time, and time-off flexibility are an option for its employees.

    Introduction

    Step 1 insight

    Step 2 insight

    Step 3 insight

    • Flexible work options are not a concession to lower productivity. Properly implemented, flex work enables employees to be more productive at reaching business goals.
    • Employees' lived experiences and needs determine if people use flexible work programs – a flex program that has limited use or excludes people will not benefit the organization.
    • Flexible work benefits everyone. IT employees experience greater engagement, motivation, and company loyalty. IT organizations realize benefits such as better service coverage, reduced facilities costs, and increased productivity.
    • Hybrid work is a start. A comprehensive flex work program extends beyond flexible location to flexible time and time off. Organizations must understand the needs of unique employee groups to uncover the options that will attract and retain talent. Provide greater inclusivity to employees by broadening the scope to include flex location, flex time, and flex time off.
    • No two employee segments are the same. To be effective, flexible work options must align with the expectations and working processes of each segment.
    • Every role is eligible for hybrid location work. If onsite work duties prevent an employee group from participating, see if processes can be digitized or automated. Flexible work is an opportunity to go beyond current needs to future proofing your organization.
    • Flexible work options must balance organizational and employee needs. If an option is beneficial to employees but there is little or no benefit to the organization, or if the cost of the option is too high, it will not support the long-term success of the organization.
    • Prioritize flexible work options that employees want. Providing too many options often leads to information overload and results in employees not understanding what is available, lowering adoption of the flexible work program.
    • Leaders' collective support of the flexible program determines the program's successful adoption. Don't sweep cultural barriers under the rug; acknowledge and address them to overcome them.
    • Negative performance of a flexible work option does not necessarily mean failure. Take the time to evaluate whether the option simply needs to be tweaked or whether it truly isn't working for the organization.
    • A set of formal guidelines for IT ensures flexible work is:
      1. Administered fairly across all IT employees.
      2. Defensible and clear.
      3. Scalable to the rest of the organization.

    Case Study

    Expanding hybrid work at Info-Tech

    Challenge

    In 2020, Info-Tech implemented emergency work-from-home for its IT department, along with the rest of the organization. Now in 2023, hybrid work is firmly embedded in Info-Tech's culture, with plans to continue location flexibility for the foreseeable future.

    Adjusting to the change came with lessons learned and future-looking questions.

    Lessons Learned

    Moving into remote work was made easier by certain enablers that had already been put in place. These included issuing laptops instead of desktops to the user base and using an existing cloud-based infrastructure. Much support was already being done remotely, making the transition for the support teams virtually seamless.

    Continuing hybrid work has brought benefits such as reduced commuting costs for employees, higher engagement, and satisfaction among staff that their preferences were heard.

    Looking Forward

    Every flexible work implementation is a work in progress and must be continually revisited to ensure it continues to meet organizational and employee needs. Current questions being explored at Info-Tech are:

    • The concept of the "office as a tool" – how does use of the office change when it is used for specific collaboration-related tasks, rather than everything? How should the physical space change to support this?
    • What does a viable replacement for quick hallway meetings look like in a remote world where communication is much more deliberate? How can managers adjust their practices to ensure the benefits of informal encounters aren't lost?

    Info-Tech offers various levels of support to best suit your needs

    DIY Toolkit

    “Our team has already made this critical project a priority, and we have the time and capability, but some guidance along the way would be helpful.”

    Guided Implementation

    “Our team knows that we need to fix a process, but we need assistance to determine where to focus. Some check-ins along the way would help keep us on track.”

    Workshop

    “We need to hit the ground running and get this project kicked off immediately. Our team has the ability to take this over once we get a framework and strategy in place.”

    Consulting

    “Our team does not have the time or the knowledge to take this project on. We need assistance through the entirety of this project.”

    Diagnostics and consistent frameworks used throughout all four options

    Guided Implementation

    What does a typical GI on this topic look like?

    Preparation

    Step 1

    Step 2

    Step 3

    Follow-up

    Call #1: Scope requirements, objectives, and your specific challenges.

    Call #2: Assess employee and organizational needs.

    Call #3: Shortlist flex work options and assess feasibility.

    Call #4: Finalize flex work options and create rollout plan.

    Call #5: (Optional) Review rollout progress or evaluate pilot success.

    A Guided Implementation (GI) is a series of calls with an Info-Tech analyst to help implement our best practices in your organization.

    A typical GI is 3 to 5 calls over the course of 4 to 6 months.

    Workshop Overview

    Contact your account representative for more information.
    workshops@infotech.com 1-888-670-8889

    Day 1

    Day 2

    Day 3

    Day 4

    Day 5

    Activities

    Prepare to assess flex work feasibility

    Assess flex work feasibility

    Finalize flex work options

    Prepare for implementation

    Next Steps and Wrap-Up (offsite)

    1.1 Identify employee and organizational needs.

    1.2 Identify employee segments.

    1.3 Establish program goals and metrics.

    1.4 Shortlist flex work options.

    2.1 Conduct employee/manager focus groups to assess feasibility of flex work options.

    3.1 Finalize list of approved flex work options.

    3.2 Brainstorm solutions to implementation issues.

    3.2 Identify how to overcome cultural barriers.

    4.1 Design employee and manager guide prototype.

    4.2 Align HR programs and policies to support flexible work.

    4.3 Create a communication plan.

    5.1 Complete in-progress deliverables from previous four days.

    5.2 Set up review time for workshop deliverables and to discuss next steps.

    Deliverables
    1. Organizational context summary
    2. List of shortlisted flex work options
    1. Summary of flex work options' feasibility per employee segment
    1. 1.Final list of flex work options
    2. 2.Implementation barriers and solutions summary
    1. Employee and manager guide to flexible work
    2. Flex work roadmap and communication plan
    1. Completed flexible work feasibility workbook
    2. Flexible work communication plan

    Step 1

    Assess employee and organizational needs

    1. Assess employee and organizational flexibility needs
    2. Identify potential flex options and assess feasibility
    3. Implement selected option(s)

    After completing this step you will have:

    • Identified key stakeholders and their responsibilities
    • Uncovered the current and desired state of the organization
    • Analyzed feedback to identify flexibility challenges
    • Identified and prioritized employee segments
    • Determined the program goals
    • Identified the degree of flexibility for work location, timing, and deliverables

    Identify key stakeholders

    Organizational flexibility requires collaborative and cross-functional involvement to determine which flexible options will meet the needs of a diverse workforce. HR leads the project to explore flexible work options, while other stakeholders provide feedback during the identification and implementation processes.

    HR
    • Assist with the design, implementation, and maintenance of the program.
    • Provide managers and employees with guidance to establish successful flexible work arrangements.
    • Help develop communications to launch and maintain the program.

    Senior Leaders
    • Champion the project by modeling and promoting flexible work options
    • Help develop and deliver communications; set the tone for flexible work at the organization.
    • Provide input into determining program goals.

    Managers
    • Model flexible work options and encourage direct reports to request and discuss options.
    • Use flexible work program guidelines to work with direct reports to select suitable flexible work options.
    • Develop performance metrics and encourage communication between flexible and non-flexible workers.

    Flexible Workers
    • Indicate preferences of flexible work options to the manager.
    • Identify ways to maintain operational continuity and communication while working flexibly.
    • Flag issues and suggest improvements to the manager.
    • Develop creative ways to work with colleagues who don't work flexibly.

    Non-Flexible Workers
    • Share feedback on issues with flexible arrangements and their impact on operational continuity.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Flexible work is a holistic team effort. Leaders, flexible workers, teammates, and HR must clearly understand their roles to ensure that teams are set up for success.

    Uncover the current and desired state of flexibility in the organization

    Current State

    Target State

    Review:

    • Existing policies related to flexibility (e.g. vacation, work from anywhere)
    • Existing flexibility programs (e.g. seasonal hours) and their uptake
    • Productivity of employees
    • Current culture at the organization. Look for:
      • Employee autonomy
      • Reporting structure and performance management processes
      • Trust and psychological safety of employees
      • Leadership behavior (e.g. do leaders model work-life balance, or does the organization have a work 24/7 mentality?)

    Identify what is driving the need for flexible work options. Ask:

    • Why does the organization need flexible options?
      • For example, the introduction of flexibility for some employees has created a "have and have not" dynamic between roles that must be addressed.
    • What does the organization hope to gain from implementing flexible options? For example:
      • Improved retention
      • Increased attraction, remaining competitive for talent
      • Increased work-life balance for employees
      • Reduced burnout
    • What does the organization aspire to be?
      • For example, an organization that creates an environment that values output, not face time.

    These drivers identify goals for the organization to achieve through targeted flexible work options.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Hybrid work is a start. A comprehensive flex work program extends beyond flexible location, so organizations must understand the needs of unique employee groups to uncover the options that will attract and retain talent. Provide greater inclusivity to employees by broadening the scope to include flex location, flex time, and flex time off.

    Identify employee segments

    Using the data, feedback, and challenges analyzed and uncovered so far, assess the organization and identify employee segments.

    Identify employee segments with common characteristics to assess if they require unique flexible work options. Assess the feasibility options for the segments separately in Step 2.

    • Segments' unique characteristics include:
      • Role responsibilities (e.g. interacting with users, creating reports, development and testing)
      • Work location/schedule (e.g. geographic, remote vs. onsite, 9 to 5)
      • Work processes (e.g. server maintenance, phone support)
      • Group characteristics (e.g. specific teams, new hires)

    Identify employee segments and sort them into groups based on the characteristics above.

    Examples of segments:

    • Functional area (e.g. Service Desk, Security)
    • Job roles (e.g. desktop support, server maintenance)
    • Onsite, remote, or hybrid
    • Full-time or part-time
    • Job level (e.g. managers vs. independent contributors)
    • Employees with dependents

    Prioritize employee segments

    Determine whether the organization needs flexible work options for the entire organization or specific employee segments.
    For specific employee segments:

    • Answer the questions on the right to identify whether an employee segment is high, medium, or low priority. Complete slides 23 to 25 for each high-priority segment, repeating the process for medium-priority segments when resources allow.

    For the entire organization:

    • When identifying an option for the entire organization, consider all segments. The approach must create consistency and inclusion; keep this top of mind when identifying flexibility on slides 23 to 25. For example, the work location flexibility would be low in an organization where some segments can work remotely and others must be onsite due to machinery requirements.

    High priority: The employee segment has the lowest engagement scores or highest turnover within the organization. Segment sentiment is that current flexibility is nonexistent or not sufficiently meeting needs.
    Medium priority: The employee segment has low engagement or high turnover. Segment sentiment is that currently available flexibility is minimal or not sufficiently meeting needs.
    Low priority: The segment does not have the lowest engagement or the highest turnover rate. Segment sentiment is that currently available flexibility is sufficiently meeting needs.

    1. What is the impact on the organization if this segment's challenges aren't addressed (e.g. if low engagement and high turnover are not addressed)?
    2. How critical is flexibility to the segment's needs/engagement?
    3. How time sensitive is it to introduce flexibility to this segment (e.g. is the organization losing employees in this segment at a high rate)?
    4. Will providing flexibility to this segment increase organizational productivity or output

    Identify challenges to address with flexibility

    Uncover the lived experiences and expectations of employees to inform selection of segments and flexible options.

    1. Collect data from existing sources, such as:
      • Engagement surveys
      • New hire/exit surveys
      • Employee experience monitor surveys
      • Employee retention pulse surveys
      • Burnout surveys
      • DEI pulse surveys
    2. Analyze employee feedback on experiences with:
      • Work duties
      • Workload
      • Work-life balance
      • Operating processes and procedures
      • Achieving operational outcomes
      • Collaboration and communication
      • Individual experience and engagement
    3. Evaluate the data and identify challenges

    Example challenges:

    • Engagement: Low average score on work-life balance question; flexible work suggested in open-ended responses.
    • Retention: Exit survey indicating that lack of work-life balance is consistently a reason employees leave. Include the cost of turnover (e.g. recruitment, training, severance).
    • Burnout: Feedback from employees through surveys or HR business partner anecdotes indicating high burnout; high usage of wellness services or employee assistance programs.
    • Absenteeism: High average number of days employees were absent in the past year. Include the cost of lost productivity.
    • Operational continuity: Provide examples of when flexible work would have enabled operational continuity in the case of disaster or extended customer service coverage.
    • Program uptake: If the organization already has a flexible work program, provide data on the low proportion of eligible employees using available options.

    1.1 Prepare to evaluate flexible work options

    1-3 hours

    Follow the guidance on preceding slides to complete the following activities.
    Note: If you are only considering remote or hybrid work, use the Fast-Track Hybrid Work Program Workbook. Otherwise, proceed with the Targeted Flexible Work Program Workbook.

    1. Identify key stakeholders. Be sure to record the level of involvement and responsibility expected from each stakeholder. Use the "Stakeholders" tab of the workbook.
    2. Uncover current and desired state. Review and record your current state with respect to culture, productivity, and current flexible work options, if any. Next, record your desired future state, including reasons for implementing flexible work, and goals for the program. Record this in the "Current and Desired State" tab of the workbook.
    3. Identify and prioritize employee segments. Identify and record employee segments. Depending on the size of your department, you may identify a few or many. Be as granular as necessary to fully separate employee groups with different needs. If your resources or needs prevent you from rolling out flexible work to the entire department, record the priority level of each segment so you can focus on the highest priority first.
    4. Identify challenges with flexibility. With each employee segment in mind, analyze your available data to identify and record each segment's main challenges regarding flexible work. These will inform your program goals and metrics.

    Download the Targeted Flexible Work Program Workbook

    Download the Fast-Track Hybrid Work Program Workbook

    Input

    • List of departmental roles
    • Data on employee engagement, productivity, sentiment regarding flexible work, etc.

    Output

    • List of stakeholders and responsibilities
    • Flexible work challenges and aims
    • Prioritized list of employee segments

    Materials

    • Targeted Flexible Work Program Workbook
      Or
    • Fast-Track Hybrid Work Program Workbook

    Participants

    • IT department head
    • HR business partner
    • Flexible work program committee

    Determine goals and metrics for the flexible work program

    Sample program goals

    Sample metrics

    Increase productivity
    • Employee, team, and department key performance indicators (KPIs) before and after flexible work implementation
    • Absenteeism rate (% of lost working days due to all types of absence)

    Improve business satisfaction and perception of IT value

    Increase retention
    • % of exiting employees who cite lack of flexible work options or poor work-life balance as a reason they left
    • Turnover and retention rates

    Improve the employee value proposition (EVP) and talent attraction
    • # of responses on the new hire survey where flexible work options or work-life balance are cited as a reason for accepting an employment offer
    • # of views of career webpage that mentions flexible work program
    • Time-to-fill rates

    Improve engagement and work-life balance

    • Overall engagement score – deploy Info-Tech's Employee Engagement Diagnostics
    • Score for questions about work-life balance on employee engagement or pulse survey, including:
      • "I am able to maintain a balance between my work and personal life."
      • "I find my stress levels at work manageable."

    Info-Tech Insight

    Implementing flex work without solid performance metrics means you won't have a way of determining whether the program is enabling or hampering your business practices.

    1.2 Determine goals and metrics

    30 minutes

    Use the examples on the preceding slide to identify program goals and metrics:

    1. Brainstorm program goals. Be sure to consider both the business benefits (e.g. productivity, retention) and the employee benefits (work-life balance, engagement). A successful flexible work program benefits both the organization and its employees.
    2. Brainstorm metrics for each goal. Identify metrics that are easy to track accurately. Use Info-Tech's IT and HR metrics libraries for reference. Ideally, the metrics you choose should already exist in your organization so no extra effort will be necessary to implement them. It is also important to have a baseline measure of each one before flexible work is rolled out.
    3. Record your outputs on the "Goals and Metrics" tab of the workbook.

    Download the Targeted Flexible Work Program Workbook

    Download the IT Metrics Library

    Download the HR Metrics Library

    Input

    • Organizational and departmental strategy

    Output

    • List of program goals and metrics

    Materials

    • Targeted Flexible Work Program Workbook
      Or
    • Fast-Track Hybrid Work Program Workbook

    Participants

    • Flexible work program committee

    Determine work location flexibility for priority segments

    Work location looks at where a segment can complete all or some of their tasks (e.g. onsite vs. remote). For each prioritized employee segment, evaluate the amount of location flexibility available.

    Work Duties

    Processes

    Operational Outcomes

    High degree of flexibility
    • Low dependence on onsite equipment
    • Work easily shifts to online platforms
    • Low dependence on onsite external interactions (e.g. clients, customers, vendors)
    • Low interdependence of work duties internally (most work is independent)
    • Work processes and expectations are or can be formally documented
    • Remote work processes are sustainable long term

    Most or all operational outcomes can be achieved offsite (e.g. products/service delivery not impacted by WFH)
    • Some dependence on onsite equipment
    • Some work can shift to online platforms
    • Some dependence on onsite external interactions
    • Some interdependence of work duties internally (collaboration is critical)
    • Most work processes and expectations have been or can be formally documented
    • Remote work processes are sustainable (e.g. workarounds can be supported and didn't add work)

    Some operational outcomes can be achieved offsite (e.g. some impact of WFH on product/service delivery)

    Low degree of flexibility
    • High dependence on onsite equipment
    • Work cannot shift to online platforms
    • High dependence on onsite external interactions
    • High interdependence of work duties internally (e.g. line work)
    • Few work processes and expectations can be formally documented
    • Work processes cannot be done remotely, and workarounds for remote work are not sustainable long term

    Operational outcomes cannot be achieved offsite (e.g. significant impairment to product/service delivery)

    Note

    If roles within the segment have differing levels of location flexibility, use the lowest results (e.g. if role A in the segment has a high degree of flexibility for work duties and role B has a low degree of flexibility, use the results for role B).

    Identify work timing for priority segments

    Work timing looks at when work can or needs to be completed (e.g. Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm).

    Work Duties

    Processes

    Operational Outcomes

    High degree of flexibility

    • No need to be available to internal and/or external customers during standard work hours
    • Equipment is available at any time
    • Does not rely on synchronous (occurring at the same time) work duties internally
    • Work processes and expectations are or can be formally documented
    • Low reliance on collaboration
    • Work is largely asynchronous (does not occur at the same time)

    Most or all operational outcomes are not time sensitive

    • Must be available to internal and/or external customers during some standard work hours
    • Some reliance on synchronous work duties internally (collaboration is critical)
    • Most work processes and expectations have been or can be formally documented
    • Moderate reliance on collaboration
    • Some work is synchronous

    Some operational outcomes are time sensitive and must be conducted within set date or time windows

    Low degree of flexibility

    • Must be available to internal and/or external customers during all standard work hours (e.g. Monday to Friday 9 to 5)
    • High reliance on synchronous work duties internally (e.g. line work)
    • Few work processes and expectations can be formally documented
    • High reliance on collaboration
    • Most work is synchronous

    Most or all operational outcomes are time sensitive and must be conducted within set date or time windows

    Note

    With additional coordination, flex time or flex time off options are still possible for employee segments with a low degree of flexibility. For example, with a four-day work week, the segment can be split into two teams – one that works Monday to Thursday and one that works Tuesday to Friday – so that employees are still available for clients five days a week.

    Examine work deliverables for priority segments

    Work deliverables look at the employee's ability to deliver on their role expectations (e.g. quota or targets) and whether reducing the time spent working would, in all situations, impact the work deliverables (e.g. constrained vs. unconstrained).

    Work Duties

    Operational Outcomes

    High degree of flexibility

    • Few or no work duties rely on equipment or processes that put constraints on output (unconstrained output)
    • Employees have autonomy over which work duties they focus on each day
    • Most or all operational outcomes are unconstrained (e.g. a marketing analyst who builds reports and strategies for clients can produce more reports, produce better reports, or identify new strategies)
    • Work quota or targets are achievable even if working fewer hours
    • Some work duties rely on equipment or processes that put constraints on output
    • Employees have some ability to decide which work duties they focus on each day
    • Some operational outcomes are constrained or moderately unconstrained (e.g. an analyst build reports based on client data; while it's possible to find efficiencies and build reports faster, it's not possible to attain the client data any faster)
    • Work quota or targets may be achievable if working fewer hours

    Low degree of flexibility

    • Most or all work duties rely on equipment or processes that put constraints on output (constrained output)
    • Daily work duties are prescribed (e.g. a telemarketer is expected to call a set number of people per day using a set list of contacts and a defined script)
    • Most or all operational outcomes are constrained (e.g. a machine operator works on a machine that produces 100 parts an hour; neither the machine nor the worker can produce more parts)
    • Work quota or targets cannot be achieved if fewer hours are worked

    Note

    For segments with a low degree of work deliverable flexibility (e.g. very constrained output), flexibility is still an option, but maintaining output would require additional headcount.

    1.3 Determine flexibility needs and constraints

    1-2 hours

    Use the guidelines on the preceding slides to document the parameters of each work segment.

    1. Determine work location flexibility. Work location looks at where a segment can complete all or some of their tasks (e.g. onsite vs. remote). For each prioritized employee segment, evaluate the amount of location flexibility available.
    2. Identify work timing. Work timing looks at when work can or needs to be completed (e.g. Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm).
    3. Examine work deliverables. Work deliverables look at the employee's ability to deliver on their role expectations (e.g. quota or targets) and whether reducing the time spent working would, in all situations, impact the work deliverables (e.g. constrained vs. unconstrained).
    4. Record your outputs on the "Current and Desired State" tab of the workbook.

    Download the Targeted Flexible Work Program Workbook

    Input

    • List of employee segments

    Output

    • Summary of flexibility needs and constraints for each employee segment

    Materials

    • Targeted Flexible Work Program Workbook
      Or
    • Fast-Track Hybrid Work Program Workbook

    Participants

    • Flexible work program committee
    • Employee segment managers

    Step 2

    Identify potential flex options and assess feasibility

    1. Assess employee and organizational flexibility needs
    2. Identify potential flex options and assess feasibility
    3. Implement selected option(s)

    After completing this step you will have:

    • Created a shortlist of potential options for each prioritized employee segment
    • Evaluated the feasibility of each potential option
    • Determined the cost and benefit of each potential option
    • Gathered employee sentiment on potential options
    • Finalized options with senior leadership

    Prepare to identify and assess the feasibility of potential flexible work options

    First, review the Flexible Work Solutions Catalog

    Before proceeding to the next slide, review the Flexible Work Options Catalog to identify and shortlist five to seven flexible work options that are best suited to address the challenges faced for each of the priority employee segments identified in Step 1.

    Then, assess the feasibility of implementing selected options using slides 29 to 32

    Assess the feasibility of implementing the shortlisted solutions for the prioritized employee segments against the feasibility factors in this step. Repeat for each employee segment. Use the following slides to consult with and include leaders when appropriate.

    • Document your analysis in tabs 6 to 8 of the Targeted Flexible Work Program Workbook.
    • Note implementation issues throughout the assessment and record them in the tool. They will be addressed in Step 3: Implement Selected Program(s). Don't rule out an option simply because it presents some challenges; careful implementation can overcome many challenges.
    • At the end of this step, determine the final list of flexible work options and gain approval from senior leaders for implementation.

    Evaluate feasibility by reviewing the option's impact on continued operations and job performance

    Operational coverage

    Synchronous communication

    Time zones

    Face-to-face

    communication

    To what extent are employees needed to deliver products or services?

    • If constant customer service is required, stagger employees' schedules (e.g. one team works Monday-Thursday while another works Tuesday-Friday).

    To what extent do employees need to communicate with each other synchronously?

    • Break the workflow down and identify times when employees do and do not have to work at the same time to communicate with each other.

    To what extent do employees need to coordinate work across time zones?

    • If the organization already operates in different time zones, ensure that the option does not impact operations requiring continuous coverage.
    • When employees are located in different time zones, coordinate schedules based on the other operational factors.

    When do employees need to interact with each other or clients in person?

    • Examine the workflow closely to identify times when face-to-face communication is not required. Schedule "office days" for employees to work together when in-person interaction is needed.
    • When the interaction is only required with clients, determine whether employees are able to meet clients offsite.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Every role is eligible for hybrid location work. If onsite work duties prevent an employee group from participating, see if processes can be digitized or automated. Flexible work is an opportunity to go beyond current needs to future-proof your organization.

    Assess the option's alignment with organizational culture

    Symbols

    Values

    		 Behaviors

    How supportive of flexible work are the visible aspects of the organization's culture?

    • For example, the mission statement, newsletters, or office layout.
    • Note: Visible elements will need to be adapted to ensure they reinforce the value of the flexible work option.

    How supportive are both the stated and lived values of the organization?

    • When the flexible work option includes less direct supervision, assess how empowered employees feel to make decisions.
    • Assess whether all types of employees (e.g. virtual) are included, valued, and supported.

    How supportive are the attitudes and behaviors, especially of leaders?

    • Leaders set the expectations for acceptable behaviors in the organization. Determine how supportive leaders are toward flexible workers by examining their attitudes and perceptions.
    • Identify if employees are open to different ways of doing work.

    Determine the resources required for the option

    People

    Process

    		 Technology

    Do employees have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to adopt this option?

    • Identify any areas (e.g. process, technology) employees will need to be trained on and assess the associated costs.
    • Determine whether the option will require additional headcount to ensure operational continuity (e.g. two part-time employees in a job-sharing arrangement) and calculate associated costs (e.g. recruitment, training, benefits).

    How much will work processes need to change?

    • Interview organizational leaders with knowledge of the employee segment's core work processes. Determine whether a significant change will be required.
    • If a significant change is required, evaluate whether the benefits of the option outweigh the costs of the process and behavioral change (see the "net benefit" factor on slide 33).

    What new technologies will be required?

    • Identify the technology (e.g. that supports communication, work processes) required to enable the flexible work option.
    • Note whether existing technology can be used or additional technology will be required, and further investigate the viability and costs of these options.

    Examine the option's risks

    Data

    Health & Safety

    Legal

    How will data be kept secure?

    • Determine whether the organization's data policy and technology covers employees working remotely or other flexible work options.
    • If the employee segment handles sensitive data (e.g. personal employee information), consult relevant stakeholders to determine how data can be kept secure and assess any associated costs.

    How will employees' health and safety be impacted?

    • Consult your organization's legal counsel to determine whether the organization will be liable for the employees' health and safety while working from home or other locations.
    • Determine whether the organization's policies and processes will need to be modified.

    What legal risks might be involved?

    • Identify any policies in place or jurisdictional requirements to avoid any legal risks. Consult your organization's legal counsel about the situations below.
      • If the option causes significant changes to the nature of jobs, creating the risk of constructive dismissal.
      • If there are any risks to providing less supervision (e.g. higher chance of harassment).
      • When only some employee segments are eligible for the option, determine whether there is a risk of inequitable access.
      • If the option impacts any unionized employees or collective agreements.

    Determine whether the benefits of the option outweigh the costs

    Include senior leadership in the net benefit process to ensure any unfeasible options are removed from consideration before presenting to employees.

    1. Document the employee and employer benefits of the option from the previous feasibility factors on slides 29 to 32.
    • Include the benefits of reaching program goals identified in Step 1.
    • Quantify the benefits in dollar value where possible.
  • Document the costs and risks of the option, referring to the costs noted from previous feasibility factors.
    • Quantify the costs in dollar value where possible.
  • Compare the benefits and costs.
    • Add an option to your final list if the benefits are greater than the costs.

    • This is an image of a table with the main heading being Net Benefit, with the following subheadings: Benefits to organization; Benefits to employees; Costs.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Flexible work options must balance organizational and employee needs. If an option is beneficial to employees but there is little or no benefit to the organization as a whole, or if the cost of the option is too high, it will not support the long-term success of the organization.

    2.1a Identify and evaluate flexible work options

    30 minutes per employee segment per work option

    If you are only considering hybrid or remote work, skip to activity 2.1b. Use the guidelines on the preceding slides to conduct feasibility assessments.

    1. Shortlist flexible work options. Review the Flexible Work Options Catalog to identify and shortlist five to seven flexible work options that are best suited to address the challenges faced for each of the priority employee segments. Record these on the "Options Shortlist" tab of the workbook. Even if the decision is simple, ensure you record the rationale to help communicate your decision to employees. Transparent communication is the best way to avoid feelings of unfairness if desired work options are not implemented.
    2. Evaluate option feasibility. For each of the shortlisted options, complete one "Feasibility - Option" tab in the workbook. Make as many copies of this tab as needed.
      • When evaluating each option, consider each employee segment individually as you work through the prompts in the workbook. You may find that segments differ greatly in the feasibility of various types of flexible work. You will use this information to inform your overall policy and any exceptions to it.
      • You may need to involve each segment's management team to get an accurate picture of day-to-day responsibilities and flexible work feasibility.
    3. Weigh benefits and costs. At the end of each flexible work option evaluation, record the anticipated costs and benefits. Discuss whether this balance renders the option viable or rules it out.

    Download the Targeted Flexible Work Program Workbook

    Download the Flexible Work Options Catalog

    Input

    • List of employee segments

    Output

    • Shortlist of flexible work options
    • Feasibility analysis for each work option

    Materials

    • Targeted Flexible Work Program Workbook
    • Flexible Work Options Catalog

    Participants

    • Flexible work program committee
    • Employee segment managers

    2.1b Assess hybrid work feasibility

    30 minutes per employee segment

    Use the guidelines on the preceding slides to conduct a feasibility assessment. This exercise relies on having trialed hybrid or remote work before. If you have never implemented any degree of remote work, consider completing the full feasibility assessment in activity 2.1a.

    1. Evaluate hybrid work feasibility. Review the feasibility prompts on the "Work Unit Remote Work Assessment" tab and record your insight for each employee segment.
      • When evaluating each option, consider each employee segment individually as you work through the prompts in the workbook. You may find that segments differ greatly in their ability to accommodate hybrid work. You will use this information to inform your overall policy and any exceptions to it.
      • You may need to involve each segment's management team to get an accurate picture of day-to-day responsibilities and hybrid work feasibility.

    Download the Fast-Track Hybrid Work Program Workbook

    Input

    • List of employee segments

    Output

    • Feasibility analysis for each work option

    Materials

    • Fast-Track Hybrid Work Program Workbook

    Participants

    • Flexible work program committee
    • Employee segment managers

    Ask employees which options they prefer and gather feedback for implementation

    Deliver a survey and/or conduct focus groups with a selection of employees from all prioritized employee segments.

    Share

    • Present your draft list of options to select employees.
    • Communicate that the organization is in the process of assessing the feasibility of flexible work options and would like employee input to ensure flex work meets needs.
    • Be clear that the list is not final or guaranteed.

    Ask

    • Ask which options are preferred more than others.
    • Ask for feedback on each option – how could it be modified to meet employee needs better? Use this information to inform implementation in Step 3.

    Decide

    • Prioritize an option if many employees indicated an interest in it.
    • If employees indicate no interest in an option, consider eliminating it from the list, unless it will be required. There is no value in providing an option if employees won't use it.

    Survey

    • List the options and ask respondents to rate each on a Likert scale from 1 to 5.
    • Ask some open-ended questions with comment boxes for employee suggestions.

    Focus Group

    • Conduct focus groups to gather deeper feedback.
    • See Appendix I for sample focus group questions.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Prioritize flexible work options that employees want. Providing too many options often leads to information overload and results in employees not understanding what is available, lowering adoption of the flexible work program.

    Finalize options list with senior leadership

    1. Select one to three final options and outline the details of each. Include:
      • Scope: To what extent will the option be applied? E.g. work-from-home one or two days a week.
      • Eligibility: Which employee segments are eligible?
      • Cost: What investment will be required?
      • Critical implementation issues: Will any of the implementation issues identified for each feasibility factor impact whether the option will be approved?
      • Resources: What additional resources will be required (e.g. technology)?
    2. Present the options to stakeholders for approval. Include:
      • An outline of the finalized options, including what the option is and the scope, eligibility, and critical implementation issues.
      • The feasibility assessment results, including benefits, costs, and employee preferences. Have more detail from the other factors ready if leaders ask about them.
      • The investment (cost) required to implement the option.
    3. Proceed to Step 3 to implement approved options.

    Running an IT pilot of flex work

    • As a technology department, IT typically doesn't own flexible work implementation for the entire organization. However, it is common to trial flexible work options for IT first, before rolling out to the entire organization.
    • During a flex work pilot, ensure you are working closely with HR partners, especially regarding regulatory and compliance issues.
    • Keep the rest of the organizational stakeholders in the loop, especially regarding their agreement on the metrics by which the pilot's success will be evaluated.

    2.2a Finalize flexible work options

    2-3 hours + time to gather employee feedback

    If you are only considering hybrid or remote work, skip to activity 2.2b. Use the guidelines on the preceding slides to gather final feedback and finalize work option selections.

    1. Gather employee feedback. If employee preferences are already known, skip this step. If they are not, gather feedback to ascertain whether any of the shortlisted options are preferred. Remember that a successful flexible work program balances the needs of employees and the business, so employee preference is a key determinant in flexible work program success. Document this on the "Employee Preferences" tab of the workbook.
    2. Finalize flexible work options. Use your notes on the cost-benefit balance for each option, along with employee preferences, to decide whether the move forward with it. Record this decision on the "Options Final List" tab. Include information about eligible employee segments and any implementation challenges that came up during the feasibility assessments. This is the final decision summary that will inform your flexible program parameters and policies.

    Download the Targeted Flexible Work Program Workbook

    Input

    • Flexible work options shortlist

    Output

    • Final flexible work options list

    Materials

    • Targeted Flexible Work Program Workbook

    Participants

    • Flexible work program committee

    2.2b Finalize hybrid work parameters

    2-3 hours + time to gather employee feedback

    Use the guidelines on the preceding slides to gather final feedback and finalize work option selections.

    1. Summarize feasibility analysis. On the "Program Parameters" tab, record the main insights from your feasibility analysis. Finalize important elements, including eligibility for hybrid/remote work by employee segment. Additionally, record the standard parameters for the program (i.e. those that apply to all employee segments) and variable parameters (i.e. ones that differ by employee segment).

    Download the Fast-Track Hybrid Work Program Workbook

    Input

    • Hybrid work feasibility analysis

    Output

    • Final hybrid work program parameters

    Materials

    • Fast-Track Hybrid Work Program Workbook

    Participants

    • Flexible work program committee

    Step 3

    Implement selected option(s)

    1. Assess employee and organizational flexibility needs
    2. Identify potential flex options and assess feasibility
    3. Implement selected option(s)

    After completing this step, you will have:

    • Addressed implementation issues and cultural barriers
    • Equipped the organization to adopt flexible work options successfully
    • Piloted the program and assessed its success
    • Developed a plan for program rollout and communication
    • Established a program evaluation plan
    • Aligned HR programs to support the program

    Solve the implementation issues identified in your feasibility assessment

    1. Identify a solution for each implementation issue documented in the Targeted Flexible Work Program Workbook. Consider the following when identifying solutions:
      • Scope: Determine whether the solution will be applied to one or all employee segments.
      • Stakeholders: Identify stakeholders to consult and develop a solution. If the scope is one employee segment, work with organizational leaders of that segment. When the scope is the entire organization, consult with senior leaders.
      • Implementation: Collaborate with stakeholders to solve implementation issues. Balance the organizational and employee needs, referring to data gathered in Steps 1 and 2.

    Example:

    Issue

    Solution

    Option 1: Hybrid work

    Brainstorming at the beginning of product development benefits from face-to-face collaboration.

    Block off a "brainstorming day" when all team members are required in the office.

    Employee segment: Product innovation team

    One team member needs to meet weekly with the implementation team to conduct product testing.

    Establish a schedule with rotating responsibility for a team member to be at the office for product testing; allow team members to swap days if needed.

    Address cultural barriers by involving leaders

    To shift a culture that is not supportive of flexible work, involve leaders in setting an example for employees to follow.

    Misconceptions

    Tactics to overcome them
    • Flexible workers are less productive.
    • Flexible work disrupts operations.
    • Flexible workers are less committed to the organization.
    • Flexible work only benefits employees, not the organization.
    • Employees are not working if they aren't physically in the office.

    Make the case by highlighting challenges and expected benefits for both the organization and employees (e.g. same or increased productivity). Use data in the introductory section of this blueprint.

    Demonstrate operational feasibility by providing an overview of the feasibility assessment conducted to ensure operational continuity.

    Involve most senior leadership in communication.

    Encourage discovery and exploration by having managers try flexible work options themselves, which will help model it for employees.

    Highlight success stories within the organization or from competitors or similar industries.

    Invite input from managers on how to improve implementation and ownership, which helps to discover hidden options.

    Shift symbols, values, and behaviors

    • Work with senior leaders to identify symbols, values, and behaviors to modify to align with the selected flexible work options.
    • Validate that the final list aligns with your organization's mission, vision, and values.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Leaders' collective support of the flexible program determines the program's successful adoption. Don't sweep cultural barriers under the rug; acknowledge and address them to overcome them.

    Equip the organization for successful implementation

    Info-Tech recommends providing managers and employees with a guide to flexible work, introducing policies, and providing training for managers.

    Provide managers and employees with a guide to flexible work

    Introduce appropriate organization policies

    Equip managers with the necessary tools and training

    Use the guide to:

    • Familiarize employees and managers with the flexible work program.
    • Gain employee and manager buy-in and support for the program.
    • Explain the process and give guidance on selecting flexible work options and working with their colleagues to make it a success.

    Use Info-Tech's customizable policy templates to set guidelines, outline arrangements, and scope the organization's flexible work policies. This is typically done by, or in collaboration with, the HR department.

    Download the Guide to Flexible Work for Managers and Employees

    Download the Flex Location Policy

    Download the Flex Time-Off Policy

    Download the Flex Time Policy

    3.1 Prepare for implementation

    2-3 hours

    Use the guidelines on the preceding slides to brainstorm solutions to implementation issues and prepare to communicate program rollout to stakeholders.

    1. Solve implementation issues.
      • If you are working with the Targeted Flexible Work Program Workbook: For each implementation challenge identified on the "Final Options List" tab, brainstorm solutions. If you are working with the Fast-Track Hybrid Work Program Workbook: Work through the program enablement prompts on the "Program Enablement" tab.
      • You may need to involve relevant stakeholders to help you come up with appropriate solutions for each employee segment.
      • Ensure that any anticipated cultural barriers have been documented and are addressed during this step. Don't underestimate the importance of a supportive organizational culture to the successful rollout of flexible work.
    2. Prepare the employee guide. Modify the Guide to Flexible Work for Managers and Employees template to reflect your final work options list and the processes and expectations employees will need to follow.
    3. Create a communication plan. Use Info-Tech's Communicate Any IT Initiative blueprint and Appendix II to craft your messaging.

