Technology management

Digital Innovation

Challenges

  • Hard to direct funding to most valuable innovation
  • Labor spend inertia on tasks instead of outcomes
  • Lag in resource reallocation when priorities shift

Benefits

  • Funding/tracking value streams of new innovation
  • Aligning development labor to business outcomes
  • Allocating resources in real-time to portfolios

Framework

The Technology Business Management (TBM) Council offers a Digital Innovation Framework that helps organisations effectively leverage technology to drive innovation, achieve business objectives, and create value. Here’s an expanded overview of this framework:

Vision and Strategy

  • Alignment: Ensure that digital innovation initiatives align with the overall business strategy and objectives.
  • Leadership Buy-in: Gain commitment from senior leadership to support and champion digital innovation efforts.
  • Long-term Vision: Develop a clear and compelling vision for digital innovation that guides decision-making and investment priorities.

Governance and Risk Management

  • Framework: Establish governance structures, processes, and policies to oversee digital innovation initiatives.
  • Risk Assessment: Identify and assess risks associated with digital innovation projects, including cybersecurity, regulatory compliance, and financial risks.
  • Compliance: Ensure compliance with relevant regulations, standards, and industry best practices throughout the innovation lifecycle.

People and Culture

  • Talent Management: Recruit, retain, and develop talent with the necessary skills and expertise to drive digital innovation.
  • Culture of Innovation: Foster a culture that encourages experimentation, collaboration, and continuous learning.
  • Change Management: Provide training and support to employees to adapt to new technologies and ways of working.

Technology and Infrastructure

  • Infrastructure Modernisation: Invest in modernising technology infrastructure to support digital innovation initiatives, including cloud computing, edge computing, and advanced networking technologies.
  • Emerging Technologies: Explore and experiment with emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain, and augmented reality (AR)/virtual reality (VR).
  • Integration and Interoperability: Ensure that systems and technologies are interoperable and can seamlessly integrate with existing infrastructure and applications.

Process and Methodology

  • Agile Practices: Adopt agile methodologies and practices to enable rapid iteration, experimentation, and adaptation.
  • Design Thinking: Apply design thinking principles to understand user needs, identify opportunities, and develop innovative solutions.
  • Lean Startup: Embrace lean startup principles to test hypotheses, validate ideas, and minimise time to market.

Metrics and Measurement

  • Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Define and track KPIs related to digital innovation, such as time to market, return on investment (ROI), customer satisfaction, and innovation velocity.
  • Outcome-based Metrics: Focus on outcome-based metrics that measure the impact of digital innovation on business objectives and value creation.
  • Continuous Improvement: Use data and insights from metrics to continuously improve digital innovation processes and outcomes.

Partnerships and Ecosystem

  • Strategic Partnerships: Collaborate with technology vendors, startups, academic institutions, and other organisations to access cutting-edge technologies, expertise, and resources.
  • Open Innovation: Embrace open innovation principles by engaging with external stakeholders, participating in industry consortia, and leveraging open-source software and standards.
  • Ecosystem Development: Build and nurture an ecosystem of partners, developers, and innovators to co-create and co-innovate on digital solutions.

Projects

By following these recommendations, organisations can structure IT projects effectively to deliver value, mitigate risks, and achieve business objectives in alignment with TBM principles and practices.

