The invention relates generally to managing business strategies, and more particularly, to a process framework and planning tools for aligning capabilities to achieve business transformation.
In today's technology driven business environment, business enterprises must continually evolve their business strategies to stay competitive. Business transformations require business units to collaborate with information technology (IT) providers to provide the various capabilities necessary to implement the business strategies. Because of the complexities involved in creating and implementing new capabilities, IT portfolio changes must be carefully planned and budgeted.
Capabilities are achieved by implementing a set of requirements, which are submitted by stakeholders to IT programs and then finalized in the context of a release. Such requirements may include a mixture of strategic, tactical and defect support. Unfortunately, current planning tools and frameworks do not provide a strong linkage between the requirements put into place by IT providers and the business strategies originally defined and agreed-to by senior business and technology management during the planning cycle.
For example, during the design or implementation cycle of a new business strategy, a business unit may determine that it needs to provision any number of IT requirements to fulfill the necessary business transformation. Because IT requirements are typically provisioned in “releases” scheduled over time and there are numerous individuals and factors that influence what makes up the IT requirements, over time, it would not be unusual for the business unit to lose sight of the originally business objectives. Unfortunately, there currently exists no framework or toolset for measuring whether a defined set of IT requirements actually align with the agreed-to capabilities that will support the business objectives and strategies of the enterprise. Accordingly, there are currently very limited means for the reporting to management of decisions regarding the “strategic” nature of the IT requirements to be included in a release before development funding has been expended. Without such a tool, management often lacks the necessary data to make informed business and funding decisions.
Thus, a need exists for a process framework and planning toolset that will allow for the analysis of proposed IT requirements to ensure they align with capabilities defined for a proposed business strategy.
The present invention addresses the above-mentioned problems, as well as others, by providing a process framework and toolset that will that will allow for the analysis of proposed IT requirements to ensure the proposed requirements align with capabilities defined for a proposed business strategy. The invention consists of a methodology, system and dashboard to enable business transformation strategists, IT business architects and senior management to establish, track and measure alignment of a recognized list of capabilities and IT requirements to the agreed-to business strategy. The invention also includes a set of metrics that measure the alignment of architecture and business requirements to business strategy. These metrics will allow IT providers to maximize delivery of strategic capabilities as part of its portfolio of applications. In addition, the set of metrics will provide IT management with a vehicle to track investments that will keep the IT portfolio aligned with an enterprise technology blueprint.
In a first aspect, the invention provides a business transformation alignment framework, comprising: a data interface system for storing and displaying business transformation data categorized into initiative data, capability data and IT requirement data; a mapping system for mapping between initiative data, capability data and IT requirement data; and a dashboard interface for displaying alignment analysis information regarding how well a set of IT requirements aligns with a capability defined to address a business transformation objective.
In a second aspect, the invention provides a computer program product stored on a computer usable medium for providing business transformation alignment analysis information, comprising: program code configured for storing and displaying business transformation data categorized into initiative data, capability data and IT requirement data; program code configured for mapping between initiative data, capability data and IT requirement data; and program code configured for displaying alignment analysis information regarding how well a set of IT requirements aligns with a capability defined to address a business transformation objective.
In a third aspect, the invention provides a method of providing business transformation alignment analysis information, comprising: providing business transformation data categorized into initiative data, capability data and IT requirement data; displaying the business transformation data in an interface that includes a plurality of views; providing a mapping between initiative data, capability data and IT requirement data; and displaying alignment analysis information regarding how well a set of IT requirements aligns with a capability defined to address a business transformation objective.
In a fourth aspect, the invention provides a method for deploying business transformation alignment analysis toolset, comprising: providing a computer infrastructure being operable to: provide business transformation data categorized into initiative data, capability data and IT requirement data; display the business transformation data in an interface that includes a plurality of views; provide a mapping between initiative data, capability data and IT requirement data; and display alignment analysis information regarding how well a set of IT requirements aligns with a capability defined to address a business transformation objective.
