Structured implementation of business adaptability changes

• US 8,271,319 B2
• Filed: 08/06/2008
• Issued: 09/18/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/06/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Merrifield, Eric S. Jr., Corneil, Chad K.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pats, Justin M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Goldberg, Ivan R
• Application Number:
  US12/187,257
• Publication Number:
  US 20100036699A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,504 Days
• Field of Search: 705/7.38, 705/7.39
• US Class Current: 705/7.37
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06375 Prediction of business process outcome or impact based on a proposed change
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0639 Performance analysis of employees; Performance analysis of enterprise or organisation operations

Abstract

The present invention extends to methods, systems, and computer program products for structured implementation of business adaptability changes. In some embodiments, a pre-defined resource vocabulary is utilized to assist a decision making entity in selecting an appropriate response to a change trigger event. The pre-defined resource vocabulary provides a mechanism for a plurality of different organizations to consider resource selection for responding to change trigger events in a uniform, repeatable, and consistent manner so as to increase decision agility. In other embodiments, a pre-defined common vocabulary defines a range of business adaptability. The pre-defined common vocabulary provides a mechanism for a plurality of different organizations to consider changes in business adaptability in a uniform manner and provides a mechanism to produce consistent repeatable results for considered changes in business adaptability.

Claims

1. In a computer architecture including at least one processor, a method, performed by the at least one processor, for determining whether a change should be made to the adaptability of a business capability, the method comprising:

an act, performed by the at least one processor, of receiving a business capability for a first organization, wherein the business capability has an associated adaptability indicating the business capability'"'"'s ability to adapt, the adaptability being defined according to a common vocabulary for business capability adaptability that is employed by a plurality of organizations to represent the adaptability of a business capability of each organization, the common vocabulary comprising an adaptability spectrum that defines a range of business adaptability including a first adaptability that indicates that the corresponding business capability is ready to adapt to changing requirements within specified time constraints, a second adaptability that indicates that the corresponding business capability is ready to adapt to changing requirements, and a third adaptability that indicates that the corresponding capability is not ready to adapt to changing requirements;

an act, performed by the at least one processor, of determining that the performance of the received business capability can be improved by changing the adaptability of the business capability, including;

comparing the performance of the received business capability to one or more performances of one or more different versions of the received business capability, the received business capability having an associated adaptability from the adaptability spectrum that is different than the adaptability associated with the received business capability, wherein at least one of the different versions of the received business capability is a business capability from a second organization that uses the common vocabulary to define the business adaptability of at least one of the different versions; and

identifying that a first of the different versions of the received business capability would provide better performance than the received business capability; and

an act, performed by the at least one processor, of applying one or more defined adaptability changes to the received business capability to change the adaptability of the received business capability in accordance with the adaptability of the first of the different versions of the received business capability.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the received business capability is received in response to receiving an external exception or variance relative to existing business expectations, metrics, or plans from an external organization.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the received business capability is received in response to receiving an internal exception or variance relative to existing business expectations, metrics, or plans from within the organization.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the received business capability is received in response to receiving a change trigger event in the course of business for the organization.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the received business capability is selected from among a plurality of business capabilities of the organization.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the received business capability is received in response to receiving a decision for responding to an external exception or variance relative to existing business expectations, metrics, or plans from an external organization.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the received business capability is received in response to receiving a decision for responding to an internal exception or variance relative to existing business expectations, metrics, or plans from within the organization.

8. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the business capability is received in response to receiving a decision for responding to a change trigger event from normal operations of a course of business for the organization.

9. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the first adaptability is agile, the second adaptability is flexible, and the third adaptability is constant/durable.

10. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein the received business capability is selected from among a plurality of business capabilities of the organization based on a determination that the business capability satisfies an impact threshold.

11. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein the received business capability is a core business capability of the organization.

12. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein applying one or more defined adaptability changes to the received business capability to change the adaptability of the received business capability in accordance with the first of the different versions of the received business capability comprises increasing the adaptability of the received business capability.

13. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein applying one or more defined adaptability changes to the received business capability to change the adaptability of the received business capability in accordance with the first of the different versions of the received business capability comprises decreasing the adaptability of the received business capability.

14. A system, the system comprising:

one or more processors;

system memory; and

one or more computer-readable media having stored thereon computer-executable instructions representing a decision making entity and one of more adaptability change modules configured to change the adaptability of business capabilities, the decision making entity configured to;

receive a business capability for a first organization, wherein the business capability has an associated adaptability indicating the business capability'"'"'s ability to adapt, the adaptability being defined according to a common vocabulary for business capability adaptability that is employed by a plurality of organizations to represent the adaptability of a business capability of each organization, the common vocabulary comprising an adaptability spectrum that defines a range of business adaptability including a first adaptability that indicates that the corresponding business capability is ready to adapt to changing requirements within specified time constraints, a second adaptability that indicates that the corresponding business capability is ready to adapt to changing requirements, and a third adaptability that indicates that the corresponding capability is not ready to adapt to changing requirements;

determine that the performance of the received business capability can be improved by changing the adaptability of the business capability, including;

comparing the performance of the received business capability to one or more performances one or more different versions of the received business capability, the received business capability having an associated adaptability from the adaptability spectrum that is different than the adaptability associated with the received business capability, wherein at least one of the different versions of the received business capability is a business capability from a second organization that uses the common vocabulary to define the business adaptability of at least one of the different versions; and

identifying that a first of the different versions of the received business capability would provide better performance than the received business capability; and

apply one or more defined adaptability changes to the received business capability to change the adaptability of the received business capability in accordance with the adaptability of the first of the different versions of the received business capability.