NOVEMBER 2020CIOAPPLICATIONS.COM9the guidance, training, supporting the teams and then letting the teams run it on their own­this is a short duration route.Secondly, get help from vendors/partners to establish the guidance and requirements from the get-go. Lastly a method which will take long but will be sustainable, teach your people the ins and outs of automation. Train them well from within and they will be well positioned to drive success. You can establish Train the trainers during the COE itself so that the continuity is maintained as more people join and some people move on.Establishing guidance around controls and compliance should be discussed and reviewed when the COE is established. There should be clear understanding of which automation category falls under which umbrella. There might be the capabilities which do not fit that bill, but it should be discussed to ensure there is no miss. A check list should be maintained, and it should be part of the SOPs to ensure there are no surprises anywhere. A SME from compliance or controls should be reviewing the SOP before any automation capability goes into UAT and if something is falling short then a clear SLA should be used to guide the process through. There should be a disaster recovery plan in place in case manual effortsremain the last resort. This process is very effective if followed through from end to end.The purpose behind establishing a governance body should be to drive empowerment and change managementthroughout the journey. Once you establish the RACI matrix, you are indirectly empowering the team members to drive accountability forward. But there are challenges when you are partnering with other business units (BU).Priorities collide and commitments come into question and at that point it is very easy to lose momentum and not drive success within the COE. It is very important that rules of engagement are discussed and agreed upon. It is recommended that there is a designated lead from every BU to participate in the governance body and if they have a stake in this commitment, they will be vested in this initiative. If that lead moveson that participation is not lost and still considered very important. During the process, these champions should be nurtured to lead change management and as SMEs they are empowered to do so along the way. Digital transformation is a journey and every process and step along the way is very important in ensuring the building blocks are solidified and path to success is ensured. Governance is the next step after education, and it is an important one because you are bringing the right people together who understand the automation capabilities and are willing to take it forward
< Page 8 | Page 10 >