How to measure your platform maturity

Use a network infrastructure assessment

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Microsoft's new model for a network infrastructure assessment and map for technological improvement can help you turn information technology from a cost center into a strategic asset.

In Summary:

Any executive who wants to grow his business constantly asks, "How can we complete any given process more efficiently?" The question applies to every part of the business: sales, marketing, manufacturing—and especially IT. Though it might be tempting to reflect on your success, it's also important to determine what you can improve.

The hard part comes first. As you move up the levels of maturity, your capabilities are increasing. You can do more, and do it for less money. Anthony Baron Global vice president, Dimension Data

To help organizations tackle this challenge, Microsoft, with the help of the influential research firm Gartner, has devised a network infrastructure assessment model comprised of four categories. Here we talk about the characteristics of each level and what you can expect as you move forward.

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Modeling your maturity

The goal of the application platform optimization (APO) model is first to help you determine whether your IT infrastructure can deliver the capabilities your business requires, and second, to help you systematically improve it so that you can reach your goals.

"As you become more mature in anything, you get better at it," says Anthony Baron, global vice president for solution architecture and strategy for Dimension Data, a South Africa-based global systems integrator and Microsoft Gold Certified Partner. What Microsoft is offering, he believes, is common sense: a maturity path that says, "If you're at this level, these are your best practices."

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Here's what each level encompasses:

Basic. This stage is characterized by disconnected applications and platforms. A business at this level might find that its processes are poorly defined. It frequently lacks the ability to exchange information among departments and teams, or to collaborate efficiently. A new employee, for instance, will need a computer and a desk. Ideally, a new entry in your human resources system would automatically generate a request to facilities and a computer request based on the new employee's responsibilities. The IT department, however, lacks insight into the overall health of applications and services due to insufficient tools and resources. Because the IT environment is hard to manage, IT remains a cost center, with application backlogs and low productivity.

Standardized. At this stage an organization has standards-based, flexible business applications. Companies begin to adopt XML and other industry standards more broadly across departments and with trusted trading partners. IT has deployed data warehouses so that it can deliver business intelligence reports and business analytics, automatically combining information from multiple internal departments for broader insight. At this level, the IT department is still a cost center, but is moving toward becoming a business enabler that can build and deploy applications faster.

Advanced. The IT department has optimized infrastructure and applications and, as a result, can manage the technology environment well. A company's core business processes are mature, which helps provide clear insight into performance. For instance, if you have a contract that requires delivering supplies within a certain period of time, the scanning of those supplies at their destination automatically updates your customer's database and yours, so that there is a record of the completed transaction. At this stage, IT is a true business partner, and it can quickly build applications that take advantage of new business opportunities or cope with competitive threats.

Dynamic. By deploying a flexible, adaptive architecture based on Web services, companies at this stage can seamlessly integrate data for employees, customers, and partners. Highly automated processes help align IT with business needs and control costs. In this scenario, an executive could follow a product's progress from its beginning as a collection of components at a factory in one location, through its shipment overseas to a different location, its distribution to wholesale and retail locations, and even its sales figures. IT understands how additional incremental investments in technology can yield specific, measurable business benefits.

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Determining your level

To determine whether your infrastructure falls into the basic, standardized, advanced, or dynamic categories, start by taking the online assessment test. The test has 32 questions, eight for each level. "Depending on your answer, you'll be placed in one of the four categories, and you'll get a better picture of your infrastructure and your practices," says David Beauparlant, senior product manager for application platform and development marketing at Microsoft. The test rates not just the technology or best practices you have employed but the way you use them. "You might be at basic level in one area but advanced in another," he explains.

There are two steps to moving from level to level: First you have to understand where you are, and then you must determine how to arrive at your desired state. Baron uses data management as an example. During your assessment, you will discern all the pertinent aspects of data—where is it, what applications it relates to, and who is authorized to use it. "Once you've assessed your data management capabilities, you may see that your data is strewn all over the organization, rather than being consolidated in [Microsoft] SharePoint or on other servers," he says.

You might think the process will get harder as you move through the stages, but Baron insists it's just the opposite. "The hard part comes first," he says. "As you move up the levels of maturity, your capabilities are increasing. You can do more, and do it for less money."

Silicon Valley-based freelancer Howard Baldwin writes regularly for the Microsoft Midsize Business Center. His work has also appeared on AllBusiness.com and in CIO.

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