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- Herausgeber: Packt Publishing
- Kategorie: Fachliteratur
- Sprache: Englisch
Many organizations struggle to find practical guidance that can help them to not only understand but also apply service management best practices. Packed with expert guidance and comprehensive coverage of the essential frameworks, methods, and techniques, this book will enable you to elevate your organization’s service management capability.
You’ll start by exploring the fundamentals of service management and the role of a service provider. As you progress, you’ll get to grips with the different service management frameworks used by IT and enterprises. You'll use system thinking and design thinking approaches to learn to design, implement, and optimize services catering to diverse customer needs.
This book will familiarize you with the essential process capabilities required for an efficient service management practice, followed by the elements key to its practical implementation, customized to the organization’s business needs in a sustainable and repeatable manner. You’ll also discover the critical success factors that will enhance your organization’s ability to successfully implement and sustain a service management practice.
By the end of this handy guide, you’ll have a solid grasp of service management concepts, making this a valuable resource for on-the-job reference.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023
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A Practical Guide to Service Management
Insights from industry experts for uncovering, implementing, and improving service management practices
Keith D. Sutherland
Lawrence J. “Butch” Sheets
BIRMINGHAM—MUMBAI
A Practical Guide to Service Management
Copyright © 2023 Packt Publishing
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.
Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the authors, nor Packt Publishing or its dealers and distributors, will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to have been caused directly or indirectly by this book.
Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.
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To all of our family, friends, and colleagues, this book is dedicated to you – all of the people who have contributed to our success over the last 40+ years. Special recognition goes to our wives, Holly Sutherland and Debbie Sheets, who have been there with their love and support through our journey. Thank you to Lisa Schwartz, our long-time friend and partner, for contributing the foreword to this book. Finally, thanks to the Packt team for asking us to share our knowledge and experience with the world, while also providing the guidance and support to make this happen.
– Keith D. Sutherland and Lawrence J. “Butch” Sheets
Foreword
As organizations strive to meet the ever-changing demands of their customers, the art of service management has emerged as a critical discipline that bridges the gap between vision and execution. A Practical Guide to Service Management is an essential compass for navigating this dynamic terrain.
This guide is not just another theoretical exploration of service management; it is a pragmatic roadmap crafted for those who seek practical solutions and tangible results. In these pages, you will find a treasure trove of insights, strategies, and proven methodologies that will empower you to revolutionize how services are conceived, designed, delivered, and continuously improved.
Drawing upon a wealth of real-world experiences and battle-tested wisdom, this book encapsulates the collective expertise of professionals who have successfully navigated the intricate landscape of service management. It seamlessly blends time-tested principles with cutting-edge practices, ensuring that whether you’re a seasoned practitioner or just embarking on this journey, you will find actionable guidance that can be applied immediately.
From the strategic considerations that underpin effective service design to the nuts and bolts of service transition and daily operations, A Practical Guide to Service Management leaves no stone unturned. This guide is more than a compendium of methodologies; it’s a call to action. It invites you to embrace a culture of continuous improvement, cultivate collaboration across teams, and view service management as a dynamic and adaptive discipline that responds to the evolving needs of both customers and organizations.
As you embark on this journey through the pages ahead, I encourage you to approach each chapter not just as a theoretical exercise, but as a toolkit for transformation. The challenges and opportunities presented by service management are as diverse as the organizations that strive to excel in it. With this guide in hand, you have a trusted companion to help you overcome obstacles, unlock new possibilities, and forge a path toward service excellence.
May A Practical Guide to Service Management empower you to create services that inspire, innovate, and make a lasting impact. Your commitment to mastering this discipline will not only drive operational efficiency but also foster customer loyalty and propel your organization toward a future where service is not just a function but a strategic cornerstone.
Lisa Schwartz
Founder and CEO, ITSM Academy
Contributors
About the authors
Keith D. Sutherland serves as a principal consultant in service management and is a co-founder/managing partner of Service Management Dynamix, LLC, a South Carolina-based company. As a fully licensed and accredited instructor and service management consultant, he has facilitated numerous sessions for organizations interested in the value of a formal Service Management (SM) capability. Keith’s varied background allows him to share real and practical experiences with customers, while his dynamic presentation style aids them in absorbing the concept of service management.
It has been a long-running IT career for me, with my first paid position in IT in 1973. I have been blessed and enabled by the many companies and people I have been privileged to work for and with over these decades. In many ways, this book that Butch and I have written is one way for us to give back, considering all that we have received.
Lawrence J. “Butch” Sheets serves as a principal consultant in service management and is a co-founder of Service Management Dynamix, LLC, a South Carolina-based company. As a licensed and accredited instructor and Service Management consultant, he has facilitated numerous sessions for organizations interested in the value of a formal SM capability. Butch’s 45+ years of IT experience and 20+ years in formal SM allow him to share real and practical lessons with customers. His no-nonsense approach enables customers and practitioners to understand and apply SM concepts.
Since 1972, IT has been a part of my working career. I want to thank all those that guided my career over the last 50 years and this book is a tribute to those people. This book is a chance for Keith and me to give something back to the industry that has given us so much.
About the reviewer
Ian Keith MacDonald is a chartered IT professional recognized for his thought leadership in IT service management. An ITIL-accredited author and multiple IT award winner, he is a regular contributor and speaker at industry bodies and forums on IT best practice.
With over 40 years of experience in IT gained across the UK financial services industry, he has gained leadership expertise from running large IT service departments across the UK and Europe and has a proven track record of creating high-performance teams and delivering IT and organizational performance improvement through the adoption of IT and quality management best practice frameworks.
