This appendix contains the full list of capabilities that comprises the maturity matrix as presented in chapter 7 of the book “Software Project Management for the 21st Century”. This list is presented here due to restrictions with regard to appendices for the book.
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A Performed initial assessment
The current state of affairs is documented including, amongst others, a business assessment, competitor assessment and portfolio overview.
B Created implementation trajectory
The results of the initial assessment are transformed into a concrete action plan to take the organization to the next level.
C Created portfolio plan
The future direction of the products in the portfolio and product portfolio management is described in a portfolio plan.
Strategy implementation
A Established strategic direction
Short-term goals and objectives as well as a strategy for individual products and strategic areas are documented and used by product managers.
B Created strategic roadmap
A roadmap is created showing the evolution of an organization’s product over a certain period of time.
C Created portfolio strategy
A document is created describing how the current portfolio, and future adjustments, are to fulfill the corporate strategy.
Gatekeeper introduction
A Defined information requirements
The information that is to be acquired from the external environment, for example (competing) technological innovations, developments at the customer and adjustments to rules and legislation, is formally defined.
B Formalized gatekeeper function
The role and responsibilities of a gatekeeper are described and at least the responsibilities are assigned to a person within the company.
Product portfolio management
A Defined product manager tasks
The tasks of a product manager are formally defined.
B Constructed departmental roadmap
A document is created describing the future developments of the products in the portfolio over a certain period of time for a certain department within an organization.
C Established multifunctional core teams
A multifunctional core team is responsible for the management and thereby the success of a product.
D Defined organizational portfolio
The entire organizational portfolio is defined in terms of products, components and core assets, documented and communicated. All stakeholders (e.g. product managers) provide input for this mapping and validate the end result.
E External assessment is performed
In conjunction with the gatekeeper function, a number of externally oriented aspects (e.g. pricing model and competitor advancements) are assessed for each product in the portfolio to improve the organizations’ ability to tailor products to the markets’ needs.
F Established portfolio review board
A board is established that is actively managing the entire product and project portfolio of an organization. For example through the usage of service catalogs.
Product lifecycle management
A Defined and communicated corporate PLM vision
The role and importance of PLM is defined and communicated by high level management throughout the organization.
B Defined departmental PLM vision
On departmental level the corporate PLM vision is translated into concrete actions concerning the lifecycle of the individual products.
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C PLM integrated in roadmap
The lifecycles of the products are integrated with the roadmaps of the products and other strategic plans.
D Established central product information storage
The information on the lifecycle of each product is stored and maintained centrally.
E Ecosystem integration
PLM processes are cross-organizational to enable collaboration (for example with partners) and PLM information is integrated in the major enterprise systems to make the lifecycles more transparent.
Project portfolio management
A Central project administration established
Project information is stored and maintained centrally and resource constraints are embedded in this administration.
B Business cases created
Projects are structurally transformed into business cases by adding a strategic ranking and a risk assessment.
C Structured project portfolio
Separate project portfolios are defined for each strategic goal, based on a number of predefined criteria. Each project is allocated to one of the defined portfolios and a budget is allocated to each portfolio to ensure a balance in the projects that are being realized.
D Defined departmental PM process
Agreements, rules and protocols for project portfolio management are established for the purpose of standardization, optimization and enabling (product) managers to constantly make decisions on the projects in the defined portfolios across departments.
E Corporate project portfolio management process and tasks defined
The process and tasks concerning project portfolio management on a corporate level are defined and executed by the established portfolio review board.
Process formalization A Defined processes
Processes are defined in terms of goals, actions and deliverables such that they can be performed by each individual delivering the same results.
B Uniform protocols
Uniformity of the processes is established not only within a department but also across the organization.
Tooling
A Established tool collection
A collection of tools is operationalized and there is awareness of their availability amongst employees.
B Dedicated tools available
Dedicated tool are in use to support the individual and collective software product management practices within the organization.
C Governance tooling available
Dedicated tool are in use to support the decision making process on portfolio level.
Information technology
A IT is assessed regularly
The current information systems are evaluated on their ability to provide in information for the daily tasks at least once a year.
B IT processes are automated
Parts of the IT processes are automated. Consider for example trend analysis and report generation as examples of IT processes that can be performed on a regular basis (based on predefined criteria) without the interference of an employee.
C Systems are integrated
The individual systems are integrated with each other to create an extensive knowledge base containing information of the entire organization.