By Daniel Bannon | November 30, 2023
An organization’s overall maturity or readiness for an M365 (or any IT ecosystem) transformation needs to be taken into consideration during the discovery phase of an enterprise project. The word “maturity” may be taken as a pejorative, but it’s a reality all organizations face and a path to success. Organizations must acknowledge the current state and plan for how best to support the organization as they embark on the transformational journey. In many ways, transformation projects can help move organizations forward in their overall maturity so this should be seen as an opportunity, not a hindrance.
Today we’ll explore an assessment model that you can use for your organization and the effects of different levels of maturity on project outcome.
Why it Matters
As project size and complexity grows, the integration of people and technology becomes ever-more critical for overall initiative success. Enterprise projects touch multiple parts of the organization ecosystem in four main pivots:
- IT strategy,
- Technical landscape,
- Behaviors (executive (sponsor) commitment, overall health of the organization, and user appetite for change), and the company’s processes for accessing services.
During the discovery phase of a project, rank the organization by level on each of these pivots.
Example table showing ranking by pivot
- Level 1 (Initiate/Create)
- Level 2 (Emerging/Develop)
- Level 3 (Functional/Standardize)
- Level 4 (Advanced/Optimize)
- Level 5 (Transformational/Innovate)
(Source: American Productivity & Quality Center (APQC) Levels of Maturity (July 2015)
The goal of this exercise is to determine a general risk-level for a project’s success based on cultural maturity. Determine areas of focus for the organization to grow (potentially) as outcomes of the project or program. Once assessed, explore mitigations for how to deliver the project more effectively depending on maturity level.
Description of Pivots
The following describes each pivot in detail, and the effects of different levels of maturity on project outcome.
IT Strategy
Companies sometimes undertake enterprise technical projects due to crisis – systems are obsolete and unsupported, there are major security breaches, or a lack of interoperability with other ecosystems. An overall IT strategy is essential for addressing a crisis, versus a piecemeal systems implementation, or worse, tackling parts of implementation while ignoring others.
Example indicators of immature IT Strategy (Level 1 – 2):
- Valuing technology for technology’s sake, and defensiveness
- Systems not considered for the long view: early obsolescence, plugging holes, reactive vs. proactive
- Executive and sponsor churn, unwilling or unable to consider long term ramifications of decisions
A higher-level strategy includes: forethought, mindfulness, careful selection of technologies based on macrotrends, supportability, security, consideration of the business’s evolution on a 3–5-year horizon, etc.
The Technical Systems Landscape
Effects of an immature Technology landscape (Level 1 – 2):
- Mixed ecosystem with incompatibilities that cannot be easily supported
- No strategic technology roadmap or multi-year planning horizon
- Obsolete systems: poor performance, insecure, no path to the cloud
A higher-level technology landscape includes efficient, secure, modern systems with solid plans (financial, capacity) to keep systems updated. There is usually a commitment to a major ecosystem (e.g. M365, Google Cloud, Amazon Web Services, SAP, etc.), and combined / integrated technical ecosystems are well-supported by vendors. Typically, there is a smoothly running support system internally, and with technology providers.
Behaviors
Example indicators of Immature Behaviors (Level 1 – 2):
- Insufficient or non-existent thought given to Change management, communications, training, or other soft skills that impact people
- Siloed functions, indifference outside of IT to the benefits of new systems, high attrition and low morale, potentially toxic culture
- Weak sponsorship, lack of commitment in resources, schedule, etc. or consideration of the organizational effect of technology
- Overall fear and oppressiveness, passive-aggressive at an individual, group, or functional level
Higher level people behaviors indicate an organization that plans well for change and guides staff through the process in-depth. Staff are empowered and willing to listen to the benefits of change. Champions arise organically. Comms are streamlined and effective, as is training and change management. IT is a trusted partner. Feedback is calmly accepted and addressed at the leadership level.
Process to Access Services
Example indicators of immature Processes for Services (Level 1 – 2):
- No one can find anything, and Help Desk is overburdened/stressed
- No one knows the architecture of systems, or sequestered with very few Subject Matter Experts (SME) – SMEs may be unknown outside a narrow role or range of individuals
- Shoulder Taps are the primary way to get things done – there is a lack-of, or total breakdown of, “how do I use technology to get my job done”
A higher-level process for accessing services usually includes an intranet that works well for all staff. ERPs or CRMs that are accessible and well-organized to address common user requests. Help systems are available, responsive, accountable, and track issue progress.
Summary
Organizations with low (Levels 1, 2) maturity on any pivot mean increased delivery risk. Much more time is needed for change management, training, people education in general, and sometimes even stabilizing the organization. Consider a roadmap to elevate each area/pivot and provide realistic timelines and risks. A low assessment score on any pivot almost always maps to lower scores on the remainder.
Organizations with moderate (Level 3) or advanced (Levels 4, 5) maturity are well on their way to maximizing their technology investment. Enterprise initiatives are generally smoother. Your function/implementation will be far less demanding for the organization; in fact, they are typically self-aware enough to welcome the assistance.