# Operational Visibility Maturity Model

A five-stage framework for moving from manual reporting to governed, evidence-led operational
decision systems. Published by Operational Visibility (operationalvisibility.blog).

| Stage | Name | Typical characteristics | Next priority |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Reactive | Manual reports, portal checking, direct questions, undocumented ownership | Identify critical workflows and objects |
| 2 | Consolidated | Shared dashboards, inconsistent definitions, limited drill-through | Create canonical definitions and lineage |
| 3 | Governed | Named owners, source-of-truth matrix, freshness and quality controls | Build exception workflows and service levels |
| 4 | Actionable | Business-impact prioritization, recommended actions, approvals, replay and rollback | Improve policy using operating history |
| 5 | Adaptive | Evidence-led automation, measured outcomes, feedback, continuous control improvement | Expand safely while preserving auditability |

## How to use it

1. Score each critical workflow (orders, inventory, fulfillment, freight, returns, invoicing)
   against the five stages independently. Most organizations are not at one uniform stage.
2. Identify the stage-gating gap: the missing definition, owner, or workflow that prevents the
   next stage.
3. Choose the next practical investment from the "Next priority" column rather than jumping
   stages by purchasing a control-tower product.

Source article: https://operationalvisibility.blog/articles/what-operational-visibility-actually-means