Business Roadmap

When initiatives are identified and prioritized one of the challenges faced by Companies is the definition of the solution and plan to completed the work. Especially important when companies are facing large initiatives, are moving into uncharted territory or face unusually high risk and impact. RCG’s Specific Solution Roadmap is the ideal configurable process to help define the ideal solution and map out the delivery strategy. The Solution Roadmap evaluates the business need and the business process and technologies, existing or future, required to deliver and support it. The roadmap is the first step in meeting current business and functional requirements, and defines a vision which balances cost and its ability to meet future business objectives. Our iterative approach yields rapid business results and applies to four specific areas:

Keeping the business vision real can be a major challenge. Creating a repeatable and achievable process around the company roadmap for supporting and achieving the company strategy has long been a problem for organizations. Clearly communicating and getting teams to deliver the required changes takes a skill set and repeatable process that most organizations do not have or do well. Between multitasking and operational responsibilities it is hard to focus and govern these roadmaps. RCG has both the process and skills to help facilitate and deliver a practical Roadmap that can be managed and kept up to date over time to ensure that ongoing changes in priorities and direction can be managed and incorporated.
  • Typical Companies:
    • Have a strategy or concept of general direction
    • Have some set of strategic initiative identified
    • Have some governance processes in place
    • Have identified some key dependencies
  • Most, however:
    • Do not have a strategic framework to accomplish goals
    • Do not have a clear / easy to understand roadmap
    • Do not know the true priority of initiatives
    • Do not have coordinated governance processes
    • Do not truly understand all existing dependencies
    • Do not have an effective set of documented policies and procedures
    • Do not have the defined metrics, measurement capabilities, or automation level to know exactly how they are performing
    • Do not know where to start to correct these issues
Developing a roadmap helps achieve the following:
  • Helps the business agree on needs and priorities
  • Facilitates prioritization based on value, dependency and achievability
  • Ensures the company has the infrastructure (People, Process, Technology) to deliver them
  • Planning and forecasting tool
  • Provides a framework for communicating strategy and for coordinating and developing business and technology initiatives/improvements
Roadmaps fail because:
  • Too Narrow
    • They focus on processes or technologies without considerations of:
      • Organizational Structure
      • Resource Skills and Skill Development
      • Policies
      • Governance Impacts
    • They do not involve the right stakeholders in the process
  • Too Generic
    • They are not actionable
    • They cannot assist in governance / decision making
  • Too Complex
    • Final product is a heavy read
    • Contains complex metrics and processes that overwhelm