I was recently asked to elaborate on a previous blog that discussed reducing metrics and reporting on those that matter to customers. In terms of any metrics, especially those that are important to customers, you should always think about or add the phrase “with quality”. Remember that the term “quality” is defined as “conformance to customer requirements”. So all metrics and measurements should ensure the work or actions you perform remains focused on the customer and their needs. Also in terms of how you phrase a metric it can often be more beneficial to measure in terms of increases and decreases rather than specific quantities. Given that, here some metrics that you might think about using: Increased Customer Quality Satisfaction %--perhaps the most important of all metrics Increase First Line Call Resolution [with quality] %--helps reduce costs but also builds perception of preparedness and knowledge in the eyes of the customer Decreased Mean Time to Restore Serv

When one thinks about how things work in the world, the word paradigm might come to mind. Paradigm (n.)-- A system of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality. As the definition shows, a paradigm represents “how things are” in our current world. Another way I like to think about the idea of a paradigm is to use the term “culture.” Culture (n.)— The known environment in which a person, thing or idea exists. If you know a foreign language or how to play an instrument it is part of your own personal culture, or paradigm. If you do not speak a foreign language or cannot create music, those capabilities are not part of your culture or paradigm. And just as an individual has a culture or personal paradigm, so can an organization. Often it is this culture or paradigm that wreaks havoc with our ability to understand and implement IT Service Management. So how do we understand and use the knowledge of our cultures or paradigm to our advantage when

The Continual Service Improvement publication describes the Continual Service Improvement model. One of the questions asked in this model is “How do we keep the momentum going?” This question becomes especially important when your ITSM implementation efforts have been in place for a significant amount of time. The question then becomes more one of “How do we stop from losing the momentum and effort invested up to this point?” Or perhaps “How do we avoid from returning to the old ways?” For all our efforts to become efficient, effective and economical there is a potential danger that we will fall into comfortable, yet poor habits. So how do we ensure that we do not fall into bad habits such as taking shortcuts, pushing aside process, and just “getting things done” instead of following established methods and processes and doing proper planning? We must begin by being confident in the strides we have made to this point. If we have followed the Continuous Improvement Model faithfully

The professor was recently asked:  "I am having difficulty communicating the business risk of having processes like Change Management and Incident Management sit at Initial (Level 1) maturity. Can you address some of the common business risks and costs companies see by having immature processes?" Great question!  Many organizations do not recognize the inherent risks inhaving immature critical processes such as Incident Management and Change Management. Both processes strive to increase service availability either by identifying and mitigating risk before a change is made or minimizing the impact of a failure after a service is deployed.  To refresh our memories, I have included a description of each aspect of Level 1 in the Process Maturity Framework, with its associated risks:   Vision and Steering: Minimal funds and resources with little activity. Results temporary, not retained. Sporadic reports and reviews. No formal objectives and targets. Wasted activi