The 7-Step Improvement Process

One of the most interesting concepts that I've found in the V3 Continual Service Improvement (CSI) book is the 7-Step Improvement process. This process provides a structure for defining, analyzing, and using metrics to improve services and service management processes.

Prior to beginning the process, it is important to determine the:

Vision
Strategy
Tactical goals
Operational goals

These will be defined during Service Strategy (vision and strategy) and Service Design (tactical and operational goals).

With that in place, the process consists of 7 practical steps:

Define what you should measure
Define what you can measure (then do a gap analysis between this and Step 1)
Gather the data
Process the data
Analyze the data
Present and use the information
Implement corrective actions

This process provides a framework for ensuring that the data being collected and resulting metrics align with the strategic and tactical goals of the organization. It also allows an organization to prioritize and act on improvements based on factual information. Since many organizations struggle with creating meaningful metrics, I would highly recommend reading more about the 7-step improvement process in the CSI book, or attending an ITIL Lifecycle CSI class - Learn More

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