After gaining significant experience in the IT workplace, he is now established as an independent IT consultant and trainer.
In my career, I’ve been surrounded by great people who’ve inspired, encouraged, and given me the permission to think differently and make a difference.
Table of Contents
Preface
Part 1: The Importance of Service Management
1
Understanding Service Management
Delving into the origins of many service management aspects
Collating common service management examples and understanding wordplay
Improving your personal and professional life with service management
Identifying common sense aspects of service management
Summary
2
Getting to Grips with Service Management Frameworks
Distinguishing between frameworks, methods, standards, and movements
Tracing the evolution of service management
What are the service management frameworks for IT?
What are the service management frameworks for enterprises?
Summary
3
Working with the “Design Thinking” Aspect of Service Management
Defining design thinking in terms of service management
Why is user experience important?
Why is customer experience important?
What is customer journey mapping?
Summary
4
Systems Thinking in Terms of Service Management
Defining systems thinking in terms of service management
The convergence of strategies (e.g., business, IT, service management, and services)
Evolution in the use of multiple approaches to sustain a successful service management capability
Summary
Part 2: Essential Process Capabilities for Effective Service Management
5
Service Management Key Concepts
Key definitions
An IT management system (ISO/IEC 20000:2018)
Business and IT convergence
General (IT) universal service management capabilities
Accelerators for service management
Summary
6
Incident Management
Purpose and objectives
Policies
Categorization
Prioritization
Process terms and definitions
Process input and output
Process activities
Roles and responsibilities
Key process indicators
Process integration
Technology requirements
Summary
7
Problem Management
Purpose and objectives
Policies
Categorization
Prioritization
Process terms and definitions
Problem
Root cause
Workaround
Known error
Permanent solution
Closure code
Process inputs and outputs
Process activities
Identifying a problem
Recording the problem
Classifying and prioritizing the problem
Investigation and diagnosis
Raising a known error and a workaround
Resolution
Closure
Roles and responsibilities
Key process indicators
Process integration
Incident management
Change management
Configuration management
Capacity management
Availability management
Service-level management
Financial management
Supplier management
Technology requirements
Summary
8
Change Management
Purpose and objectives
Policies
Categorization
Prioritization
Process terms and definitions
Change
Change model
Standard change
Normal change
Emergency change
Closure code
Process inputs and outputs
Process activities
Initiating a change
Recording the change
Reviewing the change record
Assessing and evaluating the change
Authorizing the change
Building the change
Testing the change
Deploying the change
Implementing the change
Closing the change
Roles and responsibilities
Key process indicators
Process integration
Technology requirements
Summary
9
Release and Deployment Management
Purpose and objectives
Policies
Release content
Prioritization
Establishing criteria for creating a release record
Testing requirements
Process terms and definitions
Releases
Deployment
Transference
Retirement
Release model
Release types
Deployment types
Process inputs and outputs
Process activities
Roles and responsibilities
Key process indicators
Process integration
Incident management
Problem management
Change management
Configuration management
Service validation and testing
Technology requirements
Summary
10
Request Management
Purpose and objectives
Policies
Generic service request
Request authorization
Categorization
Prioritization
Process terms and definitions
Service request
Request model
Process inputs and outputs
Process activities
Initiate a request
Log the request
Service request
Entitled
Authorized
Assign request
Fulfill the request
Fulfilled
Close the request
Roles and responsibilities
Key process indicators
Process integration
Service catalog management
Incident management
Configuration management
Capacity management
Change management
Financial management
Technology requirements
Summary
11
Service Catalog Management
Purpose and objectives
Policies
Service portfolio
Service catalog
The service catalog entry
Process terms and definitions
Process inputs and outputs
Process activities
Identify a service catalog entry
Document the service
Identify the service catalog view
Produce the service catalog
Maintain the service catalog
Ensure alignment
Roles and responsibilities
Key process indicators
Process integration
Service portfolio management
Request management
Configuration management
Business relationship management
Service level management
Demand management
Technology requirements
Summary
12
Service Asset Management
Purpose and objectives
Policies
Service asset
Asset class
Asset types
Hardware asset
Software assets
Hardware asset record
Software asset records
Process terms and definitions
Process inputs and outputs
Process activities
Identifying IT assets
Record the IT asset
Manage the life cycle
Audit the IT assets
Provide management reporting
Dispose of IT assets
Roles and responsibilities
Key process indicators
Process integration
Supplier management
Service request management
Configuration management
Change management
Financial management
Technology requirements
Summary
13
Configuration Management
Purpose and objectives
Policies
Configuration item
Configuration management
CI class
CI types
Hardware CI record
Software CI records
Process terms and definitions
Process inputs and outputs
Process activities
Identification
Control
Status accounting
Verification
Roles and responsibilities
Key process indicators
Process integration
Technology requirements
Summary
14
Business Relationship Management
BRM concept
BRM purpose and objectives
BRM policies
Key BRM concepts, terms, and definitions
BRM inputs and outputs
Basic BRM activities
Establishing a relationship
Managing the life cycle of the relationship
Reviewing performance
Transitioning from an SP
BRM roles and responsibilities
BRM key capability indicators
BRM integration with other capabilities, processes, and practices
BRM technology considerations
Summary
15
Service Level Management
Purpose and objectives
Policies
Service levels
SLAs and OLAs
Service level reporting
Service level requirements
Process terms and definitions
Process input and output
Process activities
Planning
Defining the requirements
Negotiating
Agreeing
Monitoring
Reviewing and reporting
Improving
Roles and responsibilities
Key process indicators
Process integration
Financial management
Availability management
Incident management
Capacity management
Information security management
IT service continuity management
Business relationship management
Technology requirements
Summary
Part 3: How to Apply a Pragmatic, Customized Service Management Capability
16
Pragmatic Application of Service Management
Delving into the vision, mission, goals, and objectives
Documenting the starting point for continual improvement
Understanding assessment and desired state
Exploring planning and execution
Comprehending measures and reports
Examining rinse and repeat, or do it again and again...
