A Digital Capability Maturity Model measures the maturity of the digitalization process of an organization. There are a variety of digital maturity models out in the marketplace today. We support ones that follow the foundations of the CMMI Institute as well as support the analysis of digital maturity from a holistic 360-degree viewpoint.

The maturity can be  classified on a scale from 1 to 5. Each level evaluates the criteria in terms of an evolutionary path from ad-hoc, chaotic processes (initial) to mature, disciplined processes (excellence). A higher level indicates that the activities can reliably and sustainably produce the required outcome.

Here is an example scale for your consideration:

Level 1:  Initial – This level is characterized by ad-hoc and chaotic set of processes. Specifically, these processes are immature and unstable. No benchmarks are given for judging Digital Capability at this point.

Level 2:  Reactive – Digital principles are established and communicated.  Although no organization-wide process is defined, an elementary management control is established that allows for some alignment across projects, allowing the successes of those preceding projects to be leveraged and repeated on their successor (projects).

Level 3:  Defined – Here the organization is starting to govern their digital initiatives.  A documented and intra-organizational standard process is established which allows for project related customizations.

Level 4: Managed – At this level, the organization has process standardization and can use quantitative techniques to measure performance and predict digital product quality.

Level 5: Excellence – At the top level, the organization’s processes are running routinely, and the organization is in Total Quality Improvement mode.

The Digital Capability Maturity Model should be supported by a set of assessment tools which allow for the evaluation of your company’s situation compared to leading (digital) companies. These assessment tools provide questionnaires to analyze your current as-is situation and help to identify your future state desire.

As we talked about in our prior post (for a refresher, please check it out HERE), the first thing we want to do is perform a Digital Capability Maturity Assessment. We will then look at each of the six capabilities individually and perform a digital maturity analysis against each capability.  The gap between your current state and your desired future state uncovers the potential improvement areas for each of your Digital Capabilities and and will be a foundation for your future Digital Transformation Roadmap.