ITIL Planning to implement service management

The planning to implement service management is a set in the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) framework. This set is about the alignment of business needs and IT provision requirements. Besides, this set describes how to implement or improve IT Service Management within an organization and it describes steps to ensure that business needs and IT provision requirements will be met. Furthermore, the planning to implement service management set is mainly focused on the service management processes, but also generically applicable to other ITIL sets.

An approach to implement or improve service management is the Continuous Service Improvement Programme (CSIP). A CSIP is defined as: "“an ongoing formal programme undertaken within an organization to identify and introduce measurable improvements within a specified work area or work process.”" ref|OGC_book

All the activities within a CSIP regarding "one single" improvement can be visualized generically by using the meta-modeling technique. This results in a process-data diagram (figure 1), which does not describe the continuous improvement activity of the programme. The process-data diagram shows the relationship between processes and artifacts and this diagram consists of two integrated diagrams. The left-hand side of the process-data diagram describes the activities (processes) and is based on the UML activity diagram. The right-hand side describes the data (artifacts) and is based on the UML class diagram. ref|Meta_modelingThe table of concepts and the activity description regarding the process-data diagram can be found in the paragraph Process-data diagram descriptions.

The process-data diagram shows the following activities:
*create vision
*analyze organization
*set goals
*implement IT service management
*measure goals

First, a vision has to be created and the IT and business strategies should be aligned. The second step consists of analyzing the organization and its current position. In this step an answer has to be found on the question ‘where are we now?’ The following step is about setting goals and priorities regarding the improvement process. The fourth step is the improvement of the service provision itself and during the fifth and final step the improvement will be measured to examine whether the goals have been met.

The planning to implement service management set

Every activity in the planning to implement service management set, as depicted in figure 1, will be further explained.

Create vision

As figure 1 shows, the first step that needs to be taken in the process is creating a vision statement for a CSIP. The vision statement describes the aim and purpose of the CSIP on a high level and should align the different strategies of business and IT. Additionally, the vision statement should be well communicated to the stakeholder, to create commitment and buy-in for the CSIP.

Analyze organization

After having created a vision an IT organization should analyze itself, wherein the question ‘where are we now?’ has to be answered. A useful technique to determine the current position is the IT organization growth model. This model determines the maturity level of the IT organization and is based on the Process Maturity Framework (PMF), as well as on the Capability Maturity Model (CMM). The maturity of the organization will be determined in terms of vision and strategy, steering, processes, people, technology and culture. It is also required to understand who the stakeholders are, because stakeholders have an impact on the CSIP. This can be achieved by defining, identifying and mapping the stakeholders. Additionally, the specific needs of the stakeholders have to be identified and this can result in a stakeholder assessment report.

The third step of the organizational analysis in figure 1, consists of assessing the current report and measurement system. Knowing the current way of using and producing reports, facts and figures gives insight in how well the organization is steered, but it also provides information about the next activity ‘set goals’.

The last step in analyzing the organization is conducting benchmarks. A benchmark is a useful management technique to improve performance. In a benchmark different parts of the organization can be compared, like units or processes. But also organizations as a whole can be compared in a benchmark. It is important to determine whether a service management process should be benchmarked or not. A focus on the relevant service management processes is essential. The results of the benchmarks can result in the identification of gaps.

et goals

The next activity in the CSIP is about the agreement between business and IT regarding the required and expected future roles and characteristics of the organization, which are based on the current maturity of the organization. The first step that needs to be taken is the creation of a business case to describe the added value and the justification of the CSIP. The business case is determined by the current maturity of the organization and the organizational strategy. A stakeholder assessment, conducted in the previous activity, can also be a contribution to the focus on the results and the aim of the improvement programme.

Furthermore, risks should be identified and managed. An approach to risk management should be applied during the CSIP. Mainly the risks related to the business vision, existing processes and the environment and business constraints should be managed to reduce the effects of those risks.

After having created a business case, a gap assessment report should be completed. A gap assessment report is used to compare the current state with the future state of the organization and this results in gaps to overcome (‘where do we want to be’). It provides information about gaps, risks and the prioritization on where to start. Once a gap assessment report has been completed, there is a need for understanding and clarity. That means that the problems and the following steps have to be presented to the key stakeholders, to establish creditability for the assessment and support concerning the change.

The following step is the creation of a plan for quick wins. A quick win is an early success during an improvement programme. In the plan for quick wins short term wins should be identified and attained to keep the improvement programme running and to keep the commitment level high during the improvement programme.

The last step is setting the goals regarding the improvement programme in relation to the earlier defined stakeholder needs. A management tool for setting goals and measuring performance is the balanced scorecard.

Implement IT service management

The first thing to consider regarding implementing or improving service management is finding an answer on where to start (‘which service management process?’). Before identifying a process that need to be improved, the first condition that needs to be fulfilled is that the organization should have documented its current and desired state, which includes a completed gap assessment report.‘Where to start’ also depends on the level of maturity and the strategic goals of the organization. Besides these dependencies, it is important to understand the interrelationships between all the IT Service Managementprocesses.

Another aspect which should be taken into consideration during the improvement programme is creating awareness of the change. This can be done by making a communication plan, which will give an explanation about the IT policy to the stakeholders.

The next thing to consider is how the changes are going to be achieved. Achieving changes requires a reliable change programme. To prevent a CSIP from missing its intended goals the OGC recommends [1] the approach from J.P. Kotter, called: ‘Eight steps to transforming your organisation’ in combination with project management such as PRINCE2. The main reason for using this approach in combination with regular project management, is that this approach also takes the softer sides of change into account like resistance to change and creating commitment.