Summary
17
Implementing a Successful Service Management Capability with Key Artifacts
Roles and responsibilities
Value streams and process artifacts
Process model
Organizational change management
Metrics and measures
Reporting
Summary
18
Reviewing Critical Success Factors for Service Management Capability
Understanding commitment or support
Ensuring compliance and control with governance
The importance of accountability and authority
Benefiting from quick wins
Summary
19
Realizing CSFs for Service Management Implementation
Setting a baseline
Measuring and monitoring progress
Establishing a pace for change
Allocating the necessary resources
Identifying and implementing tools and technology
Summary
20
Sustaining a Service Management Practice
Why do formal service management initiatives fail?
Why do formal service management initiatives succeed?
Maturing and incrementally adding capabilities
Summary – final tips on this book
Appendix A
SLA Template
Table of Contents
Document Revision History/Release Notes
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Parties to the Agreement
1.2 Changes and Version Control
1.3 Definitions
2.0 IT Service Description
2.1 Description of Service
2.2 Exclusions
2.3 Service-Specific Terminology
2.4 Roles and Responsibilities
3.0 IT Service Availability
4.0 IT Service Continuity
5.0 IT Service Performance
6.0 IT Service Support
6.1 Support Procedures
7.0 Financial
8.0 Service Level Reporting
9.0 Service Credits
10.0 Service Improvement Program
11.0 Review Policy and Schedule
12.0 Agreement and Signatories
Appendix B
SLR Template
IT Service:
Interview questions
Index
Other Books You May Enjoy
Preface
After more than 80 years’ combined experience and involvement in IT, including over 50 years directly engaged in educating and helping customers implement service management disciplines, we felt we could share our knowledge and experience in a broader context. Thus, this book was developed to communicate key elements of a formal service management capability.
Within the content of this book, the reader will be introduced to the various methods, frameworks, and standards characterized by best practices for service management. From 1972 to the present, IT and service management have continued to evolve but the basic tenets of delivering and supporting services have remained constant. Customers define what is valuable and determine what provider does the best job of meeting the customers’ needs and delivering value for the money being spent. Whether delivering a business service such as a restaurant dinner, auto repair, or IT service, it is essential to understand what the customer wants from the service and how the provider can meet those needs to produce a satisfactory experience.
It is our objective to help the reader understand the basis for the effective development of a service management capability. Although the guidance focuses on IT, the information shared can be applied to a variety of businesses and services. You will find information about the key processes to consider, process activities, important terms and definitions, key governance to apply, roles and responsibilities, technology considerations, and process interactions. We, having been directly involved in implementing and executing service management, also provide practical information on how to successfully establish and maintain a service management capability.
It is our desire to provide the necessary information and guidance to allow an organization or individual to develop an efficient and effective service management program that delivers value to their stakeholders and benefit to the business. We hope that you enjoy the knowledge and experience we have shared but more importantly, that you will find value in the lessons you have learned and feel enabled to apply them to your situation to make your life better and more productive. Thank you for taking the time to read our book. It represents an opportunity for us to leave some level of legacy and to give back to the community we have operated in for so many years! Besides, we have been involved in this discipline for so long that there is no way we could not have contributed to a book on this subject.
Who this book is for
This book covers information that will benefit C-level executives wanting to understand the value of service management in their organizations. It provides managers and practitioners within a service provider organization with guidance and information about delivering and supporting services, be it in IT or any other service organization.
What this book covers
Chapter 1, Understanding Service Management, provides an understanding of what ingredients are required to construct and maintain a service management capability.
Chapter 2, Getting to Grips with Service Management Frameworks, introduces the various methods, frameworks, movements, and standards for service management.
Chapter 3, Working with the “Design Thinking” Aspect of Service Management, is a concept that integrates the key factors in service management: people, process, and technology.
Chapter 4, Systems Thinking in Terms of Service Management, elaborates on the approach that aligns strategies with results and the frameworks, methods, movements, and standards that enable those results.
Chapter 5, Service Management Key Concepts, offers foundational concepts that are critical for understanding service management.
Chapter 6, Incident Management, is an introduction to the incident management process, including governance, execution, and enablement.
Chapter 7, Problem Management, is an introduction to the problem management process, including governance, execution, and enablement.
Chapter 8, Change Management, is an introduction to the change management process, including governance, execution, and enablement.
Chapter 9, Release and Deployment Management, is an introduction to the release and deployment management processes, including governance, execution, and enablement.
Chapter 10, Request Management, is an introduction to the service request management process, including governance, execution, and enablement.
Chapter 11, Service Catalog Management, is an introduction to the service catalog management process, including governance, execution, and enablement.
Chapter 12, Service Asset Management, is an introduction to the asset management process, including governance, execution, and enablement.
Chapter 13, Configuration Management, is an introduction to the configuration management process, including governance, execution, and enablement.
Chapter 14, Business Relationship Management, is an introduction to the business relationship management process, including governance, execution, and enablement.
Chapter 15, Service Level Management, is an introduction to the service level management process, including governance, execution, and enablement.
