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Adding Value - GIVE EM THE PICKLE

Recently I was having a discussion with a colleague. The discussion centered on value, what it means and how we deliver it to customers and users of IT Services. One particular part of the discussion focused on how you can easily add value in small increments that combine to bring satisfaction to customers. My colleague mentioned an interesting idea from a restaurateur named Bob Farrell, the founder of a chain of Ice Cream Parlors. He sold the chain and became a motivational speaker based on what he learned from the restaurant industry and how to drive better value and customer satisfaction. Bob had once received a letter from a customer indicating loss of satisfaction when the server was going to charge him for a single pickle slice to go with his burger. From this letter Bob Farrell derived the importance of the small things we should do for customers and users of our goods and services to ensure satisfaction.  Providing value to customers does not have to arrive in large portio

MOF Management Reviews

Let’s continue our discussion on IT Service Management Frameworks. Recently, we talked about the question based guidance in the MOF Solution Accelerators. Now, I would like to offer you additional information on the MOF Management Reviews. MOF Management Reviews will help organizations ensure that their technology services are on track to deliver expected business value. They offer guidance to help management set goals, evaluate progress and confirm results. The MOF Layer/Phase and the aligned Management Review is listed as such: Manage Layer Policy and Control MR) Plan Phase Service Alignment MR Portfolio MR Deliver Phase Project Plan Approved MR Release Readiness MR Operate Phase Operational Health MR The Management Reviews can be used as checklists to ensure we have completed tasks correctly. For example, the Release Readiness document offers a comprehensive review of the deliverables produced. It delivers an assessment of the readiness of the business to employ the solut

Service Level Management Relationships

One of the most important goals of Service Level Management (SLM) is the need to build strong relationships between the customers and users of IT Services. It is incumbent on the roles of the Service Level Manager and Business Relationship Manager (a role defined with Demand Management) to serve as the Voice of the Customer. SLM must act as an agent on behalf of business customers, since those individuals or groups must focus on executing business processes or serving further the end-users of a company’s goods and services. The business should not have to spend its time worrying about the value they need from IT Services. SLM needs to create a strong bond with the business and end-user customers. This bond needs to be a familiar and personal link that shows the customer that IT truly cares about the needs and success of the business. Good Service Level Management cannot be conducted solely through emails or phone calls. A good Service Level Manager knows they must meet their customer

Accountable and Responsible

I was recently asked about the accountabilities and responsibilities of the Service Level Manager and Service Owner.  Let’s start with Service Level Manager . Responsible for gathering Service Level Requirements from the customer. Responsible for negotiating and maintaining SLAs with the customer. Responsible for developing and maintaining OLAs. Responsible for understanding underpinning contracts as they relate to OLAs and SLAs. Responsible for producing, reviewing and evaluating reports on service performance and achievements on a regular basis. Also for conducting meeting with the customer to discuss service performance and improvements. Responsible for initiating appropriate actions to improve service levels (SIP). Conducting yearly reviews of SLAs, OLAs and underpinning contracts. The success of SLM is very dependent on the quality of the Service Portfolio and the Service Catalogue and their contents. They provide the necessary information on the services to be managed w

Component Failure Impact Analysis

Availability Management balances business availability requirements against the associated costs. So, should we consider availability requirements before the service has been designed and implemented or after?  The Availability Management process should begin in the Service Strategy stage of the lifecycle and continue in each stage of the service lifecycle. Availability Management ensures that the design approach takes two distinctive but related perspectives. Designing for availability focuses on all aspects of the technical design of the IT service. Designing for recovery ensures that in the event of a service failure, the business can resume normal operations at normal as quickly as possible. One of the techniques that can be invaluable to both perspectives is the Component Failure Impact Analysis (CFIA). The CFIA can be used to predict and evaluate the impact a component failure can have on its related IT service. This activity identifies areas of weakness or fragility within

MOF's Question Based Guidance

During a discussion in a recent Intro to MOF class, we talked about some of the best practice guidance from MOF that we would use in our ITSM improvement initiatives.  We had an enthusiastic “YES” that the MOF question based guidance will be a most welcome addition in our toolkit.  Let’s talk a little bit about MOF and what this guidance entails. MOF is a Microsoft Solution Accelerator that helps integrate IT best practices, governance and risk, compliance, and team accountabilities for managing key functions across the IT service life cycle. In the documents, MOF provides scripted questions to help organizations drive service improvements by process or stage or activity. For example, the MOF Reliability Accelerator offers direction on understanding, setting targets and measuring IT service reliability. It addresses creating plans for the following areas:  Confidentiality Integrity Availability Continuity Capacity Here is an example of the question based guidance from MOF 4.0 w

Accountable or Responsible?

I was recently asked,  "From an ITIL standpoint, what’s the difference between Accountability and Responsibility?"   That's a g reat Question! There is a big difference between Accountability and Responsibility.  The ITIL Continual Service Improvement (CSI) book provides the following definitions: Accountable: Ownership of a process, and/or activity. The person who is held accountable and ensures that the goals and objectives of a process are being followed. Responsible: Performer of a task. The person responsible for getting the task/activity done. This person gets the work done and does not necessarily have the authority to ensure that others are getting their tasks completed. Accountable roles oversee or "own" the process or task; responsible roles execute or perform one or more aspects of the process or task. For example: A CIO is accountable for the quality of all IT services, including the results produced by the IT staff and supplier