Skip to main content

The Agile Process Owner

Image
By
Let’s face it, IT service management (ITSM) processes get a bad rap. Sometimes deservedly so. Bureaucratic and overly risk-adverse processes can be a real constraint in the IT value stream; particularly in organizations that are adopting agile, lean and DevOps practices. To keep pace, today’s IT organizations must be built on ITSM policies and processes that facilitate speed and change. So who ensures that ITSM processes are designed with ‘just enough’ control to meet an organization’s needs? Here’s where the role of Certified Agile Process Owner comes into play.
A Certified Agile Process Owner (CAPO)SM adapts agile and Scrum values and practices to ITSM processes and process design and improvement activities. Much like a Scrum Product Owner, a Certified Agile Process Owner manages stakeholder requirements and strives to translate those requirements into process activities and features that deliver value.
What’s different is that CAPOs and Process Improvement Teams use Sprints to deliver those activities and features in usable increments, in much the same way that Product Owners and developers deliver software increments. A CAPO plays a critical role before, during and after Sprint events by:
  • Managing and prioritizing a Process Backlog
  • Capturing and mapping user stories
  • Facilitating backlog grooming activities
  • Collaborating with stakeholders, Process Improvement Team members and the Agile Service Manager
  • Deciding when and how process increments are released
Traditional process design and improvement projects are sometimes prolonged efforts with little opportunity for experimentation, learning, and stakeholder feedback. To more quickly deliver value, a CAPO learns to focus on critical process activities and to deploy those activities in small, frequent releases. Fast feedback and a focus on measuring outcomes that matter to the business enable continuous process improvement and processes that are fit for purpose.
While it’s often perceived that processes stand in the way of progress, the reality is that the highest performing organizations don’t get there without efficient and effective ITSM processes. Nor do these organizations become high-performing with overly-rigorous processes. They get there by having agile processes and by using agile methods and techniques to continuously improve those processes.
Realizing the value of a process is dependent on the steps taken to ensure the process is agile, sustainable and constantly evolving. Selecting Process Owners with the right level of authority, the right mindset and the right skillset is critical to ensuring the value is fully realized. A CAPO brings an agile mindset and the ability to adapt agile practices to process design and improvement activities.
What our alumni are saying about Certified Agile Process Owner (CAPO)SM:
 Excellent course. Our entire ITSM Center of Excellence needs this sort of class.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Four Ps of Service Design - It’s not all about Technology

By
People ask me why I think that many designs and projects often fail. The most common answer is from a lack of preparation and management. Many IT organizations just think about the technology (product) implementation and fail to understand the risks of not planning for the effective and efficient use of the four Ps: People, Process, Products (services, technology and tools) and Partners (suppliers, manufacturers and vendors). A holistic approach should be adopted for all Service Design aspects and areas to ensure consistency and integration within all activities and processes across the entire IT environment, providing end to end business-related functionality and quality. (SD 2.4.2) People:   Have to have proper skills and possess the necessary competencies in order to get involved in the provision of IT services. The right skills, the right knowledge, the right level of experience must be kept current and aligned to the business needs. Products:   These are the technology managem
Post a Comment
Read more

What Is A Service Offering?

By
The ITIL4 Best Practice Guidance defines a “Service Offering” as a description of one or more services designed to address the needs of a target customer or group .   As a service provider, we can’t stop there!   We must know what the contracts of our service offering are and be able to put them into context as required by the customer.     Let’s explore the three elements that comprise a Service Offering. A “Service Offering” may include:     Goods, Access to Resources, and Service Actions Goods – When we think of “Goods” within a service offering these are the items where ownership is transferred to the consumer and the consumer takes responsibility for the future use of these goods.   Example of goods that are being provided in the offering – If this is a hotel service then toiletries or chocolates are yours to take with you.   You the consumer own these and they are yours to take with you.               Note: Goods may not always be provided for every Service Offe
Post a Comment
Read more

What is the difference between Process Owner, Process Manager and Process Practitioner?

By
I was recently asked to clarify the roles of the Process Owner, Process Manager and Process Practitioner and wanted to share this with you. Roles and Responsibilities: Process Owner – this individual is “Accountable” for the process. They are the goto person and represent this process across the entire organization. They will ensure that the process is clearly defined, designed and documented. They will ensure that the process has a set of Policies for governance. Example: The process owner for Incident management will ensure that all of the activities to Identify, Record, Categorize, Investigate, … all the way to closing the incident are defined and documented with clearly defined roles, responsibilities, handoffs, and deliverables. An example of a policy in could be… “All Incidents must be logged”. Policies are rules that govern the process. Process Owner ensures that all Process activities, (what to do), Procedures (details on how to perform the activity) and the
Post a Comment
Read more