Target-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.
Improvement Planning
Practices-Outcomes-Metrics (POM)
Representative POMs are described for Target-Setting and Development Roadmap at each level of maturity.
- 1Initial
- Practice
- Practices are ad hoc, occurring on a best endeavour basis.
- Outcome
- _
- Metric
- _
- 2Basic
- Practice
- Align IT capability targets with technical deliverables.
- Outcome
- There is basic alignment of the targets with IT's direction.
- Metric
- % of YoY expenditure (e.g. $ or FTE) targeting improvements that are approved as a result of assessments.
- Practice
- Establish a basic process for selecting and prioritizing improvement areas within IT.
- Outcome
- Fundamental areas for improvement can be identified.
- Metric
- # of identified areas for improvement that are prioritized for action. Average time forecasted to achieve target improvement goal.
- Practice
- Communicate some results and targets to participants and stakeholders.
- Outcome
- Basic communication of results and targets begins to foster buy-in to improvement activities.
- Metric
- Yes/No indicators re the existence of and adherence to a process for regularly communicating IT capability assessment results and targets to employees. # of emails/reports/other communication formats used to inform the wider organization of IT capability assessment results and improvement activities.
- Practice
- Directly assign assessment results to line managers in IT to address identified gaps.
- Outcome
- There is basic responsibility for realizing improvements.
- Metric
- % of identified improvement initiatives that are assigned financial and stakeholder resources. IT capability improvement funding as a % of total expenditure. # and % of IT capability stakeholders with capability improvement responsibilities.
- 3Intermediate
- Practice
- Use a target identification process that is consistent across all of IT and that has an overarching, high-level view of other business unit requirements.
- Outcome
- There is an integrated framework in place to allow trade-off comparisons of all assessment results across the organization.
- Metric
- % of YoY expenditure (e.g. $ or FTE) targeting improvements that are approved as a result of assessments.
- Practice
- Establish a detailed and standardized process for prioritizing improvement areas across IT and some other business units.
- Outcome
- Clear prioritization of improvement areas facilitates communication and realization of improvements.
- Metric
- # of identified areas for improvement that are prioritized for action. Average time forecasted to achieve target improvement goal.
- Practice
- Take into account industry benchmarks and results from previous assessments when defining improvement goals.
- Outcome
- Assessment results can be interpreted within a context of past results and benchmarks.
- Metric
- % of IT capability targets set that are informed by industry benchmark data.
- Practice
- Define and agree a standard process (e.g. communication methods, communication frequency, etc.) for communicating results to all participants and stakeholders in IT and some other business units.
- Outcome
- The communication of results and targets within IT and to some other business units fosters greater buy-in to improvement activities.
- Metric
- Yes/No indicators re the existence of and adherence to a process for regularly communicating IT capability assessment results and targets to employees. # of emails/reports/other communication formats used to inform the wider organization of IT capability assessment results and improvement activities.
- Practice
- Establish an improvement support structure (e.g. with senior management commitment and guidance, adequate resource provisioning, etc.) to support implementation of prioritized improvements and achievement of targets set. Make financial and stakeholder resources available for improvements in IT and some other business units.
- Outcome
- An improvement support mechanism allows identified improvements to be successfully implemented in order to achieve business value and reach targets. Fundamental requirements for implementing improvements are in place.
- Metric
- % of identified improvement initiatives that are assigned financial and stakeholder resources. IT capability improvement funding as a % of total expenditure. # and % of IT capability stakeholders with capability improvement responsibilities.
- 4Advanced
- Practice
- Align IT capability targets to business deliverables.
- Outcome
- There is alignment of IT capability targets with the strategic direction of the organization
- Metric
- % of YoY expenditure (e.g. $ or FTE) targeting improvements that are approved as a result of assessments.
- Practice
- Use the standardized prioritization process organization-wide when selecting and prioritizing all improvement areas. Review and revise improvement goals.
- Outcome
- Consistent identification of improvement areas facilitates decisions on assessment deep dives.
- Metric
- # of identified areas for improvement that are prioritized for action. Average time forecasted to achieve target improvement goal. % of IT capability targets set that are informed by industry benchmark data.
- Practice
- Set up a communications plan for organization-wide results communication and ensure tailored results communication to participants and to senior IT and business stakeholders.
- Outcome
- Structured communication increases commitment and buy-in within the organization, facilitates assessment execution and increases the likelihood of successful improvements.
- Metric
- Yes/No indicators re the existence of and adherence to a process for regularly communicating IT capability assessment results to employees. # of emails/reports/other communication formats used to inform the wider organization of IT capability assessment results and improvement activities.
- Practice
- Standardize the improvement support structure and ensure the necessary financial and stakeholder resources are consistently made available to support implementation of all improvement initiatives organization-wide.
- Outcome
- Recommendations to address gaps or imbalances impacting on capability are considered as part of the wider development of improvement strategies, priorities, and development road maps. The necessary financial and stakeholder resources are in place to support implementation of improvement initiatives organization-wide.
- Metric
- % of identified improvement initiatives that are assigned financial and stakeholder resources. IT capability improvement funding as a % of total expenditure. # and % of IT capability stakeholders with capability improvement responsibilities.
- 5Optimized
- Practice
- Regularly update all capability target definitions based on feedback and learning, and align them with the business ecosystem's needs.
- Outcome
- Capability targets are optimized at the technical, organization, and individual levels and reflect the needs of the business ecosystem.
- Metric
- % of YoY expenditure (e.g. $ or FTE) targeting improvements that are approved as a result of assessments.
- Practice
- Deploy the improvement prioritization process across the business ecosystem and regularly review/update it based on available internal and external insights and learnings.
- Outcome
- The improvement prioritization process is informed by a combination of industry benchmarks, previous assessment results across several iterations of assessment cycles, and reported problems from the business ecosystem.
- Metric
- # of identified areas for improvement that are prioritized for action. Average time forecasted to achieve target improvement goal. % of IT capability targets set that are informed by industry benchmark data.
- Practice
- Communicate results across the business ecosystem and set up a feedback process for all results communication.
- Outcome
- Continued and widespread buy-in to improvement activities is fostered based on the communication of assessment results.
- Metric
- Yes/No indicators re the existence of and adherence to a process for regularly communicating IT capability assessment results and targets to employees. # of emails/reports/other communication formats used to inform the wider organization of IT capability assessment results and improvement activities.
- Practice
- Regularly review and optimize the improvement support structure.
- Outcome
- The improvement support structure is capable of supporting the current and future improvement needs of the business ecosystem.
- Metric
- % of identified improvement initiatives that are assigned financial and stakeholder resources. IT capability improvement funding as a % of total expenditure. # and % of IT capability stakeholders with capability improvement responsibilities.