    Download the Guide to Flexible Work for Managers and Employees

    Download the Targeted Flexible Work Program Workbook

    Input

    • Flexible work options final list

    Output

    • Employee guide to flexible work
    • Flexible work rollout communication plan

    Materials

    • Guide to Flexible Work for Managers and Employees
    • Targeted Flexible Work Program Workbook
      Or
    • Fast-Track Hybrid Work Program Workbook

    Participants

    • Flexible work program committee
    • Employee segment managers

    Run an IT pilot for flexible work

    Prepare for pilot

    Launch Pilot

    Identify the flexible work options that will be piloted.

    • Refer to the final list of selected options for each priority segment to determine which options should be piloted.

    Select pilot participants.

    • If not rolling out to the entire IT department, look for the departments and/or team(s) where there is the greatest need and the biggest interest (e.g. team with lowest engagement scores).
    • Include all employees within the department, or team if the department is too large, in the pilot.
    • Start with a group whose managers are best equipped for the new flexibility options.

    Create an approach to collect feedback and measure the success of the pilot.

    • Feedback can be collected using surveys, focus groups, and/or targeted in-person interviews.

    The length of the pilot will greatly vary based on which flexible work options were selected (e.g. seasonal hours will require a shorter pilot period compared to implementing a compressed work week). Use discretion when deciding on pilot length and be open to extending or shortening the pilot length as needed.

    Launch pilot.

    • Launch the program through a town hall meeting or departmental announcement to build excitement and buy-in.
    • Develop separate communications for employee segments where appropriate. See Appendix II for key messaging to include.

    Gather feedback.

    • The feedback will be used to assess the pilot's success and to determine what modifications will be needed later for a full-scale rollout.
    • When gathering feedback, tailor questions based on the employee segment but keep themes similar. For example:
      • Employees: "How did this help your day-to-day work?"
      • Managers: "How did this improve productivity on your team?"

    Track metrics.

    • The success of the pilot is best communicated using your department's unique KPIs.
    • Metrics are critical for:
      • Accurately determining pilot success.
      • Getting buy-in to expand the pilot beyond IT.
      • Justifying to employees any changes made to the flexible work options.

    Assess the pilot's success and determine next steps

    Review the feedback collected on the previous slide and use this decision tree to decide whether to relaunch a pilot or proceed to a full-scale rollout of the program.

    This is an image of the flow chart used to assess the pilot's success and determine the next steps. It will help you to determine whether you will Proceed to full-scale rollout on next slide, Major modifications to the option/launch (e.g. change operating time) – adjust and relaunch pilot or select a new employee segment and relaunch pilot, Minor modifications to the option/launch (e.g. introduce additional communications) – adjust and proceed to full scale rollout, or Return to shortlist (Step 2) and select a different option or launch pilot with a different employee segment.

    Prepare for full-scale rollout

    If you have run a team pilot prior to rolling out to all of IT, or run an IT pilot before an organizational rollout, use the following steps to transition from pilot to full rollout.

    1. Determine modifications
      • Review the feedback gathered during the pilot and determine what needs to change for a full-scale implementation.
      • Update HR policies and programs to support flexible work. Work closely with your HR business partner and other organizational leaders to ensure every department's needs are understood and compliance issues are addressed.
    2. Roll out and evaluate
      • Roll out the remainder of the program (e.g. to other employee segments or additional flexible work options) once there is significant uptake of the pilot by the target employee group and issues have been addressed.
      • Determine how feedback will be gathered after implementation, such as during engagement surveys, new hire and exit surveys, stay interviews, etc., and assess whether the program continues to meet employee and organizational needs.

    Rolling out beyond IT

    For a rollout beyond IT, HR will likely take over.

    However, this is your chance to remain at the forefront of your organization's flexible work efforts by continuing to track success and gather feedback within IT.

    Align HR programs and organizational policies to support flexible work

    Talent Management

    Learning & Development

    Talent Acquisition

    Reinforce managers' accountability for the success of flexible work in their teams:

    • Include "managing virtual teams" in the people management leadership competency.
    • Recognize managers who are modeling flexible work.

    Support flexible workers' career progression:

    • Monitor the promotion rates of flexible workers vs. non-flexible workers.
    • Make sure flexible workers are discussed during talent calibration meetings and have access to career development opportunities.

    Equip managers and employees with the knowledge and skills to make flexible work successful.

    • Provide guidance on selecting the right options and maintaining workflow.
    • If moving to a virtual environment, train managers on how to make it a success.

    Incorporate the flexible work program into the organization's employee value proposition to attract top talent who value flexible work options.

    • Highlight the program on the organization's career site and in job postings.

    Organizational policies

    Determine which organizational policies will be impacted as a result of the new flexible work options. For example, the introduction of flex time off can result in existing vacation policies needing to be updated.

    Plan to re-evaluate the program and make improvements

    Collect data

    Collect data

    Act on data

    Uptake

    Gather data on the proportion of employees eligible for each option who are using the option.

    If an option is tracking positively:

    • Maintain or expand the program to more of the organization.
    • Conduct a feasibility assessment (Step 2) for new employee segments.

    Satisfaction

    Survey managers and employees about their satisfaction with the options they are eligible for and provide an open box for suggestions on improvements.

    If an option is tracking negatively:

    • Investigate why. Gather additional data, interview organizational leaders, and/or conduct focus groups to gain deeper insight.
    • Re-assess the feasibility of the option (Step 2). If the costs outweigh the benefits based on new data, determine whether to cancel the option.
    • Take appropriate action based on the outcome of the evaluation, such as modifying or cancelling the option or providing employees with more support.
      • Note: Cancelling an option can impact the engagement of employees using the option. Ensure that the data, reasons for cancelling the option, and potential substitute options are communicated to employees in advance.

    Program goal progress

    Monitor progress against the program goals and metrics identified in Step 1 to evaluate the impact on issues that matter to the organization (e.g. retention, productivity, diversity).

    Career progression

    Evaluate flexible workers' promotion rates and development opportunities to determine if they are developing.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Negative performance of a flexible work option does not necessarily mean failure. Take the time to evaluate whether the option simply needs to be tweaked or whether it truly isn't working for the organization.

    Insight summary

    Overarching insight: IT excels at hybrid location work and is more effective as a business function when location, time, and time-off flexibility are an option for its employees.

    Introduction

    • Flexible work options are not a concession to lower productivity. Properly implemented, flex work enables employees to be more productive at reaching business goals.
    • Employees' lived experiences and needs determine if people use flexible work programs – a flex program that has limited use or excludes people will not benefit the organization.
    • Flexible work benefits everyone. IT employees experience greater engagement, motivation, and company loyalty. IT organizations realize benefits such as better service coverage, reduced facilities costs, and increased productivity.

    Step 1 insight

    • Hybrid work is a start. A comprehensive flex work program extends beyond flexible location to flexible time and time off. Organizations must understand the needs of unique employee groups to uncover the options that will attract and retain talent. Provide greater inclusivity to employees by broadening the scope to include flex location, flex time, and flex time off.
    • No two employee segments are the same. To be effective, flexible work options must align with the expectations and working processes of each segment.

    Step 2 insight

    • Every role is eligible for hybrid location work. If onsite work duties prevent an employee group from participating, see if processes can be digitized or automated. Flexible work is an opportunity to go beyond current needs to future proofing your organization.
    • Flexible work options must balance organizational and employee needs. If an option is beneficial to employees but there is little or no benefit to the organization, or if the cost of the option is too high, it will not support the long-term success of the organization.
    • Prioritize flexible work options that employees want. Providing too many options often leads to information overload and results in employees not understanding what is available, lowering adoption of the flexible work program.

    Step 3 insight

    • Leaders' collective support of the flexible program determines the program's successful adoption. Don't sweep cultural barriers under the rug; acknowledge and address them to overcome them.
    • Negative performance of a flexible work option does not necessarily mean failure. Take the time to evaluate whether the option simply needs to be tweaked or whether it truly isn't working for the organization.
    • A set of formal guidelines for IT ensures flexible work is:
      1. Administered fairly across all IT employees.
      2. Defensible and clear.
      3. Scalable to the rest of the organization.

    Research Contributors and Experts

    Quinn Ross
    CEO
    The Ross Firm Professional Corporation

    Margaret Yap
    HR Professor
    Ryerson University

    Heather Payne
    CEO
    Juno College

    Lee Nguyen
    HR Specialist
    City of Austin

    Stacey Spruell
    Division HR Director
    Travis County

    Don MacLeod
    Chief Administrative Officer
    Zorra Township

    Stephen Childs
    CHRO
    Panasonic North America

    Shawn Gibson
    Sr. Director
    Info Tech Research Group

    Mari Ryan
    CEO/Founder
    Advancing Wellness

    Sophie Wade
    Founder
    Flexcel Networks

    Kim Velluso
    VP Human Resources
    Siemens Canada

    Lilian De Menezes
    Professor of Decision Sciences
    Cass Business School, University of London

    Judi Casey
    WorkLife Consultant and former Director, Work and Family Researchers Network
    Boston College

    Chris Frame
    Partner – Operations
    LiveCA

    Rose M. Stanley, CCP, CBP, WLCP, CEBS
    People Services Manager
    Sunstate Equipment Co., LLC

    Shari Lava
    Director, Vendor Research
    Info-Tech Research Group

    Carol Cochran
    Director of People & Culture
    FlexJobs

    Kidde Kelly
    OD Practitioner

    Dr. David Chalmers
    Adjunct Professor
    Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University

    Kashmira Nagarwala
    Change Manager
    Siemens Canada

    Dr. Isik U. Zeytinoglu
    Professor of Management and Industrial Relations McMaster University, DeGroote School of Business

    Claire McCartney
    Diversity & Inclusion Advisor
    CIPD

    Teresa Hopke
    SVP of Client Relations
    Life Meets Work – www.lifemeetswork.com

    Mark Tippey
    IT Leader and Experienced Teleworker

    Dr. Kenneth Matos
    Senior Director of Research
    Families and Work Institute

    1 anonymous contributor

    Appendix I: Sample focus group questions

    See Info-Tech's Focus Group Guidefor guidance on setting up and delivering focus groups. Customize the guide with questions specific to flexible work (see sample questions below) to gain deeper insight into employee preferences for the feasibility assessment in Step 2 of this blueprint.

    Document themes in the Targeted Flexible Work Program Workbook.

    • What do you need to balance/integrate your work with your personal life?
    • What challenges do you face in achieving work-life balance/integration?
    • What about your job is preventing you from achieving work-life balance/integration?
    • How would [flexible work option] help you achieve work-life balance/integration?
    • How well would this option work with the workflow of your team or department? What would need to change?
    • What challenges do you see in adopting [flexible work option]?
    • What else would be helpful for you to achieve work-life balance/integration?
    • How could we customize [flexible work option] to ensure it meets your needs?
    • If this program were to fail, what do you think would be the top reasons and why?

    Appendix II: Communication key messaging

    1. Program purpose

    Start with the name and high-level purpose of the program.

    2. Business reasons for the program

    Share data you gathered in Step 1, illustrating challenges causing the need for the program and the benefits.

    3. Options selection process

    Outline the process followed to select options. Remember to share the involvement of stakeholders and the planning around employees' feedback, needs, and lived experiences.

    4. Options and eligibility

    Provide a brief overview of the options and eligibility. Specify that the organization is piloting these options and will modify them based on feedback.

    5. Approval not guaranteed

    Qualify that employees need to be "flexible about flexible work" – the options are not guaranteed and may sometimes be unavailable for business reasons.

    6. Shared responsibility

    Highlight the importance of everyone (managers, flexible workers, the team) working together to make flexible work achievable.

    7. Next steps

    Share any next steps, such as where employees can find the organization's Guide to Flexible Work for Managers and Employees, how to make flexible work a success, or if managers will be providing further detail in a team meeting.

    8. Ongoing communications

    Normalize the program and embed it in organizational culture by continuing communications through various media, such as the organization's newsletter or announcements in town halls.

    Works Cited

    Baziuk, Jennifer, and Duncan Meadows. "Global Employee Survey - Key findings and implications for ICMIF." EY, June 2021. Accessed May 2022.
    "Businesses suffering 'commitment issues' on flexible working," EY, 21 Sep. 2021. Accessed May 2022.
    "IT Talent Trends 2022". Info-Tech Research Group, 2022.
    "Jabra Hybrid Ways of Working: 2021 Global Report." Jabra, Aug. 2021. Accessed May 2022.
    LinkedIn Talent Solutions. "2022 Global Talent Trends." LinkedIn, 2022. Accessed May 2022.
    Lobosco, Mark. "The Future of Work is Flexible: 71% of Leaders Feel Pressure to Change Working Models." LinkedIn, 9 Sep. 2021. Accessed May 2022.
    Ohm, Joy, et al. "Covid-19: Women, Equity, and Inclusion in the Future of Work." Catalyst, 28 May 2020. Accessed May 2022.
    Pelta, Rachel. "Many Workers Have Quit or Plan to After Employers Revoke Remote Work." FlexJobs, 2021. Accessed May 2022.
    Slack Future Forum. "Inflexible return-to-office policies are hammering employee experience scores." Slack, 19 April 2022. Accessed May 2022.
    "State of Hybrid Work in IT: A Trend Report". Info-Tech Research Group, 2023.
    Threlkeld, Kristy. "Employee Burnout Report: COVID-19's Impact and 3 Strategies to Curb It." Indeed, 11 March 2021. Accessed March 2022.

    Adding the Right Value: Building Cloud Brokerages That Enable

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    In many cases, the answer is to develop a cloud brokerage to manage the complexity. But what should your cloud broker be delivering, and how?

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • To avoid failure, you need to provide security and compliance, but basic user satisfaction means becoming a frictionless intermediary.
    • Enabling brokers provide knowledge and guidance for the best usage of cloud.
    • While GCBs fill a critical role as a control point for IT consumption, they can easily turn into a friction point for IT projects. It’s important to find the right balance between enabling compliance and providing frictionless usability.

    Impact and Result

    • Avoid disintermediation.
    • Maintain compliance.
    • Leverage economies of scale.
    • Ensure architecture discipline.

    Adding the Right Value: Building Cloud Brokerages That Enable Research & Tools

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Build a Cloud Brokerage Deck – A guide to help you start designing a cloud brokerage that delivers value beyond gatekeeping.

    Define the value, ecosystem, and metrics required to add value as a brokerage. Develop a brokerage value proposition that aligns with your audience and capabilities. Define and rationalize the ecosystem of partners and value-add activities for your brokerage. Define KPIs that allow you to maximize and balance both usability and compliance.

    • Adding the Right Value: Building Cloud Brokerages That Enable Storyboard
    [infographic]

    Further reading

    Adding the Right Value: Building Cloud Brokerages That Enable

    Considerations for implementing an institutional-focused cloud brokerage.

    Your Challenge

    Increasingly, large institutions and governments are adopting cloud-first postures for delivering IT resources. Combined with the growth of cloud offerings that are able to meet the certifications and requirements of this segment that has been driven by federal initiatives like Cloud-First in Canada and Cloud Smart in the United States, these two factors have left institutions (and the businesses that serve them) with the challenge of delivering cloud services to their users while maintaining compliance, control, and IT sanity.

    In many cases, the answer is to develop a cloud brokerage to manage the complexity. But what should your cloud broker be delivering and how?

    Navigating the Problem

    Not all cloud brokerages are the same. And while they can be an answer to cloud complexity, an ineffective brokerage can drain value and complicate operations even further. Cloud brokerages need to be designed:

    1. To deliver the right type of value to its users.
    2. To strike the balance between effective governance & security and flexibility & ease of use.

    Info-Tech’s Approach

    By defining your end goals, framing solutions based on the type of value and rigor your brokerage needs to deliver, and focusing on the right balance of security and flexibility, you can deliver a brokerage that delivers the best of all worlds.

    1. Define the brokerage value you want to deliver.
    2. Build the catalog and partner ecosystem.
    3. Understand how to maximize adoption and minimize disintermediation while maintaining architectural discipline and compliance.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Sometimes a brokerage delivery model makes sense, sometimes it doesn’t! Understanding the value addition you want your brokerage to provide before creating it allows you to not only avoid pitfalls and maximize benefits but also understand when a brokerage model does and doesn’t make sense in the first place.

    Project Overview

    Understand what value you want your brokerage to deliver

    Different institutions want brokerage delivery for different reasons. It’s important to define up front why your users need to work through a brokerage and what value that brokerage needs to deliver.

    What’s in the catalog? Is it there to consolidate and simplify billing and consumption? Or does it add value further up the technology stack or value chain? If so, how does that change the capabilities you need internally and from partners?

    Security and compliance are usually the highest priority

    Among institutions adopting cloud, a broker that can help deliver their defined security and compliance standards is an almost universal requirement. Especially in government institutions, this can mean the need to meet a high standard in both implementation and validation.

    The good news is that even if you lack the complete set of skills in-house, the high certification levels available from hyperscale providers combined with a growing ecosystem of service providers working on these platforms means you can usually find the right partner(s) to make it possible.

    The real goal: frictionless intermediation and enablement

    Ultimately, if end users can’t get what they need from you, they will go around you to get it. This challenge, which has always existed in IT, is further amplified in a cloud service world that offers users a cornucopia of options outside the brokerage. Furthermore, cloud users expect to be able to consume IT seamlessly. Without frictionless satisfaction of user demand your brokerage will become disintermediated, which risks your highest priorities of security and compliance.

    Understand the evolution: Info-Tech thought model

    While initial adoption of cloud brokerages in institutions was focused on ensuring the ability of IT to extend its traditional role as gatekeeper to the realm of cloud services, the focus has now shifted upstream to enabling ease of use and smart adoption of cloud services. This is evidenced clearly in examples like the US government’s renaming of its digital strategy from “Cloud First” to “Cloud Smart” and has been mirrored in other regions and institutions.

    Info-Tech Insights

    To avoid failure, you need to provide security and compliance.

    Basic user satisfaction means becoming a frictionless intermediary.

    Exceed expectations! Enabling brokers provide knowledge and guidance for the best usage of cloud.

    • Security & Compliance
    • Frictionless Intermediation
    • Cloud-Enabling Brokerage

    Define the role of a cloud broker

    Where do brokers fit in the cloud model?

    • NIST Definition: An entity that manages the use, performance, and delivery of cloud services and negotiates relationships between cloud providers and cloud consumers.
    • Similar to a telecom master agent, a cloud broker acts as the middle-person and end-user point of contact, consolidating the management of underlying providers.
    • A government or institutional cloud broker (GCB) is responsible for the delivery of all cloud services consumed by the departments or agencies it supports or that are mandated to use it.

    Balancing governance and agility

    Info-Tech Insight

    While GCBs fill a critical role as a control point for IT consumption, they can easily turn into a friction point for IT projects. It’s important to find the right balance between enabling compliance and providing frictionless usability.

    Model brokerage drivers and benefits

    Reduced costs: Security through standardization: Frictionless consumption: Avoid disinter-mediation; Maintain compliance; Leverage economies of scale; Ensure architecture discipline

    Maintain compliance and ensure architecture discipline: Brokerages can be an effective gating point for ensuring properly governed and managed IT consumption that meets the specific regulations and compliances required for an institution. It can also be a strong catalyst and enabler for moving to even more effective cloud consumption through automation.

    Avoid disintermediation: Especially in institutions, cloud brokers are a key tool in the fight against disintermediation – that is, end users circumventing your IT department’s procurement and governance by consuming an ad hoc cloud service.

    Leverage economies of scale: Simply put, consolidation of your cloud consumption drives effectiveness by making the most of your buying power.

    Info-Tech Insights

    Understanding the importance of each benefit type to your brokerage audience will help you define the type of brokerage you need to build and what skills and partners will be required to deliver the right value.

    The brokerage landscape

    The past ten years have seen governments and institutions evolve from basic acceptance of cloud services to the usage of cloud as the core of most IT initiatives.

    • As part of this evolution, many organizations now have well-defined standards and guidance for the implementation, procurement, and regulation of cloud services for their use.
    • Both Canada (Strategic Plan for Information Management and Information Technology) and the United States (Cloud Smart – formerly known as Cloud First) have recently updated their guidance on adoption of cloud services. The Australian Government has also recently updated its Cloud Computing Policy.
    • AWS and Azure both now claim Full FedRAMP (Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program) certification.
    • This has not only enabled easy adoption of these core hyperscale cloud service by government but also driven the proliferation of a large ecosystem of FedRAMP-authorized cloud service providers.
    • This trend started with government at the federal level but has cascaded downstream to provincial and municipal governments globally, and the same model seems likely to be adopted by other governments and other institution types over time.

    Info-Tech Insight

    The ecosystem of platforms and tools has grown significantly and examples of best practices, especially in government, are readily available. Once you’ve defined your brokerage’s value stance, the building blocks you need to deliver often don’t need to be built from scratch.

    Address the unique challenges of business-led IT in institutions

    With the business taking more accountability and management of their own technology, brokers must learn how to evolve from being gatekeepers to enablers.

    This image This lists the Cons of IT acting as a gatekeeper providing oversight, and the Pros of IT acting as an Enabler in an IT Partnership. the Cons are: Restrict System Access; Deliver & Monitor Applications; Own Organizational Risk; Train the Business. The Pros are: Manage Role-Based Access; Deliver & Monitor Platforms; Share Organizational Risk; Coach & Mentor the Business

    Turn brokerage pitfalls into opportunities

    The greatest risks in using a cloud broker come from its nature as a single point of distribution for service and support. Without resources (or automation) to enable scale, as well as responsive processes for supporting users in finding the right services and making those services available through the brokerage, you will lose alignment with your users’ needs, which inevitably leads to disintermediation, loss of IT control, and broken compliance

    Info-Tech Insights

    Standardization and automation are your friend when building a cloud brokerage! Sometimes this means having a flexible catalog of options and configurations, but great brokerages can deliver value by helping their users redefine and evolve their workloads to work more effectively in the cloud. This means providing guidance and facilitating the landing/transformation of users’ workloads in the cloud, the right way.

    Challenges → Impact
    • Single point of failure
    • Managing capacity
    • Alignment of brokerage with underlying agencies
    • Additional layer of complexity
    • Inability to deliver service
    • Disintermediation
    • Broken security/compliance
    • Loss of cost control/purchasing power

    Validate your cloud brokerage strategy using Info-Tech’s approach

    Value Definition

    • Define your brokerage type and value addition

    Capabilities Mapping

    • Understand the partners and capabilities you need to be able to deliver

    Measuring Value

    • Define KPIs for both compliant delivery and frictionless intermediation

    Provide Cloud Excellence

    • Move from intermediation to enablement and help users land on the cloud the right way

    Define the categories for your brokerage’s benefit and value

    Depending on the type of brokerage, the value delivered may be as simple as billing consolidation, but many brokerages go much deeper in their value proposition.

    This image depicts a funnel, where the following inputs make up the Broker Value: Integration, Interface and Management Enhancement; User Identity and Risk Management/ Security & Compliance; Cost & Workload Efficiency, Service Aggregation

    Define the categories of brokerage value to add

    • Purchasing Agents save the purchaser time by researching services from different vendors and providing the customer with information about how to use cloud computing to support business goals.
    • Contract Managers may also be assigned power to negotiate contracts with cloud providers on behalf of the customer. In this scenario, the broker may distribute services across multiple vendors to achieve cost-effectiveness, while managing the technical and procurement complexity of dealing with multiple vendors.
      • The broker may provide users with an application program interface (API) and user interface (UI) that hides any complexity and allows the customer to work with their cloud services as if they were being purchased from a single vendor. This type of broker is sometimes referred to as a cloud aggregator.
    • Cloud Enablers can also provide the customer with additional services, such as managing the deduplication, encryption, and cloud data transfer and assisting with data lifecycle management and other activities.
    • Cloud Customizers integrate various underlying cloud services for customers to provide a custom offering under a white label or its own brand.
    • Cloud Agents are essentially the software version of a Contract Manager and act by automating and facilitating the distribution of work between different cloud service providers.

    Info-Tech Insights

    Remember that these categories are general guidelines! Depending on the requirements and value a brokerage needs to deliver, it may fit more than one category of broker type.

    Brokerage types and value addition

    Info-Tech Insights

    Each value addition your brokerage invests in delivering should tie to reinforcing efficiency, compliance, frictionlessness, or enablement.

    Value Addition Purchasing Agent Contract Manager Cloud Enabler Cloud Customizer Cloud Agent
    Underlying service selection

    Standard Activity

    		 Standard Activity Standard Activity Standard Activity Common Activity
    Support and info Standard Activity

    Common Activity

    		 Standard Activity Standard Activity Common Activity
    Contract lifecycle (pricing/negotiation) Standard Activity Common Activity Standard Activity
    Workload distribution (to underlying services) (aggregation) Common Activity Standard Activity Standard Activity Standard Activity
    Value-add or layered on services Standard Activity Common Activity
    Customization/integration of underlying services Standard Activity
    Automated workload distribution (i.e. software) Standard Activity

    Start by delivering value in these common brokerage service categories

    Security & Compliance

    • Reporting & Auditing
    • SIEM & SOC Services
    • Patching & Monitoring

    Cost Management

    • Right-Sizing
    • Billing Analysis
    • Anomaly Detection & Change Recommendations

    Data Management

    • Data Tiering
    • Localization Management
    • Data Warehouse/Lake Services

    Resilience & Reliability

    • Backup & Archive
    • Replication & Sync
    • DR & HA Management
    • Ransomware Prevention/Mitigation

    Cloud-Native & DevOps Enablement

    • Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
    • DevOps Tools & Processes
    • SDLC Automation Tools

    Design, Transformation, and Integration

    • CDN Integration
    • AI Tools Integration
    • SaaS Customizations

    Activity: Brokerage value design

    Who are you and who are you building this for?

    • Internal brokerage (i.e. you are a department in an organization that is tasked with providing IT resources to other internal groups)
      • No profit motivation
      • Primary goal is to maintain compliance and avoid disintermediation
    • Third-party brokerage (i.e. you are an MSP that needs to build a brokerage to provide a variety of downstream services and act as the single point of consumption for an organization)
      • Focus on value-addition to the downstream services you facilitate for your client
      • Increased requirement to quickly add new partners/services from downstream as required by your client

    What requirements and pains do you need to address?

    • Remember that in the world of cloud, users ultimately can go around IT to find the resources and tools they want to use. In short, if you don’t provide ease and value, they will get it somewhere else.
    • Assess the different types of cloud brokerages out there as a guide to what sort of value you want to deliver.

    Why are you creating a brokerage? There are several categories of driver and more than one may apply.

    • Compliance and security gating/validation
    • Cost consolidation and governance
    • Value-add or feature enhancement of raw/downstream services being consumed

    It’s important to clearly understand how best you can deliver unique value to ensure that they want to consume from you.

    This is an image of a Venn diagram between the following: Who are you trying to serve?; Why and how are you uniquely positioned to deliver?; What requirements do they have and what pain points can you help solve?. Where all three circles overlap is the Brokerage Value Proposition.

    Understand the ecosystem you’ll require to deliver value

    GCB

    • Enabling Effectiveness
    • Cost Governance
    • Adoption and User Satisfaction
    • Security & Compliance

    Whatever value proposition and associated services your brokerage has defined, either internal resources or additional partners will be required to run the platform and processes you want to offer on top of the defined base cloud platforms.

    Info-Tech Insights

    Remember to always align your value adds and activities to the four key themes:

    • Efficiency
    • Compliance
    • Frictionlessness
    • Cloud Enablement

    Delivering value may require an ecosystem

    The additional value your broker delivers will depend on the tools and services you can layer on top of the base cloud platform(s) you support.

    In many cases, you may require different partners to fulfil similar functions across different base platforms. Although this increases complexity for the brokerage, it’s also a place where additional value can be delivered to end users by your role as a frictionless intermediary.

    Base Partner/Platform

    • Third-party software & platforms
    • Third-party automations & integrations
    • Third-party service partners
    • Internal value-add functions

    Build the ecosystem you need for your value proposition

    Leverage partners and automation to bake compliance in.

    Different value-add types (based on the category/categories of broker you’re targeting) require different additional platforms and partners to augment the base cloud service you’re brokering.

    Security & Config

    • IaC Tools
    • Cloud Resource Configuration Validation
    • Templating Tools
    • Security Platforms
    • SDN and Networking Platforms
    • Resilience (Backup/Replication/DR/HA) Platforms
    • Data & Storage Management
    • Compliance and Validation Platforms & Partners

    Cost Management

    • Subscription Hierarchy Management
    • Showback and Chargeback Logic
    • Cost Dashboarding and Thresholding
    • Governance and Intervention

    Adoption & User Satisfaction

    • Service Delivery SLAs
    • Support Process & Tools
    • Capacity/Availability Management
    • Portal Usability/UX

    Speed of Evolution

    • Partner and Catalog/Service Additions
    • Broker Catalog Roadmapping
    • User Request Capture (new services)
    • User Request Capture (exceptions)

    Build your features and services lists

    Incorporate your end user, business, and IT perspectives in defining the list of mandatory and desired features of your target solution.

    See our Implement a Proactive and Consistent Vendor Selection Process blueprint for information on procurement practices, including RFP templates.

    End User

    • Visual, drag-and-drop models to define data models, business logic, and user interfaces
    • One-click deployment
    • Self-healing application
    • Vendor-managed infrastructure
    • Active community and marketplace
    • Prebuilt templates and libraries
    • Optical character recognition and natural language processing

    Business

    • Audit and change logs
    • Theme and template builder
    • Template management
    • Knowledgebase and document management
    • Role-based access
    • Business value, operational costs, and other KPI monitoring
    • Regulatory compliance
    • Consistent design and user experience across applications
    • Business workflow automation

    IT

    • Application and system performance monitoring
    • Versioning and code management
    • Automatic application and system refactoring and recovery
    • Exception and error handling
    • Scalability (e.g. load balancing) and infrastructure management
    • Real-time debugging
    • Testing capabilities
    • Security management
    • Application integration management

    Understand the stakeholders

    Hyperscale Platform/Base Platform: Security; Compliance and Validation;Portal/Front-End; Cost Governance; Broker Value Add(s)

    Depending on the value-add(s) you are trying to deliver, as well as the requirements from your institution(s), you will have a different delineation of responsibilities for each of the value-add dimensions. Typically, there will be at least three stakeholders whose role needs to be considered for each dimension:

    • Base Cloud Provider
    • Third-Party Platforms/Service Providers
    • Internal Resources

    Info-Tech Insights

    It’s important to remember that the ecosystem of third-party options available to you in each case will likely be dependent on if a given partner operates or supports your chosen base provider.

    Define the value added by each stakeholder in your value chain

    Value Addition Cost Governance Security & Compliance Adoption and User Satisfaction New Service Addition Speed End-User Cloud Effectiveness
    Base platform(s)
    Third party
    Internal

    A basic table of the stakeholders and platforms involved in your value stream is a critical tool for aligning activities and partners with brokerage value.

    Remember to tie each value-add category you’re embarking on to at least one of the key themes!

    Cost Governance → Efficiency

    Security & Compliance → Compliance

    Adoption & User Satisfaction → Frictionlessness

    New Service Addition Responsiveness → Frictionlessness, Enablement

    End-User Cloud Effectiveness → Enablement

    Info-Tech Insights

    The expectations for how applications are consumed and what a user experience should look like is increasingly being guided by the business and by the disintermediating power of the cloud-app ecosystem.

    “Enabling brokers” help embrace business-led IT

    In environments where compliance and security are a must, the challenges of handing off application management to the business are even more complex. Great brokers learn to act not just as a gatekeeper but an enabler of business-led IT.

    Business Empowerment

    Organizations are looking to enhance their Agile and BizDevOps practices by shifting traditional IT practices left and toward the business.

    Changing Business Needs

    Organizational priorities are constantly changing. Cost reduction opportunities and competitive advantages are lost because of delayed delivery of features.

    Low Barrier to Entry

    Low- and no-code development tools, full-stack solutions, and plug-and-play architectures allow non-technical users to easily build and implement applications without significant internal technical support or expertise.

    Democratization of IT

    A wide range of digital applications, services, and information are readily available and continuously updated through vendor and public marketplaces and open-source communities.

    Technology-Savvy Business

    The business is motivated to learn more about the technology they use so that they can better integrate it into their processes.

    Balance usability and compliance: accelerate cloud effectiveness

    Move to being an accelerator and an enabler! Rather than creating an additional layer of complexity, we can use the abstraction of a cloud brokerage to bring a wide variety of value-adds and partners into the ecosystem without increasing complexity for end users.

    Manage the user experience

    • Your portal is a great source of data for optimizing user adoption and satisfaction.
    • Understand the KPIs that matter to your clients or client groups from both a technical and a service perspective.

    Be proactive and responsive in meeting changing needs

    • Determine dashboard consumption by partner view.
    • Regularly review and address the gaps in your catalog.
    • Provide an easy mechanism for adding user-demanded services.

    Think like a service provider

    • You do need to be able to communicate and even market internally new services and capabilities as you add them or people won't know to come to you to use them.
    • It's also critical in helping people move along the path to enablement and knowing what might be possible that they hadn't considered.

    Provide cloud excellence functions

    Enablement Broker

    • Mentorship & Training
      • Build the skills, knowledge, and experiences of application owners and managers with internal and external expertise.
    • Organizational Change Leadership
      • Facilitate cultural, governance, and other organizational changes through strong relationships with business and IT leadership.
    • Good Delivery Practices & Thinking
      • Develop, share, and maintain a toolkit of good software development lifecycle (SDLC) practices and techniques.
    • Knowledge Sharing
      • Centralize a knowledgebase of up-to-date and accurate documentation and develop community forums to facilitate knowledge transfer.
    • Technology Governance & Leadership
      • Implement the organizational standards, policies, and rules for all applications and platforms and coordinate growth and sprawl.
    • Shared Services & Integrations
      • Provide critical services and integrations to support end users with internal resources or approved third-party providers and partners.

    Gauge value with the right metrics

    Focus your effort on measuring key metrics.

    Category

    Purpose

    Examples
    Business Value – The amount of value and benefits delivered. Justify the investment and impact of the brokerage and its optimization to business operations. ROI, user productivity, end-user satisfaction, business operational costs, error rate
    Application Quality – Satisfaction of application quality standards. Evaluate organizational effort to address and maximize user satisfaction and adoption rates. Adoption rate, usage friction metrics, user satisfaction metrics
    Delivery Effectiveness – The delivery efficiency of changes. Enable members to increase their speed to effective deployment, operation, and innovation on cloud platforms. Speed of deployment, landing/migration success metrics

    Determine measures that demonstrate the value of your brokerage by aligning it with your quality definition, value drivers, and users’ goals and objectives. Recognize that your journey will require constant monitoring and refinement to adjust to situations that may arise as you adopt new products, standards, strategies, tactics, processes, and tools.

    Activity Output

    Ultimately, the goal is designing a brokerage that can evolve from gatekeeping to frictionless intermediation to cloud enablement.

    Maintain focus on the value proposition, your brokerage ecosystem, and the metrics that represent enablement for your users and avoid pitfalls and challenges from the beginning.

    Activity: Define your brokerage type and value addition; Understand the partners and capabilities you need to be able to deliver; Define KPIs for both delivery (compliance) and adoption (frictionlessness); Output: GCB Strategy Plan; Addresses: Why and when you should build a GCB; How to avoid pitfalls; How to maximize benefits; How to maximize responsiveness and user satisfaction; How to roadmap and add services with agility.

    Appendix

    Related blueprints and tools

    Document Your Cloud Strategy

    This blueprint covers aligning your value proposition with general cloud requirements.

    Define Your Digital Business Strategy

    Phase 1 of this research covers identifying value chains to be transformed.

    Embrace Business-Managed Applications

    Phase 1 of this research covers understanding the business-managed applications as a factor in developing a frictionless intermediary model.

    Implement a Proactive and Consistent Vendor Selection Process

    This blueprint provides information on partner selection and procurement practices, including RFP templates.

    Bibliography

    “3 Types of Cloud Brokers That Can Save the Cloud.” Cloud Computing Topics, n.d. Web.

    Australian Government Cloud Computing Policy. Government of Australia, October 2014. Web.

    “Cloud Smart Policy Overview.” CIO.gov, n.d. Web.

    “From Cloud First to Cloud Smart.” CIO.gov, n.d. Web.

    Gardner, Dana. “Cloud brokering: Building a cloud of clouds.” ZDNet, 22 April 2011. Web.

    Narcisi, Gina. “Cloud, Next-Gen Services Help Master Agents Grow Quickly And Beat 'The Squeeze' “As Connectivity Commissions Decline.” CRN, 14 June 2017. Web.

    Smith, Spencer. “Asigra calls out the perils of cloud brokerage model.” TechTarget, 28 June 2019. Web.

    Tan, Aaron. “Australia issues new cloud computing guidelines.” TechTarget, 27 July 2020. Web.

    The European Commission Cloud Strategy. ec.europa.eu, 16 May 2019. Web.

    “TrustRadius Review: Cloud Brokers 2022.” TrustRadius, 2022. Web.

    Yedlin, Debbie. “Pros and Cons of Using a Cloud Broker.” Technology & Business Integrators, 17 April 2015. Web.

    Scale Business Process Automation

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    • Business process automation (BPA) adoption gained significant momentum as your business leaders saw the positive outcomes in your pilots, such as improvements in customer experience, operational efficiencies, and cost optimizations.
    • Your stakeholders are ready to increase their investments in more process automation solutions. They want to scale initial successes to other business and IT functions.
    • However, it is unclear how BPA can be successfully scaled and what benefits can be achieved from it.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    The shift from isolated, task-based automations in your pilot to value-oriented, scaled automations brings new challenges and barriers to your organization such as:

    • Little motivation or tolerance to change existing business operations to see the full value of BPA.
    • Overinvesting in current BPA technologies to maximize the return despite available alternatives that can do the same tasks better.
    • BPA teams are ill-equipped to meet the demands and complexities of scaled BPA implementations.

    Impact and Result

    • Ground your scaling expectations. Set realistic and achievable goals centered on driving business value to the entire organization by optimizing and automating end-to-end business processes.
    • Define your scaling journey. Tailor your scaling approach according to your ability to ease BPA implementation, to broaden BPA adoption, and to loosen BPA constraints.
    • Prepare to scale BPA. Cement your BPA management and governance foundations to support BPA scaling using the lessons learned from your pilot implementation.

    Scale Business Process Automation Research & Tools

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Scale Business Process Automation Deck – A guide to learn the opportunities and values of scaling business process automation.

    This research walks you through the level setting of your scaled business process automation (BPA) expectations, factors to consider in defining your scaled BPA journey, and assessing your readiness to scale BPA.

    • Scale Business Process Automation Storyboard

    2. Scale Business Process Automation Readiness Assessment – A tool to help you evaluate your readiness to scale business process automation.

