Service Management
Ruaidhri McSharry argues that Information & Communication Technology (ICT) is fundamental to the delivery of a quality customer in any business operation
We all know about service quality when we phone a company, a help desk, or support line either at home or at work. Based on that experience, we make judgments about the company and the value it places on the customer. The importance of service quality to both the internal and external customers of a business is reinforced by the fact that in many cases suppliers tendering for EU and Irish Government contracts are being asked if they deliver their products and services based on best practice service management principles. Consequently, most industries now recognise the importance of providing products plus service rather than just products, as a critical component for success.
Quality best practice service management sets expectations in terms of what the business will deliver to its customers and implements effective and efficient mechanisms to meet or exceed these expectations. Service management has traditionally been seen as a ‘business’ concern. However, in recent years, there has been a recognition that Information & Communication Technology (ICT) underpins the business operation in general and therefore delivery of a quality customer service. Accordingly, ICT functions are now required to deliver ‘services’, rather than ‘technology’; ICT must now deliver operational capability to support the business, and not simply hardware and software, to their internal and external customers.
The revised requirement for ‘service’ rather than ‘technology’ represents a significant challenge for many ICT departments and companies. While the technical aspects of the ICT industry are well developed, the service management requirement can represent a significant cultural change. Achieving the required cultural shift is frequently the most difficult challenge within the process of developing a quality ICT service delivery environment. However, these resultant changes are generally recognised as representing a maturing of the ICT industry that is critical to modern business.
The IT Information Library (ITIL) service management methodology is one of the most widely recognised and supported approaches to addressing quality service management for IT services. While the framework itself is based upon principles established over 20 years ago, it is maintained in line with technology and business developments through input from service management practitioners.
ITIL is a best practice service management framework that is applicable to all business, whether IT services or not. ITIL is a valuable and cost saving framework to establish service level agreements with suppliers.
What is ITIL really?
ITIL is, in essence, a library that documents best practices for IT Service Management.
The IT information Library (ITIL) of the UK Office of Government Commerce (OGC) is the most widely accepted approach to IT Service Management in the world. ITIL provides a cohesive set of best practice, drawn from the public and private sectors internationally, supported by a comprehensive qualification scheme, accredited training organisations, implementation and assessment tools.
Non-proprietary, public domain books are the basis of the programme. Many of the concepts, when reviewed, look like common sense. However, like a lot of common sense, it is the application and use that results in it not being as simple as it seems.
Being a framework, ITIL describes the contours of organising Service Management. The models show the goals, general activities, inputs and outputs of the various processes, which can be incorporated within IT organisations.
ITIL does not cast in stone every action required on a day-to-day basis because that is something which differs from organisation to organisation. Instead it focuses on best practice that can be utilised in different ways, according to need.
ITIL is a management framework for IT service provision for an organisation. It is a framework that is as relevant internally as it is externally. It sets the framework in best practice that establishes the standards that a company wants to operate at, for the customers of the company and for each department within the company. It is not just about IT. It is about service level commitments for all levels of the business. Critically, the framework should be adapted to the goals and needs of the business. This element ensures that it is relevant and in context – real and alive to any given business.
ITIL Service Management is applicable to any business or organisation, to all industries and all sizes of companies. It is adaptive, not prescriptive.
Why Align? Widespread adoption of ITIL best practices by internal IT departments will follow through to 2008. In 2004 around 13 percent of billion dollar plus companies implemented ITIL, rising to around 40 percent in 2006 and is projected to reach at least 80 percent in 2008 (Forrester, 2005).
There are some compelling reasons why organisations need to align now:
· Governance “The proper Governance of companies will become as crucial to the world economy as the proper governing of countries.” James D Wolfowitz, President of the World Bank since 1999.
Aligning IT to the Business. IT leaders need to measure the real way they and their departments are adding value to the business at every level; they must be fundamentally business thinking people
· Only ‘public’ best practice framework focused on IT service management
· Common language for professionals
· What it is likely to mean to the business
» cultural Shift (service not (just) technology)
» breakdown of ‘silos’ (departmental demarcation)
» business Alignment (Operational, Tactical & Strategic)
» measurement (effectiveness & efficiency) Examples of saving made by organisations include:
· Over 70 percent reduction in downtime
· Return On Investment (ROI) up by over 100 per cent
· Savings of €100 million per annum
· New product cycles reduced by 50 percent
ITIL is in continuing development, as it is based on real world experience and practicality. Version 2 will be replaced by Version 3 which is due for release on May 30th 2007. Each version builds on the previous and uses the framework as the foundation for the developing version.
Version 1, which was current from 1986 – 1999, was the original ITIL function-based practice of 40 plus books. This was replaced by Version 2 [1999 – 2006], which comprised 10 books of a process-based best practice framework for ITSM.
Version 3 is a service lifecycle-based practice incorporating the best of Version 1 and Version 2. It comprises five lifecycle titles forming the core of ITIL practice:
· Service Strategies
· Service Design
· Service Transition
· Service Operation
· Continual Service Improvement
How Can It Work? ITIL Education & Work
It some cases, a company already operates using best practice and the framework of ITIL Service Management but does so without all the ITIL terminology. There is after all a lot of common business sense. Little change may therefore be required. However, even if this is the case, most companies will want to examine how they match up to ITIL.
In all decisions on ITIL, it is critical, in order to ensure value for the business, to remember the mantra of ‘adopt and adapt’. It is also important to remind ourselves what ITIL is a best practice framework aimed specifically at the management of IT infrastructure and services. ITIL describes a ‘Standard Code of Practice’ to run all processes within IT organisations in a structured way.
ITIL provides organisations with a flexible, economic, consistent and scalable approach to IT service management regardless of the type or size of the organisation, be it a multinational conglomerate, or a single office environment with one person providing IT support. In each case there is a requirement to provide an economical service that is reliable, consistent and of the highest quality.
Certified Education
There is a full range of education programmes all of which are accredited and world recognised. The programmes develop on from each other and a person taking and sitting the Managers exam must have a Foundation Certificate. In addition, you can not sit the Practitioner exam unless you have passed the Foundation programme.
The programmes are:
· ITIL Foundation
· ITIL Practitioner – Single Process
· ITIL Practitioner – Clusters (Support & Restore, Release & Control, Agree & Define)
· ITIL Managers Programme
In addition, to these accredited programmes, there are tailored private programmes offered. These can follow the accredited programme and incorporate a company’s materials and business context, resulting in a more tailored and focused course. Other companies do not care about the examinations but believe in the framework that ITIL offers and have a programme delivered that is all focused on their company issues.
The training programmes for ITIL Service Management are valuable in many ways. Participants in the same public session learn off each other and what each company is either doing or thinking of doing – all non confidential information of course. In addition, sometimes people from the same company learn that having the ITIL framework in the company does not mean they all do everything the same way. The education programmes are truly exhilarating – it is just those exams at the end that sometimes scare people a little. However, good advice and sound preparation ensure that most pass.
Conclusion
ITIL is a framework that can work for all businesses and organisations. There is a structure accreditation programme in education that provides a very real world foundation for those considering implementation or for those who already have decided to implement.
It is critical to ensure that ITIL provides a framework for your business and is not a control on your business – it should be an enhancing best practice approach that adapts to your business needs.
ITIL is not new but an ever-developing framework. It is living in today’s business world and helps to comfort and offer security to companies throughout their business (not just IT) that they can operate as effectively and economically as possible, thereby realizing your full potential. Now, who would not want that?
