IT Operational Maturity Level Overview
Most competitive organizations understand process improvement can increase quality, reduce costs, and provide a competitive advantage. Still, they may not be as successful as they would like. The primary reason these organizations struggle is they lack sufficient standards, policies, and processes for IT It comes down to the operational maturity of the processes and the consistency following those processes that determine the profitability of an organization.
There is a direct link between high operational maturity level (OML) and profitability. Typically, organizations at the 1 or 2 level are generating below average profitability. Those at OML 3 are generating average profitability. Those at OML 4 or 5 are achieving best in class financial performance.
Operational maturity doesn’t happen overnight. In fact, it takes years to fortify a strategy capable of securing operational maturity. In many ways, becoming operationally mature requires a focus on escalation policies and a business’s on-call evolution.
When a business starts, its leadership is intricately involved with each of its operations. It takes time to figure out what works, and it takes a lot of trial and error. As a business grows, however, leadership begins to shift its focus. Day-to-day operations are no longer endeavors for leadership teams.
Instead, the workplace’s leaders engage budget needs, long-term planning, and goal setting. An operationally mature company, at the top levels of operational maturity, can focus on innovation, marketing, and diversification. Operational maturity is reached with time, powerful decision-making processes and—of course—technology.
That said, technology isn’t always an advantage. It can be a liability if a business’s decision makers don’t scale correctly. To do so, they need to understand the five levels of operational maturity.
Additional information about the relationship between business financial performance and operational maturity is available in a free whitepaper: The C-level leader and technology.