Chapter 16, Pragmatic Application of Service Management, explores the usage and benefit of using a continual improvement approach.
Chapter 17, Implementing a Successful Service Management Capability with Key Artifacts, reviews the key artifacts required for a successful implementation of a service management capability.
Chapter 18, Reviewing Critical Success Factors for Service Management Capability, reviews the critical success factors for initiating and sustaining a service management capability.
Chapter 19, Realizing CSFs for Service Management Implementation, discusses the critical success factors that will increase an organization’s chances of success at successfully implementing a service management capability.
Chapter 20, Sustaining a Service Management Practice, describes the practices of continual improvement, management commitment, and monitoring, measuring, and reporting on managing the service management capability.
Appendix A, SLA Template, describes the content that could appear in a service-level agreement.
Appendix B, SLR Template, describes the information a service-level manager needs to develop a service-level agreement between the customer and the service provider.
Conventions used
There are a number of text conventions used throughout this book.
Bold: Indicates a new term, an important word, or words that you see onscreen. For instance, words in menus or dialog boxes appear in bold. Here is an example: “With respect to stakeholders, the terms user and customer have been alluded to, both separately and interchangeably.”
Tips or important notes
Appear like this.
Get in touch
Feedback from our readers is always welcome.
General feedback: If you have questions about any aspect of this book, email us at [email protected] and mention the book title in the subject of your message.
Errata: Although we have taken every care to ensure the accuracy of our content, mistakes do happen. If you have found a mistake in this book, we would be grateful if you would report this to us. Please visit www.packtpub.com/support/errata and fill in the form.
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Submit your proof of purchaseThat’s it! We’ll send your free PDF and other benefits to your email directlyPart 1: The Importance of Service Management
Part 1 elaborates on the understanding that service management serves as a structure from which other complementary frameworks, methods, movements, and standards can be harmonized, providing value for customers in the form of desired outcomes.
This part has the following chapters:
Chapter 1, Understanding Service ManagementChapter 2, Getting to Grips with Service Management FrameworksChapter 3, Working with the “Design Thinking” Aspect of Service ManagementChapter 4, Systems Thinking in Terms of Service Management1
Understanding Service Management
Many of the concepts that are adopted in service management have their origins in other industries (for example, the building industry, emergency response, and others). Service management is not, in and of itself, a concept born in information technology (IT). All of us, in our daily lives, are surrounded by service management applications all the time. Understanding this perspective helps set the stage for what it means to be a service provider.
Through a play-on-words approach, you will understand what aspects make up the ingredients to construct and maintain a service management capability. We will explain why non-IT resources (for example, the director of marketing, administrative assistants, auditors, and others) can understand and be successful with service management education and certification, at least at a foundation level. Many, after attending education, have said “This just seems like common sense!”
In this chapter, we’re going to cover the following main topics:
The origins of many service management aspectsCommon service management examples and wordplay for service managementService management can improve life personally and professionallyCommon sense aspects of service managementDelving into the origins of many service management aspects
Compared to other industries (such as manufacturing, building, healthcare, and so on), where the date of origin isn’t known, most believe that IT emerged in or around 1965. Common concepts such as capacity management and incident management did not originate in IT. For instance, capacity management has its origin in the building industry, while incident management is largely accepted to have originated in the field of emergency response (that is, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and so on). As you may be aware, the role of incident commander has proven useful in many IT organizations. The manufacturing industry has had a significant influence on IT, especially when you recognize the many quality improvement methodologies (for example, Six Sigma, Lean, and Kaizen), where those concepts that have proven useful on the manufacturing floor, such as value stream mapping and Gemba walks, have been brought into the IT field.
Many baby boomers, those born between 1946 to 1964, who sought careers in what we call IT today, started in the mainframe arena. The mainframe brought standards and structure to how IT was implemented and maintained. Information Systems Management Architecture (ISMA), which originated in the early ‘80s and was attributed to IBM (a highly recognizable name in the mainframe arena), largely spoke to those standards and structure. In fact, at the 2004 annual service management conference, sponsored by the US chapter of the IT Service Management Forum (itSMF), held in Long Beach, CA, there was an informal gathering that included many of the original IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) authors. They spoke to the influence of ISMA on the development of the ITIL framework. Though the recognized term today is just service management, its origins date back to the mid-1980s. All these decades later, the concept of service management has evolved, and many organizations still depend on it to gain a broad perspective on how best to be a provider of IT services. Also, as the decades have passed, more generations have entered the workforce (for example, Gen-X, Millennials, Gen-Z, and soon, Gen-Alpha). The evolution of service management has had to reflect the makeup of the workforce as these generations want (need) to be able to see themselves in the framework.
It is important to recognize the concept of ITIL as a framework for managing services versus a standard, methodology, or movement. The very mention of a framework implies that there is more than one way to apply it and experience success, which also means there is more than one way to apply it and experience failure. This statement alone should give us all pause, presuming success is desired. The origins of formal service management for IT date back decades. The first formal standard for IT service management, BSi15000, was developed by the British Standards Institution in approximately 2000. The ISO/IEC 20000 standard for service management emerged in 2005. Many are familiar with a framework for IT service management, called ITIL, which emerged years before the release of BSI15000. The real point is that service management, and its many respected authors along the way, continued to evolve as the newly developed solutions and trends in IT emerged. It is fair to say that sometimes, these standards, frameworks, methods, and movements trail behind emerging technologies and trends.
