10-11 November 2016 saw the second meeting of the Open ROADS Community, at Hanbury Manor, Hertfordshire. STL Partners participated in the event, supporting some of the sessions. It was a packed two days, although this post will focus on the work that we shared and developed on the Open Digital Maturity Model (ODMM).
Digital Boot Camp – sharing the Open Digital Maturity Model with attendees
The Digital Boot Camp offered attendees the opportunity to browse through a number of digital initiatives supported by Open ROADS. STL have been working with Open ROADS to develop the Open Digital Maturity Model (ODMM), a structured set of digital metrics that allows organizations to assess themselves against their digital aspirations, and then use the metrics to evaluate where they need to focus their transformation efforts.
The metrics in the ODMM are organized into six cross-functional categories (Strategic Dynamism, Digital Culture & Skills, Optimal Customer Experience, Data Centricity, Service Innovation & Operational Excellence, and Digital Technology Leadership), and then further sub-categories (under Strategic Dynamism, for example, Strategic Vision, Business Agility, and Finance & Investment Model). Each sub-category is scored by 2-5 metrics.
Digital Culture seen as the top transformation challenge… and hardest to define
The Hanbury Manor Digital Boot Camp gave participants the opportunity to explore the ODMM and provide feedback through conversation with the team that have been working on it. Generally, feedback was positive – the cross-functional approach was popular, and participants were keen to dig down into the metrics. We had a number of questions that emphasized the importance of the ‘Digital Culture & Skills’ category. It is clear that this area is regularly identified as a “must” for digital transformation. In other words: operators and vendors alike agree that culture must change, but are less clear on exactly how to effect that change, and how to measure it. Looking forward, this is one area where the ODMM may be able to help.
Measuring Transformation: Working on the ODMM
On Friday afternoon, we were able to build on the feedback from the Digital Boot Camp further and do some more work on the metrics with the attendees at Open ROADS. We gathered together a small group of operators and analysts to explore the model in some more depth and discuss some categories. We were fortunate to have a lively group, who were happy to provide some forthright opinions on the model!
A strategic vision must be compelling and fundamentally available to customers and employees
We broke into groups – I spent a lively half-hour discussing the question of ‘Strategic Vision’ with a couple of analysts. In many ways, the ODMM may be most valuable when it comes to discussing these more abstract concepts. It is hardly controversial to suggest that an organization pursuing digital transformation must have a clear strategic vision. And while many operators and analysts claim to ‘know it when they see it’ in terms of clear strategic vision, it is harder to understand exactly what they are identifying, and how it can be measured. So this conversation was interesting precisely because we attempted to pin down exactly how one might quantify the level of an organization’s vision. One of the key themes that emerged was the concept that a strategic vision should be compelling and fundamentally available to employees and customers alike. It is one thing for the board to decide on a vision, and quite another for employees and/or customers to grasp that vision completely, unambiguously and perhaps most importantly unequivocally.
The Open ROADS community is committed to making the ODMM available to all members and welcomes operators and vendors to join.
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