The main objective of any organization is to achieve the execution of efficient processes that help achieve business goals and thus a satisfactory service delivery to customers. However, in spite of the fact that companies put a lot of effort into achieving this objective; the disruptive transformations of the information age often make maintaining competitiveness a challenge. In this context the use of a resource such as the Center of Excellence becomes imperative.
But how exactly can a Center of Excellence help organizations achieve their goals more easily? Read on and find out everything you need to know about CoEs and the potential benefits they can bring to your business.
What exactly is a Center of Excellence?
The notion of the Center of Excellence is much older than you might think. Many academies and medical institutions have adopted the idea for quite some time; with the aim of improving the way they develop their internal processes. Due to the success of this resource; several organizations have chosen to integrate it into their corporate environment, obtaining very good results.
In the business context, a center of excellence is a team made up of members of the organization who have a great deal of expertise in the areas of business process management; customer relationship management and its sector; and who also work with a wide range of best practices and tools. At its highest level of maturity; this highly formalized and autonomous entity is responsible for supporting professionals and carrying out the most complex projects, helping them to supervise them.
The Centre of Excellence and Information Technologies
Centers of Excellence can be integrated into almost any department of an organization, however; one of the areas where its application is most likely is that of Information Technology. The members of these IT Centers of Excellence, in addition to performing their own routine work, have an additional role in improving their own resources of knowledge and experience, so that, in turn; can help other activity centers throughout the organization to improve.
The IT CoE may consist of a functional or multifunctional team that seeks, both within and outside the organization; to capture new knowledge and practices. The main defining characteristic of an IT CoE is the management of knowledge for the improvement of the company.
5 advantages of Centers of Excellence
The Centers of Excellence are designed to enhance various areas of the company such as:
- Project Management
- Workflow Methodologies
- IT Governance
- Knowledge Management
- Technology Management
If we then take into account its scope, it is not difficult to deduce that its implementation can bring enormous advantages for any business. Among them we have:
#1 Time Saving
A well-applied CoE can enhance the process of project design and execution; as well as more intelligent management of the talents that are part of the company. As a result, workflows are streamlined and decreases the time to execute tasks and achieve objectives. In addition to this, the final result is usually greater than that of a project that has not been managed by a CoE; which translates not only into improved times but also in overall quality.
#2 Better communication
The constant growth of companies tends to make their external structure more complex and therefore to create silos among its members. Part of the CoE’s job is, therefore, to eliminate these silos and achieve more fluid communication in which teamwork, creativity; and innovation are encouraged. Because CoE centralizes information; all project participants can easily access any data they need and contribute new ideas regardless of their department or geographic location.
#3 Prevention
Employees have extensive skills, important professional experiences that enable them to perform all kinds of tasks. The CoE channels all that knowledge and creates a synergistic combination capable of exponentially improving the way teams solve problems within the company. As a result, there are better strategies for prevention and resilience to incidents because the processes and procedures are modified according to the discovery of new knowledge.
#4 Quality of Service
Logically, the increase in speed and efficiency in the execution of projects directly affects the quality of services of the organization. This translates into greater satisfaction for the company’s users and customers. With a CdE, Companies can reduce their delivery times; built more solid bonds of trust with the clients, and increase customer loyalty.
#5 Intelligent Automation
The use of intelligent tools plays a vital role in the performance of any company. That’s why choosing the solutions that best suit business needs should always be a priority. However, choosing the applications that can offer the best results in terms of ROI and performance can often become a great challenge. Fortunately, the CoE can focus its knowledge on measuring the performance of different tools to determine which are the most appropriate; according to their characteristics, to be implemented in the organization. As a result, the automation process becomes smarter, which benefits the business as a whole by facilitating work processes.
How to guarantee the success of the CoE?
There are different strategies you can carry out to create a successful CoE. The first must focus on ensuring the continuous training of your employees. The second should focus on setting well-defined objectives. After that, all that you require is to promote a culture of constant communication that allows the effective union of talents. Don’t forget that investing in high-level tools is essential to guarantee the good performance of your CoE and the members of the company in general.
If what you are looking for are solutions that lead you directly to success; at Gb Advisors, we offer you the best. Contact us now to receive more information about high technology solutions in ITSM and ITsec. Our commitment is to help you grow.