Collating common service management examples and understanding wordplay
All service providers implement and manage services. Perhaps the most generally accepted service provider example is any restaurant. As educators and consultants in the service management discipline, it is common, with a bit of wordplay, to challenge customers to reverse the words service management to managing services, and then ask what is involved in doing that. It doesn’t take long to realize the emergence of the following words: customers, demand, specialized resources, suppliers, point of sale, menus, financial capital, success factors, methods, and organizational culture.
In truth, an IT service provider deals with the same scenarios, but the names may be slightly different (for example, service catalog instead of a menu, IT services instead of meals, and process instead of work methods) or the same (for example, customers, suppliers, demand, and so on). Besides restaurants and IT service providers, other examples of service providers include quick oil change providers, car washes, car dealership service departments, and more. Note that for any of these examples, whether the company itself is a service provider, the company has a service provider within it, or both, the challenge is the same – to be as efficient and effective as possible.
Given the many different types of service providers that are encountered across multiple industries and countries, what has been the perception of the quality of service received? It doesn’t take long to recognize the quality of a given service management experience. When asking any group what constitutes a quality experience from a service provider, expect the response to be varied. Take a restaurant, for example. Some may say it was the quality of the food, or that it was affordable, or timely, or it helped to foster a great conversation within the group. All of these different responses represent what the participant (that is, the stakeholder) valued in their respective experience with the service provider. It is important, as a service provider, to recognize that different stakeholders may have different perspectives on what they value in their interaction with the service. What these stakeholders valued with the service largely comes down to what they were intending to accomplish (that is, outcomes), which, in the case of the restaurant service provider, may have been as simple as a great meal experience.
Service providers must remember two very key aspects of providing services:
Stakeholder preferences can change over timeDifferent stakeholders have differing perspectives, even against the same service offerings (for example, two customers order the same meal, but for different reasons, such as cost, dietary restrictions, and so on)In keeping with the restaurant service provider example, there could be multiple franchises with the same name, yet the same stakeholder going to two different franchises could have a different experience with the service, even though the same meal was ordered at both locations. For the same service, the experience can be different! There are varying reasons for this, including differing skills and competencies across the staff, differing suppliers for the meal ingredients, differing cultures based on the location, and more. Even in a so-called cookie-cutter arrangement with the service provider, there can be a distinct experience for the customer (one type of stakeholder). With differing experiences over time with service providers, it doesn’t take long to recognize what constitutes a great service management experience from one that is not so great, even from the same service provider.
When considering preferences, service providers should recognize that those customer preferences may change over time – that is, just because the service meets the needs of stakeholders today does not mean the same level of satisfaction will be in place tomorrow. As important as it is to continue to provide an expected level of service, it is also critical to consider how that same service experience might be improved. With this in mind, it is always important to maintain a stance that services can always be improved.
In that same restaurant service provider example, note the frequency at which a different representative of the provider (someone other than the server) checks in near the end of the meal experience to understand what the customer experience has been so far. These providers recognize the need to do a final check with that customer before they leave the meal experience. Why does this happen? It is an opportunity for the provider to identify what the customer enjoyed, what could be improved, or even present a last chance to fix something (if this is necessary). Most understand that there can be an unsatisfactory experience with the service, yet the customer is still willing to engage with the service provider going forward. This is especially true if that customer has had multiple prior satisfactory experiences with the service provider. Traits such as empathy and emotional intelligence help here, as well as knowledge of that customer and their preferences. So, skills such as relationship management help here. Though a negative experience with a first-time customer can have an impact on whether they return to that same restaurant service provider in the future, the best service providers still attempt to make things right, presenting a chance that the customer will return for a repeat visit. In these situations, that restaurant service provider might offer a discount on the service, a gift card for a return visit, or take a personal approach with a senior member of the service provider (for example, the owner, on-site manager, and so on).
Improving your personal and professional life with service management
For years, it has been maintained that an IT service provider with as few as 20 people can benefit from adopting a formal service management capability. With the availability of automation, machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI), and deep learning, this statement suggests that how services are delivered and the interaction between the service provider and service consumer has become more significant to stakeholder satisfaction.
It was mentioned earlier that there are many generations in the workforce (whether Baby Boomers, Gen-X, Millennials, or Gen-Z), making culture a key consideration for any initiative. Creating and maintaining a formal service management practice, when done well, brings long-term predictability and innovation to any organization, making it a key program. The combination of culture and the service management program creates the best opportunity for long-term viability while using our human resources optimally. For instance, no matter the generation, there needs to be integration across, and common alignment with, the organization’s mission, goals, objectives, and values. Gone should be the days of being awakened in the middle of the night by a database error, while still having to be onsite at the start of business. Gone are the days of the requirements changing because a new functionality went live, resulting in new necessities. Gone are the days of putting changes in over the weekend and having service outages on Monday morning. If these examples are, indeed, gone, then the human resources individuals that design, develop, transition, support, and improve services are more likely to thrive in their skills at work and their lives at home. Every generation has a home in this scenario as each can adopt and adapt to their differing needs. These needs include more time with family, improved work/life balance, diverse circumstances, skill specialization, and innovation.
Identifying common sense aspects of service management
In the delivery of service management education, which primarily focused on IT resources, it has long been obvious that the concepts discussed do not approach rocket science complexity. Many may come to the education event thinking that it will be an IT class. That’s a natural inference from the name ITSM.
In actuality, this education, at a foundational level, focuses on what it takes to be a valued service provider. Although the education event is largely attended by IT resources, it is not unusual to see participation by resources from human resources, sales, marketing, finance, administration, and even customer-vendor relationships. Many of these non-IT-specific resources refer to the phrase “This seems like common sense.” Presumably, effectively using analogies (for example, the restaurant as a service provider) helps in driving understanding of the concepts. While helping the resources visualize a scenario outside of their own lives with the help of analogies, it also makes sense to transition to a situation where the resource connects these analogies naturally to their work, such as an actual business process (for example, close a sales order, procure to pay, onboard a new employee, and so on).
