Organizations that have begun a digital transformation either use value stream management (VSM) or plan to use it to help them make better data-driven decisions and facilitate faster product delivery to increase customer value, according to recent research from Broadcom and Dimensional Research. 

“The findings show that VSM data, customer value, and AI are intrinsically linked,” the company summarized in its report. “Companies should be striving to measure, collect, and manage data at each step along the value stream, from initial product and service strategy to delivery. That data must include a comprehensive mix of metrics representing customer value.” 

Dimensional Research has been doing this study for four years, noting that uptake of VSM continues to grow, and that 38% of respondents that VSM has helped their organizations accelerate digital transformation. It also reported that the top focus of organizations is to grow the customer base and continue to deliver more value.

The research also found that organizations are bringing more departments and teams into their VSM processes. David Gehringer, principal at Dimensional Research, noted that among the new teams organizations are adding into the flow is customer service. Organizations “tended to think of value in the value they deliver, and the way they measured it was by new sales, repeat sales, which is an outside-in perspective,” he said. “Now, mature companies are realizing that is not correct; the value that the customer sees is their perception of value. It’s almost like it doesn’t matter what you think your brand is, it’s what the customer thinks it is. And so the fact that customer service is coming online means that the very end point of what the actual customer thinks is now being fed back into the cycle, which is how you truly optimize for customer value and deliver better differentiation.”

But VSM isn’t only about being able to see the product being built; it’s about who came up with the idea, and answering questions like, does the design have compliance? Is the quality coming out? Did it ship on time? What are customers calling about? Are they happy with it?

“When you look at that whole chain, when you have teams that are just fundamentally involved in your organization [but not in the VSM process], we see that as obviously a visibility problem, but it’s also an indication of a bit of a VSM maturity problem, because you can’t easily gather data” that you’d need to round out visibility, said Gehringer. This lack of VSM maturity, based on a model introduced by Broadcom last year, leads to poor visibility, a lack of team alignment and less efficiency. The study also showed that organizations that follow the maturity model see sinificant improvements in those areas.

While maturity was found to be growing slightly, 30% of survey respondents said their organizations will be utilizing VSM across multiple product lines, and that 11% responded that they are using VSM across the enterprise – up 2% and 4%, respectively.

Yet even as VSM is growing within organizations, many continue to struggle with visibility into their data.

That struggle, though, can be mitigated by introducing AI into VSM tooling, the report noted. The top response for where AI for VSM is focused, 47% said it is for improving analytics, followed by automating workflows and processes at 46%. Next were improving product quality and enhancing decision-making (44%).

Lance Knight, chief value stream architect at Broadcom ValueOps, said AI can analyze data while it’s flowing to improve an area where it sees an issue. “When you think about value stream automation and value steam tools – the data, the artifacts, all flow,” he said. “What a perfect place to interrupt that flow to make an analysis… make sure [for example] it fits your governance.”

The ConnectALL tool within Broadcom’s ValueOps solution can help put AI everywhere, Knight explained. “Once I hit the submit button, ConnectALL will see that and take that information and have a look at it, and AI can analyze it,” he said. Knight said he wrote a quick demo where you can put in a feature, ConnectALL sees that and sends it to AI, and then converts it into user stories in [Broadcom’s] Rally agile platform.

To get the most out of your digital transformation and value stream initiatives, it’s important to bring in all stakeholders to align your efforts, gain visibility across your organization and find and eliminate waste that hinders efficiency. The more mature your value stream management processes become, the better you’ll be able to respond to customer needs and deliver the value they expect.

Learn how Carnival Cruise Line and Ahold Delhaize leverage VSM for Digital Transformation by registering for the complimentary Value Stream Management Virtual Summit hosted by Broadcom ValueOps.

 

Content provided by SD Times and Broadcom ValueOps