    Use this tool to identify key gaps in the people, processes, and technologies you need to support the scaling of business process automation (BPA). It also contains a canvas to facilitate your discussions around business process automation with your stakeholders and BPA teams.

    • Scale Business Process Automation Readiness Assessment
    [infographic]

    Further reading

    Scale Business Process Automation

    Take a value-first approach to automate the processes that matter

    Analyst Perspective

    Scaling business process automation (BPA) is an organization-wide commitment

    Business and IT must work together to ensure the right automations are implemented and BPA is grown and matured in a sustainable way. However, many organizations are not ready to make this commitment. Managing the automation demand backlog, coordinating cross-functional effort and organizational change, and measuring BPA value are some of the leading factors challenging scaling BPA.

    Pilot BPA with the intent to scale it. Pilots are safe starting points to establish your foundational governance and management practices and build the necessary relationships and collaborations for you to be successful. These factors will then allow you to explore more sophisticated, complicated, and innovative opportunities to drive new value to your team, department, and organization.

    A picture of Andrew Kum-Seun

    Andrew Kum-Seun
    Research Director,
    Application Delivery and Management
    Info-Tech Research Group

    Executive Summary

    Your Challenge

    • Business process automation (BPA) adoption gained significant momentum as your business leaders see the positive outcomes in your pilots, such as improvements in customer experience, operational efficiencies, and cost optimizations.
    • Your stakeholders are ready to increase their investments in more process automation solutions. They want to scale initial successes to other business and IT functions.
    • However, it is unclear how BPA can be successfully scaled and what benefits can be achieved from it.

    Common Obstacles

    The shift from isolated, task-based automations in your pilot to value-oriented and scaled automations brings new challenges and barriers to your organization:

    • Little motivation or tolerance to change existing business operations to see the full value of BPA.
    • Overinvesting in current BPA technologies to maximize return despite available alternatives that can do the same tasks better.
    • BPA teams are ill-equipped to meet the demands and complexities of scaled BPA implementations.

    Info-Tech's Approach

    • Ground your scaling expectations. Set realistic and achievable goals centered on driving business value to the entire organization by optimizing and automating end-to-end business processes.
    • Define your scaling journey. Tailor your scaling approach according to your ability to ease BPA implementation, to broaden BPA adoption, and to loosen BPA constraints.
    • Prepare to scale BPA. Cement your BPA management and governance foundations to support BPA scaling using the lessons learned from your pilot implementation.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Take a value-first approach in your scaling business process automation (BPA) journey. Low-risk, task-oriented automations are good starting points to introduce BPA but constrain the broader returns your organization wants. Business value can only scale when everything and everyone in your processes are working together to streamline the entire value stream rather than the small gains from optimizing small, isolated automations.

    Scale Business Process Automation

    Take a value-first approach to automate the processes that matter

    Pilot Your BPA Capabilities

    • Learn the foundation practices to design, deliver, and support BPA.
    • Understand the fit and value of BPA.
    • Gauge the tolerance for business operational change and system risk.

    See Info-Tech's Build a Winning Business Process Automation Playbook blueprint for more information.

    Build Your Scaling BPA Vision

    Apply Lessons Learned to Scale

    1. Ground Your Scaling Expectations
      Set realistic and achievable goals centered on driving business value to the entire organization by optimizing and automating end-to-end business processes.
    2. Define Your Scaling Journey
      Tailor your scaling approach according to your ability to ease BPA implementation, to broaden BPA adoption, and to loosen BPA constraints.
    3. Prepare to Scale BPA
      Cement your BPA management and governance foundations to support BPA scaling using the lessons learned from your pilot implementation.

    Research deliverable

    Design and communicate your approach to scale business process automation with Info-Tech's Scale Business Process Automation Readiness Assessment:

    • Level set your scaled BPA goals and objectives.
    • Discuss and design your scaled BPA journey.
    • Identify the gaps and improvements needed to scale your BPA practices and implementation.

    A screenshot from Info-Tech's Scale Business Process Automation Readiness Assessment

    Step 1.1

    Ground Your Scaling Expectations

    Activities

    1.1.1 Define Your Scaling Objectives

    This step involves the following participants:

    • Business Process Owners
    • Product Owners
    • Application Directors
    • Business Architects
    • BPA Delivery & Support Teams

    Outcomes of this step

    Scaling BPA objectives

    Organizations want to scale their initial BPA success

    Notable Initial Benefits

    1. Time Saved: "In the first day of live operations, the robots were saving 51 hours each day or the equivalent of six people working an eight-hour shift." – Brendan MacDonald, Director of Customer Compliance Operations, Ladbrokes (UiPath)
    2. Documentation & Knowledge Sharing: "If certain people left, knowledge of some processes would be lost and we realized that we needed a reliable process management system in place." – Peta Kinnane, Acting Audit and Risk Coordinator, Liverpool City Council (Nintex)
    3. Improved Service Delivery: "Thanks to this automation, our percentage of triaged and assigned tickets is now 100%. Nothing falls through the cracks. It has also improved the time to assignment. We assign tickets 2x faster than before." – Sebastian Goodwin, Head of Cybersecurity, Nutanix (Workato)

    Can We Gain More From Automation?

    The Solution

    As industries evolve and adopt more tools and technology, their products, services, and business operating models become more complex. Task- and desktop-based automations are often not enough. More sophisticated and scaled automations are needed to simplify and streamline the process from end-to-end of complex operations and align them with organizational goals.

    Stakeholders see automation as an opportunity to scale the business

    The value of scaling BPA is dependent on the organization's ability to scale with it. In other words, stakeholders should see an increase in business value without a substantial increase in resources and operational costs (e.g., there should be little difference if sending out 10 emails versus 1000).

    Examples of how business can be scaled with automation

    • Processes triggered by incoming documents or email: in these processes, an incoming document or email (that has semi-structured or unstructured data) is collected by a script or an RPA bot. This document is then processed with a machine learning model that validates it either by rules or ML models. The validated and enriched machine-readable data is then passed on to the next system of record.
    • The accounts payable process: this process includes receiving, processing, and paying out invoices from suppliers that provided goods or services to the company. While manual processing can be expensive, take too much time, and lead to errors, businesses can automate this process with machine learning and document extraction technologies like optical characters recognition (OCR), which converts texts containing images into characters that can be readable by computers to edit, compute, and analyze.
    • Order management: these processes include retrieving email and relevant attachments, extracting information that tells the business what its customers want, updating internal systems with newly placed orders or modifications, or taking necessary actions related to customer queries.
    • Enhance customer experience: [BPA tools] can help teams develop and distribute customer loyalty offers faster while also optimizing these offers with customer insights. Now, enterprises can more easily guarantee they are delivering the relevant solutions their clients are demanding.

    Source: Stefanini Group

    Scaling BPA has its challenges

    Perceived Lack of Opportunities

    Pilot BPA implementations often involve the processes that are straightforward to automate or are already shortlisted to optimize. However, these low-hanging fruits will run out. Discovering new BPA opportunities can be challenged for a variety of reasons, such as:

    • Lack of documentation and knowledge
    • Low user participation or drive to change
    • BPA technology limitations and constraints

    Perceived Lack of Opportunities

    BPA is not a cheap investment. A single RPA bot, for example, can cost between $5,000 to $15,000. This cost does not include the added cost for training, renewal fees, infrastructure set up and other variable and reoccurring costs that often come with RPA delivery and support (Blueprint). This reality can motivate BPA owners to favor existing technologies over other cheaper and more effective alternatives in an attempt boost their return on investment.

    Ill-Equipped Support Teams

    Good technical skills and tools, and the right mindset are critical to ensure BPA capabilities are deployed effectively. Low-code no-code (LCNC) can help but success isn't guaranteed. Lack of experience with low-code platforms is the biggest obstacle in low-code adoption according to 60% of respondents (Creatio). The learning curve has led some organizations to hire contractors to onboard BPA teams, hire new employees, or dedicate significant funding and resources to upskill internal resources.

    Shift your objectives from task-based efficiencies to value-driven capabilities

    How can I improve myself?

    How can we improve my team?

    How can we improve my organization?

    Objectives

    • Improve worker productivity
    • Improve the repeatability and predictability of the process
    • Deliver outputs of consistent quality and cadence
    • Increase process, tool, and technology confidence
    • Increase the team's throughput, commitment, and load
    • Apply more focus on cognitive and complex tasks
    • Reduce the time to complete error-prone, manual, and routine collaborations
    • Deliver insightful, personalized, and valuable outputs
    • Drive more value in existing pipelines and introduce new value streams
    • Deliver consistent digital experiences involving different technologies
    • Automatically tailor a customer's experience to individual preferences
    • Forecast and rapidly respond to customer issues and market trends

    Goals

    • Learn the fit of BPA & set the foundations
    • Improve the practices & tools and optimize the performance
    • Scale BPA capabilities throughout the organization

    Gauge the success of your scaled BPA

    BPA Practice Effectiveness

    Key Question: Are stakeholders satisfied with how the BPA practice is meeting their automation needs?

    Examples of Metrics:

    • User satisfaction
    • Automation request turnaround time
    • Throughput of BPA team

    Automation Solution Quality

    Key Question: How do your automation solutions perform and meet your quality standards?

    Examples of Metrics:

    • Licensing and operational costs
    • Service level agreement and uptime/downtime
    • Number of defects

    Business Value Delivery

    Key Question: How has automation improved the value your employees, teams, and the organization delivers?

    Examples of Metrics:
    Increase in revenue generation
    Reduction in operational costs
    Expansion of business capabilities with minimal increases in costs and risks

    1.1.1 Define your scaling objectives

    5 minutes

    1. Complete the following fields to build your scaled business process automation canvas:
      1. Problem that scaling BPA is intending to solve
      2. Your vision for scaling BPA
      3. Stakeholders
      4. Scaled BPA business and IT objectives and metrics
      5. Business capabilities, processes, and application systems involved
      6. Notable constraints, roadblocks, and challenges to your scaled BPA success
    2. Document your findings and discussions in Info-Tech's Scale Business Process Automation Readiness Assessment.

    Output

    Scaled BPA value canvas

    Participants

    • Business Process Owners
    • Product Owners
    • Application Directors
    • Business Architects
    • BPA Delivery & Support Teams

    Record the results in the 2. Value Canvas Tab in the Scale Business Process Automation Readiness Assessment.

    1.1.1 cont'd

    Scaled BPA Value Canvas Template:

    A screenshot of Scaled BPA Value Canvas Template

    Align your objectives to your application portfolio strategy

    Why is an application portfolio strategy important for BPA?

    • All business process optimizations are designed, delivered, and managed to support a consistent interpretation of the business and IT vision and goals.
    • Clear understanding of the sprawl, criticality, and risks of automation solutions and applications to business capabilities.
    • BPA initiatives are planned, prioritized, and coordinated alongside modernization, upgrades, and other changes to the application portfolio.
    • Resources, skills, and capacities are strategically allocated to meet BPA demand considering other commitments in the backlog and roadmap.
    • BPA expectations and practices uphold the persona, values, and principles of the application team.

    What is an application portfolio strategy?

    An application portfolio strategy details the direction, activities, and tactics to deliver on the promise of your application portfolio. It often includes:

    • Portfolio vision and goals
    • Application, automation, and process portfolio
    • Values and principles
    • Portfolio health
    • Risks and constraints
    • Strategic roadmap

    See our Application Portfolio Management Foundations blueprint for more information.

    Leverage your BPA champions to drive change and support scaling initiatives

    An arrow showing the steps to Leverage your BPA champions to drive change and support scaling initiatives

    Expected Outcome From Your Pilot: Your pilot would have recognized the roles that know how to effectively apply good BPA practices (e.g., process analysis and optimization) and are familiar with the BPA toolset. These individuals are prime candidates who can standardize your Build a Winning Business Process Automation Playbook, upskill interested teams, and build relationships among those involved in the delivery and use of BPA.

    Step 1.2

    Define Your Scaling Journey

    Activities

    1.2.1 Discuss Your BPA Opportunities
    1.2.2 Lay Out Your Scaling BPA Journey

    Scale Business Process Automation

    This step involves the following participants:

    • Business Process Owners
    • Product Owners
    • Application Directors
    • Business Architects
    • BPA Delivery & Support Teams

    Outcomes of this step

    • List of scaling BPA opportunities
    • Tailored scaling journey

    Maintain a healthy demand pipeline

    A successful scaled BPA practice requires a continuous demand for BPA capabilities and the delivery of minimum viable automations (MVA) held together by a broader strategic roadmap.

    An image of a healthy demand pipeline. it flows from opportunities to trends, with inputs from internal and external sources.

    An MVA focuses on a single and small process use case, involves minimal possible effort to improve, and is designed to satisfy a specific user group. Its purpose is to maximize learning and value and inform the further scaling of the BPA technology, approach, or practice.

    See our Build a Winning Business Process Automation Playbook blueprint for more information.

    Investigate how BPA trends can drive more value for the organization

    • Event-Driven Automation
      Process is triggered by a schedule, system output, scenario, or user (e.g., voice-activated, time-sensitive, system condition)
    • Low- & No-Code Automation build and management are completed through an easy-to-learn scripting language and/or a GUI.
    • Intelligent Document Processing
      Transform documents for better analysis, processing and handling (e.g., optical character recognition) by a tool or system.
    • End-to-End Process Automation & Transparency
      Linking cross-functional processes to enable automation of the entire value stream with seamless handoffs or triggers.
    • Orchestration of Different BPA Technologies
      Integrating and sequencing the execution of multiple automation solutions through a single console.
    • Cognitive Automation
      AI and other intelligent technologies automate information-intensive processes, including semi and unstructured data and human thinking simulation.
    • Intelligent Internet-of-Things
      Connecting process automation technologies to physical environments with sensors and other interaction devices (e.g., computer vision).
    • Ethical Design
      Optimizing processes that align to the moral value, principles, and beliefs of the organization (e.g., respects data privacy, resists manipulative patterns).
    • User Profiling & Tailored Experiences
      Customizing process outputs and user experience with user-defined configurations or system and user activity monitoring.
    • Process Mining & Discovery
      Gleaning optimization opportunities by analyzing system activities (mining) or monitoring user interactions with applications (discovery).

    1.2.1 Discuss your BPA opportunities

    5 minutes

    1. Review the goals and objectives of your initiative and the expectations you want to gain from scaling BPA.
    2. Discuss how BPA trends can be leveraged in your organization.
    3. List high priority scaling BPA opportunities.

    Output

    • Scaled BPA opportunities

    Participants

    • Business Process Owners
    • Product Owners
    • Application Directors
    • Business Architects
    • BPA Delivery & Support Teams

    Create your recipe for success

    Your scaling BPA recipe (approach) can involve multiple different flavors of various quantities to fit the needs and constraints of your organization and workers.

    What and how many ingredients you need is dependent on three key questions:

    1. How can we ease BPA implementation?
    2. How can we broaden the BPA scope?
    3. How can we loosen constraints?

    Personalize Scaling BPA To Your Taste

    • Extend BPA Across Business Units (Horizontal)
    • Integrate BPA Across Your Application Architecture (Vertical)
    • Embed AI/ML Into Your Automation Technologies
    • Empower Users With Business-Managed Automations
    • Combine Multiple Technologies for End-to-End Automation
    • Increase the Volume and Velocity of Automation
    • Automate Cognitive Processes and Making Variable Decisions

    Answer these questions in the definition of your scaling BPA journey

    Seeing the full value of your scaling approach is dependent on your ability to support BPA adoption across the organization

    How can we ease BPA implementation?

    • Good governance practices (e.g., role definitions, delivery and management processes, technology standards).
    • Support for innovation and experimentation.
    • Interoperable and plug-and-play architecture.
    • Dedicated technology management and support, including resources, documents, templates and shells.
    • Accessible and easy-to-understand knowledge and document repository.

    How can we broaden BPA scope?

    • Provide a unified experience across processes, fragmented technologies, and siloed business functions.
    • Improve intellectually intensive activities, challenging decision making and complex processes with more valuable insights and information using BPA.
    • Proactively react to business and technology environments and operational changes and interact with customers with unattended automation.
    • Infuse BPA technologies into your product and service to expand their functions, output quality, and reliability.

    How can we loosen constraints?

    • Processes are automated without the need for structured data and optimized processes, and there is no need to work around or avoid legacy applications.
    • Workers are empowered to develop and maintain their own automations.
    • Coaching, mentoring, training, and onboarding capabilities.
    • Accessibility and adoption of underutilized applications are improved with BPA.
    • BPA is used to overcome the limitations or the inefficiencies of other BPA technologies.

    1.2.2 Lay out your scaling BPA journey

    5 minutes

    1. Review the goals and objectives of your initiative, the expectations you want to gain from scaling BPA, and the various scaling BPA opportunities.
    2. Discuss the different scaling BPA flavors (patterns) and how each flavor is applicable to your situation. Ask yourself these key questions:
      1. How can we ease BPA implementation?
      2. How can we broaden the BPA scope?
      3. How can we loosen constraints?
    3. Design the broad steps of your scaling BPA journey. See the following slide for an example.
    4. Document your findings and discussions in Info-Tech's Scale Business Process Automation Readiness Assessment.

    Record the results in the 3. Scaled BPA Journey Tab in the Scale Business Process Automation Readiness Assessment.

    Output

    • Scaled BPA journey

    Participants

    • Business Process Owners
    • Product Owners
    • Application Directors
    • Business Architects
    • BPA Delivery & Support Teams

    1.2.2 cont'd

    An image of the marker used to identify Continuous business process optimization and automation Continuous business process optimization and automation
    An image of the marker used to identify Scope of Info-Tech's Build Your Business Process Automation Playbook blueprintScope of Info-Tech's Build Your Business Process Automation Playbook blueprint

    Example:

    An example of the BPA journey. Below are the links included in the journey.

    Continuously review and realign expectations

    Optimizing your scaled BPA practices and applying continuous improvements starts with monitoring the process after implementation.

    Purpose of Monitoring

    1. Diligent monitoring confirms your scaled BPA implementation is performing as desired and meeting initial expectations.
    2. Holding reviews of your BPA practice and implementations helps assess the impact of marketplace and business operations changes and allows the organization to stay on top of trends and risks.

    Metrics

    Metrics are an important aspect of monitoring and sustaining the scaled practice. The metrics will help determine success and find areas where adjustments may be needed.

    Hold retrospectives to identify any practice issues to be resolved or opportunities to undertake

    The retrospective gives your organization the opportunity to review themselves and brainstorm solutions and a plan for improvements to be actioned. This session is reoccurring, typically, after key milestones. While it is important to allow all participants the opportunity to voice their opinions, feelings, and experiences, retrospectives must be positive, productive, and time boxed.

    Step 1.3

    Prepare to Scale BPA

    Activities

    1.3.1 Assess Your Readiness to Scale BPA

    This step involves the following participants:

    • Business Process Owners
    • Product Owners
    • Application Directors
    • Business Architects
    • BPA Delivery & Support Teams

    Outcomes of this step

    • Scale BPA readiness assessment

    Prepare to scale by learning from your pilot implementations

    "While most organizations are advised to start with automating the 'low hanging fruit' first, the truth is that it can create traps that will impede your ability to achieve RPA at scale. In fact, scaling RPA into the organizational structure is fundamentally different from implementing a conventional software product or other process automation."
    – Blueprint

    What should be the takeaways from your pilot?

    Degree of Required BPA Support

    • Practices needed to address the organization's tolerance to business process changes and automation adoption.
    • Resources, budget and skills needed to configure and orchestrate automation technologies to existing business applications and systems.

    Technology Integration & Compatibility

    • The BPA technology and application system's flexibility to be enhanced, modified, and removed.
    • Adherence to data and system quality standards (e.g., security, availability) across all tools and technologies.

    Good Practices Toolkit

    • A list of tactics, techniques, templates, and examples to assist teams assessing and optimizing business processes and applying BPA solutions in your organization's context.
    • Strategies to navigate common blockers, challenges, and risks.

    Controls & Measures

    • Defined guardrails aligned to your organization's policies and risk tolerance
    • Key metrics are gathered to gauge the value and performance of your processes and automations for enhancements and further scaling.

    Decide how to architect and govern your BPA solutions

    Centralized

    A single body and platform to coordinate, execute, and manage all automation solutions.

    An image of the Centralized approach to governing BPA solutions.

    Distributed

    Automation solutions are locally delivered and managed whether that is per business unit, type of technology, or vendor. Some collaboration and integration can occur among solutions but might be done without a holistic strategy or approach.

    An image of the Distributed approach to governing BPA solutions.

    Hybrid

    Automation solutions are locally delivered and managed and executed for isolated use cases. Broader and complex automations are centrally orchestrated and administered.

    An image of the Hybrid approach to governing BPA solutions.

    Be prepared to address the risks with scaling BPA

    "Companies tend to underestimate the complexity of their business processes – and bots will frequently malfunction without an RPA design team that knows how to anticipate and prepare for most process exceptions. Unresolved process exceptions rank among the biggest RPA challenges, prompting frustrated users to revert to manual work."
    – Eduardo Diquez, Auxis, 2020

    Scenarios

    • Handling Failures of Dependent Systems
    • Handling Data Corruption & Quality Issues
    • Alignment to Regulatory & Industry Standards
    • Addressing Changes & Regressions to Business Processes
    • "Run Away" & Hijacked Automations
    • Unauthorized Access to Sensitive Information

    Recognize the costs to support your scaled BPA environment

    Cost Factors

    Automation Operations
    How will chaining multiple BPA technologies together impact your operating budget? Is there a limit on the number of active automations you can have at a single time?

    User Licenses
    How many users require access to the designer, orchestrator, and other functions of the BPA solution? Do they also require access to dependent applications, services, and databases?

    System Enhancements
    Are application and system upgrades and modernizations needed to support BPA? Is your infrastructure, data, and security controls capable of handling BPA demand?

    Supporting Resources
    Are dedicated resources needed to support, govern, and manage BPA across business and IT functions? Are internal resources or third-party providers preferred?

    Training & Onboarding
    Are end users and supporting resources trained to deliver, support, and/or use BPA? How will training and onboarding be facilitated: internally or via third party providers?

    Create a cross-functional and supportive body to lead the scaling of BPA

    Your supportive body is a cross-functional group of individuals promoting collaboration and good BPA practices. It enables an organization to extract the full benefits from critical systems, guides the growth and evolution of strategic BPA implementations, and provides critical expertise to those that need it. A supportive body distinctly caters to optimizing and strengthening BPA governance, management, and operational practices for a single technology or business function or broadly across the entire organization encompassing all BPA capabilities.

    What a support body is not:

    • A Temporary Measure
    • Exclusive to Large Organizations
    • A Project Management Office
    • A Physical Office
    • A Quick Fix

    See our Maximize the Benefits from Enterprise Applications With a Center of Excellence blueprint for more information.

    What are my options?

    Center of Excellence (CoE)
    AND
    Community of Practice (CoP)

    CoEs and CoPs provide critical functions

    An image of the critical functions provided by CoE and CoP.

    Shift your principles as you scale BPA

    As BPA scales, users and teams must not only think of how a BPA solution operates at a personal and technical level or what goals it is trying to achieve, but why it is worth doing and how the outcomes of the automated process will impact the organization's reputation, morality, and public perception.

    An image of the journey from Siloed BPA to Scaled BPA.

    "I think you're going to see a lot of corporations thinking about the corporate responsibility of [organizational change from automation], because studies show that consumers want and will only do business with socially responsible companies."

    – Todd Lohr

    Source: Appian, 2018.

    Assess your readiness to scale BPA

    Vision & Objectives
    Clear direction and goals of the business process automation practice.

    Governance
    Defined BPA roles and responsibilities, processes, and technology controls.

    Skills & Competencies
    The capabilities users and support roles must have to be successful with BPA.

    Business Process Management & Optimization
    The tactics to document, analyze, optimize, and monitor business processes.

    Business Process Automation Delivery
    The tactics to review the fit of automation solutions and deliver and support according to end user needs and preferences.

    Business Process Automation Platform
    The capabilities to manage BPA platforms and ensure it supports the growing needs of the business.

    1.3.1 Assess your readiness to scale BPA

    5 minutes

    1. Review your scaling BPA journey and selected patterns.
    2. Conduct a readiness assessment using the 4. Readiness Assessment tab in Info-Tech's Scale Business Process Automation Readiness Assessment.
    3. Brainstorm solutions to improve the capability or address the gaps found in this assessment.

    Output

    • Scaled BPA readiness assessment

    Participants

    • Business Process Owners
    • Product Owners
    • Application Directors
    • Business Architects
    • BPA Delivery & Support Teams

    Record the results in the 4. Readiness Assessment tab in Info-Tech's Scale Business Process Automation Readiness Assessment.

    Info-Tech offers various levels of support to best suit your needs

    DIY Toolkit

    “Our team has already made this critical project a priority, and we have the time and capability, but some guidance along the way would be helpful.”

    Guided Implementation

    “Our team knows that we need to fix a process, but we need assistance to determine where to focus. Some check-ins along the way would help keep us on track.”

    Workshop

    “We need to hit the ground running and get this project kicked off immediately. Our team has the ability to take this over once we get a framework and strategy in place.”

    Consulting

    “Our team does not have the time or the knowledge to take this project on. We need assistance through the entirety of this project.”

    Diagnostics and consistent frameworks used throughout all four options

    Related Info-Tech Research

    Bibliography

    Alston, Roland. "With the Rise of Intelligent Automation, Ethics Matter Now More than Ever." Appian, 4 Sept. 2018. Web.
    "Challenges of Achieving RPA at Scale." Blueprint, N.d. Web.
    Dilmegani, Cem. "RPA Benefits: 20 Ways Bots Improve Businesses in 2023," AI Multiple, 9 Jan 2023. Web.
    Diquez, Eduardo. "Struggling To Scale RPA? Discover The Secret to Success." Auxis, 30 Sept. 2020. Web.
    "How much does Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Really Cost?" Blueprint, 14 Sept. 2021. Web.
    "Liverpool City Council improves document process with Nintex." Nintex, n.d. Web.
    "The State of Low-Code/No-Code." Creatio, 2021. Web.
    "Using automation to enhance security and increase IT NPS to 90+ at Nutanix." Workato, n.d. Web.
    "What Is Hyperautomation? A Complete Guide To One Of Gartner's Top Tech Trends." Stefanini Group, 26 Mar. 2021. Web.

    pricing

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    Design a Tabletop Exercise to Support Your Security Operation

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    • Parent Category Name: Threat Intelligence & Incident Response
    • Parent Category Link: /threat-intelligence-incident-response
    • Threat management has become resource intensive, requiring continuous monitoring, collection, and analysis of massive volumes of security event data.
    • Security incidents are inevitable, but how they are handled is critical.
    • The increasing use of sophisticated malware is making it difficult for organizations to identify the true intent behind the attack campaign.
    • The incident response is often handled in an ad hoc or ineffective manner.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • Establish communication processes and channels well in advance of a crisis. Don’t wait until a state of panic. Collaborate and share information mutually with other organizations to stay ahead of incoming threats.
    • Security operations is no longer a center, but a process. The need for a physical security hub has evolved into the virtual fusion of prevention, detection, analysis, and response efforts. When all four functions operate as a unified process, your organization will be able to proactively combat changes in the threat landscape.
    • You might experience a negative return on your security control investment. As technology in the industry evolves, threat actors will adopt new tools, tactics, and procedures; a tabletop exercise will help ensure teams are leveraging your security investment properly and providing relevant situational awareness to stay on top of the rapidly evolving threat landscape.

    Impact and Result

    Establish and design a tabletop exercise capability to support and test the efficiency of the core prevention, detection, analysis, and response functions that consist of an organization's threat intelligence, security operations, vulnerability management, and incident response functions.

    Design a Tabletop Exercise to Support Your Security Operation Research & Tools

    Start here – read the Executive Brief

    Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should design a tabletop exercise, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Plan

    Evaluate the need for a tabletop exercise.

    • Design a Tabletop Exercise to Support Your Security Operation – Phase 1: Plan

    2. Design

    Determine the topics, scope, objectives, and participant roles and responsibilities.

    • Design a Tabletop Exercise to Support Your Security Operation – Phase 2: Design

    3. Develop

    Create briefings, guides, reports, and exercise injects.

    • Design a Tabletop Exercise to Support Your Security Operation – Phase 3: Develop
    • Design a Tabletop Exercise to Support Your Security Operation – Inject Examples

    4. Conduct

    Host the exercise in a conference or classroom setting.

    • Design a Tabletop Exercise to Support Your Security Operation – Phase 4: Conduct

    5. Evaluate

    Plan to ensure measurement and continued improvement.

    • Design a Tabletop Exercise to Support Your Security Operation – Phase 5: Evaluate
    [infographic]

    AI Trends 2023

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    • Parent Category Name: Business Intelligence Strategy
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    As AI technologies are constantly evolving, organizations are looking for AI trends and research developments to understand the future applications of AI in their industries.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • Understanding trends and the focus of current and future AI research helps to define how AI will drive an organization’s new strategic opportunities.
    • Understanding the potential application of AI and its promise can help plan the future investments in AI-powered technologies and systems.

    Impact and Result

    Understanding AI trends and developments enables an organization’s competitive advantage.

    AI Trends 2023 Research & Tools

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. AI Trends 2023 – An overview of trends that will continue to drive AI innovation.

    • AI Trends Report 2023
    [infographic]

    Further reading

    AI Trends Report 2023

    The eight trends:

    1. Design for AI
    2. Event-Based Insights
    3. Synthetic Data
    4. Edge AI
    5. AI in Science and Engineering
    6. AI Reasoning
    7. Digital Twin
    8. Combinatorial Optimization
    Challenges that slowed the adoption of AI

    To overcome the challenges, enterprises adopted different strategies

    Data Readiness

    • Lack of unified systems and unified data
    • Data quality issues
    • Lack of the right data required for machine learning
    • Improve data management capabilities, including data governance and data initiatives
    • Create data catalogs
    • Document data and information architecture
    • Solve data-related problems including data quality, privacy, and ethics

    ML Operations Capabilities

    • Lack of tools, technologies, and methodologies to operationalize models created by data scientists
    • Increase availability of cloud platforms, tools, and capabilities
    • Develop and grow machine learning operations (MLOps) tools, platforms, and methodologies to enable model operationalizing and monitoring in production

    Understanding of AI Role and Its Business Value

    • Lack of understanding of AI use cases – how AI/ML can be applied to solve specific business problems
    • Lack of understanding how to define the business value of AI investments
    • Identify AI C-suite toolkits (for example, Empowering AI Leadership from the World Economic Forum, 2022)
    • Document industry use cases
    • Use frameworks and tools to define business value for AI investments

    Design for AI

    Sustainable AI system design needs to consider several aspects: the business application of the system, data, software and hardware, governance, privacy, and security.

    It is important to define from the beginning how AI will be used by and for the application to clearly articulate business value, manage expectations, and set goals for the implementation.

    Design for AI will change how we store and manage data and how we approach the use of data for development and operation of AI systems.

    An AI system design approach should cover all stages of AI lifecycle, from design to maintenance. It should also support and enable iterative development of an AI system.

    To take advantage of different tools and technologies for AI system development, deployment, and monitoring, the design of an AI system should consider software and hardware needs and design for seamless and efficient integrations of all components of the system and with other existing systems within the enterprise.

    AI in Science and Engineering

    AI helps sequence genomes to identify variants in a person’s DNA that indicate genetic disorders. It allows researchers to model and calculate complicated physics processes, to forecast the genesis of the universe’s structure, and to understand planet ecosystem to help advance the climate research. AI drives advances in drug discovery and can assist with molecule synthesis and molecular property identification.

    AI finds application in all areas of science and engineering. The role of AI in science will grow and allow scientists to innovate faster.

    AI will further contribute to scientific understanding by assisting scientists in deriving new insights, generating new ideas and connections, generalizing scientific concepts, and transferring them between areas of scientific research.

    Using synthetic data and combining physical and machine learning models and other advances of AI/ML – such as graphs, use of unstructured data (language models), and computer vision – will accelerate the use of AI in science and engineering.

    Event- and Scenario-Driven AI

    AI-driven signal-gathering systems analyze a continuous stream of data to generate insights and predictions that enable strategic decision modeling and scenario planning by providing understanding of how and what areas of business might be impacted by certain events.

    AI enables the scenario-based approach to drive insights through pattern identification in addition to familiar pattern recognition, helping to understand how events are related.

    A system with anticipatory capabilities requires an event-driven architecture that enables gathering and analyzing different types of data (text, video, images) across multiple channels (social media, transactional systems, news feeds, etc.) for event-driven and event-sequencing modeling.

    ML simulation-based training of the model using advanced techniques under the umbrella of Reinforcement Learning in conjunction with statistically robust Bayesian probabilistic framework will aid in setting up future trends in AI.

    AI Reasoning

    Most of the applications of machine learning and AI today is about predicting future behaviors based on historical data and past behaviors. We can predict what product the customer would most likely buy or the price of a house when it goes on sale.

    Most of the current algorithms use the correlation between different parameters to make a prediction, for example, the correlation between the event and the outcome can look like “When X occurs, we can predict that Y will occur.” This, however, does not translate into “Y occurred because of X.”

    The development of a causal AI that uses causal inference to reason and identify the root cause and the causal relationships between variables without mistaking correlation and causation is still in its early stages but rapidly evolving.

    Some of the algorithms that the researchers are working with are casual graph models and algorithms that are at the intersection of causal inference with decision making and reinforcement learning (Causal Artificial Intelligence Lab, 2022).

    Synthetic Data

    Synthetic data is artificially generated data that mimics the structure of real-life data. It should also have the same mathematical and statistical properties as the real-world data that it is created to replicate.

    Synthetic data is used to train machine learning models when there is not enough real data or the existing data does not meet specific needs. It allows users to remove contextual bias from data sets containing personal data, prevent privacy concerns, and ensure compliance with privacy laws and regulations.

    Another application of synthetic data is solving data-sharing challenges.

    Researchers learned that quite often synthetic data sets outperform real-world data. Recently, a team of researchers at MIT built a synthetic data set of 150,000 video clips capturing human actions and used that data set to train the model. The researchers found that “the synthetically trained models performed even better than models trained on real data for videos that have fewer background objects” (MIT News Office, 2022).

    Today, synthetic data is used in language systems, in training self-driving cars, in improving fraud detection, and in clinical research, just to name a few examples.

    Synthetic data opens the doors for innovation across all industries and applications of AI by enabling access to data for any scenario and technology and business needs.

    Digital Twins

    Digital twins (DT) are virtual replicas of physical objects, devices, people, places, processes, and systems. In Manufacturing, almost every product and manufacturing process can have a complete digital replica of itself thanks to IoT, streaming data, and cheap cloud storage.

    All this data has allowed for complex simulations of, for example, how a piece of equipment will perform over time to predict future failures before they happen, reducing costly maintenance and extending equipment lifetime.

    In addition to predictive maintenance, DT and AI technologies have enabled organizations to design and digitally test complex equipment such as aircraft engines, trains, offshore oil platforms, and wind turbines before physically manufacturing them. This helps to improve product and process quality, manufacturing efficiency, and costs. DT technology also finds applications in architecture, construction, energy, infrastructure industries, and even retail.

    Digital twins combined with the metaverse provide a collaborative and interactive environment with immersive experience and real-time physics capabilities (as an example, Siemens presented an Immersive Digital Twin of a Plant at the Collision 2022 conference).

    Future trends include enabling autonomous behavior of a DT. An advanced DT can replicate itself as it moves into several devices, hence requiring the autonomous property. Such autonomous behavior of the DT will in turn influence the growth and further advancement of AI.

    Edge AI

    A simple definition for edge AI: A combination of edge computing and artificial intelligence, it enables the deployment of AI applications in devices of the physical world, in the field, where the data is located, such as IoT devices, devices on the manufacturing floor, healthcare devices, or a self-driving car.

    Edge AI integrates AI into edge computing devices for quicker and improved data processing and smart automation.

    The main benefits of edge AI include:

    • Real-time data processing capabilities to reduce latency and enable near real-time analytics and insights.
    • Reduced cost and bandwidth requirements as there is no need to transfer data to the cloud for computing.
    • Increased data security as the data is processed locally, on the device, reducing the risk of loss of sensitive data.
    • Improved automation by training machines to perform automated tasks.

    Edge AI is already used in a variety of applications and use cases including computer vision, geospatial intelligence, object detection, drones, and health monitoring devices.

    Combinatorial Optimization

    “Combinatorial optimization is a subfield of mathematical optimization that consists of finding an optimal object from a finite set of objects” (Wikipedia, retrieved December 2022).

    Applications of combinatorial optimization include:

    • Supply chain optimization
    • Scheduling and logistics, for example, vehicle routing where the trucks are making stops for pickup and deliveries
    • Operations optimization

    Classical combinatorial optimization (CO) techniques were widely used in operations research and played a major role in earlier developments of AI.

    The introduction of deep learning algorithms in recent years allowed researchers to combine neural network and conventional optimization algorithms; for example, incorporating neural combinatorial optimization algorithms in the conventional optimization framework. Researchers confirmed that certain combinations of these frameworks and algorithms can provide significant performance improvements.

    The research in this space continues and we look forward to learning how machine learning and AI (backtracking algorithms, reinforcement learning, deep learning, graph attention networks, and others) will be used for solving challenging combinatorial and decision-making problems.