A significant aspect of education on formal service management – that is, why participants attend – is the exposure to best practices. In years past, this education included a focus on the difference between best practice and good practice, with the real goal being the latter. A best practice represents leveraging what other service providers have done to drive efficiency and effectiveness in provisioning IT services. Good practice, on the other hand, represents tailoring those concepts to your organization’s culture and needs. This is where common sense must prevail. An example is a healthcare organization with multiple hospitals that has adopted service management concepts in the areas of service desk and incident management. The service desk is staffed with healthcare-related resources, who bring knowledge of healthcare-related disciplines (such as nursing, radiology, and others). The common-sense aspect of this is the service desk agent’s ability to speak the same language as the users most likely to contact them (for example, a hospital nursing station). At the same time, a manufacturing organization is not likely to staff its service desk with healthcare-related competencies. Common sense must prevail!
Once service management education has been attained, participants can judge their organization’s current service management capabilities against the learned criteria. Whether a formal practice or not, all service providers practice service management. It is a matter of what level of maturity they are at, contrasted and compared with where the business of the larger company is going. Is the IT organization (service provider) optimally positioned to support that vision? Is the IT organization exercising an improvement culture, demonstrating an ability to increase service delivery capabilities? Can IT map the services it delivers to business outcomes and values? These questions represent common sense aspects of being a valued service provider.
The real work begins once formal service management education has been completed. The current question then becomes “What should the participant do differently now?” Though not rocket science concepts, the sheer number of concepts is comprehensive and begs a practical (short-term set of actions – low-hanging fruit) and pragmatic (long-term character attribute – think program) approach.
Summary
Service management, no matter the level of formality, is in play at all times and is all around us in many different scenarios. It is incumbent upon service providers to maintain this capability, especially for those that have formalized their practice. That said, a service provider’s market consists of stakeholders that are key to the success of a formal service management capability. Formal service management is not specific to IT. In fact, and as mentioned, many of its included concepts originate from other industries. Culture also plays a key role in the success of managing services. Once human resources get entrenched in formal service management situations across an ecosystem of service providers, it becomes contagious, in that the quality of the service being delivered is judged. Applying common sense concepts from formal service management can have a significant impact on work/life balance.
In the coming chapters, we will build on these concepts of service management, including related frameworks/standards/methods, systems thinking, and design thinking. Now that your curiosity has been piqued by the general idea of service management, let’s explore what is meant by formalizing these concepts from an IT service management perspective, often referred to as ITSM.
2
Getting to Grips with Service Management Frameworks
Today, multiple service management frameworks and related standards, specific to IT or highly related, have emerged, and have achieved significant adoption. What are the other service management frameworks, and why should you be aware of them? What were the reasons behind their emergence?
In this chapter, we’re going to cover the following main topics:
Distinguishing between frameworks, methods, standards, and movementsTracing the evolution of service managementWhat are the service management frameworks for IT?What are the service management frameworks for enterprises?Distinguishing between frameworks, methods, standards, and movements
In discussing the difference between frameworks, methods, standards, and movements, it is important to define each of them and also support those definitions with familiar examples. One of the related factors is the concept of systems thinking, where an IT service provider leverages a number of these based on their strategy and level of current maturity. The fact is that no one framework, standard, methodology, or even movement on its own would be enough to implement and maintain a thriving service management capability. The analogy would be that a favorite meal, or any meal, requires several ingredients to be part of the recipe. In keeping with the concept of systems thinking, a generally accepted definition of architecture is the interrelationship between systems (for example, business architecture, supported by IT service architecture, supported by application architecture, and so on) with systems simply defined as a set of integrated components (for example, an application made up of modules, a server made up of component pieces, a service management technology platform made up of modules with applications within, and so on). Any framework, method, or standard can be looked at as a system, where multiple are in use to help meet and sustain a capability – such as a service management capability. Systems thinking will be discussed in greater detail in Chapter 3.
Frameworks are generally defined as conceptual support structures or systems that hold parts together. A key word in this simple definition is conceptual, which brings the word interpretation into the mix. How one entity interprets and uses a framework is based on its level of understanding, need, and maturity. The challenge with frameworks, and their use, is that there are multiple ways of applying them and realizing success. At the same time, ineffectively applying frameworks can result in failure. The sagest advice encourages organizations to bring in a framework for use (adopt) and also customize its use in a way that respects the existing strategy and maturity (adapt). Within IT, several frameworks can be used for service management, including ITIL®, COBIT®, IT4IT™, Scrum, SFIA, SAFe®, and VeriSM™ – this is not an exhaustive list. Many have found that the concepts from these frameworks can be adopted by not only IT service providers but also other departments within a company, such as sales, legal, finance, and human resources. At least for the large majority of CIOs, there has been a realization that the adoption of best practices is critical to the success of IT in its ability to service its market. Frameworks play a critical role. Given the lack of straightforward guidance in the application of frameworks, organizations seeking education or consulting in this area should consider due diligence in selecting a provider to assist them.
