Ron Thieme, Ph.D.
Vice President, Strategic Services
One of the exciting aspects of our business is that we get exposure into a lot of organizations. We often get the chance to observe how companies go about the process of collaboration. For some, it’s almost a natural process (why would we do it any other way?); for others, it’s a bit more of a challenge.
Just as each company has its own cultural propensity to collaborate or not, each also has a set of tools that it uses to enable or encourage collaboration. These tend to range from simple ad hoc collections of tools such as email, voicemail, and static intranet web sites to highly-orchestrated technology infrastructures that enable collaboration at every step.
The problem is that it can be difficult for companies to know how to prioritize investments that will improve their collaboration capability. Should we create a portal site first? Perhaps a series of extranets to collaborate more fully with our customers? Or maybe we need to first get a handle on all of our existing data so we can begin to make it more “actionable.” Perhaps we need to integrate our voice, email, and fax communications first. How can you make such decisions?
Microsoft has developed a maturity model that is very helpful in determining where investments might best be made. The Business Productivity Infrastructure Optimization Model is illustrated by this diagram:
Here an organization’s maturity can be placed in one of four optimization levels:
- Basic: Simple email and file shares; manual, paper-based processes; static documents
- Standardized: Disconnected repositories, basic search capabilities, and ad hoc teaming around projects and functions
- Rationalized: Standard collaboration platform with pervasive access, defined and integrated financial and non-financial key performance indicators
- Dynamic: Seamless collaboration with customers and suppliers, personalized access to information, and process orchestration across the extended enterprise
Each optimization level can be measured in terms of communication and collaboration (how people work together), enterprise content management (including process as well as content), and business intelligence (reporting, analysis, and performance management).
The maturity model offers an opportunity for technology and business people to sit down together to address the needs of the organization. Call Ambassador Solutions today to see how we can help you facilitate this conversation in your organization!