  • Clearly articulate the business objectives and desired outcomes that the project aims to achieve.
  • Ensure alignment with the organisation's overall strategic goals and priorities.
  • Define roles, responsibilities, and decision-making processes for project governance.
  • Establish governance bodies such as steering committees or project boards to provide oversight and guidance.
  • Create comprehensive business cases that outline the rationale, expected benefits, costs, and risks of the project.
  • Use financial metrics such as return on investment (ROI) or total cost of ownership (TCO) to evaluate the viability and value proposition of the project.
  • Evaluate projects based on strategic alignment, business impact, resource requirements, and risk factors.
  • Use prioritisation frameworks such as value-based prioritisation or weighted scoring models to rank projects objectively.
  • Allocate resources (e.g., budget, personnel, infrastructure) based on project priorities and resource availability.
  • Optimise resource allocation to maximise value delivery and minimise resource constraints
  • Clearly define the scope, objectives, deliverables, and milestones of the project.
  • Break down the project into manageable phases or iterations to facilitate planning and execution.
  • Develop detailed cost estimates and budgets for the project, including capital and operational expenditures.
  • Monitor and control costs throughout the project lifecycle to ensure adherence to budget constraints.
  • Embrace Agile methodologies such as Scrum or Kanban to promote iterative development, collaboration, and flexibility.
  • Conduct regular sprint planning, reviews, and retrospectives to track progress and adapt to changing requirements.
  • Utilise project management tools and technologies to facilitate communication, collaboration, and project tracking.
  • Leverage TBM frameworks and tools to manage project finances, resources, and performance effectively.
  • Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure project performance against predefined targets and benchmarks.
  • Monitor progress, milestones, and risks regularly to identify issues and take corrective actions proactively.
  • Maintain transparent and open communication with stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle.
  • Provide regular updates, status reports, and risk assessments to stakeholders to ensure alignment and manage expectations.v

Products

By structuring IT products in alignment with business objectives, implementing robust product management processes, and leveraging technology and best practices, organisations can optimise value delivery, enhance customer satisfaction, and drive business success in accordance with TBM principles.

  • Clearly articulate the objectives and goals of IT products in alignment with business priorities, strategic initiatives, and customer needs.
  • Establish criteria and metrics for evaluating and measuring the success of products.
  • Categorise products based on their function, purpose, and target audience.
  • Group products into different categories such as core business applications, customer-facing solutions, internal tools, and infrastructure services.
  • Map products to the business capabilities and processes they support to ensure alignment with strategic objectives and value creation.
  • Identify critical products that are essential for delivering key business functions and services.
  • Create product roadmaps that outline the vision, features, and milestones for product development and enhancement.
  • Prioritise features and enhancements based on customer feedback, market trends, and business priorities.
  • Embrace Agile principles and practices to enable iterative development, rapid feedback, and continuous improvement of products.
  • Utilise techniques such as user stories, backlog grooming, and sprint planning to prioritise and manage product requirements.
  • Streamline product delivery processes to accelerate time to market and minimise time to value.
  • Implement DevOps practices to automate build, test, and deployment processes and ensure seamless product delivery.
  • Utilise technology platforms and tools to support product management activities, such as product management software, agile project management tools, and collaboration platforms.
  • Leverage TBM frameworks and tools to track and manage product costs, performance, and value delivery effectively.
  • Define key performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor product performance, including user adoption, customer satisfaction, usage metrics, and business impact.
  • Implement performance measurement and reporting mechanisms to track product performance against predefined targets and benchmarks.
  • Regularly review and assess product management processes, practices, and outcomes to identify areas for improvement.
  • Solicit feedback from stakeholders and users and implement continuous improvement initiatives to enhance product value and customer satisfaction.
  • Engage with customers and stakeholders throughout the product lifecycle to gather feedback, validate requirements, and ensure alignment with user needs.
  • Implement mechanisms for collecting, analysing, and acting on customer feedback to drive product improvements and innovation.

Resources

By structuring resources in alignment with business capabilities, implementing robust resource management processes, and leveraging technology and best practices, organizations can optimize resource allocation, enhance value delivery, and drive business success in accordance with TBM principles.

