Transformation Methodologies

Technology transformation is an integral part of an organizations transformation initiative. It can be defined as the migration of an existing platform or application to a new or different version of a platform or application using existing technology or a new technology.  Organizational options include Cloud Initiatives, SOA (Service Oriented Architecture), PaaS (Platform as a Service), IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service), SaaS (Software as a Service), Migration, Co-location, Technology Refresh, and so on.      

Dark Star Technology has developed a proven platform transformation process that has been honed over the years to adapt to numerous uses.  We rely on robust business and IT requirements discovery to identify and prioritize issues and set project direction.  We employ a comprehensive socialization process to build consensus between Business, IT and Procurement teams.  Our leadership team and subject matter experts are strictly solution agnostic to ensure the right tools are brought to bear.  Together with IT leadership we lead the way to accurate solution decisions and develop achievable transformation plans.  Drawing from years of in-house experience we work alongside your staff to achieve operational readiness. In addition to Platform transformation, there are two more aspects which play a critical role in the IT transformation, namely, process transformation and data transformation.

Process transformation is the change in processes, the ways of working driven by the change in technology. It plays a critical role in the life of an individual and the organization and in the IT transformation. Today it may take 10 touch points, 5 different software screens, 2 monitors, manual emails transfers, etc. to get a job done, but with the advent of workflow-based technology and automation these touch points may get reduced to a small number leading to improved efficiency for an individual and the organization as a whole.

The next critical component in IT transformation is the data transformation. No matter how good your processes are and no matter how advanced your platform or technology is, if your data is not cleansed, governed and not in the correct structure, the output from the new process and technology will be useless.  We have seen so many real life instances where IT transformations have failed because the data was not cleansed or transformed and the output generated from the new IT platform was incorrect and useless leading to continual inefficiencies. For an organization to transform their mission critical data it means data cleansing, data modeling, consolidation of data across disparate sources and creating the master data.

It is actually a combination of all of the above transformations – process, technology and data – that drives the IT transformation for an organization.  In order to create a successful IT transformation story, one should identify the problem areas aligned with the long term company strategy; map the existing processes along with the technologies; create the new process based on best practices (make sure the company strategy is in line); identify the gaps from the process, technology, and data angles; create road-maps for the implementation; and then drive the execution.

Methodologies - IT Transformation Process

• Heavy emphasis on requirements engineering, issues, gaps and risks identified, analyzed and ranked

• Formalized process drives consensus building between Engineering, Operations, Lines of Business, Procurement and strategic vendors

• All stakeholders have input, internal friction reduced, vendor hype nullified

• As-Is / To-Be ‘Blueprint” provides graphical high level view

• Deliverables include detailed POC, Transformation Plans and Roadmap

• Accurate and real-world business case developed and ratified

• Benefits of Initiative and ‘Cost of Doing Nothing’ examined

• Operational Readiness Analysis quantifies needed implementation effort

• Knowledge Base of proven solutions (and known pitfalls) brought to bear

IT Transformation Process