How can you overcome challenges when moving from one IT strategy maturity stage to another?

1 Assess your current stage

Before you can move to a higher stage of IT strategy maturity, you need to know where you are and what gaps you need to fill. There are different IT strategy maturity models that you can use, such as the Gartner ITScore, the IT-CMF, or the CMMI-SVC. These models typically have five or six stages, ranging from initial or ad hoc to optimized or transformative. Each stage has a set of criteria and indicators that reflect the level of IT alignment, governance, value, and innovation. By conducting a self-assessment or an external audit, you can identify your current stage and the areas that need improvement.

2 Define your target stage and roadmap

Once you know your current stage, you can define your target stage and the roadmap to get there. Your target stage should be realistic and achievable, based on your business goals, capabilities, resources, and constraints. You should also consider the benefits and risks of moving to a higher stage, such as increased efficiency, agility, customer satisfaction, or competitive advantage. Your roadmap should outline the steps, milestones, deliverables, and metrics that will guide your transition. You should also align your roadmap with your business strategy and stakeholders' expectations.

3 Manage change and communication

Moving from one IT strategy maturity stage to another involves significant change and transformation, not only for IT but also for the entire organization. Therefore, you need to manage change and communication effectively, to ensure a smooth and successful transition. You should establish a clear vision and purpose for the change, and communicate it to all relevant parties. You should also involve and empower your IT staff and business users, and address their concerns and feedback. You should also monitor and measure the impact and outcomes of the change, and celebrate the achievements and milestones.

4 Leverage best practices and tools

Another way to overcome the challenges of moving from one IT strategy maturity stage to another is to leverage best practices and tools that can help you optimize your IT processes, capabilities, and performance. You can learn from the experiences and insights of other organizations that have gone through similar transitions, and adopt or adapt their proven methods and frameworks. You can also use tools and platforms that can help you automate, standardize, integrate, and innovate your IT services and solutions. For example, you can use IT service management (ITSM) tools to improve your IT governance and quality, or cloud computing platforms to enhance your IT agility and scalability.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?