ITIL at the Service Desk

Trends such as mobile computing, consumerization (also known as bring your own device (BYOD), and cloud computing are having a dramatic impact on the service desk. These trends are prompting many organizations to evaluate and improve their existing service management processes, or implement new processes where needed, and to rethink the role the service desk plays in implementing, executing and improving these processes.

It would be easy to look at these trends and think of them only as the deployment of new technologies but there are bigger considerations at stake. What services are these technologies enabling? What business processes do these services underpin? How is the business impacted when these services are interrupted?

An important key performance indicator (KPI) for service catalog management is whether the service desk has the information that it needs about those services and their associated interfaces and dependencies. This is because the service desk plays an important role in informing customers about the service catalog and how it can be used to request services. The service desk plays an important role in maintaining the configuration management system (CMS) that underpins the service catalog as well, by reporting inaccuracies and by relating incidents, problems and requests to services. The service desk also actively uses the service catalog to more efficiently and effectively diagnose incidents and problems and assess the impact of changes.

The service desk must put in place procedures for handling incidents, problems and requests for these services and in many cases must set new policies that spell out the types and levels of support customers are provided. In the case of practices such as mobile computing, BYOD and cloud computing, these policies must consider the risks and liabilities to the business and must also spell out when and how the service desk will escalate issues to external service providers.

These practices often represent significant culture change for an organization and the service desk acts as an important contact point for customers’ suggestions, complaints and compliments. The service desk works closely with the business relationship management and service level management processes to ensure that services are being delivered according to the agreed upon service level agreements (SLAs) and that customers are satisfied with those services. If service desk staff are not fully aware of the services, how they benefit the business, and the SLAs in place, customers can quickly lose faith not only in the service desk but in the entire IT organization.

An effective technique in the face of these trends is to evaluate all aspects of the service desk (people, processes, technology, and information), benchmark them against best practices and identify improvement opportunities. You can then put in place a roadmap for making the needed improvements. As these trends tend to bring about significant culture change, building an organization change management program into your roadmap addresses the preparation, communication, motivation, education, and training activities needed to ensure success.

Four Service Characteristics

Recently I came across several articles by researchers and experts that laid out definitions and characteristics of services. ITIL provides us with a definition that can help drive the creation of value-laden services: A means of delivering value to customers by facilitating outcomes customers want to achieve without the ownership of specific costs and risks. An area that ITIL is not so clear is in terms of service characteristics. Several researchers and experts put forth that services have four basic characteristics (IHIP): Intangibility—Services are the results of actions not things. They have no physical presence and represent a logical set of elements. One way to think of service is “work done for others.” Heterogeneity—Also known as “variability”; services are unique items because of the mechanisms used to deliver services, which is people. Because the people element adds variability, the service is variable. This holds true, especially for the value proposition—not eve...

What Is A Service Offering?

The ITIL 4 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 1. 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. ...

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

This article was originally published in 2015. With the Introduction of ITIL 4, some of this best practice has changed. See ITIL 4 and the Evolving Role of Roles . Updated Definitions in ITIL 4: Process Owner: In ITIL 4, the concept of 'processes' has expanded into broader 'practices.' Consequently, the Process Owner is now often referred to as the 'Practice Owner.' This individual is accountable for the overall design, performance, integration, and improvement of a specific practice within the organization. They ensure that the practice achieves its intended outcomes and aligns with the organization's objectives. Process Manager: Now commonly known as the 'Practice Manager' in ITIL 4, this role is responsible for the day-to-day management of the practice. The Practice Manager ensures that activities are carried out as intended, manages resources assigned to the practice, and oversees the practitioners performing the work. Process Practit...

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