Author’s note: The first six posts in this “How-to” series on Digital Transformation focused on identifying what Digital Transformation is, addressing challenges created by market forces and technological change, and identifying where to start. This seventh post in the series lays out why Digital Transformation requires a truly modern approach to IT management.
In the prior post in this Digital Transformation series, we touched on a wide range of challenges that illustrate the essential need for IT to work in harmony with business operations across an organization. The question, then, in this ever-changing world is where do you start on the journey of achieving a truly modern approach to IT Management?
Today there are industry standards that are evolving as best practices to organize and define Modern IT structures. The graphic below defines the four core functions that define a Modern IT organization. Below the graphic are the functional definition and details that define and make up each of the core functions.
Strategy is a long-term action plan for achieving a goal, set in the context of a rapidly changing technology environment. For any IT strategy to be effective it must have measurable links to a business strategy. The following 6 areas define the core components of a function Modern IT Strategy.
- Service Catalog and Portfolio - Define your IT services, set your portfolio investment strategy, publish services out to the rest of the enterprise.
- Roadmaps - Get started on the right path with a solid strategy and planning road map that allows your team to be able to support Acquisitions, Mergers, IT Service Management and fully leverage DevOps and large technology transformations.
- Modern IT Management Architecture - Optimize management toolsets and technologies to lower costs and modernize your IT infrastructure or assemble the needed tools for an IT solution.
- IT and Service Governance - Whether adopting Service Management or gaining control over IT issues, governance, policies, metrics and decision models can speed your way
- Organizational Change Strategy - Leverage organization transformation and communications methods to help IT become a state of the art service provider organization
- IT Financial Management - Get visibility of IT costs, increase discretionary spend, develop cost optimization and chargeback strategies
Project Management Office (PMO) gives organizations the nerve center for achieving consistently successful results across their entire portfolio of projects.
- Project Office Development - Establish a Project Management Office with a holistic solution of people, roles, responsibilities, management processes, portfolio and supporting technologies
- Project Support Services - Provide oversight and project management services for projects to make sure they are completed on time, within budget and within scope.
- Project Management Best Practices - Client project management capabilities and skills with modern project management practices such as Agile, SCRUM and SAFe
- Troubled Project Support – Assess troubled projects for key issues and identifies strategies to mitigate them with action plans and project plan modifications
Application development, also referred to as software process, AppDev, software lifecycle and software development, is the development of a software product in a planned and structured motion.
- Application Lifecycle Management - Get full automation and visibility up and down your solution stack and across all the stages of the application lifecycle for efficient builds, tests and releases
- Demand and Capacity Planning - Link capacity to business drivers and unit volumes to avoid unplanned service costs and outages or simply size a new service application solution
- DevOps - Effectively merge your IT development and operations functions to work seamlessly with continuous integration and automation strategies and solutions
- Code Management - Effectively manage code versions, repositories, branching and releases to control your source code infrastructure with our strategies and solutions
- Architecture and System Topology/ Configuration Management - Optimize management toolsets and technologies to lower costs and modernize your IT infrastructure or assemble the needed tools for an IT solution
IT Operations is responsible for the smooth functioning of the infrastructure and operational environments that support application deployment to internal and external customers, including the network infrastructure; server and device management; computer operations.
- ITSM Operations Management - Manage calls, escalations, and handle incidents, problems and requests with your toolsets, our customizations and our service management solutions
- COBIT Controls and Operation - Implement COBIT IT controls and practices to meet audit requirements, SOX compliance and other IT audit issues
- Lean IT - Identify and transition specific IT processes and services to support DevOps initiatives, radically boost operating turnaround or lower costs
- Six-Sigma Operations - Apply six-sigma thinking into your operations with metrics, outcomes and continual service improvement programs
- ITIL Best Practices - ITIL methods and practices supplemented by our deep expertise and experience tailored to your specific needs
In conclusion, structuring a Modern IT Management approach according to this framework of four core functions ensures you are building a strong foundation to support business operations as they—and technology—change over time. Defining your Strategy, PMO, Operations and Application Development structures will help create the functions and support structure that define your Modern IT Management Framework. Then, within that framework, modifications and implementation priorities will drive specific deliverables and endpoints.