I was reading a blog post titled "The Value of the AS IS in Information Management Change" by Alan Pelz-Sharpe at The Real Story Group.  Alan was talking about the value of understanding and defining the current situation in an organization before analyzing it and creating the future state vision.  I fully agree with everything Alan said about the value this provides and how it needs to be part of any engagement where you are creating a vision, strategy and roadmap for a future implementation.  I've seen similar situations in the examples he gave where organizations that don't take an in depth look at where they are and how they got there may repeat the mistakes of the past.  The as is assessment is a critical step in most every proposal we write.

I believe another area where understanding the as is situation adds value is in the area of organizational change.  The cultural change aspect that any technology implementation brings (or for that matter any process or other change) is often an after thought for a project.  Too many times it is looked at in the heat of battle as the team is moving forward with implementation, having underestimated the effect of the change to the people and the current processes of the organization.  In many cases, it is too late in the game when you discover this at implementation time and it unfortunately may spell failure for your initiative.

Including an as is analysis of the current culture of the organization can help the project team in understanding the forces at work in bringing about change.  The analysis can help the team understand where their stakeholders are in their view of the project.  Are they a supporter, a coach or a blocker?  It will also help in developing communication plans and messages that can be used to move the stakeholders toward a more favorable position in supporting the project.  These stakeholders can prove invaluable in how the initiative or project is seen by the end-users in the organization.

This as is analysis will also help the team in creation of training plans and materials.  The project team will be more informed in making choices about the types of training that will work in the organization based on the way the various users learn.

Our Organizational Transformation practice area focuses on the challenges that new programs and initiatives bring to an organization.  You can find more information on what we offer in this area at this link.

Don't underestimate the effect that the culture of an organization can have on an Information Management project.  It can be the difference between success and failure.