Beyond Alignment: Organizing and Governing for Performance - Moving towards BTM maturity

How does an enterprise become more sophisticated in its use of governance and organizational design, as Carlson has?

First, it breaks this broad goal down into the four management capabilities grouped together under Governance & Organization as defined in the Business Technology Management (BTM) Framework. These are:

• Strategic & Tactical Governance
• Organization Design & Change Management
• Communication Strategy & Management
• Compliance & Risk Management

These capabilities focus on enterprise CIOs and business executives concerned with enterprise-wide governance of business technology. They work to structure and manage the business technology organization, allocate investments, manage enterprise risk, and ensure that business objectives are both enabled and shaped by business technology.

Practical steps to maturity

The practical “how to” steps of addressing this area are to:

• Put into place a decision making body (a Business Technology Council) which brings together business and technology professionals to review, approve, and prioritize technology requests; and then put into place an upper management body (a Business Technology Investment Board) which sets policy and serves as an escalation point to settle disputes. Involve business management actively both as sponsor and partner with technology.
• Put into place a Program Management Office that will have authority over the process of bringing investment proposals forward.
• Tie the decision to approve or deny directly to items of strategic importance to the enterprise’s business – measure proposals on the basis of business drivers.
• Remember the importance of architecture!  An Architecture Review Board needs to review the architectural compliance of proposals, and to advise the BTC on their fit. An Office of Architecture and Standards needs to establish standards, to draft architectural roadmaps, and to ensure that the gulf between architecture and business is closed.
• Realize that an enterprise that uses technology to meet its business goals will need professionals who understand both business and technology. Designing such an organization, finding these people, and letting them prosper requires an active partnership with human capital professionals.
• Communicate frequently, openly, and in business terms – technology that works as an enabler must be on the radar, not “under” it.
• Focus on compliance, and manage risk. These areas should be understood and managed for the enterprise’s benefit by a formal compliance and risk management function – these professionals need to participate in governance bodies and advise decision-makers with consistency.