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The Different Types of Service

In the Strategy stage of the Service Lifecycle there are several questions an IT service provider must ask in order to determine the services they should be delivering, whom they should be delivering them to and is value creation and capture possible.  They are:  What is our business? Who is our customer? What does the customer value? Who depends on our services? How do they use our services Why are they valuable to them?  Given the answer to those questions, the service provider can then determine the types of services to be delivered, resources needed and what risks and constraints need to be identified and managed.   There are three types of services the provider will have to consider, supporting services, internal customer facing and external customer facing services.  Services whether internal or external are further broken down as core, enabling or enhancing.   Here we will be looking at supporting, internal and external facing services. Supporting Services:   A serv

The Evolution of a Definition

The definition of an IT service has certainly evolved: IT Service   (ITILv1) :     A set of related functions provided by IT systems in support of one or more business areas, which in turn may be made up of software, hardware and communications facilities, perceived by the customer as a coherent and self-contained entity. An IT service may range from access to a single application, such as a general ledger system, to a complex set of facilities including many applications, as well as office automation, which might be spread across a number of hardware and software platforms. IT Service   (ITILv2) :     A set of related components provided in support of one or more business processes. The service will comprise a range of   Configuration Item   ( CI ) types but will be perceived by   Customers   and   Users as a self-contained, single, coherent entity. IT Service   (ITILv3) :   A   Service   provided to one or more   Customers , by an   IT Service Provider . An IT Service is base

Process Maturity – How can I Assess it?

A process is doomed if you ever consider it done!  Unlike an audit that examines evidence to determine compliance, a process assessment is conducted to evaluate and organizations strengths and weaknesses.  The assessor will ensure that this baseline is utilized to identify process improvement opportunities that ensure business outcomes. The ITIL Process Maturity Framework (PMF) was defined specifically for ITSM processes and consists of five levels of maturity. ·          Level One – Initial At this level there is not a defined process, there are some procedures and few results are retained. ·          Level Two – Repeatable At this level of maturity there is a recognized process but the objectives are not clear and targets are not formalized. ·          Level Three – Defined It is at this level of maturity that the process is defined and documented and there are agreed upon targets. ·          Level Four – Managed A managed process at this level is well defin

Process Maturity – Documenting the “As Is” Process

There are many challenges to defining and documenting a process for ongoing continual improvement and to ensure process maturity is in alignment with the overall business strategy and outcomes.  One such challenge is to be able to document the “As Is” process. When documenting the “As Is” process caution must be taken not to accept the existing documentation, or flowcharts provided as the true baseline of what is really being done.  What are the current activities and procedures that are being used and what is the step by step workflow that participants and stakeholders are actually performing?  The actual is what really needs to be captured.  The complexity of this challenge is exasperated by the fact that frequently when determining and “As Is” state for immature processes the assessor or process design engineer will discover that there is not one single process that is being followed but in fact many?  What then? Non adherence to process is generally due to little or

Process Maturity – How do I measure it?

In order to manage and control processes and services, they have to be monitored and measured. The design of the measurement methods and metrics used to measure process are critical to success and might even be the most crucial element.  In practice we tend to see Critical Success Factors and Key Performance Indicators defined in the process documentation but is anything being done with those? We not only need to define the metrics for measuring the process but also must ensure that the design and implementation of the process also includes a system for ongoing monitoring, reporting and most important action for continual improvement of the process. Without it the process is destined to fail. Process designers must assert caution and use wisdom when defining the metrics and measurements for the process.  Careful consideration must be given to how these measurements are going to affect and change the behavior of the practitioners and stakeholders that produce or receive value

Process Maturity Requires - People, Process, and Technology… Let’s talk Process!

I recently heard an ITSM manager state… “The engineers think that it is the process that is slowing us down” then he went on to say “Of course we here all understand that the process is intended to slow us down”!  I was waiting for others in the group to comment and no one mentioned a word.   WHAT?!   Is that really ever the intention or the purpose of a process? What a process is – or should be A process is a set of activities with predefined inputs and outputs which are intended to meet the needs of the business and stakeholders!  A process has clearly defined roles, responsibilities, and workflow. When was the last time you heard a business representative say could you design a process to slow things down?  In reality we need to look at how we can design processes or activities within the organization to increase quality and speed!  The real challenge is how do we do that?  How can we get just enough process and control for consistency, automation, and speed and yet

Happy Birthday ITIL!

ITIL is turning 25 this year.  In honor of this milestone, AXELOS commissioned a study ( The Importance of ITIL® – A Global View – 2014 and Beyond ) to provide a global and independent assessment of the current perception of ITIL, engaging nearly 400 C-Level and medium tier service managers in key international regions across a range of industries. One of the stated reasons that the study was commissioned is because ITIL’s benefits are being questioned in light of factors such as cloud computing, more advanced automation, and agile. The results of the study reaffirm ITIL’s value, particularly in the eyes of IT executives. In fact, according to the study, just under 70% of executives indicated that ITIL is becoming more important in light of these trends. Some interesting results include: 71% of those surveyed view ITIL as playing a tangible role in supporting the move to DevOps and Agile  ITIL 2011 adopters are more likely to see ITIL as growing in importance   40%