S.D.I. English Edition: The role of a Chief Orchestration Officer

What does a project need to move in the right direction towards success? A project manager, leaders, sponsorship, a reliable partner and an often overlooked pawn, namely... the Chief Orchestration Officer.

Without the orchestra conductor, there is just a lot of noise coming from different musicians; his job is to turn noise into music.

That's what the COO does in a digital transformation, he turns cacophony into harmony that helps move the initiative forward. Now the project is ready to go.

Many pieces and many moving parts

In the consulting world, there is a lot of talk about vision, strategy to realise it, and execution plan to drive to deliver value to the business. A constant in recent years has been the increasing complexity of the environment (regulatory, legal, cultural, process, technological, etc.), everything has become more and more complex.

Over the years, programmes have moved from mainframes to large-scale ERP implementations and now to the world of cloud, apps, automation, IoT and machine learning. Part of the infrastructure is now most likely in the cloud, in public, private, hybrid or multi-tenant platforms and of course a myriad of apps and microservices.

Too often this is a fragmented approach that does not take into account how these pieces and parts work together. This is what the Chief Orchestration Officer should do, reduce and simplify the application landscape to create beautiful music from the corpus of the company.

What does this role looks like?

Just as an orchestra conductor, who understands the complexity and intricacy of music, is able to bring out the emotion that the composer intended, the COO must be able to bring together multiple elements of a transformation (consider the notes) to create harmony.

He or she needs experience in harmonising a programme, as well as an awareness of what the initiative is trying to achieve, along with a comprehensive vision of how the transformation will improve the organisation; a certain level of diplomacy to handle interruptions and disagreements that might erupt along the way perfects the figure.

The COO is not the project manager (PM); the PM role is great for planning, but he may have blinders on and not understand the impact of a given project on the broader business ecosystem, because this goes beyond what the PM has been tasked to do, which is to deliver that single project.

He is more of an 'air traffic controller', a role that can see the connections and dependencies between the various teams, groups, functions, sites and departments involved in the company's overall digital transformation.

Three key elements for creating musical harmony

Using the analogy of an orchestra conductor, let us look at the key aspects that the role of the Chief Orchestration Officer must possess.

Understand the vision, embrace the strategy and manage the execution

In an orchestra, the conductor must understand the intention and emotional impact (in digital transformation: vision and mission) that the composer had in creating the composition (strategy) and must execute it flawlessly (integrated execution). He must pay attention to which notes to emphasise (objectives), control the tempo (speed) and direct the performers (cadence). He orchestrates every note of the composition to make it sound its best (realisation of value).

Similarly, the full business benefits of an enterprise digital transformation cannot be realised without an orchestration specialist who understands the complexity and interdependencies of all projects in the portfolio and how to organise them for flawless execution.

In this context, the role of the COO is to manage these connections and dependencies, just as in an orchestra, where the musicians do not need to be exposed to such a level of complexity to play, in a digital transformation most project stakeholders would not need to worry about the myriad of intricate interdependencies within the company to do their job well. The COO is the conductor of the digital transformation, enabling the digital vision and composition of the company to achieve maximum impact.

Arranging the best instruments in the best positions

A good conductor understands the capabilities of each musician, knows who plays well with others to create harmony and who needs a solo.

In a global organisation, the role of the COO is to make sure that people understand their contributions and responsibilities; all things being equal, just like in an orchestra, having the right talents in the wrong places only creates more discordant noise. A key responsibility is to ensure that key roles are filled by the right people and that they are enabled to work in the most effective way.

The fact that smart working is now an established reality adds an extra layer of complexity: there are people in different countries and in different time zones, managing this requires proper planning, unambiguous communication, accountability, clear direction, charisma and empathy, it is the role that has to work both within and across programmes to ensure that the right mix of talent is set up correctly to work within the most effective governance framework to achieve the company's digital transformation goals.

Nurture the right environment

The sound of the orchestra will be better in an orchestra hall than in your garage, knowing where to play is up to the conductor.

In a transformation programme, you need the right combination of infrastructure, platform and applications that will actually be adopted by the company to deliver value.

The problem can get complex, identifying which applications are best for customers, which are most efficient for various business functions, cloud introduction and adoption, regulations to consider, cultural differences to take into account.

Questions related to the transformation environment also fall under the COO's remit, so the future landscape is part of the success criteria, as are the people driving the results.

Enabling transformation success

Once the purpose of the role has been clarified, it is necessary to identify who is suitable for the role of Chief Orchestration Officer; to have the right talent to lead this effort of limited duration and scope.

It may be useful to bring in an external entity, or a temporary manager, someone who can excel at seeing the big picture, as well as someone who is a master at applying the knowledge gained from leading digital transformations in other organisations.

Where to find your Chief Orchestration Officer

Finding the right person to fill the role of Chief Orchestration Officer can be challenging, especially if you do not have a clear profile of the skills and competencies required. What characteristics are key that make him the right person in the right place?

He or she must be an equal partner in the strategic vision, to be able to align digital transformation goals with the overall business strategy and communicate them effectively to all stakeholders. Have knowledge of risk management to be able to anticipate potential risks and opportunities that may arise during the transformation journey and plan accordingly.

Have superior communication and collaborative skills to foster a culture of change, collaboration and innovation within the organisation; breaking down silos and encouraging cross-functional teams to work together.

He/she must also be able to leverage external partners and ecosystems to enhance the value proposition and customer experience in digital transformation.