    References

    “AI Can Power Scenario Planning for Real-Time Strategic Insights.” The Wall Street Journal, CFO Journal, content by Deloitte, 7 June 2021. Accessed 11 Dec. 2022.
    Ali Fdal, Omar. “Synthetic Data: 4 Use Cases in Modern Enterprises.” DATAVERSITY, 5 May 2022. Accessed
    11 Dec. 2022.
    Andrews, Gerard. “What Is Synthetic Data?” NVIDIA, 8 June 2021. Accessed 11 Dec. 2022.
    Bareinboim, Elias. “Causal Reinforcement Learning.” Causal AI, 2020. Accessed 11 Dec. 2022.
    Bengio, Yoshua, Andrea Lodi, and Antoine Prouvost. “Machine learning for combinatorial optimization: A methodological tour d’horizon.” European Journal of Operational Research, vol. 290, no. 2, 2021, pp. 405-421, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2020.07.063. Accessed 11 Dec. 2022.
    Benjamins, Richard. “Four design principles for developing sustainable AI applications.” Telefónica S.A., 10 Sept. 2018. Accessed on 11 Dec. 2022.
    Blades, Robin. “AI Generates Hypotheses Human Scientists Have Not Thought Of.” Scientific American, 28 October 2021. Accessed 11 Dec. 2022.
    “Combinatorial Optimization.” Wikipedia article, Accessed 11 Dec. 2022.
    Cronholm, Stefan, and Hannes Göbel. “Design Principles for Human-Centred Artificial Intelligence.” University of Borås, Sweden, 11 Aug. 2022. Accessed on 11 Dec. 2022
    Devaux, Elise. “Types of synthetic data and 4 real-life examples.” Statice, 29 May 2022. Accessed 11 Dec. 2022.
    Emmental, Russell. “A Guide to Causal AI.” ITBriefcase, 30 March 2022. Accessed 11 Dec. 2022.
    “Empowering AI Leadership: AI C-Suite Toolkit.” World Economic Forum, 12 Jan. 2022. Accessed 11 Dec 2022.
    Falk, Dan. “How Artificial Intelligence Is Changing Science.” Quanta Magazine, 11 March 2019. Accessed 11 Dec. 2022.
    Fritschle, Matthew J. “The Principles of Designing AI for Humans.” Aumcore, 17 Aug. 2018. Accessed 8 Dec. 2022.
    Garmendia, Andoni I., et al. Neural Combinatorial Optimization: a New Player in the Field.” IEEE, arXiv:2205.01356v1, 3 May 2022. Accessed 11 Dec. 2022.
    Gülen, Kerem. “AI Is Revolutionizing Every Field and Science is no Exception.” Dataconomy Media GmbH, 9 Nov. 9, 2022. Accessed 11 Dec. 2022
    Krenn, Mario, et al. “On scientific understanding with artificial intelligence.” Nature Reviews Physics, vol. 4, 11 Oct. 2022, pp. 761–769. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-022-00518-3. Accessed 11 Dec. 2022.
    Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems. “The real promise of synthetic data.” MIT News, 16 Oct. 2020. Accessed 11 Dec. 2022.
    Lecca, Paola. “Machine Learning for Causal Inference in Biological Networks: Perspectives of This Challenge.” Frontiers, 22 Sept. 2021. Accessed 11 Dec. 2022. Mirabella, Lucia. “Digital Twin x Metaverse: real and virtual made easy.” Siemens presentation at Collision 2022 conference, Toronto, Ontario. Accessed 11 Dec. 2022. Mitchum, Rob, and Louise Lerner. “How AI could change science.” University of Chicago News, 1 Oct. 2019. Accessed 11 Dec. 2022.
    Okeke, Franklin. “The benefits of edge AI.” TechRepublic, 22 Sept. 2022, Accessed 11 Dec. 2022.
    Perlmutter, Nathan. “Machine Learning and Combinatorial Optimization Problems.” Crater Labs, 31 July 31, 2019. Accessed 11 Dec. 2022.
    Sampson, Ovetta. “Design Principles for a New AI World.” UX Magazine, 6 Jan. 2022. Accessed 11 Dec. 2022.
    Sgaier, Sema K., Vincent Huang, and Grace Charles. “The Case for Causal AI.” Stanford Social Innovation Review, Summer 2020. Accessed 11 Dec. 2022.
    “Synthetic Data.” Wikipedia article, Accessed 11 Dec. 2022.
    Take, Marius, et al. “Software Design Patterns for AI-Systems.” EMISA Workshop 2021, CEUR-WS.org, Proceedings 30. Accessed 11 Dec. 2022.
    Toews, Rob. “Synthetic Data Is About To Transform Artificial Intelligence.” Forbes, 12 June 2022. Accessed
    11 Dec. 2022.
    Zewe, Adam. “In machine learning, synthetic data can offer real performance improvements.” MIT News Office, 3 Nov. 2022. Accessed 11 Dec. 2022.
    Zhang, Junzhe, and Elias Bareinboim. “Can Humans Be out of the Loop?” Technical Report, Department of Computer Science, Columbia University, NY, June 2022. Accessed 11 Dec. 2022.

    Contributors

    Irina Sedenko Anu Ganesh Amir Feizpour David Glazer Delina Ivanova

    Irina Sedenko

    Advisory Director

    Info-Tech

    Anu Ganesh

    Technical Counselor

    Info-Tech

    Amir Feizpour

    Co-Founder & CEO

    Aggregate Intellect Inc.

    David Glazer

    VP of Analytics

    Kroll

    Delina Ivanova

    Associate Director, Data & Analytics

    HelloFresh

    Usman Lakhani

    DevOps

    WeCloudData

    Build your service map: What does your company do for your customers?

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    After three decades navigating the complexities of organizational resilience, one truth stands clearer than ever: you cannot truly protect what you do not deeply understand. And for any business, especially in today's dynamic landscape, what you do is ultimately about what you do for your customers. There is something that I see insufficiently matured or missing in many companies: building a comprehensive “service map.”

    Think about it. We pour resources into product development, marketing, and sales, yet how often do we collectively pause to articulate, across all departments, exactly what services we provide to our customers? It sounds simple, doesn't it? Yet, the reality is typically a fragmented understanding, siloed information, and a distinct lack of a holistic view, except by a few key people.

    Why is this clear view so critical? Because your customers don't interact with your internal departments; they interact with your services. They don't care about your organizational chart; they care about how seamlessly you meet their needs. Without a clear service map, you have blind spots. You miss opportunities for optimization, you introduce friction into customer journeys, and critically, you compromise your ability to recover when things go wrong. Resilience isn't just about bouncing back; it's about understanding what's truly essential to protect your customer relationships.

    Let's make this real.

    What services do banks offer? It’s far more than just “banking.” They provide:

    • Retail Banking: Current accounts, savings accounts, debit/credit cards, personal loans, mortgages.

    • Investment Services: Wealth management, brokerage, mutual funds, pension products.

    • Business Banking: Corporate loans, treasury services, payroll solutions, trade finance.

    • Digital Services: Online banking platforms, mobile apps, and payment gateways.

    • Advisory Services: Financial planning, retirement planning, and estate planning.

    Let's hone in on an often complex offering: a pension savings product where you contribute monthly. This isn't just a “product” on a shelf; it's a living, breathing service with a distinct customer journey.

    Imagine the customer journey for this:

    1. Customer Initiates Payment (or Automated Process Triggers): On the designated payment date, a SEPA Direct Debit instruction is initiated, pulling funds from the customer's linked bank account.

    2. Funds Transfer & Clearance: The funds travel through interbank networks, cleared and settled between the customer's bank and the financial institution’s holding accounts.

    3. Internal Reconciliation & Allocation: Upon receipt, the funds are reconciled against the customer's pension account number and allocated to their specific pension product.

    4. Investment Instruction: Based on the product's pre-defined investment strategy (e.g., a balanced fund, equity fund), an instruction is generated to purchase units in the underlying investments.

    5. Market Execution: The instruction is sent to the relevant trading desks or automated systems, which execute the purchase of shares, bonds, or other assets on the stock market at prevailing market prices.

    6. Confirmation & Update: Once the trade is settled, the customer's pension account is updated to reflect the new units purchased and the updated total value, often visible via an online portal or statement.

    For every single step in this service, your organization needs robust capabilities to make these steps visible and resilient to all stakeholders who “work around that service.” This isn't just for IT; it's for compliance, operations, customer service, and even marketing.

    Let's look at the same for a realtor company specializing in rental properties:

    • Service Map for property owners and landlords:

      • Property Listing & Marketing: Creating professional listings, photography, virtual tours, and advertising on various platforms (online portals, social media, and local networks).

      • Tenant Sourcing & Vetting: Conducting viewings, screening potential tenants (credit checks, employment verification, previous landlord references), and background checks.

      • Lease Agreement Management: Drafting, negotiating, and executing legally compliant rental contracts.

      • Property Maintenance & Repairs Coordination: Arranging routine maintenance, coordinating emergency repairs with vetted contractors, and overseeing work quality.

      • Property Inspections: Conducting periodic property inspections (move-in, routine, move-out) to ensure property condition and compliance with lease terms.

      • Compliance & Legal Guidance: Advising on landlord-tenant laws, health & safety regulations, and handling eviction processes if necessary.

      • Security Deposit Management: Collecting, holding, and returning security deposits in accordance with legal requirements.

    • Services for tenants:

      • Property Search & Matching: Assisting prospective tenants in finding suitable properties based on their needs and budget.

      • Viewing Scheduling: Arranging property viewings and providing access.

      • Application Processing: Guiding tenants through the application process and necessary documentation.

      • Lease Onboarding: Explaining lease terms, facilitating key handover, and conducting move-in inspections.

      • Maintenance Request Handling: A clear process for tenants to report maintenance issues and track resolution.

      • Emergency Support: Providing contact points and procedures for urgent property-related emergencies.

      • Lease Renewal & Move-out Support: Managing lease renewals, providing guidance on move-out procedures, and facilitating security deposit returns.

    Many of these will require automated systems. The customer-facing ones even more so. You need to understand the customer journeys for each entry in your service map.

    You need:

    • Comprehensive Monitoring & Alerting: Real-time visibility into every step of the journey, flagging anomalies or delays before they become customer-impacting issues. Build monitoring capabilities into the systems and build the operational capability to follow up on alerts and events. There are now products on the market that can do a lot of the heavy lifting for you. Be prepared to open your wallet. This is not cheap. I hear AI already rolling off the tongues: this is not cheap. For smaller service maps and customer journeys, consider using built-in tools and hiring a small team of people that can leverage the next points. For large institutions, let alone manufacturing, automation and continuous testing are key.

    • Centralized Knowledge Management: A single source of truth for service definitions, processes, dependencies, and known issues, accessible to everyone who needs it. No more tribal knowledge. For condensed setups, it can be as simple as a folder on a hard drive that contains your knowledge base articles (aka Word documents that explain the process, how it was set up, what you need to operate it etc.). Most businesses will use some form of knowledge management system that is a bit more sophisticated, perhaps even built-in to the IT Operations Management (ITOM) tooling. It's a shame it's called IT ops tooling, because you can equally use this for business process documentation. Just remember the last bullet below: DR and BCP. Your knowledge system is useless if you cannot get to it!   

    • Robust Development & Operations Processes: Seamless collaboration between development, operations, and business teams to make sure services are built, tested, deployed, and managed efficiently and reliably. It does not really matter if you want to use DevOps, or change/run, or scrum and squads, or anything in between. Pick what works in your culture. Also, it is not one-size-fits-all. Some systems are core and require a more strict regimen; others must be able to turn on a dime. But whatever you use: keep your service and the customer journey through it front and center. Build it so that you have clearly separated “stations” where something is done to fulfill the system. Make the mental analogy with a factory. It will keep each station atomic, so that when the time comes to make changes, you can do so without having to re-invent large parts of the value delivery chain. 

    • End-to-End Security Protocols: Protect sensitive customer data and financial transactions at every touchpoint throughout the journey. I mean, duh. You must. This is non-negotiable. This includes your backups. Large or small company, you must maintain backups. Use the 321 method: 3 copies of your data and setups on 2 different platforms or data storage carriers and 1 offsite. Your backups should include at least 1 immutable copy. That is a copy that cannot be altered. Large firms partner with their hosting companies to include that in the service offering; small companies have cheap options. I use 2 separate backup providers (total cost around €100/month at the time of writing in 2025) and my own disconnected storage carriers. I even use a backup provider and disconnected storage for my family's data (around €25/month).

    • Effective Disaster Recovery (DR) & Business Continuity Planning (BCP) Capabilities: Understanding critical service components, their recovery time objectives (RTOs), and recovery point objectives (RPOs) to ensure rapid restoration of service even after major disruptions. This isn't a theoretical exercise; it needs to be tested and proven. Your expectations also need to be realistic. 

    There are more elements to consider when building your service map and the customer journeys when it comes to resilience. Things like performance metrics, scalability, peak usage management, and so on. McKinsey wrote years ago, design for the storm, not the sunny days. That is right, but keep the design within the commercial service parameters. It is equally bad to overbuild to a $5 million system, if your expected revenue is less than $100,000 a year, than it is to use a $10,000 system to support a $5 million revenue stream. (I remember the Excel sheet from hell that actually supported a macro-economist at a large brokerage.) 

    Start mapping your services today. Start with what you feel are the most critical ones. You'll uncover inefficiencies, mitigate risks, and strengthen the very foundation of your customer relationships. You may even save some money.

    Modernize Your Microsoft Licensing for the Cloud Era

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    • Parent Category Name: Licensing
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    • Microsoft licensing is complicated. Often, the same software can be licensed a number of ways. It’s difficult to know which edition and licensing model is best.
    • Licensing and features often change with the release of new software versions, compounding the problem by making it difficult to stay current.
    • In tough economic times, IT is asked to reduce capital and operating expenses wherever possible. As one of the top five expense items in most enterprise software budgets, Microsoft licensing is a primary target for cost reduction.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • Focus on needs first. Conduct a thorough needs assessment and document the results. Well-documented needs will be your best asset in navigating Microsoft licensing and negotiating your agreement.
    • Beware the bundle. Be aware when purchasing the M365 suite that there is no way out. Negotiating a low price is critical, as all leverage swings to Microsoft once it is on your agreement.
    • If the cloud doesn’t fit, be ready to pay up or start making room. Microsoft has drastically reduced discounting for on-premises products, support has been reduced, and product rights have been limited. If you are planning to remain on premises, be prepared to pay up.

    Impact and Result

    • Understand what your organization needs and what your business requirements are. It’s always easier to purchase more later than try to reduce your spend.
    • Complete cost calculations carefully, as the cloud might end up costing significantly more for the desired feature set. However, in some scenarios, it may be more cost efficient for organizations to license in the cloud.
    • If there are significant barriers to cloud adoption, discuss and document them. You’ll need this documentation in three years when it’s time to renew your agreement.

    Modernize Your Microsoft Licensing for the Cloud Era Research & Tools

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Modernize Your Microsoft Licensing Deck – A deck to help you build a strategy for your Microsoft licensing renewal.

    This storyboard will help you build a strategy for your Microsoft licensing renewal from conducting a thorough needs assessment to examining your licensing position, evaluating Microsoft's licensing options, and negotiations.

    • Modernize Your Microsoft Licensing for the Cloud Era – Phases 1-4

    2. Microsoft Cloud Products Cost Modeler – A tool to model estimated costs for Microsoft's cloud products.

    The Microsoft Cloud Products Cost Modeler will provide a rough estimate of what you can expect to pay for Office 365 or Dynamics CRM licensing, before you enter into negotiations. This is not your final cost, but it will give you an idea.

    • Microsoft Cloud Products Cost Modeler

    3. Microsoft Licensing Purchase Reference Guide - A template to capture licensing stakeholder information, proposed changes to licensing, and negotiation items.

    The Microsoft Licensing Purchase Reference Guide can be used throughout the process of licensing review: from initial meetings to discuss compliance state and planned purchases, to negotiation meetings with resellers. Use it in conjunction with Info-Tech's Microsoft Licensing Effective License Position Template.

    • Microsoft Licensing Purchase Reference Guide

    4. Negotiation Timeline for Microsoft – A template to navigate your negotiations with Microsoft.

    This tool will help you plot out your negotiation timeline, depending on where you are in your contract negotiation process.

  • 6-12 months
  • Less than 3 months

    • Negotiation Timeline for Microsoft – Visio
    • Negotiation Timeline for Microsoft – PDF

    5. Effective Licensing Position Tool – A template to help you create an effective licensing position and determine your compliance position.

    This template helps organizations to determine the difference between the number of software licenses they own and the number of software copies deployed. This is known as the organization’s effective license position (ELP).

    • Effective Licensing Position Tool
    [infographic]

    Implement an IT Chargeback System

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    • Parent Category Name: Cost & Budget Management
    • Parent Category Link: /cost-and-budget-management
    • Business units voraciously consume IT services and don’t understand the actual costs of IT. This is due to lack of IT cost transparency and business stakeholder accountability for consumption of IT services.
    • Business units perceive IT costs as uncompetitive, resulting in shadow IT and a negative perception of IT.
    • Business executives have decided to implement an IT chargeback program and IT must ensure the program succeeds.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    Price IT services so that business consumers find them meaningful, measurable, and manageable:

    • The business must understand what they are being charged for. If they can’t understand the value, you’ve chosen the wrong basis for charge.
    • Business units must be able to control and track their consumption levels, or they will feel powerless to control costs and you’ll never attain real buy-in.

    Impact and Result

    • Explain IT costs in ways that matter to the business. Instead of focusing on what IT pays for, discuss the value that IT brings to the business by defining IT services and how they serve business users.
    • Develop a chargeback model that brings transparency to the flow of IT costs through to business value. Demonstrate how a good chargeback model can bring about fair “pay-for-value” and “pay-for-what-you-use” pricing.
    • Communicate IT chargeback openly and manage change effectively. Business owners will want to know how their profit and loss statements will be affected by the new pricing model.

    Implement an IT Chargeback System Research & Tools

    Start here – read the Executive Brief

    Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should implement an IT chargeback program, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Launch

    Make the case for IT chargeback, then assess the financial maturity of the organization and identify a pathway to success. Create a chargeback governance model.

    • Implement IT Chargeback – Phase 1: Launch
    • IT Chargeback Kick-Off Presentation

    2. Define

    Develop a chargeback model, including identifying user-facing IT services, allocating IT costs to services, and setting up the chargeback program.

    • Implement IT Chargeback – Phase 2: Define
    • IT Chargeback Program Development & Management Tool

    3. Implement

    Communicate the rollout of the IT chargeback model and establish a process for recovering IT services costs from business units.

    • Implement IT Chargeback – Phase 3: Implement
    • IT Chargeback Communication Plan
    • IT Chargeback Rollout Presentation
    • IT Chargeback Financial Presentation

    4. Revise

    Gather and analyze feedback from business owners, making necessary modifications to the chargeback model and communicating the implications.

    • Implement IT Chargeback – Phase 4: Revise
    • IT Chargeback Change Communication Template
    [infographic]

    Workshop: Implement an IT Chargeback System

    Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

    1 Kick-Off IT Chargeback

    The Purpose

    Make the case for IT chargeback.

    Identify the current and target state of chargeback maturity.

    Establish a chargeback governance model.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Investigated the benefits and challenges of implementing IT chargeback.

    Understanding of the reasons why traditional chargeback approaches fail.

    Identified the specific pathway to chargeback success.

    Activities

    1.1 Investigate the benefits and challenges of implementing IT chargeback

    1.2 Educate business owners and executives on IT chargeback

    1.3 Identify the current and target state of chargeback maturity

    1.4 Establish chargeback governance

    Outputs

    Defined IT chargeback mandate

    IT chargeback kick-off presentation

    Chargeback maturity assessment

    IT chargeback governance model

    2 Develop the Chargeback Model

    The Purpose

    Develop a chargeback model.

    Identify the customers and user-facing services.

    Allocate IT costs.

    Determine chargeable service units.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Identified IT customers.

    Identified user-facing services and generated descriptions for them.

    Allocated IT costs to IT services.

    Identified meaningful, measurable, and manageable chargeback service units.

    Activities

    2.1 Identify user-facing services and generate descriptions

    2.2 Allocate costs to user-facing services

    2.3 Determine chargeable service units and pricing

    2.4 Track consumption

    2.5 Determine service charges

    Outputs

    High-level service catalog

    Chargeback model

    3 Communicate IT Chargeback

    The Purpose

    Communicate the implementation of IT chargeback.

    Establish a process for recovering the costs of IT services from business units.

    Share the financial results of the charge cycle with business owners.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Managed the transition to charging and recovering the costs of IT services from business units.

    Communicated the implementation of IT chargeback and shared the financial results with business owners.

    Activities

    3.1 Create a communication plan

    3.2 Deliver a chargeback rollout presentation

    3.3 Establish a process for recovering IT costs from business units

    3.4 Share the financial results from the charge cycle with business owners

    Outputs

    IT chargeback communication plan

    IT chargeback rollout presentation

    IT service cost recovery process

    IT chargeback financial presentation

    4 Review the Chargeback Model

    The Purpose

    Gather and analyze feedback from business owners on the chargeback model.

    Make necessary modifications to the chargeback model and communicate implications.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Gathered business stakeholder feedback on the chargeback model.

    Made necessary modifications to the chargeback model to increase satisfaction and accuracy.

    Managed changes by communicating the implications to business owners in a structured manner.

    Activities

    4.1 Address stakeholder pain points and highly disputed costs

    4.2 Update the chargeback model

    4.3 Communicate the chargeback model changes and implications to business units

    Outputs

    Revised chargeback model with business feedback, change log, and modifications

    Chargeback change communication

    Modernize Enterprise Storage

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    • member rating overall impact: N/A
    • member rating average dollars saved: N/A
    • member rating average days saved: N/A
    • Parent Category Name: Storage & Backup Optimization
    • Parent Category Link: /storage-and-backup-optimization
    • Current storage solutions are nearing end of life, performance or capacity limits.
    • Data continues to grow at an exponential rate, and management complexity is growing even faster. Some kinds of data, like unstructured data, are leading factors in the exponential growth of data.
    • Emerging storage technologies and storage software/automation are disrupting the market and redefining the role of disk arrays, including how storage aligns with people and process.
    • Storage infrastructure budgets are not satisfying the exponential growth of data.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • Start with the data, not storage. Answer what is being stored and why before investigating the where and how of storage solutions.
    • Governance and archiving are not IT projects. These can have tremendous benefits for managing data growth but must involve the larger business.
    • More capacity is not a long-term solution. Data is growing faster than decreasing storage costs. Data and capacity mitigation strategies will help in more effective and efficient infrastructure utilization and cost reduction.

    Impact and Result

    • It’s about the data. Start with what is being supported and why. Decide on what and how data is stored before you decide on where. Let the needs of your workloads and governance requirements of your business drive your storage infrastructure decisions and the technologies you adopt.
    • Identify current and future capacity needs for current and future data drivers. Evaluating the ability of current infrastructure to meet these needs will help you discover necessary additions to meet these requirements.
    • Identify governance requirements and constraints that exist across the organization and are specific to workloads. Technology has to conform to these requirements and constraints, not the other way around.
    • Align people and process with technology changes. To effectively utilize the changes in storage, appropriate changes must be made to existing people and process.

    Modernize Enterprise Storage Research & Tools

    Start here – read the Executive Brief

    Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should modernize enterprise storage, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Build the case for storage modernization

    Develop the business case for modernizing storage and assess your existing infrastructure for meeting data needs.

    • Modernize Enterprise Storage – Phase 1: Build the Case for Storage Modernization
    • Modernize Enterprise Storage Workbook

    2. Develop your storage technology needs and goals

    Review data governance, explore emerging storage technologies, and identify current and future storage needs.

    • Modernize Enterprise Storage – Phase 2: Develop Your Storage Technology Needs and Goals
    • Evaluate Hyperconverged Infrastructure for Your Infrastructure Roadmap
    • Evaluate Software-Defined Storage Solutions for Your Infrastructure Roadmap
    • Evaluate All Flash in Primary Storage for Your Infrastructure Roadmap
    • Infrastructure Roadmap Technology Assessment Tool

    3. Develop and communicate the roadmap, TCO, and RFP

    Communicate the roadmap with people, process, and technology initiatives, develop an RFP, and conduct a TCO.

    • Modernize Enterprise Storage – Phase 3: Develop and Communicate the Roadmap and RFP
    • Modernize Enterprise Storage Communications Report
    [infographic]

    Workshop: Modernize Enterprise Storage

    Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

    1 Identify Business Case and Assess Current State

    The Purpose

    Identify a business case and need for storage modernization by assessing current and future storage needs.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    A clear understanding of the business expectations and needs of storage infrastructure.

    Activities

    1.1 Identify current storage pain points.

    1.2 Discuss storage modernization drivers.

    1.3 Identify data growth drivers.

    1.4 Determine relative growth burden.

    Outputs

    Alignment of storage modernization with organizational pain points

    Desired outcomes of storage modernization

    An understanding of growth impact across drivers

    An understanding of capacity and expansion needs

    2 Review Governance and Emerging Technologies

    The Purpose

    Review existing data governance.

    Explore emerging technologies and trends in the storage space.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Review data governance objectives that must be met.

    Identify a shortlist of storage technologies and trends that may be of interest.

    Activities

    2.1 Shortlist interest in storage technologies.

    2.2 Prioritize shortlist of storage technologies.

    2.3 Identify solutions that meet data and governance needs.

    Outputs

    A starting point for research into new and emerging storage technologies

    Expressed interest in adopting storage technologies

    A list of storage solutions needed to deliver on future data and governance needs

    3 Identify Storage Needs and Develop Initiatives

    The Purpose

    Identify the people, process, and technology initiatives required to adopt new storage technologies.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Align your organizational people and process with new and disruptive technologies to best take advantage of what these new technologies have to offer.

    Activities

    3.1 Complete future storage structure planning tool.

    3.2 Identify storage modernization technology initiatives.

    3.3 Identify storage modernization people initiatives.

    3.4 Identify storage modernization process initiatives.

    Outputs

    A understanding of the future state of your storage infrastructure

    Technology initiatives needed to adopt storage structure

    People initiatives needed to adopt storage structure

    Process initiatives needed to adopt storage structure

    4 Build a Roadmap and RFP, Calculate TCO

    The Purpose

    Develop an executive communications report.

    Conduct a TCO analysis comparing on-premises and cloud storage solutions.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Communicate storage modernization goals and plans to stakeholders.

    Activities

    4.1 Prioritize storage modernization initiatives.

    4.2 Complete project timeline and build roadmap.

    4.3 Compare TCO of on-premises and cloud storage solutions.

    Outputs

    Alignment of people, process, and technology with storage adoption

    Communicate storage modernization goals and plans to stakeholders and executives

    Compare cost of on-premises and cloud storage alternatives

    Grow Your Own PPM Solution

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    • member rating overall impact: 9.6/10 Overall Impact
    • member rating average dollars saved: $47,944 Average $ Saved
    • member rating average days saved: 29 Average Days Saved
    • Parent Category Name: Portfolio Management
    • Parent Category Link: /portfolio-management
    • As portfolio manager, you’re responsible for supporting the intake of new project requests, providing visibility into the portfolio of in-flight projects, and helping to facilitate the right approval and prioritization decisions.
    • You need a project portfolio management (PPM) tool that promotes the maintenance and flow of good data to help you succeed in these tasks. However, while throwing expensive technology at bad process rarely works, many organizations take this approach to solve their PPM problems.
    • Commercial PPM solutions are powerful and compelling, but they are also expensive, complex, and hard to use. When a solution is not properly adopted, the data can be unreliable and inconsistent, defeating the point of purchasing a tool in the first place.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • Your choice of PPM solution must be in tune with your organizational PPM maturity to ensure that you are prepared to sustain the tool use without having the corresponding PPM processes collapse under its own weight.
    • A spreadsheet-based homegrown PPM solution can provide key capabilities of an optimized PPM solution with a high level of sophistication and complexity without the prohibitive capital and labor costs demanded by commercial PPM solution.
    • Focus on your PPM decision makers that will consume the reports and insights by investigating their specific reporting needs.

    Impact and Result

    • Think outside the commercial box. Develop an affordable, adoptable, and effective PPM solution using widely available tools based on Info-Tech’s ready-to-deploy templates.
    • Make your solution sustainable. When it comes to portfolio management, high level is better. A tool that is accurate and maintainable will provide more value than one that strives for precise data yet is ultimately unmaintainable.
    • Report success. A PPM tool needs to foster portfolio visibility in order to engage and inform the executive layer and support effective decision making.

    Grow Your Own PPM Solution Research & Tools

    Start here – read the Executive Brief

    Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should grow your own PPM solution, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Right-size your PPM solution

    Scope an affordable, adoptable, and effective PPM solution with Info-Tech's Portfolio Manager 2017 workbook.

    • Grow Your Own PPM Solution – Phase 1: Right-Size Your PPM Solution
    • Portfolio Manager 2017 Cost-in-Use Estimation Tool
    • None

    2. Get to know Portfolio Manager 2017

    Learn how to use Info-Tech's Portfolio Manager 2017 workbook and create powerful reports.

    • Grow Your Own PPM Solution – Phase 2: Meet Portfolio Manager 2017
    • Portfolio Manager 2017
    • Portfolio Manager 2017 (with Actuals)
    • None
    • None
    • None

    3. Implement your homegrown PPM solution

    Plan and implement an affordable, adoptable, and effective PPM solution with Info-Tech's Portfolio Manager 2017 workbook.

    • Grow Your Own PPM Solution – Phase 3: Implement Your PPM Solution
    • Portfolio Manager 2017 Operating Manual
    • Stakeholder Engagement Workbook
    • Portfolio Manager Debut Presentation for Portfolio Owners
    • Portfolio Manager Debut Presentation for Data Suppliers

    4. Outgrow your own PPM solution

    Develop an exit strategy from your home-grown solution to a commercial PPM toolset. In this video, we show a rapid transition from the Excel dataset shown on this page to a commercial solution from Meisterplan. Christoph Hirnle of Meisterplan is interviewed starting at 9 minutes.

    • None
    [infographic]

    Workshop: Grow Your Own PPM Solution

    Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

    1 Scope a Homegrown PPM Solution for Your Organization

    The Purpose

    Assess the current state of project portfolio management capability at your organization. The activities in this module will inform the next modules by exploring your organization’s current strengths and weaknesses and identifying areas that require improvement.

    Set up the workbook to generate a fully functional project portfolio workbook that will give you a high-level view into your portfolio.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    A high-level review of your current project portfolio capability is used to decide whether a homegrown PPM solution is an appropriate choice

    Cost-benefit analysis is done to build a business case for supporting this choice

    Activities

    1.1 Review existing PPM strategy and processes.

    1.2 Perform a cost-benefit analysis.

    Outputs

    Confirmation of homegrown PPM solution as the right choice

    Expected benefits for the PPM solution

    2 Get to Know Portfolio Manager 2017

    The Purpose

    Define a list of requirements for your PPM solution that meets the needs of all stakeholders.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    A fully customized PPM solution in your chosen platform

    Activities

    2.1 Introduction to Info-Tech's Portfolio Manager 2017: inputs, outputs, and the data model.

    2.2 Gather requirements for enhancements and customizations.

    Outputs

    Trained project/resource managers on the homegrown solution

    A wish list of enhancements and customizations

    3 Implement Your Homegrown PPM Solution

    The Purpose

    Determine an action plan regarding next steps for implementation.

    Implement your homegrown PPM solution. The activities outlined in this step will help to promote adoption of the tool throughout your organization.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    A set of processes to integrate the new homegrown PPM solution into existing PPM activities

    Plans for piloting the new processes, process improvement, and stakeholder communication

    Activities

    3.1 Plan to integrate your new solution into your PPM processes.

    3.2 Plan to pilot the new processes.

    3.3 Manage stakeholder communications.

    Outputs

    Portfolio Manager 2017 operating manual, which documents how Portfolio Manager 2017 is used to augment the PPM processes

    Plan for a pilot run and post-pilot evaluation for a wider rollout

    Communication plan for impacted PPM stakeholders

    Embrace Business-Managed Applications

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    • member rating overall impact: 9.0/10 Overall Impact
    • member rating average dollars saved: $64,999 Average $ Saved
    • member rating average days saved: 18 Average Days Saved
    • Parent Category Name: Architecture & Strategy
    • Parent Category Link: /architecture-and-strategy
    • The traditional model of managing applications does not address the demands of today’s rapidly changing market and digitally minded business, putting stress on scarce IT resources. The business is fed up with slow IT responses and overbearing desktop and system controls.
    • The business wants more control over the tools they use. Software as a service (SaaS), business process management (BPM), robotic process automation (RPA), artificial intelligence (AI), and low-code development platforms are all on their radar.
    • However, your current governance and management structures do not accommodate the risks and shifts in responsibilities to business-managed applications.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • IT is a business partner, not just an operator. Effective business operations hinge on high-quality, valuable, fit-for-purpose applications. IT provides the critical insights, guidance, and assistance to ensure applications are implemented and leveraged in a way that maximizes return on investment, whether it is being managed by end users or lines of business (LOBs). This can only happen if the organization views IT as a critical asset, not just a supporting player.
    • All applications should be business owned. You have applications because LOBs need them to meet the objectives and key performance indicators defined in the business strategy. Without LOBs, there would be no need for business applications. LOBs define what the application should be and do for it to be successful, so LOBs should own them.
    • Everything boils down to trust. The business is empowered to make their own decisions on how they want to implement and use their applications and, thus, be accountable for the resulting outcomes. Guardrails, role-based access, application monitoring, and other controls can help curb some risk factors, but it should not come at the expense of business innovation and time-sensitive opportunities. IT must trust the business will make rational application decisions, and the business must trust IT to support them in good times and bad.

    Impact and Result

    • Focus on the business units that matter. BMA can provide significant value to LOBs if teams and stakeholders are encouraged and motivated to adopt organizational and operational changes.
    • Reimagine the role of IT. IT is no longer the gatekeeper that blocks application adoption. Rather, IT enables the business to adopt the tools they need to be productive and they guide the business on successful BMA practices.
    • Instill business accountability. With great power comes great responsibility. If the business wants more control of their applications, they must be willing to take ownership of the outcomes of their decisions.

    Embrace Business-Managed Applications Research & Tools

    Start here – read the Executive Brief

    Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should embrace business-managed applications, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    • Embrace Business-Managed Applications – Phases 1-3
    • Business-Managed Applications Communication Template

    1. State your objectives

    Level-set the expectations for your business-managed applications.

    • Embrace Business- Managed Applications – Phase 1: State Your Objectives

    2. Design your framework and governance

    Identify and define your application managers and owners and build a fit-for-purpose governance model.

    • Embrace Business-Managed Applications – Phase 2: Design Your Framework & Governance

    3. Build your roadmap

    Build a roadmap that illustrates the key initiatives to implement your BMA and governance models.

    • Embrace Business-Managed Applications – Phase 3: Build Your Roadmap

    [infographic]

    Workshop: Embrace Business-Managed Applications

    Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

    1 State Your Objectives

    The Purpose

    Define business-managed applications in your context.

    Identify your business-managed application objectives.

    State the value opportunities with business-managed applications.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    A consensus definition and list of business-managed applications goals

    Understanding of the business value business-managed applications can deliver

    Activities

    1.1 Define business-managed applications.

    1.2 List your objectives and metrics.

    1.3 State the value opportunities.

    Outputs

    Grounded definition of a business-managed application

    Goals and objectives of your business-managed applications

    Business value opportunity with business-managed applications

    2 Design Your Framework & Governance

    The Purpose

    Develop your application management framework.

    Tailor your application delivery and ownership structure to fit business-managed applications.

    Discuss the value of an applications committee.

    Discuss technologies to enable business-managed applications.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Fit-for-purpose and repeatable application management selection framework

    Enhanced application governance model

    Applications committee design that meets your organization’s needs

    Shortlist of solutions to enable business-managed applications

    Activities

    2.1 Develop your management framework.

    2.2 Tune your delivery and ownership accountabilities.

    2.3 Design your applications committee.

    2.4 Uncover your solution needs.

    Outputs

    Tailored application management selection framework

    Roles definitions of application owners and managers

    Applications committee design

    List of business-managed application solution features and services

    3 Build Your Roadmap

    The Purpose

    Build your roadmap to implement busines-managed applications and build the foundations of your optimized governance model.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Implementation initiatives

    Adoption roadmap

    Activities

    3.1 Build your roadmap.

    Outputs

    Business-managed application adoption roadmap

     

    Modernize Your Applications

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    • member rating overall impact: 10.0/10 Overall Impact
    • member rating average dollars saved: After each Info-Tech experience, we ask our members to quantify the real-time savings, monetary impact, and project improvements our research helped them achieve.
    • member rating average days saved: Read what our members are saying
    • Parent Category Name: Architecture & Strategy
    • Parent Category Link: /architecture-and-strategy
    • Application modernization is essential to stay competitive and productive in today’s digital environment. Your stakeholders have outlined their digital business goals that IT is expected to meet.
    • Your application portfolio cannot sufficiently support the flexibility and efficiency the business needs because of legacy challenges.
    • Your teams do not have a framework to illustrate, communicate, and justify the modernization effort and organizational changes in the language your stakeholders understand.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • Build your digital applications around continuous modernization. End-user needs, technology, business direction, and regulations rapidly change in today’s competitive and fast-paced industry. This reality will quickly turn your modern applications into shelfware. Build continuous modernization at the center of your digital application vision to keep up with evolving business, end-user, and IT needs.
    • Application modernization is organizational change management. If you build and modernize it, they may not come. The crux of successful application modernization is centered on the strategic, well-informed, and onboarded adoption of changes in key business areas, capabilities, and processes. Organizational change management must be front and center so that applications are fit for purpose and are something that end users want and need to use.
    • Business-IT collaboration is not optional. Application modernization will not be successful if your lines of business (LOBs) and IT are not working together. IT must empathize how LOBs operate and proactively support the underlying operational systems. LOBs must be accountable for all products leveraging modern technologies and be able to rationalize the technical feasibility of their digital application vision.

    Impact and Result

    • Establish the digital application vision. Gain a grounded understanding of the digital application construct and prioritize these attributes against your digital business goals.
    • Define your modernization approach. Obtain a thorough view of your business and technical complexities, risks, and impacts. Employ the right modernization techniques based on your organization’s change tolerance.
    • Build your roadmap. Clarify the organizational changes needed to support modernization and adoption of your digital applications.

    Modernize Your Applications Research & Tools

    Start here – read the Executive Brief

    Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should strategically modernize your applications, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Set your vision

    Describe your application vision and set the right modernization expectations with your stakeholders.

    • Modernize Your Applications – Phase 1: Set Your Vision

    2. Identify your modernization opportunities

    Focus your modernization efforts on the business opportunities that your stakeholders care about.

    • Modernize Your Applications – Phase 2: Identify Your Modernization Opportunities

    3. Plan your modernization

    Describe your modernization initiatives and build your modernization tactical roadmap.

