“IT teams have had to pivot dozens of times since the pandemic hit. There's little room for those who are stuck in old ways."
– Lev Gonick, CIO, Arizona State University
YOUR
STRATEGY
IN MOTION
MSSBTA defines TRANSFORM as the undertaking of any significant change within an organization intended to produce meaningfully improved results. Most transformation efforts today involve technology, requiring an optimized alignment between people, processes, and technology to deliver the intended results. This alignment, along with a disciplined approach to implementation and a continuous focus on the desired results, are the keys to a successful transformation. A successful transformation involves three distinct phases:
Each of these phases involves coordinating a variety of your stakeholders and partners, making critical decisions, aligning multiple plans, leading organizational change, and managing/mitigating numerous risks, all while staying focused on the outcomes your organization is trying to achieve. Transformations involve significant complexity but the right team and approach can deliver the expected results.
Below is a sample of potential optimization services:
IT Strategic Planning - A strategy and plan to operationalize business strategy and accept accountability for the plan execution leading to the desired transformation/change.
Transformation Oversight/Governance (LGA) - A review of plans and strategy, and accountability for plan execution leading to the desired transformation/change.
Vendor Selection - An end-to-end solution from identifying business requirements through supporting contract negotiations for software or integration services. It includes business requirements, identifying a vendor list, creating an RFP, developing a scoring matrix, developing a demo script, coordinating demonstrations, facilitating recommendation/decision and supporting the contract negotiations.
Enterprise Change Management - A strategy and plan developed to implement formalized change management throughout an organization, business unit, department, etc.
How We Help You TRANSFORM
Given that traditional approaches to transformation have yielded poor results, we recommend a different approach involving an experienced guide with a unique set of capabilities. This new role includes being an advisor, an advocate, and a guide for your organization. We have the knowledge and experience to successfully implement new technology that will enable your organization to achieve the desired outcomes. We will work with you to:
Analyze existing assessments
Identify gaps & opportunities
Clearly define the desired results from your transformation
Select the best partners
Align contracts
Develop a comprehensive plan
Implement a governance structure for monitoring status and making timely decisions
Institute a risk and issue management process to mitigate risks and resolve issues throughout the transformation
Keep everyone focused on the desired outcomes
Manage the plans and mitigate the risks
Hold all parties accountable
Advocate for the best interests of your organization with all involved stakeholders
Ultimately, our role is to provide insurance for the success of your transformation.
Advantages of Our UNIQUE Approach
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As an independent 3rd party, we are able to hold all parties accountable regardless of role or position.
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We have the skill and knowledge to align contracts and plans across a variety of partners.
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Our experience and tools help tailor governance and decision-making processes to fit your organization and initiative.
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Transformation experience and knowledge allows for the anticipation and early mitigation of risks and creative solutions to issues that arise.
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Our consultants have the discipline to focus on your desired outcomes, make necessary adjustments during the transformation, and deliver the anticipated results.
ENVISION
The ENVISION phase of TRANSFORM focuses on creating a vision that clearly describes your company's transformation objectives. Envisioning includes capturing goals, objectives, and desired business outcomes so everyone clearly understands current state, desired future state, and post transformation anticipated business outcomes before the start of the transformation.
Envision confirms you have alignment and understanding across all key stakeholders including the total necessary investment and expected returns/results.
ENVISION BEST PRACTICES
CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS
Have a clear purpose
Understand your current state and desired future state
Determine where you are headed and WHY
Develop detailed knowledge and documentation of business impacts
Focus on identifying the necessary investment and expected return on investment/business outcomes
Consistent representation and buy-in from all impacted stakeholder groups
Knowledge and experience to successfully establish foundational concepts
Willingness to embrace change and innovation
STRATEGIZE
The STRATEGIZE phase of TRANSFORM is focused on developing a comprehensive plan of action to transform the organization to the desired future state and to deliver the anticipated return/outcomes. The plan should include action items, internal resources required, external partners, and solutions. The result is clear understanding of what needs to be done, who will be impacted, what tools/solutions will be needed, and what partners will be enlisted in support of achieving the desired transformation.
Strategize clearly lays out the governance structure for a successful transformation along with a detailed plan, required resources, and defined roles and accountabilities. This phase lays the foundation and has a direct correlation to the success of the ACHIEVE phase.
STRATEGIZE BEST PRACTICES
Leverage transformation experience, bring in external expertise if necessary
Leverage solid program/project management methods and experience
Break Transformation into phases to make it more manageable
Understand your organization's transformation readiness
Don't over plan - there is no perfect plan and all plans will need adjustments during the Achieve phase
CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS
Consistent representation and buy-in from all impacted stakeholder groups
Transformation knowledge and experience
Understanding of key roles and responsibilities necessary for success
Willingness to make the necessary investments - there are no shortcuts to transformation success
ACHIEVE
The ACHIEVE phase of TRANSFORM focuses on the successful execution of the comprehensive plan developed in the Strategize phase. It is the launching pad to successfully execute your organization's transformation, deliver the intended business value, and yield positive business results. It is your strategy in motion.
Successfully executing the transformation strategy requires unique skills, knowledge, experience, and methods. It also requires leadership, discipline, and accountability. It is critical that you engage a transformation leader with the right experience and capabilities, and empower them to guide your transformation. While there is no guarantee that your transformation will succeed, strong oversight and governance, and the focus on results will significantly improve your odds of a successful transformation.
ACHIEVE BEST PRACTICES
Engage an independent Transformation leader or leadership team empowered to hold everyone accountable
Clearly define governance and decision-making structure and processes
Employ a disciplined approach to select solutions and partners
Employ a disciplined approach to risk and issue management
Ensure transparency into current transformation status
Continuous focus on desired outcomes with the willingness and ability to make necessary adjustments
Impacted stakeholders should be able to complete their function on day one after the transformation
Focuses on processes and organizational change management, not just technology
CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS
Engaged and actively involved transformation sponsor and organization leadership
Experienced and independent Transformation leader with necessary capabilities
Willingness to hold everyone accountable
Ability to adjust plans to address risks and achieve desired outcomes
Comprehensive team of the right partners with clear roles, responsibilities, and accountability
Appropriate focus on processes and organizational change management - it's not just a technology project
CLIENT RESULTS
RETAIL GIANT TRANSFORMS THEIR SUPPLY CHAIN
The Challenge: The client struggled with a supply chain organization that was oversized and inefficient. They were unclear how to align best practices where there were critical gaps or how to transition without impacting performance.
The Solution: An in-depth current state assessment of the organization’s processes and critical measurements was conducted. Once critical gaps were defined, potential initiatives were identified, developed, and prioritized to close gaps using a customized strategic roadmap. This included target metrics and anticipated savings.
The Result: The client had a clear understanding of their performance and issues, leading best practices to improve performance, and an actionable strategic roadmap for the organization to become more streamlined, without compromising on performance.
AGENCY INVESTS IN DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION FOR SUCCESS
The Challenge: The client needed to update their legacy system to improve their workflow to provide improved functionality. The decommissioning and implementation process stalled, and the client was unsure if the original business requirements still matched their current needs and objectives.
The Solution: MSSBTA examined the business requirements of the original project plan to determine if they were aligned with the client’s current needs. Additionally, they assessed the vendor’s capability of supporting the implementation with limited liability.
The Result: The existing parameters of the implementation project did not cover all parts and pieces needed to support the client’s future state vision. MSSBTA recommended investing time to explore other implementation options before proceeding.
