Tuesday's Tip: 2010 Apps Strategies Should Start With Business Value

December 8, 2009

Begin Apps Strategy Projects With Bite-Sized Entry Points

Complexity often plagues today's apps strategies. With tight budgets, limited resources, and little time, organizations need to find bite-sized entry points. The need to meet ever changing complex business requirements requires a four-step, basic (A,B,C,D) approach:

Align your business requirements with the hierarchy of business needs. Every project and initiative can be placed into one of the five stages. Use the organizational hierarchy of needs to classify and prioritize the importance of each project. With a clear sense of how the priorities stack up, you can begin crafting your apps strategy around organizational readiness, business process optimization, technology strategy, and vendor ecosystems.
Base decisions on the identification of 3 major types of business processes. As organizations begin that process of documenting business processes, they must differentiate among the 3 major types of business processes. In key flows such as order to cash, hire to retire, incident to resolution, procure to pay, etc, remember to categorize key processes into three buckets: mission critical, commoditized, and innovative.
Choose your entry points to business value. It makes no sense to boil the ocean. Clients often start with departmental and work there way to cross-departmental initiatives. Advanced customers focus on external entry points such as customers and partners. Keep in mind processes cross functional fiefdoms but you do have to start somewhere. (see Figure 1.)
Define the metrics that matter. Begin with the end in mind. This Coveyism always rings true in transformational activities. Metrics should be aligned with your entry points. Quantify the baseline and determine the effort. Adjust your ROI targets to align resources with efforts to move the needle. The goal - drive business value. (see Figure 2.)

Figure 1. Choose Your Entry Points To Business Value

Figure 2. Define The Metrics That Matter

Copyright © 2009 by R Wang and Insider Associates, LLC. All rights reserved.)

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The Bottom Line - Sketch The Big Picture, But Paint By Number
With the pace of adoption much slower than the pace of technology innovation, organizations will have to complete small tactical projects that build out the larger picture. Apps strategies should include tactical road maps that achieve strategic goals. Don't hesitate to plan ahead and build in flexibility. Plans will change, so apps strategies must take an "agile" approach. Iterate every 6 months as business needs change and new disruptive technologies emerge. Keep focused on the goal in mind - business value.
Your POV

Have you planned your 2010 strategy? Which entry points have you prioritized? How are you defining business value? Got a scoop or something to share? Please post or send on to r at softwareinsider dot org or rwang0 at gmail dot com and we’ll keep your anonymity.
Copyright © 2009 R Wang and Insider Associates, LLC. All rights reserved.