Operational Excellence in IT

How to sustainably align your IT organization to the requirements of your business

In the IT organization, the question often arises as to whether IT services can actually provide sufficient support for the business. To answer this question, a model from consulting practice can also be used here. The model is divided into three stages - assessment of business competence, derivation of the business capability map and identification of IT control levers.

In the first stage, a questionnaire is used to examine which delimitation possibilities exist in business operations. The business competence can be subdivided into delimiting and non-delimiting competences. Delimiting competences include those, which have a direct or significant influence on the business result of the enterprise. Non-delimiting competencies are further subdivided into core competencies and supporting competencies. Core competences are competences that are necessary for production or regulation. Supporting competencies have little or no impact on business performance.

The result of the first step is transferred into a Business Capability Map, which serves as a starting point for further investigations. During the competence analysis, differences may occur between the assessments of the business and IT. These are then compiled in a target capability map and form the basis for the new enterprise architecture.

In the last step, the identification of IT control levers, the business competencies are identified where the IT organization can still improve the performance of the business. If an application supports a business competency, it must be a core IT service. If this is not the case, the IT service can also be operated externally. The advantage of this model is a sustainable alignment of IT organization and business with the help of the Business Capability Map. It also supports strategic, tactical and operational IT decisions and enables structured service classification.

How to improve your ITSM control model to make your IT processes more efficient

Often those responsible in an IT organization ask themselves how to make IT processes more efficient. These questions can be answered by a structured approach from consulting practice. IT requires three steps - situation analysis, ITSM integration and ITSM control.

In the first step, the as-is analysis, it is checked which processes, risks, roles, control parameters and KPIs are already documented and what the current status of the documentation in the IT organization is. t the same time, it is examined which processes are actually carried out within the organization, how processes are managed and controlled, and which roles and responsibilities exist. This shows which special ITSM processes and control measures are actually required in the IT organization and for which processes documentation must still be prepared.

In the second step, ITSM integration, it is checked how many of the ITSM processes correspond to standard processes from frameworks (e.g. ITIL) and to what extent process documentation according to standard frameworks is available. At the same time, it is checked again which ITSM processes are actually carried out within the IT organization and how close the correspondence between documented and actually carried out ITSM processes is. This step allows necessary changes to the processes and documentation to be derived. In addition, it is possible to identify and eliminate unnecessary processes within the organization.

In the last step, ITSM control, a comprehensive control model for IT Service Management is implemented. This makes it possible to create an organization-wide transparency of the IT service portfolio, including all relevant IT goods and services with their SLAs and OLAs.

With this approach, the actual demand of IT services and IT processes in the organization can be identified. Standard frameworks, such as ITIL, are only used if they add value.

IT risk management

IT risk management is an essential component of every IT organization and the basis for the secure operation of IT services and services in the company. Our experience shows that the difficulty in implementing IT risk management lies in embedding the required processes deeply into the entire IT organization. To do this, it is essential to consider all relevant interface areas, such as IT governance, the service portfolio and the infrastructure. It has been shown that only a complete integration of the required processes into the entire IT organization leads to sustainable success and also meets the requirements of the certification standards. 

Our consulting services - Why 4C?

We support you in establishing a sustainable approach for operational excellence in your IT organization and aligning your processes with the needs of the business. In addition, we will assist you in the establishment of the Target Operation Model and the management of your ITSM processes as temporary co-pilots and accompany you in the implementation and acceptance of your Operational Excellence. We will help you to overcome the pitfalls and hurdles on your way or to find another way that will bring you to your goal.

Our consulting services at a glance

The process for designing Operational Excellence comprises all the necessary components, from controlling ITSM processes and aligning IT with the needs of the business to a Target Operating Model adapted to the values and culture of the IT organization:

Consulting project

As part of a consulting project, we support you in the implementation of your operational excellence and the necessary components as well as the anchoring of a sustainable ITSM management model that ensures that your IT is capable of acting for the changes that occur in the company, the market or the technology.

Why 4C?

We have experts on the necessary topics to ensure a holistic view of the CIO area and its anchoring in the company and its business models. The combination of IT DNA, IT process control and mobilization for the necessary changes at all levels as well as the experience of the concrete challenges during implementation guarantee sustainable operational excellence.

Experience – We advise our clients on a wide range of IT and digitization issues and accompany them from strategy to implementation.

4C GROUP offers its customers implementation success.

If you share our approaches and want to take your IT to a new level to meet the challenges of your business and the autonomy of your business, please contact us.