Create a consistent management control system to achieve your strategic goals

Governance

Manage strategic goals consistently throughout the organization.

In order to face the challenges of organizational transformation, numerous technological, organizational and process-related changes are required of companies. These result in a large number of projects and initiatives, which are often driven by individual silos within the organization, so that planning, budgeting and implementation are carried out by separate business units or regions.

However, it is essential for a successful portfolio to maintain an overview of the initiatives and their dependencies. Factors such as scalability, avoidance of redundancies, and a clear focus on resources and EBIT must be considered consistently. Therefore, companies need to establish a governance structure to force the centralized control of strategic goals. This focuses resources, shortens project runtimes and ultimately increases the ROI of the project portfolio.

Governance answers the following key questions:

Which structures, processes and tools can be used to manage digitalization initiatives holistically within the organization?
How do I steer my digital portfolio towards more strategic contribution, ROI and internal and external scaling?

Governance as a steering body is accompanied by a future-proof “Target Operating Model”. Seamless integration into the structural and process organization is then guaranteed during the implementation of digital projects. This way, digital solutions and use cases can be operated sustainably even after the project ends.

Define the governance objective and tasks

At the beginning of the project, we take the time to define the clear objectives and tasks of governance. Governance has three main tasks that are strategic, tactical and operational.

Establish decision-making bodies and roles

Then, a clear committee structure must be set up to ensure that the governance structure is implemented. This can be a virtual organization or a new department within the company..

Develop concrete control and reporting processes

And last but not least, the operational structure for governance is defined. Clear control and reporting processes are developed to ensure the sustainable implementation of the strategic goals.

Governance

In order to ensure that digitalization is managed consistently and comprehensively, we recommend placing four areas of responsibility at the center of governance:

Strategy
Operationalization, further development and synchronization of existing strategies – from corporate strategy to individual functional strategies.

Portfolio Management
Control of a company-wide project portfolio management process and its associated centralized budget.

Enablement
Integration and strategic management of labs and academies to generate and anchor initiatives within the company quickly and sustainably.

Foundation

Secure the technological foundation for transformation by orchestrating initiatives in regard to enterprise architecture, cyber security and basic technologies.

Consulting services Governance

Analyze: governance check

What is your current status in terms of digital governance with a focus on the organization, processes and tools?

Your challenges

Uncertainty about the functionality of existing governance
Unclarity about which processes and decision-making bodies are necessary for the successful implementation of governance
Stiff, non-transparent leadership and culture within the organization

UNITY solution approach

Implement a Sanity Check with a focus on committee structures, project portfolio management, roles & responsibilities, investment/budget processes etc.
Identify "White Spots"
Derive recommendations for action
Create an implementation roadmap

Your Benefits

Potentials and ROI levers for a targeted digital transformation with a clear contribution to your strategy

Design: Establishment of a governance structure

Which elements of the digital governance structure need to be developed and established?

Your challenges

Lack of competencies for implementing the strategic goals
Missing organizational anchoring of the strategic goals (e.g., sustainability or digitization goals) in the company
Rigid, intransparent and less flexible enablement processes

UNITY solution approach

Define digital governance elements using best practices and in accordance with the defined strategy
Adapt existing processes as well as organizational and committee structures
Define clear roles and responsibilities

Your benefits

Faster decisions to steer transformation and KPI-based prioritization of initiatives

Implement: Implementing new structures

How can the implementation of governance be ensured in your company for the long term?

UNITY solution approach

Establish a Digital Project Management Office
Map processes and structures in a project portfolio management tool
Obtain support during the process establishment and implementation
Validate the created structures and processes

Your benefits

Automated processes, empowered employees and consistent digitalization activities across the organization

Project stories Governance

Guiding numerous Microsoft Partners into the Business of the Future

Standardized Workshops for Microsoft Partners:Mastering the Transformation to Become a Cloud Solution Provider

Topics such as cloud transformation, IoT and the transition from products to services are changing the business models of IT companies. Microsoft drives these trends with a broad cloud-based technology and solution portfolio that is being carried out by over 30,000 German partner companies of SMB and corporate customers. In order to shape the rapid transformation of Microsoft partners both internally and externally, Microsoft, together with UNITY and other partners, has launched the BIG-Initiative – “Business.Innovation.Growth.” As a part of BIG, UNITY consultants have supported several IT companies on their paths towards the business of the future through Business Transformation Workshops, and put strategies and business models to the test. Together with management teams, UNITY planned innovative service portfolios and anticipated the necessary changes in the organization. Through change programs and supporting governance models, UNITY was able to ensure that the company culture and employees were prepared for and enthusiastic about the upcoming changes. Together with the Microsoft organization, the BIG Initiative will continue to be driven forward in 2021 and anchored in the strategic development of Microsoft’s partner network.

Transformation support for over 30,000 Microsoft partners in Germany

A short, 3-day course in developing SaaS strategies

“During the transformation workshops, we were able to set central cornerstones to develop our product and SaaS offerings with UNITY. The team provided methodology, impulses, and last but not least, they completely satisfied our management team’s expectations and laid the foundation for our change in the coming years as a part of our strategy and portfolio planning.”

Kay von Wilcken

CEO

KUMAVISION AG

“In the workshop we were able to set important foundations for our future cloud strategy. It‘s fascinating how much clarity we were able to achieve in our management circle in such a short time.”

Till Vieregge

Member of the Executive Board

akquinet AG

“In the course of this workshop series, we have gained important insights into our shared objectives for 2022 and have consistently converted these into measures to be taken.”