The world is changing rapidly. Technology (e.g. SMAC (Social, Mobile, Analytics, Cloud)) is evolving at a speed never seen before and new ways of doing business (e.g. more license revenue) are emerging that change business models and E2E processes.
Many companies are struggling with questions how to integrate business model innovations within their organization and at the same time implement E2E business process improvements and execute ICT projects.
The main problem is that departments and/or projects have difficulty sharing and accepting company standards and therefore implement their own business concepts, methods and tools. This leads to the following common issues;
- Limited E2E processes/technical documentation and associated knowledge of the staff
- Inefficient E2E processes leading to more disruptions and higher costs
- Inflexible and unstable ICT platform with high maintenance costs
- No overview of aging overlapping applications and tooling landscape
- Misalignment between business and IT leading to the emergence of shadow applications
Even major ‘one model’ SAP template projects have configured similar E2E processes on multiple different ways which reduces operational flexibility and sharing of best practices.
The solution is to assemble an Advanced Delivery Management (ADM) team that is responsible for maintaining the quality of the company standards, E2E process efficiency and the alignment between the business units and the ERP/ICT departments.
The Advanced Delivery Management (ADM) team
A dedicated ADM team is needed because driving E2E business innovations and E2E operational excellence to improve business profitability requires a different mindset compared to running and operating existing applications (keeping the light on).
The ADM team should be the glue between the business and the ICT organization using the E2E Business Process Management structure (BPM) as the foundation for the single source of truth.
The success of the ADM team will be measured by the improvement of E2E PPI’s (Process Performance Indicator) and quality management PPI’s like data accuracy.
Responsibilities of the Advanced Delivery Management (ADM) team
The ADM team should be responsible for:
1. Master Data Governance (MDG)
The ADM team must control the master data standards, data quality and the impact on the E2E processes.
2. Business Process Management (BPM)
The E2E process design, business requirements, solution design, configuration & development documents and developments objects must be stored and maintained according to the BPM structure.
3. Application Lifecycle Management (ALM)
Business requirements and architectural design principles must be the input for on-going application rationalization reflected in an agreed ALM roadmap.
4. Business Intelligence (BI)
The reporting standards and the KPI hierarchy should be aligned with the E2E process structure and the business models should be aligned with the associated business value.
5. Business Transformation (BT)
Based on E2E process performance reports the required business transformations are determined and the required E2E integration workflows must be monitored.
6. Project Management Office (PMO)
The translation of the open help desk E2E incidents into Requests For Change (RFC). The RFC’s deliverables should then beUser Acceptance Tested (UAT) based on the E2E processes. The QA check on the RFC and project deliverables must also be positive.
Advanced Delivery Management governance
The ADM team should operate independent from the ICT and business units, in order to fulfill the quality management role. The ADM team should report to the CxO who is responsible for the optimal use of the (financial and ICT) resources of the company.
The ADM team must be managed by an ADM coordinator who is responsible for the;
- ADM team and management of the project portfolio
- ADM best practices and integration of the ADM standards within projects
- ADM integration platform that supports the ADM business model cockpit
- ADM roadmap with the associated tracking of the benefits case
- ADM organizational readiness monitoring and identification of potential roadblocks
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