SIAM Readiness Assessment
September 7, 2024
Digital Transformation – Readiness Assessment
OVERALL READINESS
This chart shows areas where your organization has strong capabilities that will help to support your digital transformation journey. The weaker areas are where you need to pay attention – you might need extra resources, skills and capabilities or external support to strengthen these.
Digital Transformation – Readiness Assessment
YOUR RESPONSES
Technology & Automation
- Does your organization have an innovative approach to the assessment and application of new technology? 3
- Are opportunities to automate business processes identified, assessed and implemented where appropriate? 3
- Is your organization using new technologies like AI, Big Data and Robotic Process Automation? 1
- Does your organization resist new technologies? 3
Previous Projects/Organizational History
- Is your organization successful in achieving its strategic objectives? 3
- Have previous business change projects in your organization been successful? 4
- Have technology implementations in your organization been successful? 4
- Does your organization have high supplier turnover? 3
- Does your organization have high staff turnover? 5
Ways of Working
- Does your organization evaluate and adopt new ways of working? (e.g. Agile, Lean) 4
- Do silos of good practice exist in your organization? 4
- Does your organization ever experience internal conflict because teams are working in different ways? 4
- Do employees generally follow defined processes and procedures? 3
- Are ways of working measured and improved? 0
Personal Development
- Do you have time to learn and reflect as part of your role? 3
- Are you rewarded for innovation and new ideas? 0
- Do employees at your organization have a sense of purpose? 1
- Do you have time and budget for training, attending conferences and meetups? 1
- Does your organization have any kind of wellbeing or staff care program in place? 4
Culture
- Does your organization have an open, blame free and collaborative culture? 1
- Do employees in your organization have autonomy and ownership? 2
- Does your organization respond well to change? 3
- Does your organization communicate effectively internally and externally? 2
- Does your organization reflect on and learn from experience? 1
Leadership & Strategy
- Is a senior individual in your organization accountable for digital initiatives? 0
- Does your business strategy include references to digital products and services? 1
- Do senior managers outside of IT get involved in defining, designing and implementing digital initiatives? 2
- Is your business strategy focused on consumers and their needs? 2
- Is your business strategy shared and understood at all levels of the organization? 0
Digital Transformation – Readiness Assessment
WHAT DO YOUR RESULTS MEAN?
The information below explains each area covered by the digital transformation readiness assessment, and its implications for your organization.
LEADERSHIP AND STRATEGY
Digital transformation affects the whole organization. Linking digital transformation to strategic objectives and cascading this message throughout the organization will increase the likelihood of success for any digital initiatives.
Risk indicators for leadership and strategy include:
- Digital transformation is seen as an ‘IT project’
- There is no ownership or accountability for digital transformation at the senior level of the organization
- The business strategy is vague and/or poorly understood
- For a successful digital transformation, leaders must:
- “Articulate the type of culture they desire and cascade this down through the organization.
- Behave in a way that aligns with the culture and behaviors they want to see.
- Reward appropriate behaviors.
- Take action when there is inappropriate behavior”*
Why is leadership and strategy important? If you don’t know where you’re going, it’s very difficult to plan for the journey.
Digital Transformation – Readiness Assessment
CULTURE
Culture change is often required to support digital transformation. Organizations need to adopt new behaviors to support an entrepreneurial mindset, to allow experimentation and failure, and to overcome the attitude that “we’ve always done it like this”.
Risk indicators for culture include:
- Blame culture
- Duplication of work and lack of clarity around roles and responsibilities
- Poor collaboration and communication
- Inability to deliver changes successfully
Why is culture important? As Peter Drucker said “culture eats strategy for breakfast.”
Digital Transformation – Readiness Assessment
TECHNOLOGY AND AUTOMATION
Effective organizations need to understand which technologies to exploit, when, where, and how to integrate them into their strategic plans.
“Many organizations have wasted time and money chasing the latest ‘shiny thing’ without considering how it meets consumer requirements or how it aligns with their service management principles. Technology can solve problems, but organizations need to be careful they don’t try to solve a problem that doesn’t actually exist.”
VeriSM: A Service Management Approach for the Digital Age
Risk indicators for technology and automation include:
- Legacy technology that acts as a strategic constraint
- Manual processes and ways of working
- Failed technology projects
Viewing digital transformation as a technology project is also a significant risk indicator; without the right cultural, leadership and ways of working, new technology alone will not deliver results.
Why is technology and automation important? Technology and automation is a key element of digital transformation, opening the door to new markets, new consumers, and internal improvements.
Digital Transformation – Readiness Assessment
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
Staff who are overworked and under pressure will struggle to innovate and adapt to change. Part of an effective organizational culture for digital transformation includes setting people up for success.
“High emotional intelligence is now a key attribute sought when hiring or promoting staff to new positions. These skills account for 58% of performance in all job types, based on data from Emotional Intelligence 2.0.”
VeriSM: A Service Management Approach for the Digital Age
Risk indicators for personal development include:
- High staff turnover
- Overburdened staff (unrealistic levels of utilization)
- Poor communication and lack of idea sharing between hierarchical layers of the organization
Why is personal development important? Digital transformation is more likely to succeed if you are supported by your staff, rather than fighting them.
Digital Transformation – Readiness Assessment
WAYS OF WORKING
Digital transformation is delivered by evolution, not revolution. Organizations that adopt a learning culture are also open to new ways of working. Recently, management practices like Lean and Agile are being trialed by successful organizations to deliver better results.
Risk indicators for ways of working include:
- “We’ve always done it like that” – resistance to change
- Local optimization – individuals or teams improve ways of working, but the organization itself doesn’t change
- Lack of reflection or analysis of existing ways of working
Why are ways of working important? New ways of working can unlock new possibilities and new ways of thinking, removing constraints based on historical processes and procedures.
Digital Transformation – Readiness Assessment
PREVIOUS PROJECTS/ORGANIZATIONAL HISTORY
Analyzing previous projects in your organization will often identify mistakes that are made again and again.
High staff and supplier turnover can indicate an organization that is focused on short term results rather than long term partnerships.
Risk indicators for previous projects and organizational history include:
- Unsuccessful or delayed projects
- Inability to achieve strategic objectives/not measuring whether strategic objectives have been achieved
- Poor relationships with suppliers and partners, contractual disputes based on unclear objectives
Why are previous projects and organizational history important? Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it.
