The key to a successful transformation journey, is knowing where you are. It is comparable to sailing, where you need navigation tools to know where you are heading. The same applies for digital transformation. It is challenging for an organization to determine its position on their transformation journey without the right tools.
A helpful tool to determine the starting point of a digital transformation is the Digital Maturity Model, which is the basis for a Digital Maturity Assessment. The Digital Maturity Model is a questionnaire tool with the aim to capture an organization’s current level of digital maturity. The model was co-developed by TMForum, Detecon and other leading industry partners and consists of six dimensions, divided into 25 sub-dimensions, covering all facets of an organization. Each of the 25 sub-dimensions is supported by specific questions, which are answered via five maturity levels, providing a holistic view on the digital maturity of the organization. But how do you conduct a Digital Maturity Assessment?
To our clients we recommend a guided assessment in which the individually chosen questions and criteria of the Digital Maturity Model are sent to selected stakeholders across the organization. The questions as well as the recipients of the questionnaire vary due to the different dimensions and are defined in the scoping with our customers upfront. The bandwidth ranges from top-management decision makers, who are able to answer strategic questions, to a number of different stakeholders across the whole organization and every hierarchy level, depending solely on the challenge that will be addressed. Using the six dimensions and its 25 sub-dimensions, the Digital Maturity Model results in a detailed digital maturity score. This scoring is the key for all further activities.
After the digital maturity level is determined, a series of workshops is held to discuss the results with all relevant stakeholders. In these workshops, we have the opportunity to deep dive into the results of the scoring and receive insights from the selected executives and managers. One essential part of the workshops is to define the desired target state. For this definition, the importance of a comprehensive set of target objectives should not be underestimated as this determines the measures to be taken. After a clear target picture has been defined, the necessary and individual measures for a successful transformation journey are developed and prioritized together with the participants.
Following the prioritization of the measures, a comprehensive digitization road-map is developed and discussed with our clients. This strategic road-map includes clear quick-wins and a clustering of the initiatives to 3 dimensions: time, ease of implementation and criticality.
To enable employees to measure the organization’s digitization progress along the journey, we support our clients by facilitating online trainings, by our TMForum certified consultants, to conduct the Digital Maturity Model themselves.
