You have probably heard the word “Center of Excellence…” for this and that especially when we deal with emerging technologies these days.  What exactly are these so-called “Center of Excellence”?  Who should be part of these “Center of Excellence” and what value do they bring to organizations when establishing them?

Firstly, let us examine what is a Center of Excellence, according to Wikipedia:

“A Center of Excellence (COE or CoE), also called an Excellence Center where a team, a shared facility or an entity provides Leadership, Best Practices, Research, Support, or training for a focus area.  Within an organization, a Center of Excellence may refer to a group of people, a department, or a shared facility.  It may also be known as Competency Center or as Capability Center or as an Excellence Center.”

Now whether an organization needs to establish a Center of Excellence depends on its specific needs and circumstances.  More specifically the motivation to establish a Center of Excellence for organizations is to ensure that they:

1. Stay competitive in their specific industry.

To ensure that organizations stay competitive and to distinguish between other players. To gain or even just maintain one’s position in their specific industry, getting the basics rights and continuously doing so is a must. Having a Center of Excellence helps organizations stay focused on what customers value and ensure it is being delivered.

2. Maximize the Return on Investment.

As a Product and/or Service Provider when we invest money and resources to deliver value to our customers, organizations need to drive for maximum Return on Investment to justify to their Shareholders. Having a Center of Excellence boosts confidence that focuses on driving best practices and the pursuit of Excellence in retaining one’s customers.

3. Accelerate the adoption of Emerging Technologies.

When an organization adopts any new technology, it is important to establish a Center of Excellence where people can go to seek guidance, knowledge, use cases, dos, and don’ts.

4. Complements Digital Transformation.

Center of Excellence can help cement and help with the change of mindset required for Digital Transformation. Most if not all Digital Transformation requires a complete change of mindset and ways of serving your stakeholders and customers. Having an established Center of Excellence enables you to educate, adopt, propagate, and “enforce” best practices in a specific area. Those controls that are in place will help with the new ways of doing business.

5. Establishes Strategic directions and controls to ensure compliance when dealing with Emerging Technologies.

By establishing proper governance and controls within an organization, it will ensure sustainability in the long run. Especially when an organization encourages “Citizen Developers” way to empower various Lines of Business to get things done quickly and require alignment to the overall strategic direction. With proper controls in place, it also addresses compliance, security concerns and supportability in the long run.

Looking at the various benefits of having a Center of Excellence, do recognize that organizations do need to invest in resources (assign people doing roles), time and efforts in ensuring the value is being derived to support the Line of Business.  So, whether your organization decides to establish or not will depend on your organization’s unique needs.

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