J.P. Kotter studied more than 100 companies with regard to their transformations in the past years. This has resulted in eight main reasons why transformations succeed. The duration of the studied transformations was quite long, about six to eight years.ref|Transformation_fail

The eight main reasons why transformations succeed are transformed into eight steps.
# Creating a sense of urgency
# Forming a guiding coalition
# Creating a vision
# Communicating the vision
# ‘Empowering’ to act on the vision
# Planning for and creating quick wins
# Consolidating improvements and producing more change
# Institutionalizing the changeThese eight steps can be applied equally to a service management improvement programme.

The culture of the organization is a main issue to be taken into account during organizational change, because organizational change could support an implementation, and it can as well lead to resistance. For that reason the organizational culture should be managed in order to avoid problems like resistance.

A critical success factor for a CSIP is the clear definition of accountability, roles and responsibility in relation to the new processes and the existing organizational structure. New processes and working practices do often not fit within the existing organizational structure, because processes are often cross functional. In other words, processes may run through the whole organization. In this way new processes and working practices may introduce new roles, which may overlap the existing organizational structure.

The last aspect that has to be taken into account regarding the implementation of IT service management is training. Training can contribute to a higher quality of service management and it can also lead to more productive and responsive employees. Before setting up a training programme, questions like who to train, when to train, how to train and what to train should be answered. For ITIL training see: ITIL Certification.

Measure goals

After the completion of each improvement process a Post Implementation Review (PIR) should be conducted to indicate if the objectives have been achieved. This can be done by making a comparison between the achievement of the improvement and the goals earlier set in the programme. When the results of the PIR are confirmed, new targets regarding improvement should be defined.During the improvement programme the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), which are earlier created during setting the goals as a part of the balanced scorecard, are needed to be constantly monitored to confirm the PIR. Also, the improvement of the customers perception (customer KPIs) during the CSIP needs to be surveyed. This can be done by conducting a regular statistical survey regarding customer satisfaction, also called a Customer Satisfaction Survey (CSS).

Case study

Hochstein, Brenner and Tamm (2005) conducted six case studies about the factors of success , benefits and costs concerning ITIL transformation projects in large European companies. ref|Case_study_Hochstein_et_al Hochstein et al. deduced a few initiatives from the case studies which were effective:
*showing ‘quick wins’
*continuous improvement to sustain the success
*marketing campaigns for awareness and acceptance
*management support as a mechanism for pressure
*the implementation of a broad-based training
*simultaneously development of new processes to integrate service orientationFurthermore, Hochstein et al. discovered that bureaucracy and lack of individuality are general disadvantages of ITIL principles. Therefore, they state that ITIL principles should be adapted to fit within the organization with its specific requirements and that the appliance of ITIL principles should be selective.

Process-data diagram descriptions

Table of concepts

"Table 1: table of concepts with definitions"

References of table of concepts

# Office of Government Commerce (OGC). (2002). Planning to Implement Service Management. London : The Stationery Office.
# Raynor, M.E. (1998). That vision thing: Do we need it?. Long range planning, 31, 3.
# Folan, P., Browne, J. (2005), A review of performance measurement: Towards performance management. Computers in industry, 56, 7.
# Mintzberg, H. (1978). Patterns in Strategy Formation. Management Science, 24, 9.
# WordNet Search - 2.1. (2006). Retrieved March, 8, 2006 from Princeton Website: http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=goal
# WordNet Search - 2.1. (2006). Retrieved March, 8, 2006 from Princeton Website:
http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=assessment
# Best practice. (2006). Retrieved March, 8, 2006 from OCG Website:
http://www.get-best-practice.co.uk/glossary.aspx?product=successfulprojects
# William P. Barnett; Glenn R. Carroll. (1995). Modeling Internal Organizational Change. Annual Review of Sociology, 21, pp. 217-236.
# Egan, R.W., Fjermestad, J. (2005). Change and Resistance: Help for the Practitioner of Change. Proceedings of the 38th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences – 2005
# Definitions of Terms. (2006). Retrieved March, 8, 2006 from Balanced Scorecard Institute Website: http://www.balancedscorecard.org/basics/definitions.html
# Development of Quality Assurance System in Higher Education(QUASYS). (2001). Retrieved March 10, 2006 from University of Zagreb Website: http://www.unizg.hr/tempusprojects/glossary.htm

Activity description

"Table 2: description of activities and sub-activities"

Non-described rule
*This activity will be started if no starting point can be selected. In that situation, this activity will result in an adaptation of the already delivered incomplete products, such as a gap assessment report.

References

# Office of Government Commerce (OGC). (2002). Planning to Implement Service Management. London : The Stationery Office.
# Weerd, I. van de (2005). WEM: A design method for CMS-based web implementations. UU-CS (Int. rep. 2005-043). UU WINFI Informatica en Informatiekunde.
# Kotter, J.P. (1995). Why transformation efforts fail. Harvard Business Review, 59–67 In: Journal of Product Innovation Management. 13, 2 , March 1996, 170
# Hochtstein, A., Tamm, G., Brenner, W. (2005). Service oriented IT management: benefit, cost and success factors. Proceedings 13 European conference on information systems (ECIS 2005), Regensburg, Germany.

External links

* [http://www.itil.co.uk/ The OGC website]
* [http://www.itsmf.com/ IT Service Management Forum]
* [http://www.itil.org.uk/ The ITIL definition site]
* [http://www.itilcommunity.com The ITIL Forum]
* [http://www.ogc.gov.uk/sdtoolkit/deliveryteam/briefings/ITIL/index.html The OGC successful delivery toolkit]
* [http://www.get-best-practice.co.uk OGC get best practice]
* [http://www.AskTheServiceExpert.com ITIL Implementation Strategies]