Success Criteria: Part I
Be Fast and Innovative
By Kevin Paschuck | @kpaschuck
To modernize and transform your services, a platform that’s capable of meeting certain success criteria is required.
In these final chapters of my digital dilemma blog series, I’ll be taking a look at the features, functions, and characteristics required of any technology platform that is truly capable of supporting a transformation effort. I will share perspective through the eyes of departments, agencies, and citizens because those who have been successful understand what it takes.
Criteria 1: Fast
Speed is critical to overcoming the digital dilemma. The popularity of just-in-time service models from the private sector have redefined how the public sector is judged. Citizens and stakeholders judge us for our agility, responsiveness, and relevance (for more on this, see my earlier blog on customer experience). Prioritizing productivity, efficiency, and other speed-related benefits helps an organization translate these subjective customer dynamics into actionable, objective goals. The speed of the platform underneath is the foundation, which is where the cloud comes in.
A platform is considered to be fast when it is optimized for speed from the infrastructure to the user interface. Cloud platforms like Salesforce’s Government Cloud are often built using a multitenant model, which makes it easy for the cloud service provider (my team) to offer storage space and processing power in a customized format without compromising data integrity. Think of it kind of like an apartment building; you have the key to the unit you rent out, and can customize as you like — couch here, table there, and so on. The building manager is responsible for maintenance, upkeep, and issue resolution. By splitting the workload in such a manner, you get to settle into your new home and new routine…or new environment and new processes that much faster. The platform’s throughput capacity must also be large enough and fast enough to manage the variety and volume of the today’s user needs. Visit trust.salesforce.com to see some examples of performance and scalability metrics.
Carrying speed through to the user interface is equally as important. Web style navigation, drag-and-drop modules, and user-friendly designs make it easy for developers to configure, test, and deploy new applications quickly via clicking versus coding. Amtrak serves as a perfect example of this.
Amtrak joined us at Dreamforce to share the details behind its enterprise-wide transformation, an effort that has included everything from window-clad observation cars to a digital technology infrastructure. After simplifying and consolidating business processes, followed by enhancements to total cost of ownership and the internal service experience, Amtrak developed a portfolio of targeted applications, such as its TOPS app for Train Operations that help the organization move mission-critical processes faster. “We have focused on using the building block capabilities to drive rapid time to market,” said Sovan Shatpathy, Amtrak CTO. “We kept doubling down on what’s kept the company running yet we kept innovating at the edge to drive outcomes for the lines of business across Amtrak.” Learn more about Amtrak’s story.
Criteria 2: Innovative
The Amtrak example demonstrates my second criteri — innovation — just as well.
An innovative idea is more than just something new or different — after all, plenty of new and different ideas full of potential never take off for one reason or another. An idea is innovative if it is:
- Fresh: It captures a sense of imagination, embodies a sense of creative, and connects with a sense of emotion
- Realistic: It cannot be so imaginative and so creative that its implementation is nether practical nor reachable
- Targeted: It solves a clear and specific problem, experienced by a clear and specific group of people
- Relevant: It must have a certain amount of bearing or significance with respect to the current time period
Amtrak established a “competency center” within their IT department that focuses on standardizing the skills, processes, and infrastructure the organization needed to move their cloud footprint from point solutions to an integrated, core platform strategy. This strategy was defined by the team’s focus on simplification and consolidation, and institutionalized innovation management as a practice. “We’re not defining technology needs as much as we’re defining business needs, and then using technology to solve those problems,” said Shatpathy. Amtrak’s competency center made cloud transformation fresh, realistic, targeted, and relevant.
We’ve started referring to competency centers like Amtrak’s as Centers of Excellence. These centers help organizations manage the innovation process:
- Subject matter experts function as shared service resources, assisting teams with application build outs or customizing existing apps to meet new requests without breaking existing productivity tools.
- These centers also manage platform updates, making the process virtually seamless for business users while also keeping the enterprise up-to-date with the latest trends, capabilities, and protections.
- Finally, they serve as a feedback loop, collecting inputs and insights that reveal best practices and support iterative, agile design principles without impacting budget parameters.
Centers of Excellence provide enterprises with the kind of skillset, focus, and visibility that organizations need to make innovation attainable, scalable, and teachable.
As useful as competency centers or Centers of Excellence can be, though, they can only have so much influence. They need a foundation of a platform that is malleable enough to adapt and evolve quickly. We are seeing this strategy become more and more prevalent with larger, modern IT. Plus, they pair nicely with the agile, innovative nature of cloud platforms. As the rate of technological advancement continues to surpass the capabilities of on-prem systems and legacy IT, widening the gap that is the digital dilemma, an organization’s ability to connect people, process, and technology in a way that unlocks fresh, realistic, targeted, and relevant ideas will be way to leapfrog the challenges presented by the pace of change. An innovative cloud platform and it’s team of subject matter experts are critical components to a successful digital transformation effort.
Look for Success Criteria: Part II next month, where I’ll take a closer look at why “Open” and “Ease of Use” rate in the top criteria to modernize and transform your services.