These and other features of this invention will be more readily understood from the following detailed description of the various aspects of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
As noted above, successful business transformations depend on a process in which a proposed business strategy drives a set of capabilities, which in turn defines a set of requirements. Requirements are then typically implemented as a series of “releases” that should ultimately deliver the proposed business strategy. Accordingly, while the capabilities satisfy the “wants and needs” of the strategy, the requirements are the actual building blocks that require investment in IT processes, technology and organization. The present invention facilitates the process of ensuring alignment among the “business strategy”, “capabilities” and “requirements” involved in business transformation. The present invention provides a framework and series of tools that allows: (1) a business strategy to be mapped into a set of capabilities; (2) each capability to be mapped into a set of requirements; and (3) the information to be analyzed to determine which initiatives align with a stated business objective. An initiative is a collection of business actions required to achieve a business objective, typically made up of IT components, organizational components, process components, and knowledge components.
Referring now to drawings,
In general, computer system 10 may comprise, e.g., a desktop, a laptop, a workstation, etc. Moreover, computer system 10 could be implemented as part of a client and/or a server. Computer system 10 generally includes a processor 12, input/output (I/O) 14, memory 16, and bus 17. The processor 12 may comprise a single processing unit, or be distributed across one or more processing units in one or more locations, e.g., on a client and server. Memory 16 may comprise any known type of data storage and/or transmission media, including magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), a data cache, a data object, etc. Moreover, memory 16 may reside at a single physical location, comprising one or more types of data storage, or be distributed across a plurality of physical systems in various forms.
I/O 14 may comprise any system for exchanging information to/from an external resource. External devices/resources may comprise any known type of external device, including a monitor/display, speakers, storage, another computer system, a hand-held device, keyboard, mouse, voice recognition system, speech output system, printer, facsimile, pager, etc. Bus 17 provides a communication link between each of the components in the computer system 10 and likewise may comprise any known type of transmission link, including electrical, optical, wireless, etc. Although not shown, additional components, such as cache memory, communication systems, system software, etc., may be incorporated into computer system 10.
Access to computer system 10 may be provided over a network such as the Internet, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a virtual private network (VPN), etc. Communication could occur via a direct hardwired connection (e.g., serial port), or via an addressable connection that may utilize any combination of wireline and/or wireless transmission methods. Moreover, conventional network connectivity, such as Token Ring, Ethernet, WiFi or other conventional communications standards could be used. Still yet, connectivity could be provided by conventional TCP/IP sockets-based protocol. In this instance, an Internet service provider could be used to establish interconnectivity. Further, as indicated above, communication could occur in a client-server or server-server environment.
Referring now to
It should be appreciated that the teachings of the present invention could be offered as a business method on a subscription or fee basis. For example, a computer system 10 comprising business transformation alignment toolset could be created, maintained and/or deployed by a service provider that offers the functions described herein for customers. That is, a service provider could offer to provide a data interface system, mapping system, and dashboard interface, as described above.
It is understood that the systems, functions, mechanisms, methods, engines and modules described herein can be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software. They may be implemented by any type of computer system or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methods described herein. A typical combination of hardware and software could be a general-purpose computer system with a computer program that, when loaded and executed, controls the computer system such that it carries out the methods described herein. Alternatively, a specific use computer, containing specialized hardware for carrying out one or more of the functional tasks of the invention could be utilized. In a further embodiment, part or all of the invention could be implemented in a distributed manner, e.g., over a network such as the Internet.
The present invention can also be embedded in a computer program product, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation of the methods and functions described herein, and which—when loaded in a computer system—is able to carry out these methods and functions. Terms such as computer program, software program, program, program product, software, etc., in the present context mean any expression, in any language, code or notation, of a set of instructions intended to cause a system having an information processing capability to perform a particular function either directly or after either or both of the following: (a) conversion to another language, code or notation; and/or (b) reproduction in a different material form.
The foregoing description of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed, and obviously, many modifications and variations are possible. Such modifications and variations that may be apparent to a person skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of this invention as defined by the accompanying claims.