Methods (that is, methodologies) are different from frameworks. While frameworks, as mentioned previously, can be applied in multiple ways, this is not the case with methods. Methods are described as a technique, systematic procedure, or process for getting something done. From that description alone, it is clear that it is not conceptual or subject to varying interpretations (such as the description of frameworks). Familiar methods are Six Sigma, Lean Six Sigma, Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI®), Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), Projects in a Controlled Environment (PRINCE2®), Knowledge-Centered Service (KCS®), and many others. All of these methods can be applied to IT, though IT may not have been the origin (for example, Six Sigma has its origins in manufacturing). Specific to service management, methods such as Lean, PRINCE2®, and USM have proven to be of significant adoption.
Standards respect both frameworks and methods since, in many cases, it is critical to comprehensively adopt and apply frameworks or methods to achieve a standard. For instance, you may have to adopt a particular framework to achieve the standard. For this book, standards are defined as a model or technical-specific criteria, designed to be used consistently as a rule, guideline, or definition. They help make things simpler, while also increasing the reliability and effectiveness of many of the products and services we use (for example, a service provider’s service offerings). Standards also tend to have associated naming conventions. For instance, international standards are prefixed with ISO/IEC, American standards are prefixed with ANSI, and British standards are prefixed with BSI. The standard for service management is ISO/IEC 20000, which did not start that way. It was born from the British Standards Institute standard BS 15000. Other commonly known standards are the international standard ISO/IEC 9000 family (quality standard), international standard ISO/IEC 15504 (for process assessments), and ISO/IEC 27001 (information security management). Also, though it is not an established formal organization (like ANSI, BSI, or ISO/IEC) per se, FitSM refers to itself as a standard that wishes to achieve service management effectiveness without the complexity of other standards (especially across integrated organizations).
This publication would be remiss if it did not mention bodies of knowledge or movements. For instance, DevOps is not described as a framework, method, or standard. It is described as a movement, where its key components are culture, collaboration (sharing), use of automation, lean thinking, and measurement. These all represent DevOps principles. Developing IT applications under these principles allows for faster implementation to production with appropriate levels of quality. This makes DevOps part of Agile thinking (as is the Scrum framework). A body of knowledge (BoK) is a type of knowledge typically sponsored by an organization with a specific area of specialization with its own purpose, concepts, terms, and activities. For instance, certified project managers (Project Management Professionals or PMPs) are familiar with the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®), which doesn’t apply to just IT (neither does the PRINCE2® method).
Also emerging in a significant way is the Business Relationship Management Body of Knowledge (BRMBoK™). Service Integration and Management (SIAM) is also considered a BoK and focuses on suppliers and integration, given the prevalence of external provider involvement in the delivery of IT services. One of the longest-standing bodies of knowledge specific to service management is the Universal Service Management Body of Knowledge (USMBOK), which was initially published in 2008.
As this publication focuses on the concept of formal service management capabilities, it is important to know that there are complementary aspects of various other frameworks, methods, standards, movements, and BoKs – hence the concept of not only systems thinking but also design thinking.
Though a formal service management capability touts the approach of integrating multiple disciplines, it also recalibrates toward value co-creation, as will be discussed in Chapter 3. Service management professionals must understand that a blended approach is critical to the success of implementing a formal service management capability. No one system will be adequate for initial and sustained success, raising the importance of strategy and design (architecture) involvement throughout the journey. In Chapters 3 and 4, the subjects of systems thinking and design thinking, respectively, will illustrate the concept of combining standards, methods, movements, and frameworks, and how they integrate. It’s this integration that produces a formal service management capability for a service provider and, therefore, the organization. To this point, it is about understanding that success in service management cannot be optimally achieved without considering different facets of multiple solutions and must be pragmatic to a specific organization’s needs.
Tracing the evolution of service management
Since the late 1990s and early 2000s, the international not-for-profit organization promoting service management, known as IT Service Management Forum (itSMF), has held annual conferences on the subject of service management. Many countries have their own chapter (for example, itSMF USA), where interested parties gather as a collective to present and discuss the subject of service management. Even within a specific country’s chapter, there is the concept of Local Interest Groups (LIGs), where smaller instances or segments gather in the interest of furthering their knowledge of service management. This was a brilliant arrangement, in that it significantly furthered the spread and adoption of formal service management capabilities within these countries. In the United States, of note was the significant adoption of ITIL® by large Midwest-based corporations, resulting in permeation east, west, and south. The establishment of LIGs across the country had a direct correlation, enabling a local, community-based approach to service management adoption.
In 2004, at the national itSMF USA conference, in Long Beach, CA, many of the original authors and pundits of service management gathered in an informal meeting to discuss all things service management.
The origins of IT service management (dating back to the mid-80s) came up in that discussion. It was noted that IBM had a significant influence on what led to formal IT service management. In 1980, Information Systems Management Architecture (ISMA) was published, detailing IBM’s approach to defining and managing IT services. IBM had also published a series of books, referred to as yellow books. A careful look at some of the diagrams within these publications provides evidence of what became formal processes in service management. Familiarity with the origins and objectives helps provide an understanding of the intent of service management.
Service management, which spans decades, has continued to evolve to remain relevant. Given the concepts of service management overall, in that they are subject to interpretation and have undergone significant criticism (for example, for being rigorous, inflexible, and bureaucratic), skilled service management educators and consultants can readily identify prior evidence of concepts that are popular today. Since the very beginning, the prevailing theme has always been to do what makes sense!
Service management was also respected as a process capability, where each process consisted of three aspects – governance (control), execution (roles, activities, and metrics), and enablement (resources and integration with other complements). From the very beginning, the following process capabilities were readily actioned upon (these are considered the most significant):
Incident managementProblem managementChange managementAccess managementSoftware control and distributionConfiguration managementService-level managementAvailability managementIT service continuity managementCapacity managementAll of these processes are still in place.
