The 4 P’s Of Transformation
The companies that are doing this effectively – think Uber, Lyft, Airbnb – are truly disrupting their industries, and doing so in a way that encourages others to follow in their footsteps.
The good news is that the “success formula” used by these few companies is available to the many — or at least, to those companies willing to depart from traditional beliefs and ways of doing business. As a company that has helped more than 1,500 enterprises move from traditional, inflexible platforms toward emerging, agile and nimble solutions, GreenPages has identified four key areas that are common across successful enterprise transformation initiatives. We refer to these as the “Four P’s of Transformation.”
The “Four 4P’s” represent key areas that companies need to address to guarantee that the desired transformation and business outcomes are achieved, while realizing value and customer success.
The first critical domain is a company’s Platform; this includes all of the technologies and applications used to support and operate the internal and external processes, functions and services within an organization. These platforms transform inputs into outputs and include compute, network and storage resources, as well as the required resource-management tools. As specific platform elements become increasingly complex, key success factors for these types of deployments center on establishing the necessary controls to ensure that all elements work together efficiently and seamlessly.
The second key domain refers to the Processes a company needs to perform its business functions. Processes need to be defined (and documented) to ensure business services have predictable and repeatable outcomes, and to provide a road map for how to get to these outcomes. As such, documentation is critical and should entail the scope, the stakeholders and any required governance factors or policies. It’s also important to define early on what success “looks like” and to define metrics and milestones that can be used as part of individual and team KPIs. Having a process that is both understood and documented greatly improves success rates by creating alignment among all parties involved.
The third domain (or “P”) is for People — the human capital that supports or manages the Processes and Platform to perform the business functions. In our opinion, this domain is the most important and makes all of the difference between success and failure. Organizations that successfully address the human aspect understand the need for alignment among teams with business objectives, but they also understand the unique characteristics of their own organizational cultures and adapt their approach to reflect that reality.
The last domain, Planning, brings the other “P’s” (Platforms, Processes and People) together as part of a comprehensive approach. Proper planning ensures the necessary alignment among business values, outcomes and success criteria. Based on our experiences, the most effective planning processes include tactical day-to-day efforts but also take into account the entire transformation strategy and roadmap to ensure all things are done in accordance with the broader organizational vision.
Believe it or not, as powerful as the four P’s are, there still is more to do. At the end of the day, no transformation will be successful if it is not tied to an organization’s desired business outcomes, objectives and drivers, or if it lacks the inherent organizational structure to support the initiative. A focus on these factors is critical. Business goals serve as a guiding principle for technology implementations and also provide IT with the right priorities and guidance. And, of course, having the right, open-minded management structure in place is critical, as it allows organizations to get out of the “that’s-the-way-its-always-been-done” mentality and gives the greater organization permission to embrace a new way of doing things — paramount to any transformational initiative.
So, while the world continues to change around us in dramatic fashion, companies seeking to transform ahead of the curve still have the opportunity to do so. The successful transformation from “old world legacy” to “new world” advanced IT requires a top-down approach focused on achieving consensus and alignment across the business.
Those bold enough to do so have the opportunity to transform themselves, disrupt their industries and achieve new levels of success.
Jim Lampert is president of the Transformation Services Division within GreenPages Technology Solutions, where he leads the development and execution of the division’s sales, marketing, delivery and operations capabilities. Founded in 1992 and serving approximately 1,500 clients globally, GreenPages is a $150 million IT transformation company that helps its clients design, build, deploy and manage modernized, hybrid cloud computing platforms that reduce IT costs and improve business efficiency, agility and velocity.