    • Modernize Your Applications – Phase 3: Plan Your Modernization
    [infographic]

    Workshop: Modernize Your Applications

    Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

    1 Set Your Vision

    The Purpose

    Discuss the goals of your application modernization initiatives

    Define your digital application vision and priorities

    List your modernization principles

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Clear application modernization objectives and high priority value items

    Your digital application vision and attributes

    Key principles that will guide your application modernization initiatives

    Activities

    1.1 State Your Objectives

    1.2 Characterize Your Digital Application

    1.3 Define Your Modernization Principles

    Outputs

    Application modernization objectives

    Digital application vision and attributes definitions

    List of application modernization principles and guidelines

    2 Identify Your Modernization Opportunities

    The Purpose

    Identify the value streams and business capabilities that will benefit the most from application modernization

    Conduct a change tolerance assessment

    Build your modernization strategic roadmap

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Understanding of the value delivery improvements modernization can bring

    Recognizing the flexibility and tolerance of your organization to adopt changes

    Select an approach that best fits your organization’s goals and capacity

    Activities

    2.1 Identify the Opportunities

    2.2 Define Your Modernization Approach

    Outputs

    Value streams and business capabilities that are ideal modernization opportunities

    Your modernization strategic roadmap based on your change tolerance and modernization approach

    3 Plan Your Modernization

    The Purpose

    Identify the most appropriate modernization technique and the scope of changes to implement your techniques

    Develop an actionable tactical roadmap to complete your modernization initiatives

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Clear understanding of what must be changed to the organization and application considering your change tolerance

    An achievable modernization plan

    Activities

    3.1 Shortlist Your Modernization Techniques

    3.2 Roadmap Your Modernization Initiatives

    Outputs

    Scope of your application modernization initiatives

    Your modernization tactical roadmap

    Identify and Manage Security Risk Impacts on Your Organization

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    • Parent Category Name: Vendor Management
    • Parent Category Link: /vendor-management
    • More than any other time, our world is changing. As a result, organizations – and their vendors – need to be able to adapt their plans to accommodate risk on an unprecedented level.
    • A new global change will impact your organization at any given time. Ensure that you monitor threats appropriately and that your plans are flexible enough to manage the inevitable consequences.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • Identifying and managing a vendor’s potential security risk impacts on your organization requires multiple people in the organization across several functions. Those people all need coaching on the potential changes in the market and how these changes could introduce new risks.
    • Organizational leadership is often taken unaware during crises, and their plans lack the flexibility needed to adjust to significant market upheavals and surprise incidents.

    Impact and Result

    • Vendor management practices educate organizations on the potential risks from vendors in your market and suggest creative and alternative ways to avoid and manage them.
    • Prioritize and classify your vendors with quantifiable, standardized rankings.
    • Prioritize focus on your high-risk vendors.
    • Standardize your processes for identifying and monitoring vendor risks to manage potential impacts with our Security Risk Impact Tool.

    Identify and Manage Security Risk Impacts on Your Organization Research & Tools

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Identify and Manage Security Risk Impacts on Your Organization Deck – Use the research to better understand the negative impacts of vendor actions on your security.

    Use this research to identify and quantify the potential security impacts caused by vendors. Use Info-Tech’s approach to look at the security impacts from various perspectives to better prepare for issues that may arise.

    • Identify and Manage Security Risk Impacts on Your Organization Storyboard

    2. Security Risk Impact Tool – Use this tool to help identify and quantify the security impacts of negative vendor actions.

    By playing the “what if” game and asking probing questions to draw out – or eliminate – possible negative outcomes, everyone involved adds their insight into parts of the organization to gather a comprehensive picture of potential impacts.

    • Security Risk Impact Tool
    [infographic]

    Further reading

    Identify and Manage Security Risk Impacts on Your Organization

    Know where the attacks are coming from so you know where to protect.

    Analyst perspective

    It is time to start looking at risk realistically and move away from “trust but verify” toward zero trust.

    Frank Sewell, Research Director, Vendor Management

    Frank Sewell,
    Research Director, Vendor Management
    Info-Tech Research Group

    We are inundated with a barrage of news about security incidents on what seems like a daily basis. In such an environment, it is easy to forget that there are ways to help prevent such things from happening and that they have actual costs if we relax our diligence.

    Most people are aware of defense strategies that help keep their organization safe from direct attack and inside threats. Likewise, they expect their trusted partners to perform the same diligence. Unfortunately, as more organizations use cloud service vendors, the risks with n-party vendors are increasing.

    Over the last few years, we have learned the harsh lesson that downstream attacks affect more businesses than we ever expected as suppliers, manufacturers of base goods and materials, and rising transportation costs affect the global economy.

    “Trust but verify” – while a good concept – should give way to the more effective zero-trust model in favor of knowing it’s not a matter of if an incident happens but when.

    Executive Summary

    Your Challenge

    More than any other time, our world is changing. As a result, organizations – and their vendors – need to be able to adapt their plans to accommodate risk on an unprecedented level.

    A new global change will impact your organization at any given time. Ensure that you monitor threats appropriately and that your plans are flexible enough to manage the inevitable consequences.

    Common Obstacles

    Identifying and managing a vendor’s potential security risk impacts on your organization requires multiple people in the organization across several functions. Those people all need coaching on the potential changes in the market and how these changes could introduce new risks.

    Organizational leadership is often taken unaware during crises, and their plans lack the flexibility needed to adjust to significant market upheavals and surprise incidents.

    Info-Tech’s Approach

    Vendor management practices educate organizations on the potential risks from vendors in your market and suggest creative and alternative ways to avoid and manage them.

    Prioritize and classify your vendors with quantifiable, standardized rankings.

    Prioritize focus on your high-risk vendors.

    Standardize your processes for identifying and monitoring vendor risks to manage potential impacts with our Security Risk Impact Tool.

    Info-Tech Insight
    Organizations must evolve their security risk assessments to be more adaptive to respond to global changes in the market. Ongoing monitoring of third-party vendor risks and holding those vendors accountable throughout the vendor lifecycle are critical to preventing disastrous impacts.

    Info-Tech’s multi-blueprint series on vendor risk assessment

    There are many individual components of vendor risk beyond cybersecurity.

    Multi-blueprint series on vendor risk assessment

    This series will focus on the individual components of vendor risk and how vendor management practices can facilitate organizations’ understanding of those risks.

    Out of Scope:
    This series will not tackle risk governance, determining overall risk tolerance and appetite, or quantifying inherent risk.

    Security risk impacts

    Potential losses to the organization due to security incidents

    • In this blueprint we’ll explore security risks, particularly from third-party vendors, and their impacts.
    • Identify potentially disruptive events to assess the overall impact on organizations and implement adaptive measures to correct security plans.

    The world is constantly changing

    The IT market is constantly reacting to global influences. By anticipating changes, leaders can set expectations and work with their vendors to accommodate them.

    When the unexpected happens, being able to adapt quickly to new priorities ensures continued long-term business success.

    Below are some things no one expected to happen in the last few years:

    62% 83% 84%
    Ransomware attacks spiked 62% globally (and 158% in North America alone). 83% of companies increased organizational focus on third-party risk management in 2020. In a 2020 survey, 84% of organizations reported having experienced a third-party incident in the last three years.
    One Trust, 2022 Help Net Security, 2021 Deloitte, 2020

    Identify and manage security risk impacts on your organization

    Identify and manage security risk impacts on your organization

    Due diligence will enable successful outcomes.

    What is third-party risk?

    Third-Party Vendor: Anyone who provides goods or services to a company or individual in exchange for payment transacted with electronic instructions (Law Insider).

    Third-Party Risk: The potential threat presented to organizations’ employee and customer data, financial information, and operations from the organization’s supply chain and other outside parties that provide products and/or services and have access to privileged systems (Awake Security).

    It is essential to know not only who your vendors are but also who their vendors are (n-party vendors). Organizations often overlook that their vendors rely on others to support their business, and those layers can add risk to your organization.

    Identify and manage security risks

    Global Pandemic

    Very few people could have predicted that a global pandemic would interrupt business on the scale experienced today. Organizations should look at their lessons learned and incorporate adaptable preparations into their security planning and ongoing monitoring moving forward.

    Vendor Breaches

    The IT market is an ever-shifting environment; more organizations are relying on cloud service vendors, staff augmentation, and other outside resources. Organizations should hold these vendors (and their downstream vendors) to the same levels of security and standards of conduct that they hold their internal resources.

    Resource Shortages

    A lack of resources is often overlooked, but it’s easily recognized as a reason for a security incident. All too often, companies are unwilling to dedicate resources to their vendors’ security risk assessment and ongoing monitoring needs. Only once an incident occurs do companies decide it is time to reprioritize.

    Availability and Capacity Management

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    • Parent Category Name: Resilient IT Operations
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    • byline: Availability and capacity management are crucial to your reesilience.
    Develop your availability and capacity management plant and align it with exactly what the business expects.

    Break Open Your DAM With Intuitive Metadata

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    • Parent Category Name: Data Management
    • Parent Category Link: /data-management
    • Organizations are facing challenges from explosive information growth in both volume and complexity, as well as the need to use more new sources of information for social media just to remain in business.
    • A lot of content can be created quickly, but managing those digital assets properly through metadata tagging that will be used consistently and effectively requires processes to be in place to create standardized and informational metadata at the source of content creation.
    • Putting these processes in place changes the way the organization handles its information, which may generate pushback, and requires socialization and proper management of the metadata strategy.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • Metadata is an imperative part of the organization’s broader information management strategy. Some may believe that metadata is not needed anymore; Google search is not a magic act – it relies on information tagging that reflects cultural sentiment.
    • Metadata should be pliable. It needs to grow with the changing cultural and corporate vernacular and knowledge, and adapt to changing needs.
    • Build a map for your metadata before you dig for buried treasure. Implement metadata standards and processes for current digital assets before chasing after your treasure troves of existing artifacts.

    Impact and Result

    • Create a sustainable and effective digital asset management (DAM) program by understanding Info-Tech’s DAM framework and how the framework fits within your organization for better management of key digital assets.
    • Create an enterprise-wide metadata design principles handbook to keep track of metadata schemas and standards, as well as communicate the standards to the entire organization.
    • Gather requirements for your DAM program, as well as the DAM system and roles, by interviewing key stakeholders and identifying prevalent pains and opportunities. Understand where digital assets are created, used, and stored throughout the enterprise to gain a high-level perspective of DAM requirements.
    • Identify the organization’s current state of metadata management along with the target state, identify the gaps, and then define solutions to fill those gaps. Ensure business initiatives are woven into the mix.
    • Create a comprehensive roadmap to prioritize initiatives and delineate responsibilities.

    Break Open Your DAM With Intuitive Metadata Research & Tools

    Start here – read the Executive Brief

    Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should develop a digital asset management program focused on metadata, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Build a foundation for your DAM project

    Gain an in-depth understanding of what digital asset management is as well as how it is supported by Info-Tech’s DAM framework.

    • Break Open Your DAM With Intuitive Metadata – Phase 1: Build a Foundation for Your DAM Project
    • DAM Design Principles Handbook
    • Where in the World Is My Digital Asset? Tool
    • Digital Asset Inventory Tool
    • DAM Requirements Gathering Tool

    2. Dive into the DAM strategy

    Create a metadata program execution strategy and assess current and target states for the organization’s DAM.

    • Break Open Your DAM With Intuitive Metadata – Phase 2: Dive Into the DAM Strategy
    • DAM Roadmap Tool
    • DAM Metadata Execution Strategy Document

    3. Create intuitive metadata for your DAM

    Design a governance plan for ongoing DAM and metadata management.

    • Break Open Your DAM With Intuitive Metadata – Phase 3: Create Intuitive Metadata for Your Digital Assets
    • Metadata Manager Tool
    [infographic]

    Workshop: Break Open Your DAM With Intuitive Metadata

    Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

    1 Structure the Metadata Project

    The Purpose

    Develop a foundation of knowledge regarding DAM and metadata, as well as the best practices for organizing the organization’s information and digital assets for ideal findability.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Design standardized processes for metadata creation and digital asset management to help to improve findability of key assets.

    Gain knowledge of how DAM can benefit both IT and the business.

    Activities

    1.1 Build a DAM and metadata knowledge foundation.

    1.2 Kick-start creation of the organization’s DAM design principles handbook.

    1.3 Interview key business units to understand drivers for the program.

    1.4 Develop a DAM framework.

    Outputs

    DAM Design Principles Handbook

    DAM Execution Strategy Document

    2 Assess Requirements for the DAM Program

    The Purpose

    Inventory the organization’s key digital assets and their repositories.

    Gather the organization’s requirements for a full-time digital asset librarian, as well as the DAM system.  

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Determine clear and specific requirements for the organization from the DAM system and the people involved.

    Activities

    2.1 Conduct a digital asset inventory to identify key assets to include in DAM.

    2.2 Prioritize digital assets to determine their risk and value to ensure appropriate support through the information lifecycle.

    2.3 Determine the requirements of the business and IT for the DAM system and its metadata.

    Outputs

    Digital Asset Inventory Tool

    DAM Requirements Gathering Tool

    3 Design Roadmap and Plan Implementation

    The Purpose

    Determine strategic initiatives and create a roadmap outlining key steps required to get the organization to start enabling data-driven insights.

    Determine timing of the initiatives. 

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Establish a clear direction for the DAM program.

    Build a step-by-step outline of how to create effective metadata with true business-IT collaboration.

    Have prioritized initiatives with dependencies mapped out.

    Activities

    3.1 Assess current and target states of DAM in the organization.

    3.2 Brainstorm and document practical initiatives to close the gap.

    3.3 Discuss strategies rooted in business requirements to execute the metadata management program to improve findability of digital assets.

    Outputs

    DAM Roadmap Tool

    4 Establish Metadata Governance

    The Purpose

    Identify the roles required for effective DAM and metadata management.

    Create sample metadata according to established guiding principles and implement a feedback method to create intuitive metadata in the organization. 

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Metadata management is an ongoing project. Implementing it requires user input and feedback, which governance will help to support.

    By integrating metadata governance with larger information or data governance bodies, DAM and metadata management will gain sustainability. 

    Activities

    4.1 Discuss and assign roles and responsibilities for initiatives identified in the roadmap.

    4.2 Review policy requirements for the information assets in the organization and strategies to address enforcement.

    4.3 Integrate the governance of metadata into larger governance committees.

    Outputs

    DAM Execution Strategy

    IT Diversity & Inclusion Tactics

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    • Parent Category Name: Engage
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    • Although inclusion is key to the success of a diversity and inclusion (D&I) strategy, the complexity of the concept makes it a daunting pursuit.
    • This is further complicated by the fact that creating inclusion is not a one-and-done exercise. Rather, it requires the ongoing commitment of employees and managers to reassess their own behaviors and to drive a cultural shift.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    Realize the benefits of a diverse workforce by embedding inclusion into work practices, behaviors, and values, ensuring accountability throughout the department.

    Impact and Result

    Understand what it means to be inclusive: reassess work practices and learn how to apply leadership behaviors to create an inclusive environment

    IT Diversity & Inclusion Tactics Research & Tools

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Mobilize inclusion efforts

    Learn, evaluate, and understand what it means to be inclusive, examine biases, and apply inclusive leadership behaviors.

    • Diversity & Inclusion Initiatives Catalog
    • Inclusive IT Work Practices Examples
    • Inclusive Work Practices Template
    • Equip Managers to Adopt Inclusive Leadership Behaviors
    • Workbook: Equip Managers to Adopt Inclusive Leadership Behaviors
    • Standard Focus Group Guide
    [infographic]

    Into the Metaverse

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    • Parent Category Name: Innovation
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    • Define the metaverse.
    • Understand where Meta and Microsoft are going and what their metaverse looks like today.
    • Learn about other solution providers implementing the enterprise metaverse.
    • Identify risks in deploying metaverse solutions and how to mitigate them.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • A metaverse experience must combine the three Ps: user presence is represented, the world is persistent, and data is portable.

    Impact and Result

    • Understand how Meta and Microsoft define the Metaverse and the coming challenges that enterprises will need to solve to harness this new digital capability.

    Into the Metaverse Research & Tools

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Into the Metaverse – A deck that examines how IT can prepare for the new digital world

    Push past the hype and understand what the metaverse really means for IT.

    • Into the Metaverse Storyboard

    Infographic

    Further reading

    Into the Metaverse

    How IT can prepare for the new digital world.

    Analyst Perspective

    The metaverse is still a vision of the future.

    Photo of Brian Jackson, Research Director, CIO, Info-Tech Research Group.

    On October 28, 2021, Mark Zuckerberg got up on stage and announced Facebook's rebranding to Meta and its intent to build out a new business line around the metaverse concept. Just a few days later, Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella put forward his own idea of the metaverse at Microsoft Ignite. Seeing two of Silicon Valley's most influential companies pitch a vision of avatar-driven virtual reality collaboration sparked our collective curiosity. At the heart of it lies the question, "What is the metaverse, anyway?“

    If you strip back the narrative of the companies selling you the solutions, the metaverse can be viewed as technological convergence. Years of development on mixed reality, AI, immersive digital environments, and real-time communication are culminating in a totally new user experience. The metaverse makes the digital as real as the physical. At least, that's the vision.

    It will be years yet before the metaverse visions pitched to us from Silicon Valley stages are realized. In the meantime, understanding the individual technologies contributing to that vision can help CIOs realize business value today. Join me as we delve into the metaverse.

    Brian Jackson
    Research Director, CIO
    Info-Tech Research Group

    From pop culture to Silicon Valley

    Sci-fi visionaries are directly involved in creating the metaverse concept

    The term “metaverse” was coined by author Neal Stephenson in the 1992 novel “Snow Crash.” In the novel, main character Hiro Protagonist interacts with others in a digitally defined space. Twenty-five years after its release, the cult classic is influential among Silicon Valley's elite. Stephenson has played some key roles in Silicon Valley firms. He became the first employee at Blue Origin, the space venture founded by Jeff Bezos, in 2006, and later became chief futurist at augmented reality firm Magic Leap in 2014. Stephenson also popularized the Hindu concept "avatar" in his writing, paving the way for people to embody digitally rendered models to participate in the metaverse (Vanity Fair, 2017).

    Even earlier concepts of the metaverse were examined in the 1980s, with William Gibson’s “Neuromancer” exploring the same idea as cyberspace. Gibson's novel was influenced by his time in Seattle, where friend and Microsoft executive Eileen Gunn took him to hacker bars where he'd eavesdrop on "the poetics of the technological subculture" (Medium, 2022). Other visions of a virtual reality mecca were brought to life in the movies, including the 1982 Disney release “Tron,” the 1999 flick “The Matrix,” and 2018’s “Ready Player One.”

    There's a common set of traits among these sci-fi narratives that help us understand what Silicon Valley tech firms are now set to commercialize: users interact with one another in a digitally rendered virtual world, with a sense of presence provided through the use of a head-mounted display.

    Cover of the book Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson.

    Image courtesy nealstephenson.com

    Meta’s view of the metaverse

    CEO Mark Zuckerberg rebranded Facebook to make his intent clear

    Mark Zuckerberg is all in on the metaverse, announcing October 28, 2021, that Facebook would be rebranded to Meta. The new brand took effect on December 1, and Facebook began trading under the new stock ticker MVRS on certain exchanges. On February 15, 2022, Zuckerberg announced at a company meeting that his employees will be known as Metamates. The company's new values are to live in the future, build awesome things, and focus on long-term impact. Its motto is simply "Meta, Metamates, me" (“Out With the Facebookers. In With the Metamates,” The New York Times, 2022).

    Meta's Reality Labs division will be responsible for developing its metaverse product, using Meta Quest, its virtual reality head-mounted displays. Meta's early metaverse environment, Horizon Worlds, rolled out to Quest users in the US and Canada in early December 2021. This drove a growth in its monthly user base by ten times, to 300,000 people. The product includes Horizon Venues, tailored to attending live events in VR, but not Horizon Workrooms, a VR conferencing experience that remains invite-only. Horizon Worlds provides users tools to construct their own 3D digital environments and had been used to create 10,000 separate worlds by mid-February 2022 (“Meta’s Social VR Platform Horizon Hits 300,000 Users,“ The Verge, 2022).

    In the future, Meta plans to amplify the building tools in its metaverse platform with generative AI. For example, users can give speech commands to create scenes and objects in VR. Project CAIRaoke brings a voice assistant to an augmented reality headset that can help users complete tasks like cooking a stew. Zuckerberg also announced Meta is working on a universal speech translator across all languages (Reuters, 2022).

    Investment in the metaverse:
    $10 billion in 2021

    Key People:
    CEO Mark Zuckerberg
    CTO Andrew Bosworth
    Chief Product Officer Chris Cox

    (Source: “Meta Spent $10 Billion on the Metaverse in 2021, Dragging Down Profit,” The New York Times, 2022)

    Microsoft’s view of the metaverse

    CEO Satya Nadella showcased a mixed reality metaverse at Microsoft Ignite

    In March 2021 Microsoft announced Mesh, an application that allows organizations to build out a metaverse environment. Mesh is being integrated into other Microsoft hardware and software, including its head-mounted display, the HoloLens, a mixed reality device. The Mesh for HoloLens experience allows users to collaborate around digital content projected into the real world. In November, Microsoft announced a Mesh integration with Microsoft Teams. This integration brings users into an immersive experience in a fully virtual world. This VR environment makes use of AltspaceVR, a VR application Microsoft first released in May 2015 (Microsoft Innovation Stories, 2021).

    Last Fall, Microsoft also announced it is rebranding its Dynamics 365 Connected Store solution to Dynamics 365 Connected Spaces, signaling its expansion from retail to all spaces. The solution uses cognitive vision to create a digital twin of an organization’s physical space and generate analytics about people’s behavior (Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog, 2021).

    In the future, Microsoft wants to make "holoportation" a part of its metaverse experience. Under development at Microsoft Research, the technology captures people and things in photorealistic 3D to be projected into mixed reality environments (Microsoft Research, 2022). It also has plans to offer developers AI-powered tools for avatars, session management, spatial rendering, and synchronization across multiple users. Open standards will allow Mesh to be accessed across a range of devices, from AR and VR headsets, smartphones, tablets, and PCs.

    Microsoft has been developing multi-user experiences in immersive 3D environments though its video game division for more than two decades. Its capabilities here will help advance its efforts to create metaverse environments for the enterprise.

    Investment in the metaverse:
    In January 2022, Microsoft agreed to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. In addition to acquiring several major gaming studios for its own gaming platforms, Microsoft said the acquisition will play a key role in the development of its metaverse.

    Key People:
    CEO Satya Nadella
    CEO of Microsoft Gaming Phil Spencer
    Microsoft Technical Research Fellow Alex Kipman

    Current state of metaverse applications from Meta and Microsoft

    Meta

    • Horizon Worlds (formerly Facebook Horizon). Requires an Oculus Rift S or Quest 2 headset to engage in an immersive 3D world complete with no-code building tools for users to construct their own environments. Users can either interact in the space designed by Meta or travel to other user-designed worlds through the plaza.
    • Horizon Workrooms (beta, invite only). An offshoot of Horizon Worlds but more tailored for business collaboration. Users can bring in their physical desks and keyboards and connect to PC screens from within the virtual setting. Integrates with Facebook’s Workplace solution.

    Microsoft

    • Dynamics 365 Connected Spaces (preview). Cognitive vision combined with surveillance cameras provide analytics on people's movement through a facility.
    • Mesh for Microsoft Teams (not released). Collaborate with your colleagues in a virtual reality space using personalized avatars. Use new 2D and 3D meeting experiences.
    • Mesh App for HoloLens (preview). Interact with colleagues virtually in a persistent digital environment that is overlaid on top of the real world.
    • AltspaceVR. A VR space accessible via headset or desktop computer that's been available since 2015. Interact through use of an avatar to participate in daily events

    Current providers of an “enterprise metaverse”

    Other providers designing mixed reality or digital twin tools may not have used the “metaverse” label but provide the same capabilities via platforms

    Logo for NVIDIA Omniverse. Logo for TeamViewer.
    NVIDIA Omniverse
    “The metaverse for engineers,” Omniverse is a developer toolset to allow organizations to build out their own unique metaverse visions.
    • Omniverse Nucleus is the platform database that allows clients to publish digital assets or subscribe to receive changes to them in real-time.
    • Omniverse Connectors are used to connect to Nucleus and publish or subscribe to individual assets and entire worlds.
    • NVIDIA’s core physics engine provides a scalable and physically accurate world simulation.
    		 TeamViewer’s Remote as a Service Platform
    Initially focusing on providing workers remote connectivity to work desktops, devices, and robotics, TeamViewer offers a range of software as a service products. Recent acquisitions to this platform see it connecting enterprise workflows to frontline workers using mixed reality headsets and adding more 3D visualization development tools to create digital twins. Clients include Coca-Cola and BMW.

    “The metaverse matters in the future. TeamViewer is already making the metaverse tangible in terms of the value that it brings.” (Dr. Hendrik Witt, Chief Product Officer, TeamViewer)

    The metaverse is a technological convergence

    The metaverse is a platform combining multiple technologies to enable social and economic activity in a digital world that is connected to the physical world.

    A Venn diagram with four circles intersecting and one circle unconnected on the side, 'Blockchain, Emerging'. The four circles, clock-wise from top, are 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Real-Time Communication', 'Immersive Digital Space', and 'Mixed Reality'. The two-circle crossover sections, clock-wise from top-right are AI + RTC: 'Smart Agent-Facilitated Communication', RTC + IDS: 'Avatar-Based Social Interaction', IDS + MR: 'Digital Immersive UX', and MR + AI: 'Perception AI'. There are only two three-circle crossover sections labelled, AI + RTC + MR: 'Generative Sensory Environments' and RTC + IDS + MR: 'Presence'. The main cross-section is 'METAVERSE'.

    Info-Tech Insight

    A metaverse experience must combine the three P’s: user presence is represented, the world is persistent, and data is portable.

    Mixed reality provides the user experience (UX) for the metaverse

    Both virtual and augmented reality will be part of the picture

    Mixed reality encompasses both virtual reality and augmented reality. Both involve allowing users to immerse themselves in digital content using a head-mounted device or with a smartphone for a less immersive effect. Virtual reality is a completely digital world that is constructed as separate from the physical world. VR headsets take up a user's entire field of vision and must also have a mechanism to allow the user to interact in their virtual environment. Augmented reality is a digital overlay mapped on top of the real world. These headsets are transparent, allowing the user to clearly see their real environment, and projects digital content on top of it. These headsets must have a way to map the surrounding environment in 3D in order to project digital content in the right place and at the right scale.

    Meta’s Plans

    Meta acquired virtual reality developer Oculus VR Inc. and its set of head-mounted displays in 2014. It continues to develop new hardware under the Oculus brand, most recently releasing the Oculus Quest 2. Oculus Quest hardware is required to access Meta's early metaverse platform, Horizon Worlds.

    Microsoft’s Plans

    Microsoft's HoloLens hardware is a mixed reality headset. Its visor that can project digital content into the main portion of the user's field of vision and speakers capable of spatial audio. The HoloLens has been deployed at enterprises around the world, particularly in scenarios where workers typically have their hands busy. For example, it can be used to view digital schematics of a machine while a worker is performing maintenance or to allow a remote expert to "see through the eyes" of a worker.

    Microsoft's Mesh metaverse platform, which allows for remote collaboration around digital content, was demonstrated on a HoloLens at Microsoft Ignite in November 2021. Mesh is also being integrated into AltspaceVR, an application that allows companies to hold meetings in VR with “enterprise-grade security features including secure sign-ins, session management and privacy compliance" (Microsoft Innovation Stories, 2021).

    Immersive digital environments provide context in the metaverse

    The interactive environment will be a mix of digital and physical worlds

    If you've played a video game in the past decade, you've experienced an immersive 3D environment, perhaps even in a multiplayer environment with many other users at the same time. The video game industry grew quickly during the pandemic, with users spending more time and money on video games. Massive multiplayer online games like Fortnite provide more than a gaming environment. Users socialize with their friends and attend concerts featuring famous performers. They also spend money on different appearances or gestures to express themselves in the environment. When they are not playing the game, they are often watching other players stream their experience in the game. In many ways, the consumer metaverse already exists on platforms like Fortnite. At the same time, gaming developers are improving the engines for these experiences and getting closer to approximating the real world both visually and in terms of physics.

    In the enterprise space, immersive 3D environments are also becoming more popular. Manufacturing firms are building digital twins to represent entire factories, modeling their real physical environments in digital space. For example, BMW’s “factory of the future” uses NVIDIA Omniverse to create a digital twin of its assembly system, simulated down to the detail of digital workers. BMW uses this simulation to plan reconfiguration of its factory to accommodate new car models and to train robots with synthetic data (“NVIDIA Omniverse,” NVIDIA, 2021).

    Meta’s Plans

    Horizon Workrooms is Meta's business-focused application of Horizon Worlds. It facilitates a VR workspace where colleagues can interact with others’ avatars, access their computer, use videoconferencing, and sketch out ideas on a whiteboard. With the Oculus Quest 2 headset, passthrough mode allows users to add their physical desk to the virtual environment (Oculus, 2022).

    Microsoft’s Plans

    AltspaceVR is Microsoft's early metaverse environment and it can be accessed with Oculus, HTC Vive, Windows Mixed Reality, or in desktop mode. Separately, Microsoft Studios has been developing digital 3D environments for its Xbox video game platform for yeas. In January 2022, Microsoft acquired games studio Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, saying the games studio would play a key role in the development of the metaverse.

    Real-time communications allow for synchronous collaboration

    Project your voice to a room full of avatars for a presentation or whisper in someone’s ear

    If the metaverse is going to be a good place to collaborate, then communication must feel as natural as it does in the real world. At the same time, it will need to have a few more controls at the users’ disposal so they can focus in on the conversation they choose. Audio will be a major part of the communication experience, augmented by expressive avatars and text.

    Mixed reality headsets come with integrated microphones and speakers to enable voice communications. Spatial audio will also be an important component of voice exchange in the metaverse. When you are in a videoconference conversation with 50 participants, every one of those people will sound as though they are sitting right next to you. In the metaverse, each person will sound louder or quieter based on how distant their avatar is from you. This will allow large groups of people to get together in one digital space and have multiple conversations happening simultaneously. In some situations, there will also be a need for groups to form a “party” as they navigate the metaverse, meaning they would stay linked through a live audio connection even if their avatars were not in the same digital space. Augmented reality headsets also allow remote users to “see through the eyes” of the person wearing the headset through a front-facing camera. This is useful for hands-on tasks where expert guidance is required.

    People will also need to communicate with people not in the metaverse. More conventional videoconference windows or chat boxes will be imported into these environments as 2D panels, allowing users to integrate them into the context of their digital space.

    Meta’s Plans

    Facebook Messenger is a text chat and video chat application that is already integrated into Facebook’s platform. Facebook also owns WhatsApp, a messaging platform that offers group chat and encrypted messaging.

    Microsoft’s Plans

    Microsoft Teams is Microsoft’s application that combines presence-based text chat and videoconferencing between individuals and groups. Dynamics 365 Remote Assist is its augmented reality application designed for HoloLens wearers or mobile device users to share their real-time view with experts.

    Generative AI will fill the metaverse with content at the command of the user

    No-code and low-code creation tools will be taken to the next level in the metaverse

    Metaverse platforms provide users with no-code and low-code options to build out their own environments. So far this looks like playing a game of Minecraft. Users in the digital environment use native tools to place geometric shapes and add textures. Other metaverse platforms allow users to design models or textures with tools outside the platform, often even programming behaviors for the objects, and then import them into the metaverse. These tools can be used effectively, but it can be a tedious way to create a customized digital space.

    Generative AI will address that by taking direction from users and quickly generating content to provide the desired metaverse setting. Generative AI can create content that’s meaningful based on natural inputs like language or visual information. For example, a user might give voice commands to a smart assistant and have a metaverse environment created or take photos of a real-world object from different angles to have its likeness digitally imported.

    Synthetic data will also play a role in the metaverse. Instead of relying only on people to create a lot of relevant data to train AI, metaverse platform providers will also use simulated data to provide context. NVIDIA’s Omniverse Replicator engine provides this capability and can be used to train self-driving cars and manipulator robots for a factory environment (NVIDIA Newsroom, 2021).

    Meta’s Plans

    Meta is planning to use generative AI to allow users to construct their VR environments. It will allow users to describe a world to a voice assistant and have it created for them. Users could also speak to each other in different languages with the aid of a universal translator. Separately, Project CAIRaoke combines cognitive vision with a voice assistant to help a user cook dinner. It keeps track of where the ingredients are in the kitchen and guides the user through the steps (Reuters, 2022).

    Microsoft’s Plans

    Microsoft Mesh includes AI resources to help create natural interactions through speech and vision learning models. HoloLens 2 already uses AI models to track users’ hands and eye movements as well as map content onto the physical world. This will be reinforced in the cloud through Microsoft Azure’s AI capabilities (Microsoft Innovation Stories, 2021).

    Blockchain will provide a way to manage digital identity and assets across metaverse platforms

    Users will want a way to own their metaverse identity and valued digital possessions

    Blockchain technology provides a decentralized digital ledger that immutably records transactions. A specific blockchain can either be permissioned, with one central party determining who gets access, or permissionless, in which anyone with the means can transact on the blockchain. The permissionless variety emerged in 2008 as the foundation of Bitcoin. It's been a disruptive force in the financial industry, with Bitcoin inspiring a long list of offshoot cryptocurrencies, and now even central banks are examining moving to a digital currency standard.

    In the past couple of years, blockchain has spurred a new economy around digital assets. Smart contracts can be used to create a token on a blockchain and bind it to a specific digital asset. These assets are called non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Owners of NFTs can prove their chain of ownership and sell their tokens to others on a variety of marketplaces.

    Blockchain could be useful in the metaverse to track digital identity, manage digital assets, and enable data portability. Users could register their own avatars as NFTs to prove they are the real person behind their digital representation. They may also want a way to verify they own a virtual plot of land or demonstrate the scarcity of the digital clothing they are wearing in the metaverse. If users want to leave a certain metaverse platform, they could export their avatar and digital assets to a digital wallet and transfer them to another platform that supports the same standards.

    In the past, centralized platforms that create economies in a virtual world were able to create digital currencies and sell specific assets to users without the need for blockchain. Second Life is a good example, with Linden Labs providing a virtual token called Linden Dollars that users can exchange to buy goods and services from each other within the virtual world. Second Life processes 345 million transactions a year for virtual goods and reports a GDP of $650 million, which would put it ahead of some countries (VentureBeat, 2022). However, the value is trapped within Second Life and can't be exported elsewhere.

    Meta’s Plans

    Meta ended its Diem project in early 2022, winding down its plan to offer a digital currency pegged to US dollars. Assets were sold to Silvergate Bank for $182 million. On February 24, blockchain developer Atmos announced it wanted to bring the project back to life. Composed of many of the original developers that created Diem while it was still a Facebook project, the firm plans to raise funds based on the pitch that the new iteration will be "Libra without Facebook“ (CoinDesk, 2022).

    Microsoft’s Plans

    Microsoft expanded its team of blockchain developers after its lead executive in this area stated the firm is closely watching cryptocurrencies and NFTs. Blockchain Director York Rhodes tweeted on November 8, 2021, that he was expanding his team and was interested to connect with candidates "obsessed with Turing complete, scarce programmable objects that you can own & transfer & link to the real world through a social contract.”

    The enterprise metaverse holds implications for IT across several functional areas

    Improve maturity in these four areas first

    • Infrastructure & Operations
      • Lay the foundation
    • Security & Risk
      • Mitigate the risks
    • Apps
      • Deploy the precursors
    • Data & BI
      • Prepare to integrate
    		 Info-Tech and COBIT5's IT Management & Governance Framework with processes arranged like a periodic table. Highlighted process groups are 'Infrastructure & Operations', 'Security & Risk', 'Apps', and 'Data & BI'.

    Infrastructure & Operations

    Make space for the metaverse

    Risks

    • Network congestion: Connecting more devices that will be delivering highly graphical content will put new pressures on networks. Access points will have more connections to maintain and transit pathways more bandwidth to accommodate.
    • Device fragmentation: Currently many different vendors are selling augmented reality headsets used in the enterprise, including Google, Epson, Vuzix, and RealWear. More may enter soon, creating various types of endpoints that have different capabilities and different points of failure.
    • New workflows: Enterprises will only be able to benefit from deploying mixed reality devices if they're able to make them very useful to workers. Serving up relevant information in the context of a hands-free interface will become a new competency for enterprises to master.

    Mitigations

    • Dedicated network: Some companies are avoiding the congestion issue by creating a separate network for IoT devices on different infrastructure. For example, they might complement the Wi-Fi network with a wireless network on 5G or LoRaWAN standards.
    • Partner with systems integrators: Solutions vendors bringing metaverse solutions to the enterprise are already working with systems integrator partners to overcome integration barriers. These vendors are solving the problems of delivering enterprise content to a variety of new mixed reality touchpoints and determining just the right information to expose to users, at the right time.

    Security & Risk

    Mitigate metaverse risks before they take root

    Risks

    • Broader attack surface: Adding new mixed reality devices to the enterprise network will create more potential points of ingress for a cyberattack. Previous enterprise experiences with IoT in the enterprise have seen them exploited as weak points and used to create botnets or further infiltrate company networks.
    • More data in transit: Enterprise data will be flowing between these new devices and sometimes outside the company firewall to remote connections. Data from industrial IoT could also be integrated into these solutions and exposed.
    • New fraud opportunities: When Web 1.0 was first rolling out, not every company was able to secure the rights to the URL address matching its brand. Those not quick enough on the draw saw "domain squatters" use their brand equity to negotiate for a big pay day or, worse yet, to commit fraud. With blockchain opening up similar new digital real estate in Web3, the same risk arises.

    Mitigations

    • Mobile device management (MDM): New mixed reality headsets can be secured using existing MDM solutions on the market.
    • Encryption: Encrypting data end to end as it flows between IoT devices ensures that even if it does leak, it's not likely to be useful to a hacker.
    • Stake your claim: Claiming your brand's name in new Web3 domains may seems tedious, but it is likely to be cheap and might save you a headache down the line.

    Apps

    Deploy to your existing touchpoints

    Risks

    • Learning curves: Using new metaverse applications to complete tasks and collaborate with colleagues won’t be a natural progression for everyone. New headsets, gesture-based controls, and learning how to navigate the metaverse will present hurdles for users to overcome before they can be productive.
    • Is there a dress code in the metaverse? Avatars in the metaverse won’t necessarily look like the people behind the controls. What new norms will be needed to ensure avatars are appropriate for a work setting?
    • Fragmentation: Metaverse experiences are already creating islands. Users of Horizon Worlds can’t connect with colleagues using AltspaceVR. Similar to the challenges around different videoconferencing software, users could find they are divided by applications.

    Mitigations

    • Introduce concepts over time: Ask users to experiment with meeting in a VR context in a small group before expanding to a companywide conference event. Or have them use a headset for a simple video chat before they use it to complete a task in the field.
    • Administrative controls: Ensure that employees have some boundaries when designing their avatars, enforced either through controls placed on the software or through policies from HR.
    • Explore but don’t commit: It’s early days for these metaverse applications. Explore opportunities that become available through free trials and new releases to existing software suites but maintain flexibility to pivot should the need arise.

    Data & BI

    Deploy to your existing touchpoints

    Risks

    • Interoperability: There is no established standard for digital objects or behaviors in the metaverse. Meta and Microsoft say they are committed to open standards that will ensure portability of data across platforms, but how that will be executed isn’t clear yet.
    • Privacy: Sending data to another platform carries risks that it will be exfiltrated and stored elsewhere, presenting some challenges for companies that need to be compliant with legislation such as GDPR.
    • High-fidelity models: 3D models with photorealistic textures will come with high CPU requirements to render properly. Some head-mounted displays will run into limitations.

