Every Business Has Become a Technology Business

Every business has become a technology business. Let that one sink in for a moment. With the internet of things ever increasing it has become ever more imperative for us to make wise decisions about how to move forward on which IT services we should be delivering into the future (pipeline), how long we should continue to deliver our current (catalog) and when should we retire them (retire). We literally could be an app away from becoming irrelevant.

It is no longer enough to satisfy our customers, we must now delight and excite them. They have to be able to enjoy the experience of how they receive these services along with the knowledge and comfort that the service provider of choice can continue without interruption to deliver this level of performance and functionality and even deliver new capabilities swiftly and often.

By engaging in DevOps principles & practices (Scrum and Agile) at the strategic level we can begin to prioritize new and changing customer requirements more effectively. Normally projects will start with a given set of requirements. In an Agile project (yes, we are going to use an Agile project format to continue the theme of blending ITIL and DevOps) the product backlog will contain these requirements as user stories, but as we all know those stories/requirements/attributes can change very rapidly. One tool that could help us rank these attributes and ensuring the delight of customers is the Kano model.

A Kano model shows us there are three different factors in customer satisfaction. They are as follows:

Basic factors are aspects of the service that have to be in place for the customer to receive the service. They may not offer any obvious value but if they fail or are not delivered, customers will become very dissatisfied. These factors are sometimes called ‘must-have utility’ or the very least the service provider can deliver for a particular service. Basic factors are not responsible for high levels of satisfaction unless they alone fulfil the customer’s requirements completely.
Performance factors are factors that enable a customer to get more of something that they need or a higher level of service quality. These are the factors that customers are interested in and the price they are willing to pay is directly impacted. These factors result in customer satisfaction when delivered and customer dissatisfaction when unfulfilled.
Excitement factors are attributes of a service that are generous and which customers do not expect. When they are offered (within reason) they cause higher levels of satisfaction. The service provider is seen to be ‘going the extra mile’. While excitement factors result in the quickest and highest levels of customer satisfaction, they are expensive to maintain since the service provider is offering more than necessary at the same price. These factors may be exciting but they are not essential to the service and are, therefore, also referred to as ‘nice-to-have utility’. Internal service providers should be careful of introducing excitement factors in the interest of ‘customer satisfaction’ without doing a proper business case to justify the additional costs.

For more information on Service Offerings and Agreements, DevOps and Agile please see http://www.itsmacademy.com/itil-soa/, http://www.itsmacademy.com/dofnd/ and http://www.itsmacademy.com/agile/

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...

Search