The Chief Orchestration Officer must be able to manage the change process and the human aspects of digital transformation, ensuring that the staff involved are engaged, motivated and empowered to embrace the new ways of working.

He/she must also be able to monitor and measure the impact of the digital transformation and adjust the course of action as needed.

The Chief Orchestration Officer must possess digital expertise, have an in-depth knowledge of the technologies and digital trends that are shaping the industry and customer expectations, and be able to identify and prioritise digital initiatives that can deliver maximum value and competitive advantage to the organisation.

If you are looking for a Chief Orchestration Officer, you can either go to the market or develop one internally. Hiring can be costly and time-consuming, adding a certain period of adaptation and acclimatisation.

Developing a profile internally can help in harnessing existing talent and knowledge within your organisation to ensure a smoother transition and alignment with corporate culture and values.

What profile to look for?

Should the COO be a business person, with a broad knowledge of company procedures and processes, or should he or she be part of the technology suite with a correspondingly broad view of the company's application portfolio?

Both, the difference between a Process Chief Orchestration Officer and an IT Chief Orchestration Officer can be explained very simply.

The Chief Process Orchestration Officer is a role that focuses on the orchestration of business processes. This role involves the responsibility for coordinating and managing business process workflows, ensuring that the various activities are executed efficiently and in a logical sequence. The objective is to optimise the overall workflow to improve productivity and operational efficiency.

On the other hand, the Chief Orchestration Officer of IT is a role that is more focused on the orchestration of IT activities within the organisation; that is, he or she is responsible for automating and supporting entire interconnected workflows, information systems and services within the computing environment. This includes the management and coordination of IT systems, applications and services to ensure that deployment, configuration management and other IT processes are executed in the correct order and efficiently1.

Both roles are critical to ensuring that business operations are executed efficiently and that technology is optimally utilised to support business objectives; while the Chief Orchestration Officer is responsible for optimising business processes, the IT counterpart focuses on automating and coordinating IT activities to support the company's technology infrastructure.

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Can this role be handled by the same person?

Yes, it is possible for a single person to be in charge of both the business process and IT orchestration part, especially in smaller organisations or those going through a digital transition. In such cases, a single figure may be responsible for integrating and orchestrating both business processes and IT operations.

However, in larger and more complex organisations, these roles tend to be separated to allow greater specialisation and attention to detail in their respective areas. Integration and orchestration are both activities that require specific skills and considerable effort, so having dedicated roles can help ensure that each area receives the attention it needs to operate effectively.

Ultimately, the decision to unify or separate these roles depends on the organisation's structure, specific needs, resources and objectives, and strategies.

Regardless of the choice, the Chief Orchestration Officer must have the full support and trust of top management, the senior leadership team and the board of directors, as well as the authority and resources needed to successfully execute the digital transformation.

Sponsorship is always the key to success in a project. (See Art. No Sponsor No Party).

Project challenges

The role of Chief Orchestration Officer (COO) is crucial to drive efficiency and synergy within an organisation. Several points must be attended to in order to ensure a return from transformation and digitisation projects. Each company has its own points of attention but in general we can say that common points in different industries can be

o Process Automation: define effective management of supply chains, production and logistics. A COO must focus on process automation to improve efficiency and reduce errors.

o Supply Chain Resilience: increasingly integrated with other processes; the supply chain requires a resilient supply, distribution and transportation chain to manage risks and emergencies such as raw material shortages or production interruptions, route optimisation, stock management and timely deliveries, which are essential in an integrated supply chain.

o Traceability: The implementation of technologies such as IoT and product traceability is crucial for efficient logistics.

o Resource Management: Optimising the use of resources, such as machinery, materials and labour, is crucial to ensure that resources are used efficiently.

o Quality and Safety: Product quality and workplace safety are priorities. The COO must constantly monitor and improve processes to ensure high standards.

o Regulatory Compliance: In manufacturing sectors where legislation, such as pharmaceuticals for example, is extremely complex, requiring interaction with numerous stakeholders and customers through various channels, within a restrictive regulatory framework. The COO must ensure that processes comply with regulations in a safe and effective manner.

o Agility: The ability to respond quickly to changes in the market is crucial; it must adopt agile approaches to adapt to new requirements.?

o Technological Innovation: The automotive industry is constantly evolving. The COO must follow technological trends, such as electrification and autonomous driving, to remain competitive.

o Production Efficiency: collaborating with engineers to improve production processes with the essential target of reducing production time and optimising costs.

o Supplier Management: Collaboration with suppliers is crucial. The COO must ensure that components and materials are available in a timely manner.

o Customer Involvement (OCE): OCE represents a paradigm shift for the Pharma industry, but not only, aiming to align and coordinate people, processes and technology to increase efficiency and reduce friction with customers.

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Conclusions

The role of Chief Orchestration Officer (COO) is crucial to drive efficiency and synergy within an organisation, balancing operational efficiency, compliance and innovation according to the specific needs of each industry.

A key role in driving efficiency and synergy within an organisation, able to understand the company's strategic vision, manage interdependencies between various projects and programmes, and coordinate activities to ensure flawless execution.

In addition, he or she must be able to manage resources, promote innovation and ensure regulatory compliance.

Ultimately, the success of a digital transformation depends largely on the ability to coordinate and orchestrate the various elements and create harmony within the organisation.

Like an orchestra conductor ...

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