    Mitigations

    • Adopt standard interfaces: Using open APIs will be the most common path to integrating enterprise systems to metaverse applications.
    • Maintain compliance: The current approach enterprises take to creating data lakes and presenting them to platforms will extend to the metaverse. Building good controls and anonymizing data that resides in these locations will enable firms to interact in new platforms and remain compliant.
    • Right-sized rendering: Providing enough data to a device to make it useful without overburdening the CPU will be an important consideration. For example, TeamViewer uses polygon reduction to display 3D models on lower-powered head-mounted displays.

    More Info-Tech research to explore

    CIO Priorities 2022
    Priorities to compete in the digital economy.

    Microsoft Teams Cookbook
    Recipes for best practices and use cases for Microsoft Teams.

    Run Better Meetings
    Hybrid, virtual, or in person – set meeting best practices that support your desired meeting norms.

    Double Your Organization’s Effectiveness With a Digital Twin
    Digital twin: A living, breathing reflection.

    Contributing experts

    Photo of Dr. Hendrik Witt, Chief Product Officer, TeamViewer

    Dr. Hendrik Witt
    Chief Product Officer,
    TeamViewer

    		 Photo of Kevin Tucker, Principal Research Director, Industry Practice, INFO-TECH RESEARCH GROUP

    Kevin Tucker
    Principal Research Director, Industry Practice,
    INFO-TECH RESEARCH GROUP

    Bibliography

    Cannavò, Alberto, and F. Lamberti. “How Blockchain, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Are Converging, and Why.” IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine, vol. 10, no. 5, Sept. 2020, pp. 6-13. IEEE Xplore. Web.

    Culliford, Elizabeth. “Meta’s Zuckerberg Unveils AI Projects Aimed at Building Metaverse Future.” Reuters, 24 Feb. 2022. Web.

    Davies, Nahla. “Cybersecurity and the Metaverse: Pioneering Safely into a New Digital World.” GlobalSign Blog, 10 Dec. 2021. GlobalSign by GMO. Web.

    Doctorow, Cory. “Neuromancer Today.” Medium, 10 Feb. 2022. Web.

    Heath, Alex. “Meta’s Social VR Platform Horizon Hits 300,000 Users.” The Verge, 17 Feb. 2022. Web.

    “Holoportation™.” Microsoft Research, 22 Feb. 2022. Microsoft. Accessed 3 March 2022.

    Isaac, Mike. “Meta Spent $10 Billion on the Metaverse in 2021, Dragging down Profit.” The New York Times, 2 Feb. 2022. Web.

    Isaac, Mike, and Sheera Frenkel. “Out With the Facebookers. In With the Metamates.” The New York Times, 15 Feb. 2022. Web.

    Langston, Jennifer. “‘You Can Actually Feel like You’re in the Same Place’: Microsoft Mesh Powers Shared Experiences in Mixed Reality.” Microsoft Innovation Stories, 2 Mar. 2021. Microsoft. Web.

    “Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment and AWS Team Up to Transform Experiences for Canadian Sports Fans.” Amazon Press Center, 23 Feb. 2022. Amazon.com. Accessed 24 Feb. 2022. Web.

    Marquez, Reynaldo. “How Microsoft Will Move To The Web 3.0, Blockchain Division To Expand.” Bitcoinist.com, 8 Nov. 2021. Web.

    Metinko, Chris. “Securing The Metaverse—What’s Needed For The Next Chapter Of The Internet.” Crunchbase News, 6 Dec. 2021. Web.

    Metz, Rachel Metz. “Why You Can’t Have Legs in Virtual Reality (Yet).” CNN, 15 Feb. 2022. Accessed 16 Feb. 2022.

    “Microsoft to Acquire Activision Blizzard to Bring the Joy and Community of Gaming to Everyone, across Every Device.” Microsoft News Center, 18 Jan. 2022. Microsoft. Web.

    Nath, Ojasvi. “Big Tech Is Betting Big on Metaverse: Should Enterprises Follow Suit?” Toolbox, 15 Feb. 2022. Accessed 24 Feb. 2022.

    “NVIDIA Announces Omniverse Replicator Synthetic-Data-Generation Engine for Training AIs.” NVIDIA Newsroom, 9 Nov. 2021. NVIDIA. Accessed 9 Mar. 2022.

    “NVIDIA Omniverse - Designing, Optimizing and Operating the Factory of the Future. 2021. YouTube, uploaded by NVIDIA, 13 April 2021. Web.

    Peters, Jay. “Disney Has Appointed a Leader for Its Metaverse Strategy.” The Verge, 15 Feb. 2022. Web.

    Robinson, Joanna. The Sci-Fi Guru Who Predicted Google Earth Explains Silicon Valley’s Latest Obsession.” Vanity Fair, 23 June 2017. Accessed 13 Feb. 2022.

    Scoble, Robert. “New Startup Mixes Reality with Computer Vision and Sets the Stage for an Entire Industry.” Scobleizer, 17 Feb. 2022. Web.

    Seward, Zack. “Ex-Meta Coders Raising $200M to Bring Diem Blockchain to Life: Sources.” CoinDesk, 24 Feb. 2022. Web.

    Shrestha, Rakesh, et al. “A New Type of Blockchain for Secure Message Exchange in VANET.” Digital Communications and Networks, vol. 6, no. 2, May 2020, pp. 177-186. ScienceDirect. Web.

    Sood, Vishal. “Gain a New Perspective with Dynamics 365 Connected Spaces.” Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog, 2 Nov. 2021. Microsoft. Web.

    Takahashi, Dean. “Philip Rosedale’s High Fidelity Cuts Deal with Second Life Maker Linden Lab.” VentureBeat, 13 Jan. 2022 Web.

    “TeamViewer Capital Markets Day 2021.” TeamViewer, 10 Nov. 2021. Accessed 22 Feb. 2022.

    VR for Work. Oculus.com. Accessed 1 Mar. 2022.

    Wunderman Thompson Intelligence. “New Trend Report: Into the Metaverse.” Wunderman Thompson, 14 Sept. 2021. Accessed 16 Feb. 2022.

    Build an Application Rationalization Framework

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    • Almost two-thirds of organizations report that they have too many or far too many applications due to sprawl from poorly managed portfolios, and application managers are spending too much time supporting non-critical applications and not enough time on their most vital ones.
    • The necessary pieces of rationalization are rarely in one place. You need to assemble the resources to collect vital rationalization criteria.
    • There is a lack of standard practices to define the business value that the applications in a portfolio provide, and without value rationalization, decisions are misaligned to business needs.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    There is no “one size fits all.” Applying a rigid approach to rationalization with inflexible inputs can delay or prevent you from realizing value. Play to your strengths and build a framework that aligns to your goals and limitations.

    Impact and Result

    • Define the roles, responsibilities, and outputs for application rationalization within your application portfolio management practice.
    • Build a tailored application rationalization framework (ARF) aligned with your motivations, goals, and limitations.
    • Apply the various application assessments to produce the information that your dispositions will be based on.
    • Initiate an application portfolio roadmap that will showcase your rationalization decisions to key stakeholders.

    Build an Application Rationalization Framework Research & Tools

    Start here – read the Executive Brief

    Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should rationalize your applications and why you need a framework that is specific to your goals and limitations, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Lay your foundations

    Define the motivations, goals, and scope of your rationalization effort. Build the action plan and engagement tactics to roll out the rationalization activities.

    • Build an Application Rationalization Framework – Phase 1: Lay Your Foundations
    • Application Rationalization Tool

    2. Plan your application rationalization framework

    Understand the core assessments performed in application rationalizations. Define your application rationalization framework and degree of rigor in applying these assessments based on your goals and limitations.

    • Build an Application Rationalization Framework – Phase 2: Plan Your Application Rationalization Framework

    3. Test and adapt your application rationalization framework

    Test your application rationalization framework using Info-Tech’s tool set on your first iteration. Perform a retrospective and adapt your framework based on that experience and outcomes.

    • Build an Application Rationalization Framework – Phase 3: Test and Adapt Your Application Rationalization Framework
    • Application TCO Calculator
    • Value Calculator

    4. Initiate your roadmap

    Review, determine, and prioritize your dispositions to ensure they align to your goals. Initiate an application portfolio roadmap to showcase your rationalization decisions to key stakeholders.

    • Build an Application Rationalization Framework – Phase 4: Initiate Your Roadmap
    • Disposition Prioritization Tool
    [infographic]

    Workshop: Build an Application Rationalization Framework

    Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

    1 Lay Your Foundations

    The Purpose

    Define the goals, scope, roles, and responsibilities of your rationalization effort.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Defined motivations, long and short-term goals, and metrics for your rationalization effort.

    Definition of application.

    Defined roles and responsibilities for your rationalization effort.

    Activities

    1.1 Define motivations and goals for rationalization.

    1.2 Define “application.”

    1.3 Identify team and responsivities.

    1.4 Adapt target dispositions.

    1.5 Initiate Application Rationalization Framework (ARF).

    Outputs

    Goals, motivations, and metrics for rationalizations

    Definition of “Application”

    Defined dispositions

    Defined core APM team and handoffs

    2 Assess Business Value

    The Purpose

    Review and adapt Info-Tech’s methodology and toolset.

    Assess business value of applications.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Tailored application rationalization framework

    Defined business value drivers

    Business value scores for applications

    Activities

    2.1 Review Application Rationalization Tool.

    2.2 Review focused apps, capabilities, and areas of functionality overlap.

    2.3 Define business value drivers.

    2.4 Determine the value score of focused apps.

    Outputs

    Application Rationalization Tool

    List of functional overlaps

    Weighed business value drivers

    Value scores for focused application

    Value Calculator

    3 Gather Application Information

    The Purpose

    Continue to review and adapt Info-Tech’s methodology and toolset.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Tailored application rationalization framework

    TCO values for applications

    Technical health review of applications

    Recommended dispositions for applications

    Activities

    3.1 Determine TCO for focused apps.

    3.2 Determine technical health of focused apps.

    3.3 Review APA.

    3.4 Review recommended dispositions.

    3.5 Perform retrospective of assessments and adapt ARF.

    Outputs

    TCO of focused applications

    TCO Calculator

    Technical health of focused apps

    Defined rationalization criteria

    Recommended disposition for focused apps

    4 Gather, Assess, and Select Dispositions

    The Purpose

    Review and perform high-level prioritization of dispositions.

    Build a roadmap for dispositions.

    Determine ongoing rationalization and application portfolio management activities.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Application Portfolio Roadmap

    Prioritized Dispositions

    Activities

    4.1 Determine dispositions.

    4.2 Prioritize dispositions.

    4.3 Initiate portfolio roadmap.

    4.4 Build an action plan for next iterations and ongoing activities.

    4.5 Finalize ARF.

    Outputs

    Disposition Prioritization Tool

    Application portfolio roadmap

    Action plan for next iterations and ongoing activities

    Further reading

    Build an Application Rationalization Framework

    Manage your application portfolio to minimize risk and maximize value.

    Analyst Perspective

    "You're not rationalizing for the sake of IT, you’re rationalizing your apps to create better outcomes for the business and your customers. Consider what’s in it for delivery, operations, the business, and the customer." – Cole Cioran, Senior Director – Research, Application Delivery and Management

    Our understanding of the problem

    This Research Is Designed For:

    • Application portfolio managers, application portfolio management (APM) teams, or any application leaders who are tasked with making application portfolio decisions.
    • Application leaders looking to align their portfolios to the organization’s strategy.
    • Application leaders who need a process for rationalizing their applications.

    This Research Will Help You:

    • Measure the business value of your applications.
    • Rationalize your portfolio to determine the best disposition for each application.
    • Initiate a roadmap that will showcase the future of your applications.

    This Research Will Also Assist:

    • CIOs and other business leaders who need to understand the applications in their portfolio, the value they contribute to the business, and their strategic direction over a given timeline.
    • Steering committees and/or the PMO that needs to understand the process by which application dispositions are generated.

    This Research Will Help Them:

    • Build their reputation as an IT leader who drives the business forward.
    • Define the organization’s value statement in the context of IT and their applications.
    • Visualize the roadmap to the organization’s target application landscape.

    Executive Summary

    Situation

    • Almost two-thirds of organizations report that they have too many or far too many applications due to sprawl from poorly managed portfolios (Flexera, 2015).
    • Application managers are spending too much time supporting non-critical applications and not enough time on their most vital ones.
    • Application managers need their portfolios to be current and effective and evolve continuously to support the business or risk being marginalized.

    Complication

    • The necessary pieces of rationalization are rarely in one place. You need to assemble the resources to collect vital rationalization criteria.
    • There is a lack of standard practices to define the business value that the applications in a portfolio provide and, without value rationalization, decisions are misaligned to business needs.

    Resolution

    • Define the roles, responsibilities, and outputs for application rationalization within your application portfolio management (APM) and other related practices.
    • Build a tailored application rationalization framework (ARF) aligned with your motivations, goals, and limitations.
    • Apply the various application assessments to produce the information, which your dispositions will be based on, and adapt your ARF based on the experiences of your first iteration.
    • Review, determine, and prioritize your application dispositions to create a portfolio strategy aligned to your goals.
    • Initiate an application portfolio roadmap, which will showcase your rationalization decisions to key stakeholders.

    Info-Tech Insight

    There is no one size fits all.

    Applying a rigid approach with inflexible inputs can delay or prevent you from realizing value. Play to your strengths and build a framework that aligns to your goals and limitations.

    Business value must drive your decisions.

    Of the 11 vendor capabilities asked about by Info-Tech’s SoftwareReviews, “business value created” has the second highest relationship with overall software satisfaction.

    Take an iterative approach.

    Larger approaches take longer and are more likely to fail. Identify the applications that best address your strategic objectives, then: rationalize, learn, repeat.

    Info-Tech recommends a disciplined, step-by-step approach as outlined in our Application Portfolio Strategy Program

    Step 1 "No Knowledge": Define application capabilities and visualize lifecycle stages

    Application Discovery

    1. Build in Application Portfolio Management Principles.
    2. Conduct Application Alignment.
    3. Build Detailed Application Inventory

    Step 2 "No Strategy": Rationalize application portfolio and visualize strategic directions

    Application Rationalization

    1. Set Your Rationalization Framework
    2. Conduct Assessment & Assign Dispositions
    3. Create an Application Portfolio Roadmap

    Step 3 "No Plan": Build a product roadmap and visualize the detailed plan

    Detailed Disposition Planning

    1. Conduct an Impact Assessment
    2. Determine the Details of the Disposition
    3. Create Detailed Product Roadmaps

    This blueprint focuses on step 2 of Info-Tech's Application Portfolio Strategy Program. Our methodology assumes you have completed the following activities, which are outlined in Discover Your Applications.

    • Collected your full application inventory (including Shadow IT)
    • Aligned applications to business capabilities
    • Determined redundant applications
    • Identified appropriate subject matter experts (business and technical) for your applications

    Info-Tech's four-phase methodology

    Phase 1

    Lay Your Foundations

    • Define Motivations, Goals, and Scope
    • Iteration and Engagement Planning

    This phase is intended to establish the fundamentals in launching either a rationalization initiative or ongoing practice.

    Here we define goals, scope, and the involvement of various roles from both IT and the business.

    Phase 2

    Plan Your ARF

    • Establish Rationalization Inputs and Current Gaps

    This phase is intended to review a high-level approach to rationalization and determine which analyses are necessary and their appropriate level of depth.

    Here we produce an initial ARF and discuss any gaps in terms of the availability of necessary data points and additional collection methods that will need to be applied.

    Phase 3

    Test and Adapt Your ARF

    • Perform First Iteration Analysis
    • First Iteration Retrospective and Adaptation

    This phase is intended to put the ARF into action and adapt as necessary to ensure success in your organization.

    If appropriate, here we apply Info-Tech’s ARF and toolset and test it against a set of applications to determine how best to adapt these materials for your needs.

    Phase 4

    Initiate Your Roadmap

    • Prioritize and Roadmap Applications
    • Ongoing Rationalization and Roadmapping

    This phase is intended to capture results of rationalization and solidify your rationalization initiative or ongoing practice.

    Here we aim to inject your dispositions into an application portfolio roadmap and ensure ongoing governance of APM activities.

    There is an inconsistent understanding and ownership of the application portfolio

    What can I discover about my portfolio?

    Application portfolios are misunderstood.

    Portfolios are viewed as only supportive in nature. There is no strategy or process to evaluate application portfolios effectively. As a result, organizations build a roadmap with a lack of understanding of their portfolio.

    72% of organizations do not have an excellent understanding of the application portfolio (Capgemini).

    How can I improve my portfolio?

    Misalignment between Applications and Business Operations

    Applications fail to meet their intended function, resulting in duplication, a waste of resources, and a decrease in ROI. This makes it harder for IT to justify to the business the reasons to complete a roadmap.

    48% of organizations believe that there are more applications than the business requires (Capgemini).

    How can my portfolio help transform the business?

    IT's budget is to keep the lights on.

    The application portfolio is complex and pervasive and requires constant support from IT. This makes it increasingly difficult for IT to adopt or develop new strategies since its immediate goal will always be to fix what already exists. This causes large delays and breaks in the timeline to complete a roadmap.

    68% of IT directors have wasted time and money because they did not have better visibility of application roadmaps (ComputerWeekly).

    Roadmaps can be the solution, but stall when they lack the information needed for good decision making

    An application portfolio roadmap provides a visual representation of your application portfolio, is used to plan out the portfolio’s strategy over a given time frame, and assists management in key decisions. But…

    • You can’t change an app without knowing its backend.
    • You can't rationalize what you don't know.
    • You can’t confirm redundancies without knowing every app.
    • You can’t rationalize without the business perspective.

    A roadmap is meaningless if you haven’t done any analysis to understand the multiple perspectives on your applications.

    Application rationalization ensures roadmaps reflect what the business actually wants and needs

    Application rationalization is the practice of strategically identifying business applications across an organization to determine which applications should be kept, replaced, retired, or consolidated (TechTarget).

    Discover, Improve, and Transform Through Application Rationalization

    Your application rationalization effort increases the maturity of your roadmap efforts by increasing value to the business. Go beyond the discover phase – leverage application rationalization insights to reach the improve and transform phases.

    Strong Apps Are Key to Business Satisfaction

    79% of organizations with high application suite satisfaction believe that IT offers the organization a competitive edge over others in the industry. (Info-Tech Research Group, N=230)

    Info-Tech Insight

    Companies with an effective portfolio are twice as likely to report high-quality applications, four times as likely to report high proficiency in legacy apps management, and six times as likely to report strong business alignment.

    Rationalization comes at a justified cost

    Rationalization can reduce costs and drive innovation

    Projecting the ROI of application rationalization is difficult and dangerous when used as the only marker for success.

    However, rationalization, when done effectively, will help drop operational or maintenance costs of your applications as well as provide many more opportunities to add value to the business.

    A graph with Time on the X-axis and Cost on the Y axis. The graph compares cost before rationalization, where the cost of the existing portfolio is high, with cost after rationalization, where the cost of the existing portfolio is reduced. The graph demonstrates a decrease in overall portfolio spend after rationalization

    Organizations lack a strategic approach to application rationalization, leading to failure

    IT leaders strive to push the business forward but are stuck in a cycle of reaction where they manage short-term needs rather than strategic approaches.

    Why Is This the Case?

    Lack of Relevant Information

    Rationalization fails without appropriately detailed, accurate, and up-to-date information. You need to identify what information is available and assemble the teams to collect and analyze it.

    Failure to Align With Business Objectives

    Rationalization fails when you lack a clear list of strategic and collaborative priorities; priorities need to be both IT and non-IT related to align with the business objectives and provide value.

    IT Leaders Fails to Justify Projects

    Adhering to a rigid rationalization process can be complex and costly. Play to your strengths and build an ARF based on your goals and limitations.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Misaligned portfolio roadmaps are known to lead teams and projects into failure!
    Building an up-to-date portfolio roadmap that aligns business objectives to IT objectives will increase approval and help the business see the long-term value of roadmapping.

    Don’t start in the middle; ensure you have the basics down

    Application portfolio strategy practice maturity stages

    1. Discover Your Applications
    2. Improve
    3. Transform
    A graph with Rigor of APM Practice on the X-axis and Value to the Business on the Y-axis. The content of the graph is split into the 3 maturity stages, Discover, Improve, and Transform. With each step, the Value to the Business and Rigor of APM Practice increase.

    Disambiguate your systems and clarify your scope

    Define the items that make up your portfolio.

    Broad or unclear definitions of “application” can complicate the scope of rationalization. Take the time to define an application and come to a common understanding of the systems which will be the focus of your rationalization effort.

    Bundling systems under common banner or taking a product view of your applications and components can be an effective way to ensure you include your full collection of systems, without having to perform too many individual assessments.

    Scope

    Single... Capability enabled by... Whole...
    Digital Product + Service Digital Platform Platform Portfolio Customer Facing
    Product (one or more apps) Product Family Product Portfolio

    ↕

    Application Application Architecture Application Portfolio Internal

    A graphic listing the following products: UI, Applications, Middleware, Data, and Infrastructure. A banner reading APIs runs through all products, and UI, Applications, and Middleware are bracketed off as Application

    Info-Tech’s framework can be applied to portfolios of apps, products, and their related capabilities or services.

    However you organize your tech stack, Info-Tech’s application rationalization framework can be applied.

    Understand the multiple lenses of application rationalization and include in your framework

    There are many lenses to view your applications. Rationalize your applications using all perspectives to assess your portfolio and determine the most beneficial course of action.

    Application Alignment - Architect Perspective

    How well does the entire portfolio align to your business capabilities?

    Are there overlaps or redundancies in your application features?

    Covered in Discover Your Applications.

    Business Value - CEO Perspective

    Is the application producing sufficient business value?

    Does it impact profitability, enable capabilities, or add any critical factor that fulfills the mission and vision?

    TCO - CIO Perspective

    What is the overall cost of the application?

    What is the projected cost as your organization grows? What is the cost to maintain the application?

    End User

    How does the end user perceive the application?

    What is the user experience?

    Do the features adequately support the intended functions?

    Is the application important or does it have high utilization?

    Technical Value - App Team Perspective

    What is the state of the backend of the application?

    Has the application maintained sufficient code quality? Is the application reliable? How does it fit into your application architecture?

    Each perspective requires its own analysis and is an area of criteria for rationalization.

    Apply the appropriate amount of rigor for your ARF based on your specific goals and limitations

    Ideally, the richer the data the better the results, but the reality is in-depth analysis is challenging and you’ll need to play to your strengths to be successful.

    Light-Weight Assessment

    App to capability alignment.

    Determine overlaps.

    Subjective 1-10 scale

    Subjective T-shirt size (high, med., low)

    End-user surveys

    Performance temperature check

    Thorough Analysis

    App to process alignment.

    Determine redundancies.

    Apply a value measurement framework.

    Projected TCO with traceability to ALM & financial records.

    Custom build interviews with multiple end users

    Tool and metric-based analysis

    There is no one-size-fits all rationalization. The primary goal of this blueprint is to help you determine the appropriate level of analysis given your motivations and goals for this effort as well as the limitations of resources, timeline, and accessible information.

    Rationalize and build your application portfolio strategy the right way to ensure success

    Big-Bang Approach

    • An attempt to assess the whole portfolio at once.
    • The result is information overload.
    • Information gathered is likely incomplete and/or inaccurate.
    • Tangible benefits are a long time away.

    Covert Approach

    • Information is collected behind the scenes and whenever information sources are available.
    • Assumptions about the business use of applications go unconfirmed.

    Corner-of-the-Desk Approach

    • No one is explicitly dedicated to building a strategy or APM practices.
    • Information is collected whenever the application team has time available.
    • Benefits are pushed out and value is lost.

    Iterative Approach

    • Carried out in phases, concentrating on individual business units or subsets of applications.
    • Priority areas are completed first.
    • The APM practice strengthens through experience.

    Sponsored Mandate Approach

    • The appropriate business stakeholders participate.
    • Rationalization is given project sponsors who champion the practice and communicate the benefits across the organization.

    Dedicated Approach

    • Rationalization and other APM activities are given a budget and formal agenda.
    • Roles and responsibilities are assigned to team members.

    Use Info-Tech’s Application Portfolio Assessment Diagnostic to add the end users’ perspective to your decision making

    Prior to Blueprint: Call 1-888-670-8889 to inquire about or request the Application Portfolio Assessment.

    Info-Tech Best Practice

    The approach in this blueprint has been designed in coordination with Info-Tech’s Application Portfolio Assessment (APA) Diagnostic. While it is not a prerequisite, your project will experience the best results and be completed much quicker by taking advantage of our diagnostic offering prior to initiating the activities in this blueprint.

    Use the program diagnostic to:

    • Assess the importance and satisfaction of enterprise applications.
    • Solicit feedback from your end users on applications being used.
    • Understand the strengths and weaknesses of your current applications.
    • Perform a high-level application rationalization initiative.

    Integrate diagnostic results to:

    • Target which applications to analyze in greater detail.
    • Expand on the initial application rationalization results with a more comprehensive and business-value-focused criteria.

    Use Info-Tech’s Application Rationalization Tool to determine and then visualize your application portfolio strategy

    At the center of this project is an Application Rationalization Tool that is used as a living document of your:

      1. Customizable Application Rationalization Framework

      2. Recommendation Dispositions

      3. Application Portfolio Roadmap (seen below)

    Use the step-by-step advice within this blueprint to rationalize your application portfolio and build a realistic and accurate application roadmap that drives business value.

    Central to our approach to application rationalization are industry-leading frameworks

    Info-Tech uses the APQC and COBIT5 frameworks for certain areas of this research. Contextualizing application rationalization within these frameworks clarifies its importance and role and ensures that our assessment tool is focused on key priority areas. The APQC and COBIT5 frameworks are used as a starting point for assessing application effectiveness within specific business capabilities of the different components of application rationalization.

    APQC is one of the world's leading proponents of business benchmarking, best practices, and knowledge management research.

    COBIT 5 is the leading framework for the governance and management of enterprise IT.

    In addition to industry-leading frameworks, our best-practice approach is enhanced by the insights and guidance from our analysts, industry experts, and our clients.

    Our peer network of over 33,000 happy clients proves the effectiveness of our research.

    Our team conducts 1,000+ hours of primary and secondary research to ensure that our approach is enhanced by best practices.

    A public utility organization is using Info-Tech’s approach for rationalization of its applications for reduced complexity

    Case Study

    Industry: Public Sector

    Source: Info-Tech Research Group

    Challenge

    • The public utility has a complex application portfolio, with a large number of applications custom-built that provide limited functionality to certain business groups.
    • The organization needed to move away from custom point solutions and adopt more hosted solutions to cater to larger audiences across business domains.
    • The organization required a comprehensive solution for the following:
      • Understanding how applications are being used by business users.
      • Unraveling the complexity of its application landscape using a formal rationalization process.

    Solution

    • The organization went through a rationalization process with Info-Tech in a four-day onsite engagement to determine the following:
      • Satisfaction level and quality evaluation of end users’ perception of application functionality.
      • Confirmation on what needs to be done with each application under assessment.
      • The level of impact the necessary changes required for a particular application would have on the greater app ecosystem.
      • Prioritization methodology for application roadmap implementation.

    Results

    • Info-Tech’s Application Portfolio Assessment Diagnostic report helped the public utility understand what applications users valued and found difficult to use.
    • The rationalization process gave insight into situations where functionality was duplicated across multiple applications and could be consolidated within one application.
    • The organization determined that its application portfolio was highly complex, and Info-Tech provided a good framework for more in-depth analysis.
    • The organization now has a rationalization process that it can take to other business domains.

    Info-Tech Quarterly Research Agenda Outcomes Q2-Q3 2023

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    At Info-Tech, we take pride in our research and have established the most rigorous publication standards in the industry. However, we understand that engaging with all our analysts to gauge the future may not always be possible. Hence, we have curated some compelling recently published research along with forthcoming research insights to assist you in navigating the next quarter.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    We offer a quarterly Research Agenda Outcomes deck that thoroughly summarizes our recently published research, supplying decision makers with valuable insights and best practices to make informed and effective decisions. Our research is supported by our team of seasoned analysts with decades of experience in the IT industry.

    By leveraging our research, you can stay updated with the latest trends and technologies, giving you an edge over the competition and ensuring the optimal performance of your IT department. This way, you can make confident decisions that lead to remarkable success and improved outcomes.

    Impact and Result

    • Enhance preparedness for future market trends and developments: Keep up to date with the newest trends and advancements in the IT sector to be better prepared for the future.
    • Enhance your decision making: Acquire valuable information and insights to make better-informed, confident decisions.
    • Promote innovation: Foster creativity, explore novel perspectives, drive innovation, and create new products or services.

    Info-Tech Quarterly Research Agenda Outcomes Q2/Q3 2023 Research & Tools

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Info-Tech Quarterly Research Agenda Q3 2023 Deck – An overview of our Research Agenda Outcome for Q2 and Q3 of 2023.

    A guide to our top research published to date for 2023 (Q2/Q3).

    • Info-Tech Quarterly Research Agenda Outcomes for Q2/Q3 2023
    [infographic]

    Further reading

    Featured Research Projects 2023 (Q2/Q3)

    “Here are my selections for the top research projects of the last quarter.”

    Photo of Gord Harrison, Head of Research & Advisory, Info-Tech Research Group.

    Gord Harrison
    Head of Research & Advisory
    Info-Tech Research Group

    CIO

    01
    Build Your Generative AI Roadmap

    Generative AI is here, and it's time to find its best uses – systematically and responsibly.

    02
    CIO Priorities 2023

    Engage cross-functional leadership to seize opportunity while protecting the organization from volatility.

    03
    Build an IT Risk Taxonomy

    If integrated risk is your destination, your IT risk taxonomy is the road to get you there.

    04
    Navigate the Digital ID Ecosystem to Enhance Customer Experience

    Beyond the hype: How it can help you become more customer-focused?

    05
    Effective IT Communications

    Generative AI is here, and it's time to find its best uses – systematically and responsibly.

    06
    Develop a Targeted Flexible Work Program for IT

    Select flexible work options that balance organizational and employee needs to drive engagement and improve attraction and retention.

    07
    Effectively Manage CxO Relations

    Make relationship management a daily habit with a personalized action plan.

    08
    Establish High-Value IT Performance Dashboards and Metrics

    Spend less time struggling with visuals and more time communicating about what matters to your executives.

    Applications

    09
    Build Your Enterprise Application Implementation Playbook

    Your implementation doesn't start with technology but with an effective plan that the team can align on.

    10
    Develop Your Value-First Business Process Automation Strategy

    As you scale your business automations, focus on what matters most.

    11
    Manage Requirements in an Agile Environment

    Agile and requirements management are complementary, not competitors.

    Security

    12
    Assess Your Cybersecurity Insurance Policy

    Adapt to changes in the cyber insurance market.

    13
    Design and Implement a Business-Aligned Security Program

    Focus first on business value.

    Infrastructure & Operations

    14
    Automate IT Asset Data Collection

    Acquire and use discovery tools wisely to populate, update, and validate the data in your ITAM database.

    Industry | Retail

    15
    Leveraging AI to Create Meaningful Insights and Visibility in Retail

    AI prominence across the enterprise value chain.

    Industry | Education

    16
    Understand the Implications of Generative AI in Education

    Bans aren't the answer, but what is?

    Industry | Wholesale

    17
    Wholesale Industry Business Reference Architecture

    Business capability maps, value streams, and strategy maps for the wholesale industry.

    Industry | Retail Banking

    18
    Mainframe Modernization for Retail Banking

    A strategy for modernizing mainframe systems to meet the needs of modern retail banking.

    Industry | Utilities

    19
    Data Analytics Use Cases for Utilities

    Building upon the collective wisdom for the art of the possible.

    Build Your Generative AI Roadmap

    Generative AI is here, and it's time to find its best uses – systematically and responsibly.

    CIO
    Strategy & Governance

    Photo of Bill Wong, Principal Research Director, Info-Tech Research Group.

    Bill Wong
    Principal Research Director

    Download this research or book an analyst call on this topic

    Sample of the 'Build Your Generative AI Roadmap' research.

    Sample of the 'Build Your Generative AI Roadmap' research.

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    CIO Priorities 2023

    Engage cross-functional leadership to seize opportunity while protecting the organization from volatility.

    CIO
    Strategy & Governance

    Photo of Brian Jackson, Principal Research Director, Info-Tech Research Group.

    Brian Jackson
    Principal Research Director

    Download this report or book an analyst call on this topic

    Sample of the 'CIO Priorities 2023' report.

    Sample of the 'CIO Priorities 2023' report.

    Logo for Info-Tech.

    Build an IT Risk Taxonomy

    If integrated risk is your destination, your IT risk taxonomy is the road to get you there.

    CIO
    Strategy & Governance

    Photo of Donna Bales, Principal Research Director, Info-Tech Research Group.

    Donna Bales
    Principal Research Director

    Download this research or book an analyst call on this topic

    Sample of the 'Build an IT Risk Taxonomy' research.

    Sample of the 'Build an IT Risk Taxonomy' research.

    Logo for Info-Tech.

    Navigate the Digital ID Ecosystem to Enhance Customer Experience

    Beyond the hype: How it can help you become more customer-focused?

    CIO
    Strategy & Governance

    Photo of Manish Jain, Principal Research Director, Info-Tech Research Group.

    Manish Jain
    Principal Research Director

    Download this research or book an analyst call on this topic

    Sample of the 'Navigate the Digital ID Ecosystem to Enhance Customer Experience' research.

    Sample of the 'Navigate the Digital ID Ecosystem to Enhance Customer Experience' research.

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    Effective IT Communications

    Empower IT employees to communicate well with any stakeholder across the organization.

    CIO
    People & Leadership

    Photo of Brittany Lutes, Research Director, Info-Tech Research Group.

    Brittany Lutes
    Research Director

    Photo of Diana MacPherson, Senior Research Analyst, Info-Tech Research Group.

    Diana MacPherson
    Senior Research Analyst

    Download this research or book an analyst call on this topic

    Effective IT Communications' research.

    Sample of the 'Effective IT Communications' research.

    Logo for Info-Tech.

    Develop a Targeted Flexible Work Program for IT

    Select flexible work options that balance organizational and employee needs to drive engagement and improve attraction and retention.

    CIO
    People & Leadership

    Photo of Jane Kouptsova, Research Director, Info-Tech Research Group.

    Jane Kouptsova
    Research Director

    Download this research or book an analyst call on this topic

    Sample of the 'Develop a Targeted Flexible Work Program for IT' research.

    Sample of the 'Develop a Targeted Flexible Work Program for IT' research.

    Logo for Info-Tech.

    Effectively Manage CxO Relations

    Make relationship management a daily habit with a personalized action plan.

    CIO
    Value & Performance

    Photo of Mike Tweedle, Practice Lead, Info-Tech Research Group.

    Mike Tweedle
    Practice Lead

    Download this research or book an analyst call on this topic

    Sample of the 'Effectively Manage CxO Relations' research.

    Sample of the 'Effectively Manage CxO Relations' research.

    Logo for Info-Tech.

    Establish High-Value IT Performance Dashboards and Metrics

    Spend less time struggling with visuals and more time communicating about what matters to your executives.

    CIO
    Value & Performance

    Photo of Diana MacPherson, Senior Research Analyst, Info-Tech Research Group.

    Diana MacPherson
    Senior Research Analyst

    Download this research or book an analyst call on this topic

    Sample of the 'Establish High-Value IT Performance Dashboards and Metrics' research.

    Sample of the 'Establish High-Value IT Performance Dashboards and Metrics' research.

    Logo for Info-Tech.

    Build Your Enterprise Application Implementation Playbook

    Your implementation doesn't start with technology but with an effective plan that the team can align on.

    Applications
    Business Processes

    Photo of Ricardo de Oliveira, Research Director, Info-Tech Research Group.

    Ricardo de Oliveira
    Research Director

    Download this research or book an analyst call on this topic

    Sample of the 'Build Your Enterprise Application Implementation Playbook' research.

    Sample of the 'Build Your Enterprise Application Implementation Playbook' research.

    Logo for Info-Tech.

    Develop Your Value-First Business Process Automation Strategy

    As you scale your business automations, focus on what matters most.

    Applications
    Business Processes

    Photo of Andrew Kum-Seun, Research Director, Info-Tech Research Group.

    Andrew Kum-Seun
    Research Director

    Download this research or book an analyst call on this topic

    Sample of the 'Develop Your Value-First Business Process Automation Strategy' research.

    Sample of the 'Develop Your Value-First Business Process Automation Strategy' research.

    Logo for Info-Tech.

    Manage Requirements in an Agile Environment

    Agile and requirements management are complementary, not competitors.

    Applications
    Application Development

    Photo of Vincent Mirabelli, Principal Research Director, Info-Tech Research Group.

    Vincent Mirabelli
    Principal Research Director

    Download this research or book an analyst call on this topic

    Sample of the 'Manage Requirements in an Agile Environment' research.

    Sample of the 'Manage Requirements in an Agile Environment' research.

    Logo for Info-Tech.

    Assess Your Cybersecurity Insurance Policy

    Adapt to changes in the cyber insurance market.

    Security
    Security Risk, Strategy & Governance

    Photo of Logan Rohde, Senior Research Analyst, Info-Tech Research Group.

    Logan Rohde
    Senior Research Analyst

    Download this research or book an analyst call on this topic

    Sample of the 'Assess Your Cybersecurity Insurance Policy' research.

    Sample of the 'Assess Your Cybersecurity Insurance Policy' research.

    Logo for Info-Tech.

    Design and Implement a Business-Aligned Security Program

    Focus first on business value.

    Security
    Security Risk, Strategy & Governance

    Photo of Michel Hébert, Research Director, Info-Tech Research Group.

    Michel Hébert
    Research Director

    Download this research or book an analyst call on this topic

    Sample of the 'Design and Implement a Business-Aligned Security Program' research.

    Sample of the 'Design and Implement a Business-Aligned Security Program' research.

    Logo for Info-Tech.

    Automate IT Asset Data Collection

    Acquire and use discovery tools wisely to populate, update, and validate the data in your ITAM database.

    Infrastructure & Operations
    I&O Process Management

    Photo of Andrew Sharp, Research Director, Info-Tech Research Group.

    Andrew Sharp
    Research Director

    Download this research or book an analyst call on this topic

    Sample of the 'Automate IT Asset Data Collection' research.

    Sample of the 'Automate IT Asset Data Collection' research.

    Logo for Info-Tech.

