From Strategy to Action: Planning Disruption

Data must be at the heart of every digital transformation process, IDC urges CIOs in their “Information Transformation Workbook” sponsored by the software company SAP. The workbook introduces five dimensions of information transformation and the corresponding organizational maturity model. After assessing their own level of maturity across the five dimensions, it is time for CIOs to plan for implementation: CIOs must define what concrete actions items to tackle, and which potential activities to consider for the action plan. For this, IDC has developed a set of checklists that help to find the right steps at the right time.

The checklists use the five dimensions of information transformation previously laid out in the workbook: “Information Architecture”, “Data Discovery”, “Value Development”, “Value Realization”, and “Knowledge and Collaboration”. Starting out from here, the checklists propose different activities, depending on the maturity of the organization, thus showing a clear vision of a truly digitalized IT-department: from strategy to organization, from processes to personnel.

For all dimensions of information transformation, there is a checklist that proposes actions to take within 6, 12, or 24 months respectively. For example, building an information architecture starts out with “mapping out enterprise information” structure and targets the “achievement of a single comprehensive master data repository” at the end of this process. In the dimension of “Value Realization”, the CIO is first called to “define a data valuation strategy”. IDC prescribes that after 24 months, “assessing the value of data becomes a mandatory practice” and calls to “differentiate new and existing portfolio of products through its data enhancements”.

Risk management – an aspect of “Knowledge and Collaboration” – goes from assessing the systems and potential data risks, via creating an overview of risks related to segregation, location, and retention for the different types of data. Within 24 months it is the goal to embody common practices for managing risks across all systems and data sources. CIOs can use some of the proposed actions for their action plan but more importantly, by adopting the model proposed by IDC, they define their own actions and map out their own digital journey.

Finally, the workbook proposes a clean, analytical approach for the implementations of these actions that allows CIOs to incorporate promoting innovation while continuing to strive for operational excellence. This approach depends on the art of integration: managing a continuous exchange of lessons learned and technology developments achieved. The outlined four phases of implementation provide a guideline to keep CIOs on track to achieve their goals. First, the CIO defines a digital business strategy and the KPIs to measure success. Next, he puts information at the centre of the strategy by analysing and structuring the data. The preparation of organization, processes, and tools is the final phase before ultimately implementing a continuous operationalization of data-driven innovation. Here, striving for data-driven innovation has become part of the DNA of the IT department so that it can anticipate and connect to new digital initiatives from the business.

This makes the “Information Transformation Workbook” a strategic tool that allows CIOs to take step after step towards generating significant revenue streams from real-time management of information. 

Download your free copy of the IDC checklists now and make use of analyst recommendations and templates to setup your information transformation plan. 

For more information visit SAP.com.

Further reading

Create a future-proof IT: The platform approach changes the IT landscape  

Learn from the digital thrivers: 5 recipes that give CIOs guidance on how to flourish in digital transformation initiatives  

Enable live business: Provide a basis for innovation and customer centricity – with a digital platform