In truth, many contributions across the industry had occurred, and the complexity of service management increased dramatically. By this point, the popularity and adoption of formal service management had grown far beyond its initial use. In correlation with the international growth of country chapters regarding itSMF (and corresponding LIGs), having a formal service management capability was now accepted as the best practice approach for IT service providers to become more efficient and effective.
With the emergence and adoption of Agile thinking (in around 2012 in the United States market), within a few years, there was a shift away from formal service management in many organizations.
The functionality (utility) of IT services is largely based on (comes from) applications. Therefore, development looms large. Perhaps for most organizations, getting to market quicker with business solutions proves differentiation, hence the need to be more agile. Formal service management had begun to be perceived as too structured, too bureaucratic, latent with rigor, and getting in the way of getting to the market quicker. Also, along the way, the concept of bi-modal IT emerged, where there were, in essence, two approaches to bringing solutions to market – via an SDLC (for example, Waterfall) or Agile. It seemed the traditional SDLC approach to development was consistent with service management, while SAFe, DevOps, Scrum, and Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) made more sense for organizations that wanted to demonstrate velocity. What became perplexing was if an organization was committed to both approaches, which were still in place in many organizations. In these cases, companies moved away from formal service management capabilities.
In this movement, among multiple sets of guidance, what was missed, and later realized, was that there was still a need for governance, some level of structure, and many of the concepts where formal service management excelled. The most knowledgeable, and importantly, the most pragmatic, never wavered on the value that service management could bring an organization. At the same time, it was imperative to change the perception of being bureaucratic and too rigid. Formal service management, the real subject of this book, takes the history of service management, and in some ways serves an orchestration role, blends the other needed approaches, and enables a customized and pragmatic service management capability. This does not discount that service management, in and of itself, also brings significant historic contributions, along with newer concepts, to the service management landscape.
The term ITSM has been used from the very beginning and, in essence, has translated directly to value for all stakeholders in the ecosystem. These varying stakeholder groups can be inside or outside of IT (for example, a product team composed of business partners and IT resources) and are all involved in managing services.
What are the service management frameworks for IT?
Formal service management, for an organization, is defined as the specialized internal consultancy for providing value to stakeholders and customers in the form of services (for example, a service management practice). ITSM is defined as the strategic, tactical, and operational approach to managing IT within the organization and delivering IT services to customers.
It is important to note the strategic, tactical, and operational aspects of service management. When organizations start with a formal service management capability (and no matter what framework(s) they adopt), they tend to focus on the operational aspects (for example, incident, problem, change, request, and more). These areas tend to produce efficiency with a relatively quick turnaround (time to market). Though these are important, being operational, they don’t get visibility at the higher leadership levels. Later in this book, we will focus on the need to get closer to the business partners at higher levels of service management in the organization. Organizations should strive to define and follow a roadmap, composed of strategic, tactical, and operational aspects throughout. It does take longer to show results with the strategic and tactical aspects, but they are critical components as they create the visibility of the IT service provider as a service provider, a trusted advisor, and (potentially) a strategic partner.
Just as service management technology platform capabilities continue to evolve, so do the frameworks, methods, standards, and bodies of knowledge. From an ITSM-specific perspective, the following frameworks, internationally, have garnered significant service management use:
ITIL®: From AxelosCOBIT®: From Information Systems Audit & Control Association (ISACA)VeriSM™: From International Foundation of Digital Competencies (IFDC)FitSM®: From IT Education Management Organization (ITEMO)USM: The Unified Service Management model from the SURVUZ FoundationBRM: From the Business Relationship Management InstituteIT4IT™: From the Open Group®As mentioned previously, there is a standard associated with service management, known as ISO/IEC 20000, which is commonly referred to as ISO 20K. FitSM®, mentioned in the preceding list, is more referred to as a standard versus a framework and is advertised as complementary access. All of the preceding frameworks have associated certifications and credentials. Any of these approaches could further a service provider’s goal of implementing and maintaining a formal service management capability. This book focuses on formal service management, but we will call out some of these others as complements.
What are the service management frameworks for enterprises?
Enterprise service management (ESM) is defined as the practice of applying IT best practices across the business to improve effectiveness, efficiency, and overall service delivery. The result is improved customer experience and business outcomes. Though the concept of ESM has emerged over recent years, it is not new. There is evidence dating back to the early 2000s. Business partners saw the gains their IT departments made in managing services, by adopting formal ITSM, and worked with IT to bring some of those very concepts (for example, change management) into their business units. This is an example of where those IT service providers had proven their worth before they were looked upon as business partners (versus just IT).
Another proof point that’s seen with ESM is non-IT resources attending service management platform (technology) conferences. It is because these platforms now tout functionality (utility), which helps with other shared service aspects of the business (for example, human resources, customer service, legal, procurement, governance/risk and compliance, and more).
From an ESM-specific perspective, the following frameworks allow us to go beyond IT (but are IT-inclusive):
ITIL®: From AxelosCOBIT®: From ISACAVeriSM™: From IFDCUSM: From the SURVUZ FoundationBRM: From the Business Relationship Management InstituteEven though these frameworks can mature existing capabilities in business partner areas, it is likely that IT service provider resources would be involved in helping business partners move forward with the concepts. The fact that ESM has emerged is proof that service management is not only applicable to IT service providers. Given the many examples of service providers that exist (for example, a restaurant), it follows that many can benefit from service management thinking. Within an overall business, the IT service provider can provide a leadership role in helping their business partners benefit from sound service management concepts.