    Leveraging AI to Create Meaningful Insights and Visibility in Retail

    AI prominence across the enterprise value chain.

    Industry Coverage
    Retail

    Photo of Rahul Jaiswal, Principal Research Director, Info-Tech Research Group.

    Rahul Jaiswal
    Principal Research Director

    Download this research or book an analyst call on this topic

    Sample of the 'Leveraging AI to Create Meaningful Insights and Visibility in Retail' research.

    Sample of the 'Leveraging AI to Create Meaningful Insights and Visibility in Retail' research.

    Logo for Info-Tech.

    Understand the Implications of Generative AI in Education

    Bans aren't the answer, but what is?

    Industry Coverage
    Education

    Photo of Mark Maby, Research Director, Info-Tech Research Group.

    Mark Maby
    Research Director

    Download this research or book an analyst call on this topic

    Sample of the 'Understand the Implications of Generative AI in Education' research.

    Sample of the 'Understand the Implications of Generative AI in Education' research.

    Logo for Info-Tech.

    Wholesale Industry Business Reference Architecture

    Business capability maps, value streams, and strategy maps for the wholesale industry.

    Industry Coverage
    Wholesale

    Photo of Rahul Jaiswal, Principal Research Director, Info-Tech Research Group.

    Rahul Jaiswal
    Principal Research Director

    Download this research or book an analyst call on this topic

    Sample of the 'Wholesale Industry Business Reference Architecture' research.

    Sample of the 'Wholesale Industry Business Reference Architecture' research.

    Logo for Info-Tech.

    Mainframe Modernization for Retail Banking

    A strategy for modernizing mainframe systems to meet the needs of modern retail banking.

    Industry Coverage
    Retail Banking

    Photo of David Tomljenovic, Principal Research Director, Info-Tech Research Group.

    David Tomljenovic
    Principal Research Director

    Download this research or book an analyst call on this topic

    Sample of the 'Mainframe Modernization for Retail Banking' research.

    Sample of the 'Mainframe Modernization for Retail Banking' research.

    Logo for Info-Tech.

    Data Analytics Use Cases for Utilities

    Building upon the collective wisdom for the art of the possible.

    Industry Coverage
    Utilities

    Photo of Jing Wu, Principal Research Director, Info-Tech Research Group.

    Jing Wu
    Principal Research Director

    Download this research or book an analyst call on this topic

    Sample of the 'Data Analytics Use Cases for Utilities' research.

    Sample of the 'Data Analytics Use Cases for Utilities' research.

    Sneak Peaks: Research coming in next quarter!

    “Next quarter we have a big lineup of reports and some great new research!”

    Photo of Gord Harrison, Head of Research & Advisory, Info-Tech Research Group.

    Gord Harrison
    Head of Research & Advisory
    Info-Tech Research Group

    1. Build MLOps and Engineering for AI and ML

      Enabling you to develop your Engineering and ML Operations to support your current & planned use cases for AI and ML.

    2. Leverage Gen AI to Improve Your Test Automation Strategy

      Enabling you to embed Gen AI to assist your team during testing broader than Gen AI compiling code.

    3. Make Your IT Financial Data Accessible, Reliable, and Usable

      This project will provide a recipe for bringing IT's financial data to a usable state through a series of discovery, standardization, and policy-setting actions.

    4. Implement Integrated AI Governance

      Enabling you to implement best-practice governance principles when implementing Gen AI.

    5. Develop Exponential IT Capabilities

      Enabling you to understand and develop your strategic Exponential IT capabilities.

    6. Build Your AI Strategy and Roadmap

      This project will provide step-by-step guidance in development of your AI strategy with an AI strategy exemplar.

    7. Priorities for Data Leaders in 2024 and Beyond

      This report will detail the top five challenges expected in the upcoming year and how you as the CDAO can tackle them.

    8. Deploy AIOps More Effectively

      This research is designed to assess the process maturity of your IT operations and help identify pain pains and opportunities for AI deployment within your IT operations.

    9. Design Your Edge Computing Architecture

      This research will provide deployment guidelines and roadmap to address your edge computing needs.

    10. Manage Change in the AI-Enabled Enterprise

      Managing change is complex with the disruptive nature of emerging tech like AI. This research will assist you from an organizational change perspective.

    11. Assess the Security and Privacy Impacts of Your AI Vendors

      This research will allow you to enhance transparency, improve risk management, and ensure the security and privacy of data when working with AI vendors.

    12. Prepare Your Board for AI Disruption

      This research will arm you with tools to educate your board on the impact of Gen AI, addressing the potential risks and the potential benefits.

    Info-Tech Research Leadership Team

    “We have a world-class team of experts focused on providing practical, cutting-edge IT research and advice.”

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    Gord Harrison
    Head of Research & Advisory
    Info-Tech Research Group

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    Jack Hakimian
    Senior Vice President
    Research Development

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    Aaron Shum
    Vice President
    Security & Privacy Research

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    Larry Fretz
    Vice President
    Industry Research

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    Vice President
    Research Fellowships

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    Chief Product Officer

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    Advisory Quality & Delivery

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    Senior Vice President
    Global Public Sector

    About Info-Tech Research Group

    Info-Tech Research Group produces unbiased and highly relevant research to help leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. We partner closely with your teams to provide everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for the organization.

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    Take Action on Service Desk Customer Feedback

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    • Parent Category Name: Service Desk
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    • IT leaders lack information to help inform and prioritize where improvements are most needed.
    • The service desk relies only on traditional metrics such as time to respond or percentage of SLAs met, but no measures of customer satisfaction with the service they receive.
    • There are signs of dissatisfied users, but no mechanism in place to formally capture those perceptions in order to address them.
    • Even if transactional (ticket) surveys are in use, often nothing is done with the data collected or there is a low response rate, and no broader satisfaction survey is in place.

    Our Advice

    Critical Insight

    • If customer satisfaction is not being measured, it’s often because service desk leaders don’t know how to design customer satisfaction surveys, don’t have a mechanism in place to collect feedback, or lack the resources to take accountability for a customer feedback program.
    • If customer satisfaction surveys are in place, it can be difficult to get full value out of them if there is a low response rate due to poor survey design or administration, or if leadership doesn’t understand the value of / know how to analyze the data.
    • It can actually be worse to ask your customers for feedback and do nothing with it than not asking for feedback at all. Customers may end up more dissatisfied if they take the time to provide value then see nothing done with it.

    Impact and Result

    • Understand how to ask the right questions to avoid survey fatigue.
    • Design and implement two complementary satisfaction surveys: a transactional survey to capture satisfaction with individual ticket experiences and inform immediate improvements, and a relationship survey to capture broader satisfaction among the entire user base and inform longer-term improvements.
    • Build a plan and assign accountability for customer feedback management, including analyzing feedback, prioritizing customer satisfaction insights and using them to improve performance, and communicating the results back to your users and stakeholders.

    Take Action on Service Desk Customer Feedback Research & Tools

    Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:

    1. Take Action on Service Desk Customer Feedback Deck – A step-by-step document that walks you through how to measure customer satisfaction, design and implement transactional and relationship surveys, and analyze and act on user feedback.

    Whether you have no Service Desk customer feedback program in place or you need to improve your existing process for gathering and responding to feedback, this deck will help you design your surveys and act on their results to improve CSAT scores.

    • Take Action on Service Desk Customer Feedback Storyboard

    2. Transactional Service Desk Survey Template – A template to design a ticket satisfaction survey.

    This template provides a sample transactional (ticket) satisfaction survey. If your ITSM tool or other survey mechanism allows you to design or write your own survey, use this template as a starting point.

    • Transactional Service Desk Survey Template

    3. Sample Size Calculator – A tool to calculate the sample size needed for your survey.

    Use the Sample Size Calculator to calculate your ideal sample size for your relationship surveys.

  • Desired confidence level
  • Acceptable margin of error
  • Company population size
  • Ideal sample size

    • Sample Size Calculator

    4. End-User Satisfaction Survey Review Workflows – Visio templates to map your review process for both transactional and relationship surveys

    This template will help you map out the step-by-step process to review collected feedback from your end-user satisfaction surveys, analyze the data, and act on it.

    • End-User Satisfaction Survey Review Workflows

    Infographic

    Further reading

    Take Action on Service Desk Customer Feedback

    Drive up CSAT scores by asking the right questions and effectively responding to user feedback.

    EXECUTIVE BRIEF

    Analyst Perspective

    Collecting feedback is only half the equation.

    The image contains a picture of Natalie Sansone.

    Natalie Sansone, PhD


    Research Director, Infrastructure & Operations

    Info-Tech Research Group

    Often when we ask service desk leaders where they need to improve and if they’re measuring customer satisfaction, they either aren’t measuring it at all, or their ticket surveys are turned on but they get very few responses (or only positive responses). They fail to see the value of collecting feedback when this is their experience with it.

    Feedback is important because traditional service desk metrics can only tell us so much. We often see what’s called the “watermelon effect”: metrics appear “green”, but under the surface they’re “red” because customers are in fact dissatisfied for reasons unmeasured by standard internal IT metrics. Customer satisfaction should always be the goal of service delivery, and directly measuring satisfaction in addition to traditional metrics will help you get a clearer picture of your strengths and weaknesses, and where to prioritize improvements.

    It’s not as simple as asking customers if they were satisfied with their ticket, however. There are two steps necessary for success. The first is collecting feedback, which should be done purposefully, with clear goals in mind in order to maximize the response rate and value of responses received. The second – and most critical – is acting on that feedback. Use it to inform improvements and communicate those improvements. Doing so will not only make your service desk better, increasing satisfaction through better service delivery, but also will make your customers feel heard and valued, which alone increases satisfaction.

    The image contains a picture of Emily Sugerman.

    Emily Sugerman, PhD


    Research Analyst, Infrastructure & Operations

    Info-Tech Research Group

    Executive Summary

    Your Challenge

    Common Obstacles

    Info-Tech’s Approach
    • The service desk relies only on traditional metrics such as time to respond, or percentage of SLAs met, but not on measures of customer satisfaction with the service they receive.
    • There are signs of dissatisfied users (e.g. shadow IT, users avoid the service desk, go only to their favorite technician) but no mechanism in place to formally capture those perceptions.
    • Transactional ticket surveys were turned on when the ITSM tool was implemented, but either nobody responds to them, or nobody does anything with the data received.
    • IT leaders lack information to help inform and prioritize where improvements are most needed.
    • Service desk leaders don’t know how to design survey questions to ask their users for feedback and/or they don’t have a mechanism in place to survey users.
    • If customer satisfaction surveys are in place, nothing is done with the results because service desk leaders either don’t understand the value of analyzing the data or don’t know how to analyze the data.
    • Executives only want a single satisfaction number to track and don’t understand the value of collecting more detailed feedback.
    • IT lacks the resources to take accountability for the feedback program, or existing resources don’t have time to do anything with the feedback they receive.
    • Understand how to ask the right questions to avoid survey fatigue (where users get overwhelmed and stop responding).
    • Design and implement a transactional survey to capture satisfaction with individual ticket experiences and use the results to inform immediate improvements.
    • Design and implement a relationship survey to capture broader satisfaction among the entire user base and use the results to inform longer-term improvements.
    • Build a plan and assign accountability for analyzing feedback, using it to prioritize and make actionable improvements to address feedback, and communicating the results back to your users and stakeholders.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Asking your customers for feedback then doing nothing with it is worse than not asking for feedback at all. Your customers may end up more dissatisfied than they were before, if their opinion is sought out and then ignored. It’s valuable to collect feedback, but the true value for both IT and its customers comes from acting on that feedback and communicating those actions back to your users.

    Traditional service desk metrics can be misleading

    The watermelon effect

    When a service desk appears to hit all its targets according to the metrics it tracks, but service delivery is poor and customer satisfaction is low, this is known as the “watermelon effect”. Service metrics appear green on the outside, but under the surface (unmeasured), they’re red because customers are dissatisfied.

    Traditional SLAs and service desk metrics (such as time to respond, average resolution time, percentage of SLAs met) can help you understand service desk performance internally to prioritize your work and identify process improvements. However, they don’t tell you how customers perceive the service or how satisfied they are.

    Providing good service to your customers should be your end goal. Failing to measure, monitor, and act on customer feedback means you don’t have the whole picture of how your service desk is performing and whether or where improvements are needed to maximize satisfaction.

    There is a shift in ITSM to focus more on customer experience metrics over traditional ones

    The Service Desk Institute (SDI) suggests that customer satisfaction is the most important indicator of service desk success, and that traditional metrics around SLA targets – currently the most common way to measure service desk performance – may become less valuable or even obsolete in the future as customer experience-focused targets become more popular. (Service Desk Institute, 2021)

    SDI conducted a Customer Experience survey of service desk professionals from a range of organizations, both public and private, from January to March 2018. The majority of respondents said that customer experience is more important than other metrics such as speed of service or adherence to SLAs, and that customer satisfaction is more valuable than traditional metrics. (SDI, 2018).

    The image contains a screenshot of two pie graphs. The graph on the left is labelled: which of these is most important to your service desk? Customer experience is first with 54%. The graph on the right is labelled: Which measures do you find more value in? Customer satisfaction is first with 65%.

    However, many service desk leaders aren’t effectively measuring customer feedback

    Not only is it important to measure customer experience and satisfaction levels, but it’s equally important to act on that data and feed it into a service improvement program. However, many IT leaders are neglecting either one or both of those components.

    Obstacles to collecting feedback

    Obstacles to acting on collected feedback
    • Don’t understand the value of measuring customer feedback.
    • Don’t have a good mechanism in place to collect feedback.
    • Don’t think that users would respond to a survey (either generally unresponsive or already inundated with surveys).
    • Worried that results would be negative or misleading.
    • Don’t know what questions to ask or how to design a survey.
    • Don’t understand the importance of analyzing and acting on feedback collected.
    • Don’t know how to analyze survey data.
    • Lack of resources to take accountability over customer feedback (including analyzing data, monitoring trends, communicating results).
    • Executives or stakeholders only want a satisfaction score.

    A strong customer feedback program brings many benefits to IT and the business

    Insight into customer experience

    Gather insight into both the overall customer relationship with the service desk and individual transactions to get a holistic picture of the customer experience.

    Data to inform decisions

    Collect data to inform decisions about where to spend limited resources or time on improvement, rather than guessing or wasting effort on the wrong thing.

    Identification of areas for improvement

    Better understand your strengths and weaknesses from the customer’s point of view to help you identify gaps and priorities for improvement.

    Customers feel valued

    Make customers feel heard and valued; this will improve your relationship and their satisfaction.

    Ability to monitor trends over time

    Use the same annual relationship survey to be able to monitor trends and progress in making improvements by comparing data year over year.

    Foresight to prevent problems from occurring

    Understand where potential problems may occur so you can address and prevent them, or who is at risk of becoming a detractor so you can repair the relationship.

    IT staff coaching and engagement opportunities

    Turn negative survey feedback into coaching and improvement opportunities and use positive feedback to boost morale and engagement.

    Take Action on Service Desk Customer Feedback

    The image contains a screenshot of a Thought Model titled: Take Action on Service Desk Customer Feedback.

    Info-Tech’s methodology for measuring and acting on service desk customer feedback

    Phase

    1. Understand how to measure customer satisfaction

    2. Design and implement transactional surveys

    3. Design and implement relationship surveys

    4. Analyze and act on feedback

    Phase outcomes

    Understand the main types of customer satisfaction surveys, principles for survey design, and best practices for surveying your users.

    Learn why and how to design a simple survey to assess satisfaction with individual service desk transactions (tickets) and a methodology for survey delivery that will improve response rates.

    Understand why and how to design a survey to assess overall satisfaction with the service desk across your organization, or use Info-Tech’s diagnostic.

    Measure and analyze the results of both surveys and build a plan to act on both positive and negative feedback and communicate the results with the organization.

    Insight Summary

    Key Insight:

    Asking your customers for feedback then doing nothing with it is worse than not asking for feedback at all. Your customers may end up more dissatisfied than they were before if they’re asked for their opinion then see nothing done with it. It’s valuable to collect feedback, but the true value for both IT and its customers comes from acting on that feedback and communicating those actions back to your users.

    Additional insights:

    Insight 1

    Take the time to define the goals of your transactional survey program before launching it – it’s not as simple as just deploying the default survey of your ITSM tool out of the box. The objectives of the survey – including whether you want to keep a pulse on average satisfaction or immediately act on any negative experiences – will influence a range of key decisions about the survey configuration.

    Insight 2

    While transactional surveys provide useful indicators of customer satisfaction with specific tickets and interactions, they tend to have low response rates and can leave out many users who may rarely or never contact the service desk, but still have helpful feedback. Include a relationship survey in your customer feedback program to capture a more holistic picture of what your overall user base thinks about the service desk and where you most need to improve.

    Insight 3

    Satisfaction scores provide valuable data about how your customers feel, but don’t tell you why they feel that way. Don’t neglect the qualitative data you can gather from open-ended comments and questions in both types of satisfaction surveys. Take the time to read through these responses and categorize them in at least a basic way to gain deeper insight and determine where to prioritize your efforts.

    Understand how to measure customer satisfaction

    Phase 1

    Understand the main types of customer satisfaction surveys, principles for survey design, and best practices for surveying your users.

    Phase 1:

    Phase 2:

    Phase 3:

    Phase 4:

    Understand how to measure customer satisfaction

    Design and implement transactional surveys

    Design and implement relationship surveys

    Analyze and act on feedback

    Three methods of surveying your customers

    Transactional

    Relationship

    One-off

    Also known as

    Ticket surveys, incident follow-up surveys, on-going surveys

    Annual, semi-annual, periodic, comprehensive, relational

    One-time, single, targeted

    Definition
    • Survey that is tied to a specific customer interaction with the service desk (i.e. a ticket).
    • Assesses how satisfied customers are with how the ticket was handled and resolved.
    • Sent immediately after ticket is closed.
    • Short – usually 1 to 3 questions.
    • Survey that is sent periodically (i.e. semi-annually or annually) to the entire customer base to measure overall relationship with the service desk.
    • Assesses customer satisfaction with their overall service experience over a longer time period.
    • Longer – around 15-20 questions.
    • One-time survey sent at a specific, targeted point in time to either all customers or a subset.
    • Often event-driven or project-related.
    • Assesses satisfaction at one time point, or about a specific change that was implemented, or to inform a specific initiative that will be implemented.

    Pros and cons of the three methods

    Transactional

    Relationship

    One-off

    Pros

    • Immediate feedback
    • Actionable insights to immediately improve service or experience
    • Feeds into team coaching
    • Multiple touchpoints allow for trending and monitoring
    • Comprehensive insight from broad user base to improve overall satisfaction
    • Reach users who don’t contact the service desk often or respond to ticket surveys
    • Identify unhappy customers and reasons for dissatisfaction
    • Monitor broader trends over time
    • Targeted insights to measure the impact of a specific change or perception at a specific point of time

    Cons

    • Customer may become frustrated being asked to fill out too many surveys
    • Can lead to survey fatigue and low response rates
    • Tend to only see responses for very positive or negative experiences
    • High volume of data to analyze
    • Feedback is at a high-level
    • Covers the entire customer journey, not a specific interaction
    • Users may not remember past interactions accurately
    • A lot of detailed data to analyze and more difficult to turn into immediate action
    • Not as valuable without multiple surveys to see trends or change

    Which survey method should you choose?

    Only relying on one type of survey will leave gaps in your understanding of customer satisfaction. Include both transactional and relationship surveys to provide a holistic picture of customer satisfaction with the service desk.

    If you can only start with one type, choose the type that best aligns with your goals and priorities:

    If your priority is to identify larger improvement initiatives the service desk can take to improve overall customer satisfaction and trust in the service desk:

    If your priority is to provide customers with the opportunity to let you know when transactions do not go well so you can take immediate action to make improvements:
    ↓ ↓

    Start with a relationship survey

    Start with a transactional survey

    The image contains a screenshot of a bar graph on SDI's 2018 Customer Experience in ITSM report.

    Info-Tech Insight

    One-off surveys can be useful to assess whether a specific change has impacted satisfaction, or to inform a planned change/initiative. However, as they aren’t typically part of an on-going customer feedback program, the focus of this research will be on transactional and relationship surveys.

    3 common customer satisfaction measures

    The three most utilized measures of customer satisfaction include CSAT, CES, and NPS.

    CSAT CES NPS
    Name Customer Satisfaction Customer Effort Score Net Promoter score
    What it measures Customer happiness Customer effort Customer loyalty
    Description Measures satisfaction with a company overall, or a specific offering or interaction Measures how much effort a customer feels they need to put forth in order to accomplish what they wanted Single question that asks consumers how likely they are to recommend your product, service, or company to other people
    Survey question How satisfied are/were you with [company/service/interaction/product]? How easy was it to [solve your problem/interact with company/handle my issue]? Or: The [company] made it easy for me to handle my issue How likely are you to recommend [company/service/product] to a friend?
    Scale 5, 7, or 10 pt scale, or using images/emojis 5, 7, or 10 pt scale 10-pt scale from highly unlikely to highly likely
    Scoring Result is usually expressed as a percentage of satisfaction Result usually expressed as an average Responses are divided into 3 groups where 0-6 are detractors, 7-8 are passives, 9-10 are promoters
    Pros
    • Well-suited for specific transactions
    • Simple and able to compare scores
    • Simple number, easy to analyze
    • Effort tends to predict future behavior
    • Actionable data
    • Simple to run and analyze
    • Widely used and can compare to other organizations
    • Allows for targeting customer segments
    Cons
    • Need high response rate to have representative numberEasy to ask the wrong questions
    • Not as useful without qualitative questions
    • Only measures a small aspect of the interaction
    • Only useful for transactions
    • Not useful for improvement without qualitative follow-up questions
    • Not as applicable to a service desk as it measures brand loyalty

    When to use each satisfaction measure

    The image contains a screenshot of a diagram that demonstrates which measure to use based off of what you would like to access, and which surveys it aligns with.

    How to choose which measure(s) to incorporate in your surveys

    The best measures are the ones that align with your specific goals for collecting feedback.

    • Most companies will use multiple satisfaction measures. For example, NPS can be tracked to monitor the overall customer sentiment, and CSAT used for more targeted feedback.
    • For internal-facing IT departments, CSAT is the most popular of the three methods, and NPS may not be as useful.
    • Choose your measure and survey types based on what you are trying to achieve and what kind of information you need to make improvements.
    • Remember that one measure alone isn’t going to give you actionable feedback; you’ll need to follow up with additional measures (especially for NPS and CES).
    • For CSAT surveys, customize the satisfaction measures in as many ways as you need to target the questions toward the areas you’re most interested in.
    • Don’t stick to just these three measures or types of surveys – there are other ways to collect feedback. Experiment to find what works for you.
    • If you’re designing your own survey, keep in mind the principles on the next slide.

    Info-Tech Insight

    While we focus mainly on traditional survey-based approaches to measuring customer satisfaction in this blueprint, there’s no need to limit yourselves to surveys as your only method. Consider multiple techniques to capture a wider audience, including:

    • Customer journey mapping
    • Focus groups with stakeholders
    • Lunch and learns or workshop sessions
    • Interviews – phone, chat, in-person
    • Kiosks

    Principles for survey design

    As you design your satisfaction survey – whether transactional or relational – follow these guidelines to ensure the survey delivers value and gets responses.

    1. Focus on your goal

      2. Don’t include unnecessary questions that won’t give you actionable information; it will only waste respondents’ time.

    2. Be brief

      3. Keep each question as short as possible and limit the total number of survey questions to avoid survey fatigue.

    3. Include open-ended questions

      4. Most of your measures will be close-ended, but include at least one comment box to allow for qualitative feedback.

    4. Keep questions clear and concise

      5. Ensure that question wording is clear and specific so that all respondents interpret it the same way.

    5. Avoid biased or leading questions

      6. You won’t get accurate results if your question leads respondents into thinking or answering a certain way.

    6. Avoid double-barreled questions

      7. Don’t ask about two different things in the same question – it will confuse respondents and make your data hard to interpret.

    7. Don’t restrict responses

      8. Response options should include all possible opinions (including “don’t know”) to avoid frustrating respondents.

    8. Make the survey easy to complete

      9. Pre-populate information where possible (e.g. name, department) and ensure the survey is responsive on mobile devices.

    9. Keep questions optional

      10. If every question is mandatory, respondents may leave the survey altogether if they can’t or don’t want to answer one question.

    10. Test your survey

      11. Test your survey with your target audience before launching, and incorporate feedback - they may catch issues you didn’t notice.

    Prevent survey fatigue to increase response rates

    If it takes too much time or effort to complete your survey – whether transactional or relational – your respondents won’t bother. Balance your need to collect relevant data with users’ needs for a simple and worthwhile task in order to get the most value out of your surveys.

    There are two types of survey fatigue:

    1. Survey response fatigue

      2. Occurs when users are overwhelmed by too many requests for feedback and stop responding.

    2. Survey taking fatigue

      3. Occurs when the survey is too long or irrelevant to users, so they grow tired and abandon the survey.

    Fight survey fatigue:

    • Make it as easy as possible to answer your survey:
      • Keep the survey as short as possible.
      • For transactional surveys, allow respondents to answer directly from email without having to click a separate link if possible.
      • Don’t make all questions mandatory or users may abandon it if they get to a difficult or unapplicable question.
      • Test the survey experience across devices for mobile users.
    • Communicate the survey’s value so users will be more likely to donate their time.
    • Act on feedback: follow up on both positive and negative responses so users see the value in responding.
    • Consider attaching an incentive to responding (e.g. name entered in a monthly draw).

    Design and implement transactional surveys

    Phase 2

    Learn why and how to design a simple survey to assess satisfaction with individual service desk transactions (tickets) and a methodology for survey delivery that will improve response rates.

    Phase 1:

    Phase 2:

    Phase 3:

    Phase 4:

    Understand how to measure customer satisfaction

    Design and implement transactional surveys

    Design and implement relationship surveys

    Analyze and act on feedback

    Use transactional surveys to collect immediate and actionable feedback

    Recall the definition of a transactional survey:

    • Survey that is tied to a specific customer interaction with the service desk (i.e. a ticket).
    • Assesses how satisfied customers are with how the ticket was handled and resolved.
    • Sent immediately after ticket is closed.
    • Short – usually 1 to 3 questions.

    Info-Tech Insight

    While feedback on transactional surveys is specific to a single transaction, even one negative experience can impact the overall perception of the service desk. Pair your transactional surveys with an annual relationship survey to capture broader sentiment toward the service desk.

    Transactional surveys serve several purposes:

    • Gives end users a mechanism to provide feedback when they want to.
    • Provides continual insight into customer satisfaction throughout the year to monitor for trends or issues in between broader surveys.
    • Provides IT leaders with actionable insights into areas for improvement in their processes, knowledge and skills, or customer service.
    • Gives the service desk the opportunity to address any negative experiences or perceptions with customers, to repair the relationship.
    • Feeds into individual or team coaching for service desk staff.

    Make key decisions ahead of launching your transactional surveys

    If you want to get the most of your surveys, you need to do more than just click a button to enable out-of-the-box surveys through your ITSM tool. Make these decisions ahead of time:

    Decision Considerations For more guidance, see
    What are the goals of your survey? Are you hoping to get an accurate pulse of customer sentiment (if so, you may want to randomly send surveys) or give customers the ability to provide feedback any time they have some (if so, send a survey after every ticket)? Slide 25
    How many questions will you ask? Keep the survey as short as possible – ideally only one mandatory question. Slide 26
    What questions will you ask? Do you want a measure of NPS, CES, or CSAT? Do you want to measure overall satisfaction with the interaction or something more specific about the interaction? Slide 27
    What will be the response options/scale? Keep it simple and think about how you will use the data after. Slide 28
    How often will you send the survey? Will it be sent after every ticket, every third ticket, or randomly to a select percentage of tickets, etc.? Slide 29
    What conditions would apply? For example, is there a subset of users who you never want to receive a survey or who you always want to receive a survey? Slide 30
    What mechanism/tool will you use to send the survey? Will your ITSM tool allow you to make all the configurations you need, or will you need to use a separate survey tool? If so, can it integrate to your ITSM solution? Slide 30

    Key decisions, continued

    Decision Considerations For more guidance, see
    What will trigger the survey? Typically, marking the ticket as either ‘resolved’ or ‘closed’ will trigger the survey. Slide 31
    How long after the ticket is closed will you send the survey? You’ll want to leave enough time for the user to respond if the ticket wasn’t resolved properly before completing a survey, but not so much time that they don’t remember the ticket. Slide 31
    Will the survey be sent in a separate email or as part of the ticket resolution email? A separate email might feel like too many emails for the user, but a link within the ticket closure email may be less noticeable. Slide 32
    Will the survey be embedded in email or accessed through a link? If the survey can be embedded into the email, users will be more likely to respond. Slide 32
    How long will the survey link remain active, and will you send any reminders? Leave enough time for the user to respond if they are busy or away, but not so much time that the data would be irrelevant. Balance the need to remind busy end users with the possibility of overwhelming them with survey fatigue. Slide 32
    What other text will be in the main body of the survey email and/or thank you page? Keep messaging short and straightforward and remind users of the benefit to them. Slide 33
    Where will completed surveys be sent/who will have access? Will the technician assigned to the ticket have access or only the manager? What email address/DL will surveys be sent to? Slide 33

    Define the goals of your transactional survey program

    Every survey should have a goal in mind to ensure only relevant and useful data is collected.

    • Your survey program must be backed by clear and actionable goals that will inform all decisions about the survey.
    • Survey questions should be structured around that goal, with every question serving a distinct purpose.
    • If you don’t have a clear plan for how you will action the data from a particular question, exclude it.
    • Don’t run a survey just for the sake of it; wait until you have a clear plan. If customers respond and then see nothing is done with the data, they will learn to avoid your surveys.

    Your survey objectives will also determine how often to send the survey:

    If your objective is:

    Keep a continual pulse on average customer satisfaction

    Gain the opportunity to act on negative feedback for any poor experience

    Then:

    Send survey randomly

    Send survey after every ticket

    Rationale:

    Sending a survey less often will help avoid survey fatigue and increase the chances of users responding whether they have good, bad, or neutral feedback

    Always having a survey available means users can provide feedback every time they want to, including for any poor experience – giving you the chance to act on it.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Service Managers often get caught up in running a transactional survey program because they think it’s standard practice, or they need to report a satisfaction metric. If that’s your only objective, you will fail to derive value from the data and will only turn customers away from responding.

    Design survey content and length

    As you design your survey, keep in mind the following principles:

    1. Keep it short. Your customers won’t bother responding if they see a survey with multiple questions or long questions that require a lot of reading, effort, or time.
    2. Make it simple. This not only makes it easier for your customers to complete, but easier for you to track and monitor.
    3. Tie your survey to your goals. Remember that every question should have a clear and actionable purpose.
    4. Don’t measure anything you can’t control. If you won’t be able to make changes based on the feedback, there’s no value asking about it.
    5. Include an (optional) open-ended question. This will allow customers to provide more detailed feedback or suggestions.

    Q: How many questions should the survey contain?

    A: Ideally, your survey will have only one mandatory question that captures overall satisfaction with the interaction.

    This question can be followed up with an optional open-ended question prompting the respondent for more details. This will provide a lot more context to the overall rating.

    If there are additional questions you need to ask based on your goals, clearly make these questions optional so they don’t deter respondents from completing the survey. For example, they can appear only after the respondent has submitted their overall satisfaction response (i.e. on a separate, thank you page).

    Additional (optional) measures may include:

    • Customer effort score (how easy or difficult was it to get your issue resolved?)
    • Customer service skills of the service desk
    • Technical skills/knowledge of the agents
    • Speed or response or resolution

    Design question wording

    Tips for writing survey questions:

    • Be clear and concise
    • Keep questions as short as possible
    • Cut out any unnecessary words or phrasing
    • Avoid biasing, or leading respondents to select a certain answer
    • Don’t attempt to measure multiple constructs in a single question.

    Sample question wording:

    How satisfied are you with this support experience?

    How would you rate your support experience?

    Please rate your overall satisfaction with the way your issue was handled.

    Instead of this….

    Ask this….

    “We strive to provide excellent service with every interaction. Please rate how satisfied you are with this interaction.”

    “How satisfied were you with this interaction?”

    “How satisfied were you with the customer service skills, knowledge, and responsiveness of the technicians?”

    Choose only one to ask about.

    “How much do you agree that the service you received was excellent?”

    “Please rate the service you received.”

    “On a scale of 1-10, thinking about your most recent experience, how satisfied would you say that you were overall with the way that your ticket was resolved?”

    “How satisfied were you with your ticket resolution?”

    Choose response options

    Once you’ve written your survey question, you need to design the response options for the question. Put careful thought into balancing ease of responding for the user with what will give you the actionable data you need to meet your goals. Keep the following in mind:

    When planning your response options, remember to keep the survey as easy to respond to as possible – this means allowing a one-click response and a scale that’s intuitive and simple to interpret.

    Think about how you will use the responses and interpret the data. If you choose a 10-point scale, for example, what would you classify as a negative vs positive response? Would a 5-point scale suffice to get the same data?

    Again, use your goals to inform your response options. If you need a satisfaction metric, you may need a numerical scale. If your goal is just to capture negative responses, you may only need two response options: good vs bad.

    Common response options:

    • Numerical scale (e.g. very dissatisfied to very satisfied on a 5-point scale)
    • Star rating (E.g. rate the experience out of 5 stars)
    • Smiley face scale
    • 2 response options: Good vs Bad (or Satisfied vs Dissatisfied)

    Investigate the capabilities of your ITSM tool. It may only allow one built-in response option style. But if you have the choice, choose the simplest option that aligns with your goals.

    Decide how often to send surveys

    There are two common choices for when to send ticket satisfaction surveys:

    After random tickets

    After every ticket

    Pros
    • May increase response rate by avoiding survey fatigue.
    • May be more likely to capture a range of responses that more accurately reflect sentiment (versus only negative).
    • Gives you the opportunity to receive feedback whenever users have it.
    • If your goal is to act on negative feedback whenever it arises, that’s only possible if you send a survey after every ticket.

    Cons
    • Overrepresents frequent service desk users and underrepresents infrequent users.
    • Users who have feedback to give may not get the chance to give it/service desk can’t act on it.
    • Customers who frequently contact the service desk will be overwhelmed by surveys and may stop responding.
    • Customers may only reply if they have very negative or positive feedback.

    SDI’s 2018 Customer Experience in ITSM survey of service desk professionals found:

    Almost two-thirds (65%) send surveys after every ticket.

    One-third (33%) send surveys after randomly selected tickets are closed.

    Info-Tech Recommendation:

    Send a survey after every ticket so that anyone who has feedback gets the opportunity to provide it – and you always get the chance to act on negative feedback. But, limit how often any one customer receives a ticket to avoid over-surveying them – restrict to anywhere between one survey a week to one per month per customer.

    Plan detailed survey logistics

    Decision #1

    Decision #2

    What tool will you use to deliver the survey?

    What (if any) conditions apply to your survey?

    Considerations

    • How much configuration does your ITSM tool allow? Will it allow you to configure the survey according to your decisions? Many ITSM tools, especially mid-market, do not allow you to change the response options or how often the survey is sent.
    • How does the survey look and act on mobile devices? If a customer receives the survey on their phone, they need to be able to easily respond from there or they won’t bother at all.
    • If you wish to use a different survey tool, does it integrate with your ITSM solution? Would agents have to manually send the survey? If so, how would they choose who to send the survey to, and when?

    Considerations

    Is there a subset of users who you never want to receive a survey (e.g. a specific department, location, role, or title)?

    Is there a subset of users who you always want to receive a survey, no matter how often they contact the service desk (e.g. VIP users, a department that scored low on the annual satisfaction survey, etc.)?

    Are there certain times of the year that you don’t want surveys to go out (e.g. fiscal year end, holidays)?

    Are there times of the day that you don’t want surveys to be sent (e.g. only during business hours; not at the end of the day)?

    Recommendations

    The built-in functionality of your ITSM tool’s surveys will be easiest to send and track; use it if possible. However, if your tool’s survey module is limited and won’t give you the value you need, consider a third-party solution or survey tool that integrates with your ITSM solution and won’t require significant manual effort to send or review the surveys.

    Recommendations

    If your survey module allows you to apply conditions, think about whether any are necessary to apply to either maximize your response rate (e.g. don’t send a survey on a holiday), avoid annoying certain users, or seek extra feedback from dissatisfied users.

    Plan detailed survey logistics

    Decision #2

    Decision #1

    What will trigger the survey?

    When will the survey be sent?

    Considerations

    • Usually a change of ticket status triggers the survey, but you may have the option to send it after the ticket is marked ‘resolved’ or ‘closed’. The risk of sending the survey after the ticket is ‘resolved’ is the issue may not actually be resolved yet, but waiting until it’s ‘closed’ means the user may be less likely to respond as more time has passed.
    • Some tools allow for a survey to be sent after every agent reply.
    • Some have the option to manually generate a survey, which may be useful in some cases; those cases would need to be well defined.

    Considerations

    • Once you’ve decided the trigger for the survey, decide how much time should pass after that trigger before the survey is sent.
    • The amount of time you choose will be highly dependent on the trigger you choose. For example, if you want the ‘resolved’ status to send a survey, you may want to wait 24h to send the survey in case the user responds that their issue hasn’t been properly resolved.
    • If you choose ‘closed’ as your trigger, you may want the survey to be sent immediately, as waiting any longer could further reduce the response rate.
    • Your average resolution time may also impact the survey wait time.

    Recommendations

    Only send the survey once you’re sure the issue has actually been resolved; you could further upset the customer if you ask them how happy they are with the resolution if resolution wasn’t achieved. This means sending the survey once the user confirms resolution (which closes ticket) or the agent closes the ticket.

    Recommendations

    If you are sending the survey upon ticket status moving to ‘resolved’, wait at least 24 hours before sending the survey in case the user responds that their issue wasn’t actually resolved. However, if you are sending the survey after the ticket has been verified resolved and closed, you can send the survey immediately while the experience is still fresh in their memory.

    Plan detailed survey logistics

    Decision #1

    Decision #2

    How will the survey appear in email?

    How long will the survey remain active?

    Considerations

    • If the survey link is included within the ticket resolution email, it’s one less email to fatigue users, but users may not notice there is a survey in the email.
    • If the survey link is included in its own separate email, it will be more noticeable to users, but could risk overwhelming users with too many emails.
    • Can users view the entire survey in the email and respond directly within the email, or do they need to click on a link and respond to the survey elsewhere?

    Considerations

    • Leaving the survey open at least a week will give users who are out of office or busy more time to respond.
    • However, if users respond to the survey too long after their ticket was resolved, they may not remember the interaction well enough to give any meaningful response.
    • Will you send any reminders to users to complete the survey? It may improve response rate, or may lead to survey fatigue from reaching out too often.

