The Value Planning Consulting Service (Introducing the Value Realization Services)

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Value Planning is one of the services that Microsoft Enterprise Architects conduct with businesses as part of the Microsoft Value Realization Framework. It’s one of the Value Realization services that we mentioned in our earlier post,Welcome to the Value Realization Blog.

The Value Planning Service establishes a framework assure that an initiative delivers value. The service identifies ways to capture and assess the value during a program of change. The focus of the service is on the totality of change that a client requires to derive business benefit, not just technology changes.

Overview of the Value Planning Consulting Service

The Value Planning service produces a program plan, adoption plan, value scorecard, and governance plan to support a program of change. The Value Plan describes a program of change that accelerates business value for prioritized customer initiatives. The plan addresses multiple aspects of implementing the initiative, including deploying the solution, managing adoption and change management, and managing governance, risk, and compliance.

Objectives

When a Microsoft Enterprise Architect performs the Value Planning consulting service with a business:

  • We ensure value promises are realistic and have pragmatic plans to improve the probability of optimal value realization.
  • We clearly define value for the business.
  • We analyze drivers of business value.
  • We provide milestone-based planning against core value drivers.

Activities

  • Producing an agreed-upon definition of value and benefits
  • Defining and concurring on appropriate metrics for expected value and benefits
  • Identifying the drivers behind value realization (e.g., the functionality of the solution, extent of business adoption, ability to procure associated services cheaper, operator skills, and so on.)
  • Defining benefits projected for the client’s usage and service scenarios
  • Developing a plan that proactively and holistically manages the key value drivers
  • Identifying risks affecting program benefits and recommending appropriate strategies for mitigating risk through governance
  • Defining success criteria and metrics for realizing benefits and key milestones for realizing benefits.

Outcome

The service produces a comprehensive, time-specific plan (milestone-driven) to ensure the delivery of expected value and benefits through an analysis of expected benefits, drivers of value realization, and an agreed measurement system.

Deliverables

  • Value Plan. Final summary that aggregates materials from the Program Plan, Adoption and Change Plan, Value Scorecard, and Governance, Risk & Compliance Plan.
  • Program Plan. A guide for carrying out the client’s program of change.
  • Adoption and Change Plan. Coordinates end-user adoption and change management in support of a specific business initiative.
  • Governance, Risk & Compliance Plan.

 

What’s the Value of Doing This?

Using proven methods, and having access to a broad range of expertise and deep platform knowledge, a Microsoft Enterprise Architect brings distinctive value while helping enterprises perform value planning. Companies obtain:

  • Microsoft experience with how people are creating value by using our software solutions.
  • Knowledge of the range of expectations and outcomes.
  • Validate and support a business in value realization.
  • Framework for accelerating value
  • Holistic view (methodology, approach, experience) of what will be required in addition to technology in order for the company to realize the benefit of the initiatives.
  • Can anticipate likely challenges
  • Can bring everyone together to accomplish the initiative
  • Can broker in certified change experts
  • A clear understanding of the scale and timing of expected benefits
  • Full visibility of the resources required to realize the benefits
  • Ability to support proposed initiatives against competing investment proposals within the organization

 

How do We Achieve Value?

To perform the service, a Microsoft architect uses information obtained from an enterprise, and expertise and proven practices from Microsoft. We generally follow these steps:

  1. We review Program Charter and Architecture Definition. Establish a shared understanding of the program charter and recommended architecture.
  2. We structure the adoption & change management approach. Develop the plan for driving end-user adoption and facilitating organizational change management.
  3. We structure Program milestones, projects & dependencies. Define the sequence of business and/or IT projects necessary to deliver the desired business outcomes
  4. We structure the governance, risk & compliance management approach. Develop the plan to effectively manage program governance (oversight), risk and compliance.
  5. We align and optimize the plans. Review each of the plans to drive consistency and deliver optimal value delivery.
  6. We assemble and deliver Value Plan. Drive executive decisions to proceed with program value realization.

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