Johannesburg, 15 Nov 2017
Every organisation embarking on a digital transformation journey needs a vision that outlines its objectives and aspirations, and lays out clear path to its desired destination. Without clarity of vision and purpose, ambiguities will likely arise on the journey, leading to expensive changes of direction and increasing the time it takes to deliver.
So says Jan Joubert, CEO at Rainmaker, adding that a digital transformation journey involves turning this vision into reality. "However, existing visions are frequently dated, and possibly created by external agencies, so testing how widely known and measurable the vision is, and how well the portfolio of projects drives towards it, is crucial. Vision statements must be co-developed by listening to the views of those within an organisation, not simply imposed from the top without consultation."
He says Rainmaker developed a proprietary platform, Wemvula, that makes it easy to understand the 'why' of service components and projects, and to visualise and interrogate the various facets of a portfolio of services and change.
"So, how do we go about turning organisational vision into a transformation plan? The first step is helping clients articulate the values and principles that define how to achieve their vision. To do this, we hold workshop discussions that include both tech and business people, to bridge the divide between the business and IT that has been a barrier to satisfying the needs of technology users in the past."
Understanding the genuine needs of all technology users, as well as the needs of the organisation, is critical too. "We use qualitative and quantitative research techniques to gather and analyse user needs, filtering out 'wants' from 'needs' and challenging any business requirements that may already exist for traceability to those needs, he explains.
Organisational mapping
Next, Joubert says Rainmaker works with clients to create a map of their organisation. "A map is key to understanding the environment in which the organisation is operating, and highlight how opportunities for strategic change may be exploited. They will show how business processes and technology components connect to meet the organisation's needs, and illustrate how they evolve. Maps help visualise the value chain between those elements, and collaboratively explore the path to achieving the organisation's vision.
"Mapping ensures that conventional IT roadmaps that tend to copy the buzzwords of the day into irrelevant and un-achievable target operating models (TOMs) are avoided. Although still widely used, TOMs often paint an overly optimistic view of a future, static world, which in practice are delivered years late and aren't fit for purpose. They struggle to adapt to changing business requirements and don't keep pace with maturing customer needs. Furthermore, TOMs frequently coincide with multi-year service contracts that may further constrain the ability to change."
"In addition, maps deconstruct complex landscapes so that appropriate decisions can be made for different parts of the organisation, avoiding a 'one size fits all' or 'me too' approach, and help influence sourcing options, removing the dilemma from subjective buy or build decisions. They identify technological duplication, and connect us with appropriate project delivery techniques for each component - agile isn't always appropriate. They allow us to explore the composition of delivery teams - often, less structure is needed, not more, and people's differing capabilities must be integrated, and help to expose bias within the IT landscape, such as any unjustified predisposition to building bespoke services."
However, the most compelling benefit of using these maps is that they allow us to centre discussion and make decisions based on the 'why' and 'where' of change, and not just the 'what', 'how', and 'when' of its implementation.
Transformation planning
Armed with the understanding of a client's vision, values, principles, the needs of its users, and a map of its process and technology components, we can then build a transformation plan which maximises the business benefits of digital initiatives across the organisation, says Joubert.
For any organisation and its users to be successful on a transformation journey, Joubert says all stakeholders must buy into the transformation plan, to create a culture which adopts digital at its core. "This ensures the plan can withstand ongoing iteration as circumstances change, be it due to market forces, product availability, organisational vision, performance, or the changing needs of its users.
"It is through such detailed understanding of an organisation and its users, combined with a map of how their needs connect with technology, that we are able to work together with clients to embed digital change and transformation. We start on that journey on day one and begin making real differences to users from the outset."
"We're always the first to volunteer that this process sounds straightforward. It is. But our experience tells us that the IT industry over-complicates design and delivery. This is a result of not taking the time to understand in detail the needs of the user, not understanding how business and technology are best connected to deliver change, and not appreciating how existing technologies can be harnessed to meet the organisation's vision," he concludes.
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