MOST Analysis

Mission Statement

The very first step in the journey of leading IT transformation in an organization is creating a plan. The first session in this 2-year program will discuss how to create a plan (in 30 days), spanning over 90 days, with the key objectives of 1) gaining a good understanding of where the organization is today; 2) envisioning how it could be transformed to improve processes, relationships, quality and delivery of technology and IT services; and 3) developing a roadmap to get from current to future state. This 90-Day Plan for leading IT transformation will include the steps that have to be taken within this 90-day duration. The first 30 days of the plan are focused on an assessment of the current state. The next phase, covering days 31 to 60, is centered on envisioning and designing the future state. Finally, the third phase, (days 61-90) is spent developing a realistic and practical Transformation Roadmap, considering people, process and technology. This 90-day plan will be the foundation of the subsequent IT transformation program, setting the objectives and defining the path that the process will take to transform IT processes and services, while also improving relationships between IT and the business. The Transformation Roadmap, created based upon the current state insights, will guide the subsequent projects and activities that need to be undertaken to reach the envisioned future state.

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Objectives

01. Theory and Communication: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
02. Review Organizational Structure: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
03. Set Mission and Goals: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
04. Plans and Timelines: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
05. Best Activities to Pursue: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
06. Competitor Assessment: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
07. Benchmark Best Practices: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. 1 Month
08. More Detailed Plans: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
09. Implement Plans: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
10. Feedback Loops: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
11. Improvements: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
12. Document Outcomes: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month

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Strategies

01. Theory and Communication: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
02. Review Organizational Structure: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
03. Set Mission and Goals: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
04. Plans and Timelines: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
05. Best Activities to Pursue: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
06. Competitor Assessment: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
07. Benchmark Best Practices: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
08. More Detailed Plans: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
09. Implement Plans: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
10. Feedback Loops: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
11. Improvements: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
12. Document Outcomes: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.

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Tasks

01. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Theory and Communication.
02. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Review Organizational Structure.
03. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Set Mission and Goals.
04. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Plans and Timelines.
05. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Best Activities to Pursue.
06. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Competitor Assessment.
07. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Benchmark Best Practices.
08. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze More Detailed Plans.
09. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Implement Plans.
10. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Feedback Loops.
11. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Improvements.
12. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Document Outcomes.

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Introduction

Change is difficult. This stands true for everyone, irrespective of whether it is in business or any other aspect of life. It is human nature to get comfortable in the current situation and any disruption in the current state is usually met with resistance. Within an organization too, change is always challenging. Over time, people develop a daily routine and established a way of working. They develop behavior patterns that are hard to change. But at the same time, change is not something we can avoid for long.

Organizations have to grow and evolve to survive the ever-increasing competition they face. They are constantly striving to reach a better position. They need to constantly improve their processes, systems and policies to ensure that they don’t lose their relevance in the industry or in the market. That means there will be change. Processes that have become an integral part of the organization, embedded in its day-to-day workings, need to be reassessed. Employees who have attained a level of comfort in their current positions need to upgrade their skills and knowledge to ensure that they continue adding value to the organization.

Although there is always resistance to change, be it from employees or the management or otherwise, everyone wants to be a part of a successful company. If the business case for a change is communicated well and shows how the transformation is going to positively impact the business as well as individual careers within the organization, the transition can be much smoother.

Driving change in an organization

Change can be carried out in small, incremental steps or it can be large scale, involving the entire organization at once. Small, incremental steps leading to change are usually effective when you do not want any major disruption in the current state of the organization. In such a case, making gradual changes over time that finally take the organization closer to the goal can be the right approach. Incremental change should, in fact, be a part of every organization’s culture. In a competitive, making small improvements just to gain a point over your competitors can prove to be very useful in the long run.

But the problem with incremental change is that it may become routine, and, like all other things, people can get used to it which makes them lose enthusiasm. Employees stop putting in effort to make an impact through small changes and that is when it loses its impact. The organization needs to find ways to make incremental change more effective in such situations through innovation and out of the box thinking.

When there is need for a massive transformation in the organization, though, trying to retain the current state and making minor changes is no longer useful. In this case, the organization needs to go for drastic measures to ensure bigger growth. Such a transformation, or revolution, is usually necessary when an organization is barely hanging on to its life and needs something big to revive it and bring it back on track. Transformation is also necessary when an organization needs to overcome its inertia, change its legacy systems and introduce new technologies and processes to get back into a more competitive position.

