You will need a digital capability map if your company is embarking on a digital transformation. A well-crafted digital capabilities model can align business and technology, provide clarity and transparency into what digital capabilities mean, and allow for a capability-centric transformation roadmap. Here are a few reasons you should not start without a digital business capabilities model. First, a digital business capability map can be integral to an overall digital business architecture framework.

Six Reasons to Start with a Digital Capabilities Model:

What is Digital? The term digital, while critical for organizational success, is often overused and confused. So, what constitutes digital? What does digital mean? What are the components of digital? A digital business capability map can help answer these questions.

• Better Linkage to Strategy: If you have a well-articulated digital business strategy, linking digital business capabilities to the plan helps provide a structural linkage from strategy to execution.

Not all Digital Capabilities are Equal: Digital capabilities cover a vast spectrum, and not every capability is equally essential. In addition to the inherent importance of the capability itself, it is the company-specific particulars – industry, geography, type of consumers, level of current digitalization efforts, and culture – that matter in determining the importance of a capability cluster.

Prioritization and Sequencing: A digital capability map with a comprehensive and well-structured list of digital capabilities allow better prioritization and sequencing at a granular level. For example, within Social Media, a capability like “Social Listening” may precede “Social Follower Management” or vice versa. Similarly, at a higher level, “Customer Churn Analytics” may take primacy over “Microsites Management.”

Better Definition for Technology Teams: A capability-anchored requirement can provide a better definition and detail for technology teams to IT enable a particular capability cluster.

Budget Justification: A granular digital capabilities model helps apportion the budget to specific capabilities and not be linked to projects, which tend to obfuscate the particular functionalities, features, and capabilities.

Have you developed a digital business capability map? If not, Capstera offers a customizable digital capability model as a starting point. Irrespective of whether you purchase a pre-built sample digital capability model or create one yourself, please realize the essential nature of the tool.