I am excited to write about a new strategy to help organizations adapt more effectively to the intensified digital-first world. From improving time-to-market to operating more efficiently as an organization, software-driven innovation has never been more critical to business success; software has gone beyond accelerating everything we do to actually being what we do. That’s why value stream management (VSM) continues to gain such immense traction and why Tasktop is playing a major role in the conception and evolution of the Value Stream Management Consortium (VSMC).
Comme I wrote recently in Forbes, Agile and DevOps are not enough to remove all system constraints to rapid product delivery. Something is missing, and that something is VSM. A systematic approach to software delivery, focusing end-to-end from customer request to customer delivery, can help you to better create and protect business value and meet business outcomes sooner. At Tasktop, we’re witnessing first-hand the astonishing impact of the analyst-validated practice of VSM with our Fortune 500 customers. From a U.S. healthcare leader doubling its feature velocity and a telecom giant changing its outsourcing strategy to negotiate better terms with its service partner, to an online investment firm discovering a system bottleneck impeding digital channel innovation, the benefits are tangible and profound.
And we know this is only the beginning …
As the market grows by leaps and bounds, Tasktop has helped form the VSMC with Digital.ai, HCL Software, Plutora and ServiceNow. We’re great believers that a rising tide lifts all boats—as shown with the Flow Framework®, popularized in the bestselling and acclaimed Du projet au produit book written by Dr. Mik Kersten. In the book, Dr. Kersten shares what he has learned in helping the largest enterprises and agencies make this transition to building and delivering software as the new means of production and competitive advantage. That’s why we’re expanding the scope of our commitment to this category, as well as contributing additional resources and increased support for organizations and individuals working to make their businesses thrive in the Age of Software.
The focus of the VSMC is accelerating the performance of organizations across the globe through the increased adoption of VSM thinking and enabling technology. This initiative will be measured by fastidious research, the results of which will be presented in the annual State of Value Stream Management Survey (scheduled for publication in May 2021).
We are striving to make VSM the standard way of optimizing software delivery at scale. Enterprises must have end-to-end visibility into their value streams, from ideation to operation, to identify bottlenecks and pinpoint where investments must be made to improve the flow of business value.
Tasktop and other members will be collaborating on going beyond the use of value stream mapping to educate and harness the real VSM management capabilities by delivering research, reference models, education, training and certification. Staying true to rapid feedback loops associated with lean thinking, we will be listening to everyone in the community to continuously learn and improve the value of the VSMC.
Reach out if you want to become a member and involved in the VSM survey.