  • Categorise resources based on their type, function, and role within the organisation. Common resource categories include personnel, infrastructure, software, and external vendors.
  • Map resources to the business capabilities they support to ensure alignment with strategic objectives and priorities.
  • Identify critical resources required to deliver key business functions and services.
  • Establish processes and workflows for resource management, including resource planning, allocation, utilisation, and optimisation.
  • Define roles and responsibilities for resource management activities to ensure accountability and transparency.
  • Assess resource demand and capacity to identify gaps, redundancies, and opportunities for optimisation.
  • Prioritise resource allocation based on business priorities, strategic initiatives, and value delivery.
  • Utilise technology platforms and tools to support resource management activities, such as resource planning software, project management tools, and workforce management systems.
  • Leverage frameworks and tools to track and manage resource costs, utilisation, and performance effectively.
  • Embrace Agile principles and practices to enable adaptive resource allocation and flexibility in response to changing business needs.
  • Utilise techniques such as capacity planning, resource levelling, and cross-functional teams to optimise resource utilisation and efficiency.
  • Invest in talent development initiatives to build the skills and capabilities of IT professionals.
  • Provide training, coaching, and mentoring programs to empower employees and enhance their effectiveness in delivering value.
  • Foster collaboration and partnership across business units, departments, and external stakeholders to leverage shared resources and expertise.
  • Establish strategic partnerships with vendors, service providers, and industry partners to augment internal resources and capabilities.
  • Define key performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor resource utilisation, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness.
  • Implement performance measurement and reporting mechanisms to track resource performance against predefined targets and benchmarks.
  • Regularly review and assess portfolio management processes, practices, and outcomes to identify areas for improvement.
  • Solicit feedback from stakeholders and implement continuous improvement initiatives to enhance portfolio management effectiveness and efficiency.

Portfolio

By structuring the IT portfolio in alignment with business objectives, implementing robust portfolio management processes, and leveraging technology and best practices, organisations can optimise investments, enhance value delivery, and drive business success in accordance with TBM principles.

  • Clearly articulate the objectives and goals of the IT portfolio in alignment with the organisation's overall strategic priorities and business outcomes.
  • Establish criteria and metrics for evaluating and prioritising portfolio initiatives.
  • Categorise portfolio investments based on their strategic alignment, business impact, risk profile, and resource requirements.
  • Group investments into different categories such as growth initiatives, optimisation efforts, regulatory compliance, and maintenance activities.
  • Ensure a balanced mix of investments across different categories to mitigate risks, optimise returns, and support business growth.
  • Consider factors such as revenue generation, cost reduction, innovation, and risk mitigation when determining the portfolio mix.
  • Prioritise portfolio initiatives based on their strategic importance, value potential, ROI, and resource constraints.
  • Use prioritisation frameworks such as value-based scoring, weighted scoring models, or strategic alignment matrices to rank initiatives objectively.
  • Manage the entire investment lifecycle from ideation to retirement, including project initiation, planning, execution, monitoring, and closure.
  • Establish governance processes and decision gates to evaluate and approve investments at key milestones.
  • Allocate resources (e.g., budget, personnel, infrastructure) effectively across portfolio initiatives to maximise value delivery and minimise resource constraints.
  • Continuously assess resource demand, capacity, and utilisation to identify opportunities for optimisation and reallocation.
  • Embrace Agile principles and practices to enable adaptive planning, prioritisation, and execution of portfolio initiatives.
  • Utilise techniques such as iterative planning, rolling wave planning, and agile release trains to respond quickly to changing business needs.
  • Utilise technology platforms and tools to support portfolio management activities, such as portfolio management software, project portfolio management (PPM) tools, and investment analysis tools.
  • Leverage TBM frameworks and tools to track and manage portfolio costs, benefits, risks, and performance effectively.
  • Define key performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor portfolio performance, including financial metrics (e.g., ROI, TCO), strategic alignment, business outcomes, and risk management.
  • Implement performance measurement and reporting mechanisms to track portfolio performance against predefined targets and benchmarks.
  • Regularly review and assess portfolio management processes, practices, and outcomes to identify areas for improvement.
  • Solicit feedback from stakeholders and implement continuous improvement initiatives to enhance portfolio management effectiveness and efficiency.
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