Time consuming, friction inducing and potentially costly, there is plenty that you would want to avoid when properly building IT service management. Yet if you hold your nose and do it right, you can establish a strong and effective process.
IT Service Management is rich and complex. So how does an IT manager navigate these choppy seas? There are a few ways to make the process much easier. Here we look at ITSM from a user and technology manager perspective.
Successful ITSM requires a true partnership between departments. Nowadays there is much more of a balance between IT and the business groups that it supports--there is recognition that the two departments need one another more than ever before. However, in many organizations there is still a little bit of a divide--and to really leverage one another there needs to be a true partnership.
Most of the information available on Service Level Management focuses more on the technical and logistics side of implementing various agreements--and on the relationship management side of the equation. While the technical and logistics aspects of SLM are very important, there seems to be an abhorrent vacuum around the intrapersonal side of making SLMs truly flourish.
Running an IT department isn’t about the technology, it’s about the business. To be a strategic contributor, IT needs to take a much more proactive view to managing the technology portfolio--driving business-focused projects with bottom-line benefits.
Cloud delivery projects are a culmination of people, process and technology, but project management fundamentals still apply and there is work to be done. Here we give delivery management professionals some base foundation knowledge regarding the Cloud, why these projects are different as well as some of the skills and capabilities to focus on.
Developing a phased approach that brings continuous and measurable improvements is key to implementing an effective SLM capability. SLM isn’t about service level agreements, layers of complex processes and such. SLM is about aligning the services and capabilities IT provides to the organization with its fundamental operational and competitive sustainability needs.
For some, the tough economy means there is a greater willingness to accept risk on projects in exchange for lower costs--and that brings the benefits of ITIL into question. Is the additional structure, process and service quality worth the cost and schedule impact on initiatives?
Maybe we should consider our internal customers as just that--customers. That doesn't mean that we stop using ITIL and start entering them into our CRM system, but we should provide them with the same standard of service--and expect the same level of commitment.
Since service management is far more important to our customers than information technology, the acronym should be SMIT--or Service Management through Information Technology--rather than ITSM. There are many methods for structuring the improvement of the service that we provide to our customers, but all of the complexity boils down to a few important considerations.
ITIL brings with it tremendous potential to transform an organization. However, it requires unwavering persistence and commitment to leverage the transformation potential.
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"Chaos is a friend of mine." - Bob Dylan |