    Recommendations

    Send the survey separately from the ticket resolution email or users will never notice it. However, if possible, have the entire survey embedded within the email so users can click to respond directly from their email without having to open a separate link. Reduce effort, to make users more likely to respond.

    Recommendations

    Leave enough time for the user to respond if they are busy or away, but not so much time that the data will be irrelevant. Balance the need to remind busy end users, with the possibility of overwhelming them with survey fatigue. About a week is typical.

    Plan detailed survey logistics

    Decision #1

    Decision #2

    What will the body of the email/messaging say?

    Where will completed surveys be sent?

    Considerations

    • Communicate the value of responding to the survey.
    • Remember, the survey should be as short and concise as possible. A lengthy body of text before the actual survey can deter respondents.
    • Depending on your survey configuration, you may have a ‘thank you’ page that appears after respondents complete the survey. Think about what messaging you can save for that page and what needs to be up front.
    • Ensure there is a clear reference to which ticket the survey is referencing (with the subject of the ticket, not just ticket number).

    Considerations

    • Depending on the complexity of your ITSM tool, you may designate email addresses to receive completed surveys, or configure entire dashboards to display results.
    • Decide who needs to receive all completed surveys in order to take action.
    • Decide whether the agent who resolved the ticket will have access to the full survey response. Note that if they see negative feedback, it may affect morale.
    • Are there any other stakeholders who should receive the immediate completed surveys, or can they view summary reports and dashboards of the results?

    Recommendations

    Most users won’t read a long message, especially if they see it multiple times, so keep the email short and simple. Tell users you value their feedback, indicate which interaction you’re asking about, and say how long the survey should take. Thank them after they submit and tell them you will act on their feedback.

    Recommendations

    Survey results should be sent to the Service Manager, Customer Experience Lead, or whoever is the person responsible for managing the survey feedback. They can choose how to share feedback with specific agents and the service desk team.

    Response rates for transactional surveys are typically low…

    Most IT organizations see transactional survey response rates of less than 20%.

    The image contains a screenshot of a SDI survey taken to demonstrate customer satisfaction respond rate.

    Source: SDI, 2018

    SDI’s 2018 Customer Experience in ITSM survey of service desk professionals found that 69% of respondents had survey response rates of 20% or less. However, they did not distinguish between transactional and relationship surveys.

    Reasons for low response rates:

    • Users tend to only respond if they had a very positive or very negative experience worth writing about, but don’t typically respond for interactions that go as expected or were average.
    • Survey is too long or complicated.
    • Users receive too many requests for feedback.
    • Too much time has passed since the ticket was submitted/resolved and the user doesn’t remember the interaction.
    • Users think their responses disappear into a black hole or aren’t acted upon so they don’t see the value in taking the time to respond. Or, they don’t trust the confidentiality of their responses.

    “In my experience, single digits are a sign of a problem. And a downward trend in response rate is also a sign of a problem. World-class survey response rates for brands with highly engaged customers can be as high as 60%. But I’ve never seen it that high for internal support teams. In my experience, if you get a response rate of 15-20% from your internal customers then you’re doing okay. That’s not to say you should be content with the status quo, you should always be looking for ways to increase it.”

    – David O’Reardon, Founder & CEO of Silversix

    … but there are steps you can take to maximize your response rate

    It is still difficult to achieve high response rates to transactional surveys, but you can at least increase your response rate with these strategies:

    1. Reduce frequency

      2. Don’t over-survey any one user or they will start to ignore the surveys.

    2. Send immediately

      3. Ask for feedback soon after the ticket was resolved so it’s fresh in the user’s memory.

    3. Make it short and simple

      4. Keep the survey short, concise, and simple to respond to.

    4. Make it easy to complete

      5. Minimize effort involved as much as possible. Allow users to respond directly from email and from any device.

    5. Change email messaging

      6. Experiment with your subject line or email messaging to draw more attention.

    6. Respond to feedback

      7. Respond to customers who provide feedback – especially negative – so they know you’re listening.

    7. Act on feedback

      8. Demonstrate that you are acting on feedback so users see the value in responding.

    Use Info-Tech’s survey template as a starting point

    Once you’ve worked through all the decisions in this step, you’re ready to configure your transactional survey in your ITSM solution or survey tool.

    As a starting point, you can leverage Info-Tech’s Transactional Service Desk Survey Templatee to design your templates and wording.

    Make adjustments to match your decisions or your configuration limitations as needed.

    Refer to the key decisions tables on slides 24 and 25 to ensure you’ve made all the configurations necessary as you set up your survey.

    The image contains a screenshot of Info-Tech's survey templates.

    Design and implement relationship surveys

    Phase 3

    Understand why and how to design a survey to assess overall satisfaction with the service desk across your organization, or use Info-Tech’s diagnostic.

    Phase 1:

    Phase 2:

    Phase 3:

    Phase 4:

    Understand how to measure customer satisfaction

    Design and implement transactional surveys

    Design and implement relationship surveys

    Analyze and act on feedback

    How can we evaluate overall Service Desk service quality?

    Evaluating service quality in any industry is challenging for both those seeking feedback and those consuming the service: “service quality is more difficult for the consumer to evaluate than goods quality.”

    You are in the position of trying to measure something intangible: customer perception, which “result[s] from a comparison of consumer expectations with actual service performance,” which includes both the service outcome and also “the process of service delivery”

    (Source: Parasuraman et al, 1985, 42).

    Your mission is to design a relationship survey that is:

    • Comprehensive but not too long.
    • Easy to understand but complex enough to capture enough detail.
    • Able to capture satisfaction with both the outcome and the experience of receiving the service.

    Use relationship surveys to measure overall service desk service quality

    Recall the definition of a relationship survey:

    • Survey that is sent periodically (i.e. semi-annually or annually) to the entire customer base to measure the overall relationship with the service desk.
    • Shows you where your customer experience is doing well and where it needs improving.
    • Asks customers to rate you based on their overall experience rather than on a specific product or interaction.
    • Longer and more comprehensive than transactional surveys, covering multiple dimensions/ topics.

    Relationship surveys serve several purposes:

    • Gives end users an opportunity to provide overall feedback on a wider range of experiences with IT.
    • Gives IT the opportunity to respond to feedback and show users their voices are heard.
    • Provides insight into year-over-year trends and customer satisfaction.
    • Provides IT leaders the opportunity to segment the results by demographic (e.g. by department, location, or seniority) and target improvements where needed most.
    • Feeds into strategic planning and annual reports on user experience and satisfaction

    Info-Tech Insight

    Annual relationship surveys provide great value in the form of year-over-year internal benchmarking data, which you can use to track improvements and validate the impact of your service improvement efforts.

    Understand the gaps that decrease service quality

    The Service Quality Model (Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry, 1985) shows how perceived service quality is negatively impacted by the gap between expectations for quality service and the perceptions of actual service delivery:

    Gap 1: Consumer expectation – Management perception gap:

    Are there differences between your assumptions about what users want from a service and what those users expect?

    Gap 2: Management perception – Service quality specification gap:

    Do you have challenges translating user expectations for service into standardized processes and guidelines that can meet those expectations?

    Gap 3: Service quality specifications – Service delivery gap:

    Do staff members struggle to carry out the service quality processes when delivering service?

    Gap 4: Service delivery – External communications gap:

    Have users been led to expect more than you can deliver? Alternatively, are users unaware of how the organization ensures quality service, and therefore unable to appreciate the quality of service they receive?

    Gap 5: Expected service – Perceived service gap:

    Is there a discrepancy between users’ expectations and their perception of the service they received (regardless of any user misunderstanding)?

    		The image contains a screenshot of the Service Quality Model to demonstrate the consumer and consumers.

    Your survey questions about service and support should provide insight into where these gaps exist in your organization

    Make key decisions ahead of launch

    Decision/step Considerations
    Align the relationship survey with your goals Align what is motivating you to launch the survey at this time and the outcomes it is intended to feed into.
    Identify what you’re measuring Clarify the purpose of the questions. Are you measuring feedback on your service desk, specifically? On all of IT? Are you trying to capture user effort? User satisfaction? These decisions will affect how you word your questions.
    Determine a framework for your survey Reporting on results and tracking year-over-year changes will be easier if you design a basic framework that your survey questions fall into. Consider drawing on an existing service quality framework to match best practices in other industries.
    Cover logistical details Designing a relationship survey requires attention to many details that may initially be overlooked: the survey’s length and timing, who it should be sent to and how, what demographic info you need to collect to slice and dice the results, and if it will be possible to conduct the survey anonymously.
    Design question wording It is important to keep questions clear and concise and to avoid overly lengthy surveys.
    Select answer scales The answer scales you select will depend on how you have worded the questions. There is a wide range of answer scales available to you; decide which ones will produce the most meaningful data.
    Test the survey Testing the survey before widely distributing it is key. When collecting feedback, conduct at least a few in person observations of someone taking the survey to get their unvarnished first impressions.
    Monitor and maximize your response rate Ensure success by staying on top of the survey during the period it is open.

    Align the relationship survey with your goals

    What is motivating you to launch the survey at this time?

    Is there a renewed focus on customer service satisfaction? If so, this survey will track the initiative’s success, so its questions must align with the sponsors’ expectations.

    Are you surveying customer satisfaction in order to comply with legislation, or directives to measure customer service quality?

    What objectives/outcomes will this survey feed into?

    What do you need to report on to your stakeholders? Have they communicated any expectations regarding the data they expect to see?

    Does the CIO want the annual survey to measure end-user satisfaction with all of IT?

    • Or do you only want to measure satisfaction with one set of processes (e.g. Service Desk)?
    • Are you seeking feedback on a project (e.g. implementation of new ERP)?
    • Are you seeking feedback on the application portfolio?

    In 1993 the U.S. president issued an Executive Order requiring executive agencies to “survey customers to determine the kind and quality of services they want and their level of satisfaction with existing services” and “post service standards and measure results against them.” (Clinton, 1993)

    Identify what you’re measuring

    Examples of Measures

    Clarify the purpose of the questions

    Each question should measure something specific you want to track and be phrased accordingly.

    		Are you measuring feedback on the service desk?

    Service desk professionalism

    Are you measuring user satisfaction?

    Service desk timeliness

    Your customers’ happiness with aspects of IT’s service offerings and customer service

    Trust in agents’ knowledge

    Users’ preferred ticket intake channel (e.g. portal vs phone)

    Satisfaction with self-serve features

    Are you measuring user effort?

    Are you measuring feedback on IT overall?

    Satisfaction with IT’s ability to enable the business

    How much effort your customer needs to put forth to accomplish what they wanted/how much friction your service causes or alleviates

    Satisfaction with company-issued devices
    Satisfaction with network/Wi-Fi

    Satisfaction with applications

    Info-Tech Insight

    As you compose survey questions, decide whether they are intended to capture user satisfaction or effort: this will influence how the question is worded. Include a mix of both.

    Determine a framework for your survey

    If your relationship survey covers satisfaction with service support, ensure the questions cover the major aspects of service quality. You may wish to align your questions on support with existing frameworks: for example, the SERVQUAL service quality measurement instrument identifies 5 dimensions of service quality: Reliability, Assurance, Tangibles, Empathy, and Responsiveness (see below). As you design the survey, consider if the questions relate to these five dimensions. If you have overlooked any of the dimensions, consider if you need to revise or add questions.

    Service dimension

    Definition

    Sample questions

    Reliability

    “Ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately”1
    • How satisfied are you with the effectiveness of Service Desk’s ability to resolve reported issues?

    Assurance

    “Knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to convey trust and confidence”2
    • How satisfied are you with the technical knowledge of the Service Desk staff?
    • When you have an IT issue, how likely are you to contact Service Desk by phone?

    Tangibles

    “Appearance of physical facilities, equipment, personnel, and communication materials”3
    • How satisfied are you that employees in your department have all the necessary technology to ensure optimal job performance?
    • How satisfied are you with IT’s ability to communicate to you regarding the information you need to perform your job effectively?

    Empathy

    “Caring, individualized attention the firm provides its customers”4
    • How satisfied are you that IT staff interact with end users in a respectful and professional manner?

    Responsiveness

    “Willingness to help customers and provide prompt service”5
    • How satisfied are you with the timeliness of Service Desk’s resolution to reported issues?
    1-5. Arlen, Chris,2022. Paraphrasing Zeithaml, Parasuraman, and Berry, 1990.

    Cover logistical details of the survey

    Identify who you will send it to

    Will you survey your entire user base or a specific subsection? For example, a higher education institution may choose to survey students separately from staff and faculty. If you are gathering data on customer satisfaction with a specific implementation, only survey the affected stakeholders.

    Determine timing

    Avoid sending out the survey during known periods of time pressure or absence (e.g. financial year-end, summer vacation).

    Decide upon its length

    Consider what survey length your users can tolerate. Configure the survey to show the respondents’ progression or their percentage complete.

    Clearly introduce the survey

    The survey should begin with an introduction that thanks users for completing the survey, indicates its length and anonymity status, and conveys how the data will be used, along with who the participants should contact with any questions about the survey.

    Decide upon incentives

    Will you incentivize participation (e.g. by entering the participants in a draw or rewarding highest-participating department)?

    Collect demographic information

    Ensure your data can be “sliced and diced” to give you more granular insights into the results. Ask respondents for information such as department, location, seniority, and tenure to help with your trend analysis later.

    Clarify if anonymous

    Users may be more comfortable participating if they can do so anonymously (Quantisoft, n.d.). If you promise anonymity, ensure your survey software/ partner can support this claim. Note the difference between anonymity (identity of participant is not collected) and confidentiality (identifying data is collected but removed from the reported results).

    Decide how to deliver the survey

    Will you be distributing the survey yourself through your own licensed software (e.g. through Microsoft Forms if you are an MS shop)? Or, will you be partnering with a third-party provider? Is the survey optimized for mobile? Some find up to 1/3 of participants use mobile devices for their surveys (O’Reardon, 2018).

    Use the Sample Size Calculator to determine your ideal sample size

    Use Info-Tech’s Sample Size Calculator to calculate the number of people you need to complete your survey to have statistically representative results.

    The image contains a screenshot of the Sample Size Calculator.

    In the example above, the service desk supports 1000 total users (and sent the survey to each one). To be 95% confident that the survey results fall within 5% of the true value (if every user responded), they would need 278 respondents to complete their survey. In other words, to have a sample that is representative of the whole population, they would need 278 completed surveys.

    Explanation of terms:

    Confidence Level: A measure of how reliable your survey is. It represents the probability that your sample accurately reflects the true population (e.g. your entire user base). The industry standard is typically 95%. This means that 95 times out of 100, the true data value that you would get if you surveyed the entire population would fall within the margin of error.

    Margin of Error: A measure of how accurate the data is, also known as the confidence interval. It represents the degree of error around the data point, or the range of values above and below the actual results from a survey. A typical margin of error is 5%. This means that if your survey sample had a score of 70%, the true value if you sampled the entire population would be between 65% and 75%. To narrow the margin of error, you would need a bigger sample size.

    Population Size: The total set of people you want to study with your survey. For example, the total number of users you support.

    Sample Size: The number of people who participate in your survey (i.e. complete the survey) out of the total population.

    Info-Tech’s End-User Satisfaction Diagnostics

    If you choose to leverage a third-party partner, an Info-Tech satisfaction survey may already be part of your membership. There are two options, depending on your needs:

    I need to measure and report customer satisfaction with all of IT:

    • IT’s ability to enable the organization to meet its existing goals, innovate, adapt to business needs, and provide the necessary technology.
    • IT’s ability to provide training, respond to feedback, and behave professionally.
    • Satisfaction with IT services and applications.

    Both products measure end-user satisfaction

    One is more general to IT

    One is more specific to service desk

    I need to measure and report more granularly on Service Desk customer satisfaction:

    • Efficacy and timeliness of resolutions
    • Technical and communication skills
    • Ease of contacting the service desk
    • Effectiveness of portal/ website
    • Ability to collect and apply user feedback

    Choose Info-Tech's End User Satisfaction Survey

    Choose Info-Tech’s Service Desk Satisfaction Survey

    Design question wording

    Write accessible questions:

    Instead of this….

    Ask this….

    48% of US adults meet or exceed PIACC literacy level 3 and thus able to deal with texts that are “often dense or lengthy.”

    52% of US adults meet level 2 or lower.

    Keep questions clear and concise. Avoid overly lengthy surveys.

    Source: Highlights of the 2017 U.S. PIAAC Results Web Report
    1. How satisfied are you with the response times of the service desk?
    2. How satisfied are you with the timeliness of the service desk?

    Users will have difficulty perceiving the difference between these two questions.

    1. How satisfied are you with the time we take to acknowledge receipt of your ticket?
    2. How satisfied are you with the time we take to completely resolve your ticket?

    Tips for writing survey questions:

    “How satisfied are you with the customer service skills, knowledge, and responsiveness of the technicians?”

    This question measures too many things and the data will not be useful.

    Choose only one to ask about.

    • Cut out any unnecessary words or phrasing. Highlight/bold key words or phrases.
    • Avoid biasing or leading respondents to select a certain answer.
    • Don’t attempt to measure multiple constructs in a single question.

    “On a scale of 1-10, thinking about the past year, how satisfied would you say that you were overall with the way that your tickets were resolved?”

    This question is too wordy.

    “How satisfied were you with your ticket resolution?”

    Choose answer scales that best fit your questions and reporting needs

    Likert scale

    Respondents select from a range of statements the position with which they most agree:

    E.g. How satisfied are you with how long it generally takes to resolve your issue completely?

    E.g. Very dissatisfied/Somewhat dissatisfied/ Neutral/ Somewhat satisfied/ Very satisfied/ NA

    Frequency scale

    How often does the respondent have to do something, or how often do they encounter something?

    E.g. How frequently do you need to re-open tickets that have been closed without being satisfactorily resolved?

    E.g. Never/ Rarely/ Sometimes/ Often/ Always/ NA

    Numeric scale

    By asking users to rate their satisfaction on a numeric scale (e.g., 1-5, 1-10), you can facilitate reporting on averages:

    E.g. How satisfied are you with IS’s ability to provide services to allow the organization to meet its goals?

    E.g. 1 – Not at all Satisfied to 10 – Fully Satisfied / NA

    Forced ranking

    Learn more about your users’ priorities by asking them to rank answers from most to least important, or selecting their top choices (Sauro, 2018):

    E.g. From the following list, drag and drop the 3 aspects of our service that are most important to you into the box on the right.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Always include an optional open-ended question, which allows customers to provide more feedback or suggestions.

    Test the survey before launching

    Review your questions for repetition and ask for feedback on your survey draft to discover if readers interpret the questions differently than you intended.

    Test the survey with different stakeholder groups:

    • IT staff: To discover overlooked topics.
    • Representatives of your end-user population: To discover whether they understand the intention of the questions.
    • Executives: To validate whether you are capturing the data they are interested in reporting on.

    Testing methodology:

    • Ask your test subjects to take the survey in your presence so you can monitor their experience as they take it.
    • Ask them to narrate their experience as they take the survey.
    • Watch for:
      • The time it takes to complete the survey.
      • Moments when they struggle or are uncertain with the survey’s wording.
      • Questions they find repetitive or pointless.

    Info-Tech Insight

    In the survey testing phase, try to capture at least a few real-time responses to the survey. If you collect survey feedback only once the test is over, you may miss some key insights into the user experience of navigating the survey.

    “Follow the golden rule: think of your audience and what they may or may not know. Think about what kinds of outside pressures they may bring to the work you’re giving them. What time constraints do they have?”

    – Sally Colwell, Project Officer, Government of Canada Pension Centre

    Monitor and maximize your response rate

    Ensure success by staying on top of the survey during the period it is open.

    • When will your users complete the survey? You know your own organization’s culture best, but SurveyMonkey found that weekday survey responses peaked at mid-morning and mid-afternoon (Wronski). Ensure you send the communication at a time it will not be overlooked. For example, some studies found Mondays to have higher response rates; however, the data is not consistent (Amaresan, 2021). Send the survey at a time you believe your users are least likely to be inundated with other notifications.
    • Have a trusted leader send out the first communication informing the end-user base of the survey. Ensure the recipient understands your motivation and how their responses will be used to benefit them (O’Reardon, 2016). Remind them that participating in the survey benefits them: since IT is taking actions based on their feedback, it’s their chance to improve their employee experience of the IT services and tools they use to do their job.
    • In the introductory communication, test different email subject lines and email body content to learn which versions increase respondents’ rates of opening the survey link, and “keep it short and clear” (O’Reardon, 2016).
    • If your users tend to mistrust emailed links due to security training, tell them how to confirm the legitimacy of the survey.

    “[Send] one reminder to those who haven’t completed the survey after a few days. Don’t use the word ‘reminder’ because that’ll go straight in the bin, better to say something like, ‘Another chance to provide your feedback’”

    – David O’Reardon, Founder & CEO of Silversix

    Analyze and act on feedback

    Phase 4

    Measure and analyze the results of both surveys and build a plan to act on both positive and negative feedback and communicate the results with the organization.

    Phase 1:

    Phase 2:

    Phase 3:

    Phase 4:

    Understand how to measure customer satisfaction

    Design and implement transactional surveys

    Design and implement relationship surveys

    Analyze and act on feedback

    Leverage the service recovery paradox to improve customer satisfaction

    The image contains a screenshot of a graph to demonstrate the service recovery paradox.

    A service failure or a poor experience isn’t what determines customer satisfaction – it’s how you respond to the issue and take steps to fix it that really matters.

    This means one poor experience with the service desk doesn’t necessarily lead to an unhappy user; if you quickly and effectively respond to negative feedback to repair the relationship, the customer may be even happier afterwards because you demonstrated that you value them.

    “Every complaint becomes an opportunity to turn a bad IT customer experience into a great one.”

    – David O’Reardon, Founder & CEO of Silversix

    Collecting feedback is only the first step in the customer feedback loop

    Closing the feedback loop is one of the most important yet forgotten steps in the process.

    1. Collect Feedback
    • Send transactional surveys after every ticket is resolved.
    • Send a broader annual relationship survey to all users.
  • Analyze Feedback
    • Calculate satisfaction scores.
    • Read open-ended comments.
    • Analyze for trends, categories, common issues and priorities.
  • Act on Feedback
    • Respond to users who provided feedback.
    • Make improvements based on feedback.
  • Communicate Results
    • Communicate feedback results and improvements made to respondents and to service desk staff.
    • Summarize results and actions to key stakeholders and business leaders.

    Act on feedback to get the true value of your satisfaction program

    • SDI (2018) survey data shows that the majority of service desk professionals are using their customer satisfaction data to feed into service improvements. However, 30% still aren’t doing anything with the feedback they collect.
    • Collecting feedback is only one half of a good customer feedback program. Acting on that feedback is critical to the success of the program.
    • Using feedback to make improvements not only benefits the service desk but shows users the value of responding and will increase future response rates.
    		The image contains a screenshot of a bar graph that demonstrates SDI: What do service desk professionals do with customer satisfaction data?

    “Your IT service desk’s CSAT survey should be the means of improving your service (and the employee experience), and something that encourages people to provide even more feedback, not just the means for understanding how well it’s doing”

    – Joe the IT Guy, SysAid

    Assign responsibility for acting on feedback

    If collecting and analyzing customer feedback is something that happens off the side of your desk, it either won’t get done or won’t get done well.

    • Formalize the customer satisfaction program. It’s not a one-time task, but an ongoing initiative that requires significant time and dedication.
    • Be clear on who is accountable for the program and who is responsible for all the tasks involved for both transactional and relationship survey data collection, analysis, and communication.

    Assign accountability for the customer feedback program to one person (i.e. Service Desk Manager, Service Manager, Infrastructure & Operations Lead, IT Director), who may take on or assign responsibilities such as:

    • Designing surveys, including survey questions and response options.
    • Configuring survey(s) in ITSM or survey tool.
    • Sending relationship surveys and subsequent reminders to the organization.
    • Communicating results of both surveys to internal staff, business leaders, and end users.
    • Analyzing results.
    • Feeding results into improvement plans, coaching, and training.
    • Creating reports and dashboards to monitor scores and trends.

    Info-Tech Insight

    While feedback can feed into internal coaching and training, the goal should never be to place blame or use metrics to punish agents with poor results. The focus should always be on improving the experience for end users.

    Determine how and how often to analyze feedback data

    • Analyze and report scores from both transactional and relationship surveys to get a more holistic picture of satisfaction across the organization.
    • Determine how you will calculate and present satisfaction ratings/scores, both overall and for individual questions. See tips on the right for calculating and presenting NPS and CSAT scores.
    • A single satisfaction score doesn’t tell the full story; calculate satisfaction scores at multiple levels to determine where improvements are most needed.
      • For example, satisfaction by service desk tier, team or location, by business department or location, by customer group, etc.
    • Analyze survey data regularly to ensure you communicate and act on feedback promptly and avoid further alienating dissatisfied users. Transactional survey feedback should be reviewed at least weekly, but ideally in real time, as resources allow.

    Calculating NPS Scores

    Categorize respondents into 3 groups:

    • 9-10 = Promoters, 7-8 = Neutral, 1-6 = Detractors

    Calculate overall NPS score:

    • % Promoters - % Detractors

    Calculating CSAT Scores

    • CSAT is usually presented as a percentage representing the average score.
    • To calculate, take the total of all scores, divide by the maximum possible score, then multiply by 100. For example, a satisfaction rating of 80% means on average, users gave a rating of 4/5 or 8/10.
    • Note that some organizations present CSAT as the percentage of “satisfied” users, with satisfied being defined as either “yes” on a two-point scale or a score of 4 or 5 on a 5-point scale. Be clear how you are defining your satisfaction rating.

    Don’t neglect qualitative feedback

    While it may be more difficult and time-consuming to analyze, the reward is also greater in terms of value derived from the data.

    Why analyze qualitative data

    How to analyze qualitative data
    • Quantitative data (i.e. numerical satisfaction scores) tells you how many people are satisfied vs dissatisfied, but it doesn’t tell you why they feel that way.
    • If you limit your data analysis to only reporting numerical scores, you will miss out on key insights that can be derived from open-ended feedback.
    • Qualitative data from open-ended survey questions provides:
      • Explanations for the numbers
      • More detailed insight into why respondents feel a certain way
      • More honest and open feedback
      • Insight into areas you may not have thought to ask about
      • New ideas and recommendations

    Methods range in sophistication; choose a technique depending on your tools available and goals of your program.

    1. Manual 2. Semi-automated 3. AI & Analysis Tools
    • Read all comments.
    • Sort into positive vs negative groups.
    • Add tags to categorize comments (e.g. by theme, keyword, service).
    • Look for trends and priorities, differences across groups.
    • Run a script to search for specific keywords.
    • Use a word cloud generator to visualize the most commonly mentioned words (e.g. laptop, email).
    • Due to limitations, manual analysis will still be necessary.
    • Use a feedback analysis/text analysis tool to mine feedback.
    • Software will present reports and data visualizations of common themes.
    • AI-powered tools can automatically detect sentiment or emotion in comments or run a topic analysis.

    Define a process to respond to both negative and positive feedback

    Successful customer satisfaction programs respond effectively to both positive and negative outcomes. Late or lack of responses to negative comments may increase customer frustration, while not responding at all to the positive comments may give the perception of indifference.

    1. Define what qualifies as a positive vs negative score

      2. E.g. Scores of 1 to 2 out of 5 are negative, scores of 4 to 5 out of 5 are positive.

    2. Define process to respond to negative feedback
    • Negative responses should go directly to the Service Desk Manager or whoever is accountable for feedback.
    • Set an SLO for when the user will be contacted. It should be within 24h but ideally much sooner.
    • Investigate the issue to understand exactly what happened and get to the root cause.
    • Identify remediation steps to ensure the issue does not occur again.
    • Communicate to the customer the action you have taken to improve.
  • Define process to respond to positive feedback
    • Positive responses should also be reviewed by the person accountable for feedback, but the timeline to respond may be longer.
    • Show respondents that you value their time by thanking them for responding. Showing appreciate helps to build a long-term relationship with the user.
    • Share positive results with the team to improve morale, and as a coaching/training mechanism.
    • Consider how to use positive feedback as an incentive or reward.

    Build a plan to communicate results to various stakeholders

    Regular communication about your feedback results and action plan tied to those results is critical to the success of your feedback program. Build your communication plan around these questions:

    1. Who should receive communication?

    Each audience will require different messaging, so start by identifying who those audiences are. At a minimum, you should communicate to your end users who provided feedback, your service desk/IT team, and business leaders or stakeholders.

    2. What information do they need?

    End users: Thank them for providing feedback. Demonstrate what you will do with that feedback.

    IT team: Share results and what you need them to do differently as a result.

    Business leaders: Share results, highlight successes, share action plan for improvement.

    3. Who is responsible for communication?

    Typically, this will be the person who is accountable for the customer feedback program, but you may have different people responsible for communicating to different audiences.

    4. When will you communicate?

    Frequency of communication will depend on the survey type – relationship or transactional – as well as the audience, with internal communication being much more frequent than end-user communication.

    5. How will you communicate?

    Again, cater your approach to the audience and choose a method that will resonate with them. End users may view an email, an update on the portal, a video, or update in a company meeting; your internal IT team can view results on a dashboard and have regular meetings.

    Communication to your users impacts both response rates and satisfaction

    Based on the Customer Communication Cycle by David O’Reardon, 2018
    1. Ask users to provide feedback through transactional and relationship surveys.
    2. Thank them for completing the survey – show that you value their time, regardless of the type of feedback they submitted.
    3. Be transparent and summarize the results of the survey(s). Make it easy to digest with simple satisfaction scores and a summary of the main insights or priorities revealed.
    4. Before asking for feedback, explain how you will use feedback to improve the service. After collecting feedback, share your plan for making improvements based on what the data told you.
    5. After you’ve made changes, communicate again to share the results with respondents. Make it clear that their feedback had a direct result on the service they receive. Communicating this before running another survey will also increase the likelihood of respondents providing feedback again.

    Info-Tech Insight

    Focus your communications to users around them, not you. Demonstrate that you need feedback to improve their experience, not just for you to collect data.

    Translate feedback into actionable improvements

    Taking action on feedback is arguably the most important step of the whole customer feedback program.

    Prioritize improvements

    Prioritize improvements based on low scores and most commonly received feedback, then build into an action plan.

    Take immediate action on negative feedback

    Investigate the issue, diagnose the root cause, and repair both the relationship and issue – just like you would an incident.

    Apply lessons learned from positive feedback

    Don’t neglect actions you can take from positive feedback – identify how you can expand upon or leverage the things you’re doing well.

    Use feedback in coaching and training

    Share positive experiences with the team as lessons learned, and use negative feedback as an input to coaching and training.

    Make the change stick

    After making a change, train and communicate it to your team to ensure the change sticks and any negative experiences don’t happen again.

    “Without converting feedback into actions, surveys can become just a pointless exercise in number watching.”

    – David O’Reardon, Founder & CEO of Silversix

    Info-Tech Insight

    Outline exactly what you plan to do to address customer feedback in an action plan, and regularly review that action plan to select and prioritize initiatives and monitor progress.

    For more guidance on tracking and prioritizing ongoing improvement initiatives, see the blueprints Optimize the Service Desk with a Shift Left Strategy and Build a Continual Improvement Plan for the Service Desk.

    Leverage Info-Tech resources to guide your improvement efforts

    Map your identified improvements to the relevant resource that can help:

    Improve service desk processes:

    Improve end-user self-service options:

    Assess and optimize service desk staffing:

    Improve ease of contacting the service desk:
    Standardize the Service Desk Optimize the Service Desk With a Shift-Left Strategy Staff the Service Desk to Meet Demand Improve Service Desk Ticket Intake

    Improve service desk processes:

    Improve end-user self-service options:

    Assess and optimize service desk staffing:

    Improve ease of contacting the service desk::
    Improve Incident and Problem Management Improve Incident and Problem Management Deliver a Customer Service Training Program to Your IT Department Modernize and Transform Your End-User Computing Strategy

    Map process for acting on relationship survey feedback

    Use Info-Tech’s Relationship Satisfaction Survey Review Process workflow as a template to define your own process.

    The image contains a screenshot of the Relationship Satisfaction Survey Review Process.

    Map process for acting on transactional survey feedback

    Use Info-Tech’s Transactional Satisfaction Survey Review Process workflow as a template to define your own process.

    The image contains a screenshot of the Transactional Satisfaction Survey Review Process.

    Related Info-Tech Research

    Standardize the Service Desk

    This project will help you build and improve essential service desk processes, including incident management, request fulfillment, and knowledge management to create a sustainable service desk.

    Optimize the Service Desk With a Shift-Left Strategy

    This project will help you build a strategy to shift service support left to optimize your service desk operations and increase end-user satisfaction.

    Build a Continual Improvement Plan

    This project will help you build a continual improvement plan for the service desk to review key processes and services and manage the progress of improvement initiatives.

    Deliver a Customer Service Training Program to Your IT Department

    This project will help you deliver a targeted customer service training program to your IT team to enhance their customer service skills when dealing with end users, improve overall service delivery and increase customer satisfaction.

    Sources Cited

    Amaresan, Swetha. “The best time to send a survey, according to 5 studies.” Hubspot. 15 Jun 2021. Accessed October 2022.
    Arlen, Chris. “The 5 Service Dimensions All Customers Care About.” Service Performance Inc. n.d. Accessed October 2022.
    Clinton, William Jefferson. “Setting Customer Service Standards.” (1993). Federal Register, 58(176).
    “Understanding Confidentiality and Anonymity.” The Evergreen State College. 2022. Accessed October 2022.
    "Highlights of the 2017 U.S. PIAAC Results Web Report" (NCES 2020-777). U.S. Department of Education. Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics.
    Joe the IT Guy. “Are IT Support’s Customer Satisfaction Surveys Their Own Worst Enemy?” Joe the IT Guy. 29 August 2018. Accessed October 2022.
    O’Reardon, David. “10 Ways to Get the Most out of your ITSM Ticket Surveys.” LinkedIn. 2 July 2019. Accessed October 2022.
    O'Reardon, David. "13 Ways to increase the response rate of your Service Desk surveys".LinkedIn. 8 June 2016. Accessed October 2022.
    O’Reardon, David. “IT Customer Feedback Management – A Why & How Q&A with an Expert.” LinkedIn. 13 March 2018. Accessed October 2022.
    Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V. A., & Berry, L. L. (1985). "A Conceptual Model of Service Quality and Its Implications for Future Research." Journal of Marketing, 49(4), 41–50.
    Quantisoft. "How to Increase IT Help Desk Customer Satisfaction and IT Help Desk Performance.“ Quantisoft. n.d. Accessed November 2022.
    Rumberg, Jeff. “Metric of the Month: Customer Effort.” HDI. 26 Mar 2020. Accessed September 2022.
    Sauro, Jeff. “15 Common Rating Scales Explained.” MeasuringU. 15 August 2018. Accessed October 2022.
    SDI. “Customer Experience in ITSM.” SDI. 2018. Accessed October 2022.
    SDI. “CX: Delivering Happiness – The Series, Part 1.” SDI. 12 January 2021. Accessed October 2022.
    Wronski, Laura. “Who responds to online surveys at each hour of the day?” SurveyMonkey. n.d. Accessed October 2022.

    Research contributors

    Sally Colwell

    Project Officer

    Government of Canada Pension Centre

    Drive Digital Transformation With Platform Strategies

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    • Understand their core assets and strengths and how these can be leveraged for transformation.
    • Understand the core characteristics and components of a digital platform so that they can design digital platform(s) for their enterprise.
    • Ask if the client’s digital transformation (DX) strategy is aligned with a digital platform enablement strategy.
    • Ask if the enterprise has paid attention to the structure, culture, principles, and practices of platform teams.

    Impact and Result

    Organizations that implement this project will gain benefits in five ways:

    • Awareness and understanding of various platform strategies.
    • Application of specific platform strategies within the context of the enterprise.
    • Awareness of their existing business mode, core assets, value proposition, and strengths.
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    1 Understand Platform Business Model and Strategies

    The Purpose

    Understand existing business model, value proposition, and key assets.

    Understand platform business model and strategies.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Understanding the current assets helps with knowing what can be leveraged in the new business model/transformation.

    Understanding the platform strategies can help the enterprise renew/refresh their business model.

    Activities

    1.1 Document the current business model along with value proposition and key assets (that provide competitive advantage).

    1.2 Transformation narrative.

    1.3 Platform model canvas.

    1.4 Document the platform strategies in the context of the enterprise.

    Outputs

    Documentation of current business model along with value proposition and key assets (that provide competitive advantage).

    Documentation of the selected platform strategies.

    2 Planning for Platform Business Model

    The Purpose

    Understand transformation approaches.

    Understand various layers of platforms.

    Ask fundamental and evolutionary questions about the platform.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Understanding of the transformational model so that the enterprise can realize the differences.

    Understanding of the organization’s strengths and weaknesses for a DX.

    Extraction of strategic themes to plan and develop a digital platform roadmap.

    Activities

    2.1 Discuss and document decision about DX approach and next steps.

    2.2 Discuss and document high-level strategic themes for platform business model and associated roadmap.

    Outputs

    Documented decision about DX approach and next steps.

    Documented high-level strategic themes for platform business model and associated roadmap.

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    The Purpose

    Understand the design goals for the digital platform.

    Understand gaps between the platform’s capabilities and the DX strategy.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Design goals set for the digital platform that are visible to all stakeholders.

    Gap analysis performed between enterprise’s digital strategy and platform capabilities; this helps understand the current situation and thus informs strategies and roadmaps.

    Activities

    3.1 Discuss and document design goals for digital platform.

    3.2 Discuss DX themes and platform capabilities – document the gaps.

    3.3 Discuss gaps and strategies along with timelines.

    Outputs

    Documented design goals for digital platform.

    Documented DX themes and platform capabilities.

    DX themes and platform capabilities map.

    4 Digital Platform Design: Key Components

    The Purpose

    Understanding of key components of a digital platform, including technology and teams.

    Key Benefits Achieved

    Understanding of the key components of a digital platform and designing the platform.

    Understanding of the team structure, culture, and practices needed for successful platform engineering teams.

    Activities

    4.1 Confirmation and discussion on existing UX/UI and API strategies.

    4.2 Understanding of microservices architecture and filling of microservices canvas.

    4.3 Real-time stream processing data pipeline and tool map.

    4.4 High-level architectural view.

    4.5 Discussion on platform engineering teams, including culture, structure, principles, and practices.

    Outputs

    Filled microservices canvas.

    Documented real-time stream processing data pipeline and tool map.

    Documented high-level architectural view.

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