Overview of IT transformation

Transformation, be it digital transformation or cultural transformation, is a complete fundamental change in the way an organization functions. A transformation is usually carried out with an aim to significantly improve the organization’s performance. That is why it needs to involve everyone at every level within the organization, to the last employee who has any contribution to the organization’s success. Transformation aims to better align the organization’s goals with the changing market conditions and consumer demands.

When we talk about leading IT transformation in an organization, the term IT transformation itself can be a little misleading. IT transformation does not mean transformation in technology alone. IT transformation has to cover other areas of the business as well. In general, there are three core aspects of IT transformation – people, process and technology. When an organization is undergoing a digital transformation, there will be problems in all of these areas that will need to be detected and addressed before the IT transformation can be successfully implemented. Unless the people are receptive of the changes that IT transformation is going to bring forth, it is not possible for the organization to change. It is the people who collectively build the organization’s culture and for transformation to be fruitful, the culture has to be open to change.

Similarly, IT transformation is not complete unless the gaps in the processes are identified and filled so that the new technology can be implemented seamlessly. And lastly, the technology aspect requires you to identify old, dysfunctional or inefficient technology that is not contributing to the organization’s success as it should. Such technology will have to be replaced by more current, state of the art technology that can take the organization forward.

There are several ways this transformation can be approached, but irrespective of how you decide to bring about the change, the first and foremost step in every method is planning. Any effective transformation model starts with a definite period of planning. During this stage, all the steps to be taken in the journey towards transformation are laid out and a roadmap for the future stages is created.

One of the most widely used planning model is the 90-day plan. Under this model, all the issues are diagnosed and an action plan for implementation of the change is created within a span of 90 days.

How is IT transformation different from digital transformation?

Digital transformation makes changes to how an organization uses IT in its processes or product development/service delivery. On the other hand, IT transformation focuses on making changes to an organization’s IT function. That is, it aims to improve how the organization provides IT services. IT transformation can occur without digital transformation. Digital transformation usually involves updating or replacing the organization’s IT systems.

Best practices of IT transformation

Best practices refer to the most prudent way of doing something. It is a set of guidelines, business ethics, policies, or ideas that define the most efficient course of action in a business and its processes. Best practices are sometimes established by regulatory bodies or authorities governing the working of an industry. They may also be decided by an organization internally in order to achieve its aspired standards.

Best practices may be adopted to meet the industry standards in business or improve compliance with legal or ethical standards. Best practices that a company decides to adopt are usually determined through benchmarking. Best practices are a general framework for everyone in an organization to follow in their day-to-day work. For example, there may be workplace safety requirements documented and communicated for all employees to mandatorily adhere to. It aims to improve the safety standards in the company. Or there may be best practices listed down for each individual function in a manufacturing process to ensure standard quality in the end product.

Best practices are important in business because these practices are established after much deliberation, and trial and error. They have been found to be the most sensible approach to carry out a particular process or task, and ensure the best outcomes if implemented correctly. Best practices aim to make a process better, faster, and more cost-effective. Adopting best practices minimizes the chances of committing mistakes and results in fewer problems during a process.

Benchmarking for digital maturity of the organization

Assessing where your organization stands in terms of digital growth currently is extremely important to be able to set relevant and attainable goals. When you know what digital assets you have at hand, it becomes easier to optimize those assets and maximize their output. Assessment of the company’s digital maturity will help you create a realistic roadmap based on existing digital capability and the capabilities that need to be built.

This can be done through competitive or external benchmarking, to see how your company fares in terms of digital maturity as compared to the industry’s best. This benchmarking should focus on three factors mainly – digital growth, security, and profitability.

Benchmarking for attitude towards IT change

The attitude towards the pace of change in IT is another important factor that determines how an organization will approach and adapt to change. How do employees or management in an organization acknowledge and address the rapid pace of change in IT? Does the organization simply try to overlook IT adoption issues and continue the way it has been functioning for ages? These are some very critical questions that need to be answered.

Compare the statistics you get in your organization in response to these questions with those of some other successful IT-driven organizations to see if there is a need for