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Capability Assessment Management

CAM

The Capability Assessment Management (CAM) capability is the ability of the organization to conduct current state evaluations and plan improvements for its portfolio of IT capabilities. Current state evaluations involve gathering and documenting data about the specific IT capabilities in the organization. The results then inform the planning and execution of improvement actions to deal with any deficiencies. The Capability Assessment Management (CAM) capability covers:

  • Selecting an overarching capability framework and mapping other frameworks used in the organization to it.
  • Managing continuous improvement of the organization’s IT capabilities.
  • Securing appropriate senior management sponsorship for IT capability improvement.
  • Promoting organizational buy-in and incentivizing participation in capability improvement evaluation and planning.
  • Planning, preparing, and conducting capability evaluations.
  • Setting IT capability targets and defining development roadmaps for key IT capabilities.

Structure

CAM is made up of the following Categories and CBBs. Maturity and Planning are described at both the CC and the CBB level.

AGovernance

Creates the oversight mechanisms for managing capability assessment programmes.

A1Framework

Determine the capability framework(s) to be used for assessment. Define an integration and mapping approach in cases where a number of frameworks are used simultaneously.

A2Commitment

Promote management sponsorship and stakeholder commitment. Provide the required resources for capability assessments.

A3Culture

Promote organizational buy-in to targets by, for example, highlighting the reasons for change and identifying the owners of improvement initiatives.

BProcess

Reflects the operational activities involved in conducting individual IT capability assessments.

B1Assessment Planning

Plan and prepare the approach for conducting capability assessments – examine the organization’s needs and business goals, establish assessment objectives, and agree assessment scope, team members, participants, and logistics.

B2Assessment Execution

Conduct the assessment, including such activities as running awareness campaigns, employing assessment tools, conducting evaluation interviews, and gathering information about existing practices in the organization.

B3Evaluation

Analyse the assessment results, and determine strengths and areas for improvement.

B4Target-Setting and Development Roadmap

Identify IT capability areas in need of improvement. Develop plans to close the gap between the current state and the target. Obtain support for implementing improvement initiatives. Communicate with stakeholders about assessment results, targets, gaps, and roadmap progress.

Overview

Goal

The Capability Assessment Management (CAM) capability aims to provide the organization with an accurate picture of its current IT management capabilities, and to identify areas needing improvement.

Objectives

  • Improve the organization’s ability to identify strengths and weaknesses in key IT capabilities.
  • Establish a consistent approach to assessing IT capabilities and selecting areas for IT capability improvement that are aligned with the organization’s strategic direction.
  • Identify over-investment in IT capabilities that are of lower strategic importance.
  • Establish a credible and achievable approach to managing a continual improvement programme, which can be used to verify improvements over time.

Value

The Capability Assessment Management (CAM) capability helps ensure reliability, repeatability, and validity in assessing IT capabilities and implementing improvement initiatives.

Relevance

The creation, deployment, and exploitation of distinct and inimitable IT capabilities can be among an organization’s key competitive differentiators12 target="_blank" rel="noopener">3, as they determine the pace and manner by which it can use technology to innovate and deliver value4.

However, to optimize IT capabilities, an organization needs to know which IT capabilities are strategically important, how mature they currently are, and in what areas they need to be developed further4. The organization thus needs reliable, repeatable, and valid approaches for assessing the strengths and weaknesses of various IT capabilities and developing dependable improvement roadmaps.

By developing an effective Capability Assessment Management (CAM) capability, the organization can conduct capability assessments, set capability targets, and implement improvement initiatives in a consistent and transparent manner. This enables the organization to develop the core IT capabilities that support its strategy, and to identify non- core capabilities that may be stood-down and resources diverted elsewhere.

Scope

Definition

The Capability Assessment Management (CAM) capability is the ability of the organization to conduct current state evaluations and plan improvements for its portfolio of IT capabilities. Current state evaluations involve gathering and documenting data about the specific IT capabilities in the organization. The results then inform the planning and execution of improvement actions to deal with any deficiencies. The Capability Assessment Management (CAM) capability covers:

  • Selecting an overarching capability framework and mapping other frameworks used in the organization to it.
  • Managing continuous improvement of the organization’s IT capabilities.
  • Securing appropriate senior management sponsorship for IT capability improvement.
  • Promoting organizational buy-in and incentivizing participation in capability improvement evaluation and planning.
  • Planning, preparing, and conducting capability evaluations.
  • Setting IT capability targets and defining development roadmaps for key IT capabilities.

Improvement Planning

Practices-Outcomes-Metrics (POM)

Representative POMs are described for CAM at each level of maturity.

