Digital Maturity Assessment for Next-Gen Service Management

Digital Maturity Assessment for Service Management

Need a digital maturity assessment?

Technology is evolving every day and making a significant impact on human lives across the world. Digital has become a “backbone” and must for most industries and their capabilities, and IT service management (ITSM) is no exception. This article discusses the need for a digital maturity assessment in ITSM to the next-gen capabilities for service management.

It explains some of the best practices to be followed while designing and formulating a digital maturity assessment to assess next-gen service management capabilities.

This article discusses the need for a digital maturity assessment in #ITSM & explains some of the best practices to be followed while designing & formulating a digital maturity assessment to assess next-gen service management… Click To Tweet

Author disclaimer: The best practices, approaches, methods, ideas, and other key data points given below are based on my professional experience in ITSM and assessment fields and are not taken from any professional service providers or organizations that provide digital maturity assessment services.

Let’s start with how a digital maturity assessment should be structured, with various dimensions and categories.

Digital Maturity Assessment Structure and Scoring Mechanism

The digital maturity assessment structure:

  • The overall digital maturity assessment should be divided into multiple dimensions to cover key areas focusing on next-gen ITSM capabilities; these dimensions will be further segregated into categories.
  • It’s recommended to have five dimensions (which will be detailed in upcoming sections ) and for each dimension to have four to five categories.  
  • Each category should have five questions so you can complete one dimension with a 20 – 25 questionnaire and not more than 100 – 125 questions across all five dimensions.
  • Each dimension will provide your final score based on the scoring system you choose/decide (please refer to the scoring section for more detail).
  • All dimension scores should be projected using a radar chart to understand the overall maturity and areas for improvement.

The digital maturity assessment scoring mechanism:

Direct scoring – In this method, close-ended questions are formulated to answer “yes” or “no,” and the score is set as “1” or “0.” For each question, weightage is assigned based on importance. The overall score will be calculated to derive the final score for the respective dimension. For example:

digital maturity assessment scoring mechanism

Note – each dimension’s overall average score will be calculated based on each questionnaire score and its weighting.

Criteria-based scoring – In this method, open-ended questions are formulated with criteria defined for each question to derive the final score. For example:

digital maturity assessment scoring mechanism

Note – the overall average score will be calculated for each dimension; the criteria scoring and maturity levels will be decided accordingly.

Digital Maturity Assessment Dimensions, Categories, and Questionnaires

The digital maturity assessment “dimensions,” “categories,” and “questionnaires” should include/focus on the below areas.

This is just a starter list of default dimensions you should consider; more dimensions can be added based on your requirement and scope:

  • Dimension 1 – Business and IT Alignment concerning strategy and organization vision and mission aligned to digital-first goals. This is the most important dimension from the business standpoint. Whether IT objectives are aligned with business strategies and next-generation technologies play an active role in the digital strategy formulation process.
  • Dimension 2 – Practices and Processes Management covering ITIL, SIAM,  Agile, DevOps/SRE, Lean, and VSM practices and process maturity. 
  • Dimension 3 – Experience Management which covers service, employee, and customer experience areas.
  • Dimension 4 – Technology Adoption in ITSM, IT operations, next-gen delivery and operating models, and approaches to meet digital-first needs.
  • Dimension 5 – Digital Culture and Transformation, which focuses on leadership empowerment and people’s behavior, attitudes, and work culture.

Sample Categories and Questions for Each Dimension

Sample Categories and Questions for Each Dimension
Sample Categories and Questions for Each Dimension
Sample Categories and Questions for Each Dimension

Reviewing the digital maturity assessment results

At the end of the digital maturity assessment, you will have a radar chart showing all five dimension scores on a scale of 0 to 3 maturity level (or whatever type of scoring system you decide on). Below is an example.

Reviewing the digital maturity assessment results

IT practices and processes can be assessed to understand where an organization stands and how to reach the desired future state based on its objectives, goals, and business requirements.

In my experience, maturity assessments are primarily based on standards and approaches like ISO, ITIL, CMMI, etc. However, to measure the digital capability or achieve digital transformation in IT/ITSM, an organization doesn’t need digital maturity assessment methods confined to any standard or approach. But it does need to satisfy the purpose and give the organization a clear direction on gaps and the areas for improvement.

If you enjoyed this article, here are a few more digital-focused pieces…

Rahavendran RS
Service Delivery Manager at Tata Consultancy Services

Rahavendran is an ITSM thought leader and Agile practitioner, ITIL® V3 Expert, ITIL 4 Foundation and Cloud Credential Certified ( PCSM ) professional with strong experience in providing quality ITSM solutions to customers from various business verticals.

Has vast experience in architecture of service management solutions, has lead team of process and tool consultants in designing and deploying ITSM processes at all layers from strategy to operational, defining governance models, continual improvement initiatives and corresponding tools for various clients across the globe.

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