Application change request to deployment maturity model

• US 20070061191A1
• Filed: 09/13/2005
• Published: 03/15/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 09/13/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Computer Associates Think Inc. (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Computer Associates Think Inc. (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Mehrotra, Vibhav, Parthasarathy, Prajval
• Granted Patent: US 8,126,768 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/11
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06313 Resource planning in a project environment
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0637 Strategic management or analysis, e.g. setting a goal or target of an organisation; Planning actions based on goals; Analysis or evaluation of effectiveness of goals
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0639 Performance analysis of employees; Performance analysis of enterprise or organisation operations

Abstract

The invention provides a system and method of improving change management structure of an organization, wherein change management structure includes process definitions for managing change requests to software applications. In one embodiment, the invention may include receiving current change management information regarding an organization. A current maturity level for the organization may then be determined from a hierarchy of predefined change management maturity levels. A target change management maturity level may then be determined from the hierarchy. One or more improvement operations may then be defined that, when performed, shift the organization to the target change management process maturity level. The one or more improvement operations may then be performed.

Claims

1. A method of improving change management in an organization, wherein change management includes processes controlling changes to an information technology infrastructure of the organization, the method comprising:

receiving current change management information regarding an organization;

determining a current maturity level for the organization from a plurality of change management maturity levels, wherein said determining includes using a maturity model tool applied to the received current change management information;

determining a target maturity level from the plurality of change management maturity levels, the determined target maturity level being an improvement over the current maturity level; and

devising one or more improvement operations that, when performed, shift the organization from the current maturity level to the target maturity level.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing one or more of the one or more improvement operations to shift the organization from the current maturity level to the target maturity level.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the current change management information includes information regarding one or more of the current people, current processes, or current technology change management in the organization.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the maturity model tool comprises a plurality of assessment questions for each of the plurality of change management maturity levels.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the current change management information is compared to the plurality of assessment questions to yield an aggregate maturity level score for each of the plurality of maturity levels.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a current maturity level further comprises:

constructing a workflow blueprint of the current change management processes of the organization;

comparing the workflow blueprint to one or more model blueprints, wherein each of the one or more model blueprints represents one maturity level from the hierarchy;

selecting the current maturity level for the organization based on the similarity of the workflow blueprint to one of the one or more model blueprints.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the hierarchy of maturity levels includes one or more of an active maturity level, an efficient maturity level, a responsive maturity level, or a business-driven maturity level.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein devising one or more operations further comprises:

identifying the target maturity level from the plurality of change management maturity levels, wherein the target maturity level is associated with a standard set of processes and products for shifting a hypothetical organization from the current maturity level to the target maturity level; and

deriving the one or more improvement operations from the standard set of processes and products.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein determining one or more improvement operations further comprises creating an operational model of the organization that predicts the function of the organization at the target maturity level

10. The method of claim 9, wherein creating an operational model further comprises defining measurable critical success factors that provide a measure of success of the one or more improvement operations in shifting the organization to the higher maturity level when the one or more improvement operations are performed.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising performing one or more of the one or more improvement operations to shift the organization from the current maturity level to the target maturity level, and wherein performing one or more of the one or more improvement operations further comprises measuring the one or more critical success factors.

12. A system for improving change management in an organization, wherein change management includes processes controlling changes to an information technology infrastructure of the organization, the system comprising:

an information manager that receives current change management information regarding an organization;

an assessment manager that determines a current maturity level for the organization from a plurality of change management maturity levels, wherein said assessment manager uses a maturity model tool applied to the received current change management information to determine the current maturity level; and

a planning manager that;

determines a target maturity level from the plurality of change management maturity levels, the target maturity level being an improvement over the current maturity level, and

devises one or more improvement operations that, when performed, shift the organization from the current maturity level to the target maturity level.

13. The system of claim 12, further comprising an implementation manager that performs one or more of the one or more improvement operations to shift the organization from the current maturity level to the target maturity level.

14. The system of claim 12 wherein the current change management information includes information regarding one or more of the current people, current processes, or current technology of change management in the organization.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the maturity model tool comprises a plurality of assessment questions for each of the plurality of change management maturity levels.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the current change management process information is compared to the plurality of assessment questions to yield an aggregate maturity level score for each predetermined maturity level.

17. The system of claim 12, wherein the planning manager further:

constructs a workflow blueprint of the current change management processes of the organization;

compares the workflow blueprint to one or more model blueprints, wherein each of the one or more model blueprints represents one maturity level from the hierarchy; and

selects the current maturity level for the organization based on the similarity of the workflow blueprint to one of the one or more model blueprints.

18. The system of claim 12, wherein the hierarchy of maturity levels includes one or more of an active maturity level, an efficient maturity level, a responsive maturity level, or a business-driven maturity level.

19. The system of claim 12, wherein the planning manager further:

identifies the target maturity level from the plurality of change management maturity levels, wherein the target maturity level is associated with a standard set of processes and products for shifting a hypothetical organization from the current maturity level to the target maturity level; and

derives the one or more improvement operations from the standard set of processes and products.

20. The system of claim 12, wherein the planning manager further creates an operational model of the organization that predicts the function of the organization at the target maturity level.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein creation of an operational model further comprises defining measurable critical success factors that provide a measure of success of the one or more improvement operations in shifting the organization to the higher maturity level when the one or more improvement operations are performed.

22. The system of claim 20, further comprising an implementation manager that performs one or more of the one or more improvement operations to shift the organization from the current maturity level to the target maturity level, wherein the implementation manager further measures the one or more critical success factors.