2Basic
  • Practice
    Determine if any IT capability frameworks are already in use, and establish basic relationships/linkages between them.
    Outcome
    Clear mapping between frameworks supports greater transparency in IT capability assessments.
    Metric
    Number of discrete frameworks in use.
  • Practice
    Run awareness campaigns across the IT function to inform employees of IT capability assessment activities and the reasons for change.
    Outcome
    There is increased awareness of and buy-in to IT capability assessment and improvement.
    Metric
    Number of communications formats used to inform relevant employees.
  • Practice
    Establish a basic IT capability assessment approach to evaluate key IT capabilities, and to identify areas for improvement in key parts of the IT function.
    Outcome
    Basic planning and preparation activities can begin to identify the capabilities needed to address the organization’s needs and business goals.
    Metric
    Percentage of IT capability assessments adhering to an emerging approach or blueprint for conducting assessments.
  • Practice
    Make IT line managers responsible for addressing identified gaps.
    Outcome
    Responsibility for realizing improvement is clearly assigned, increasing the likelihood of successful improvement action.
    Metric
    Percentage of identified capability gaps assigned to IT line managers. IT capability improvement funding as a percentage of total IT expenditure.
3Intermediate
  • Practice
    Select and agree one lead framework for IT capabilities, and establish an approach for consistently mapping, integrating, or migrating other frameworks that were previously used to this lead framework.
    Outcome
    The lead framework acts as a central reference under which any other frameworks can be organized or mapped. The mapping of all frameworks and methodologies in use to this lead framework provides capability assessments with greater transparency, consistency, and comparability.
    Metric
    Percentage of legacy/discrete frameworks that are retired, integrated or mapped onto the lead framework.
  • Practice
    Introduce assessment cycles for key IT capabilities.
    Outcome
    Time series comparisons and benchmarking over time become more reliable.
    Metric
    Percentage of targeted IT capabilities that were assessed per annum. Percentage of targeted survey participants who provided current-state evaluations of IT capabilities.
  • Practice
    Take industry benchmarks and results of previous assessments into account when setting improvement goals.
    Outcome
    Improvement goals are more likely to be realistic, resource feasible, and aligned with business needs.
    Metric
    Percentage of IT capability targets that are achieved.
  • Practice
    Establish a standardized support structure for implementing prioritized IT capability improvements, including senior management commitment and guidance, and adequate resourcing for improving IT capabilities.
    Outcome
    Fundamental requirements for implementing improvements are in place, increasing confidence in the delivery of business value and in achieving targets.
    Metric
    Percentage of identified IT capability improvement initiatives that have adequate financial and stakeholder resources explicitly assigned to them. IT capability improvement funding as a percentage of total IT expenditure. Percentage of IT capability improvement initiatives with explicit senior stakeholder sponsorship.
4Advanced
  • Practice
    Evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the lead framework against the on-going needs of the broader IT function and all other business units, and establish a consistent organization-wide mapping of all subservient frameworks to this lead framework.
    Outcome
    The framework is comprehensively aligned with the broader organization’s needs and strategic direction, and is supported by all business stakeholders. The IT capability assessments are regarded as highly credible.
    Metric
    Percentage of legacy or subservient frameworks that are integrated or mapped to the lead framework.
  • Practice
    Foster broader awareness of, and support for, IT capability assessments through organization-wide communications.
    Outcome
    There is increased support for IT capability assessment and improvement initiatives.
    Metric
    Percentage of relevant employees in each business unit involved in IT capability assessments.
  • Practice
    Ensure organization-wide compliance with the standardized IT capability assessment planning approach or blueprint.
    Outcome
    A holistic and reliable IT capability assessment across the organization is possible.
    Metric
    Percentage of IT capability assessments adhering to a standardized blueprint.
  • Practice
    Implement formal training and incentive schemes organization-wide to encourage employee participation in driving capability improvements (including appropriate capability training, improvement suggestion schemes, and integration with employee incentive schemes for promotion, recognition, and reward).
    Outcome
    Greater employee support for capability assessment and improvement is fostered, increasing the likelihood of successful capability improvements.
    Metric
    Percentage of relevant employees in each business unit receiving training. Percentage of relevant employees in each business unit receiving additional compensation/recognition based on their contribution to IT capability improvements.
5Optimized
  • Practice
    Continually review and improve framework integration by taking into account insights and lessons learned from previous IT capability assessments.
    Outcome
    The framework continues to support required IT capability evaluations.
    Metric
    Frequency of review of the framework integration approach (and update as appropriate).
  • Practice
    Regularly review the support structure for managing IT capability improvement (including, for example, levels of senior management commitment and guidance, training, and resource provisioning), based on feedback and lessons learned.
    Outcome
    The support structure continues to enable IT capability improvements.
    Metric
    IT capability improvement funding as a percentage of total expenditure. Distribution of employees with capability improvement responsibilities across business units.
  • Practice
    Reflect contributions to improving IT capability in employee performance reviews.
    Outcome
    Capability assessment and improvement is recognized as an important aspect of employees’ work.
    Metric
    Distribution of employees with defined roles and responsibilities in capability assessment and improvement across business units.
  • Practice
    Regularly include relevant business ecosystem partners when reviewing and updating IT capability planning activities and improvement targets.
    Outcome
    Capability planning activities and improvement targets reflect insights of the business ecosystem.
    Metric
    Frequency of IT capability planning reviews. Percentage of total expenditure allocated to capability improvements.

Reference

History

This capability was introduced in Revision 16 as a new critical capability.

It was deprecated in Revision 19.01, being updated by Capability Assessment Management (19.01).