IT service management |
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What is Service Management? The aim is to steer the IT department away from being a reactive, technology-provider and to align it with its organisation's wider business objectives. In doing so, IT becomes an integral part of the organisation, rather than operating in isolation; ensuring that IT decisions are more strategic and serve the business as a whole. The history of Service Management Recognising the rapid growth of technology as a potential problem, in 1989 the government, in collaboration with the private sector, started developing a set of common guidelines using a process-driven approach. This set of guidelines - suitable for organisations of all sizes - became known as ITIL® (Information Technology Infrastructure Library). Although other best practice frameworks such as MOF® (Microsoft Operating Framework) have been created, ITIL® is generally regarded as the de facto standard worldwide. Download the itSMF "An Introductory Overview of ITIL®" booklet Why do you need effective Service Management? The improved levels of customer service provide clear benefits to the customer, who can enjoy a far more productive and enjoyable 'customer experience'. Service Management also offers many advantages to the business itself. By streamlining IT functions and processes, it creates an efficient and cost-effective IT department that reduces IT costs and increases the return on IT investment. With frustrating, ineffective methods eliminated, staff motivation can increase and work becomes more productive and accurate. The Company also benefits by being able to clearly demonstrate that it has a high level of corporate governance and that the business is generally well-managed, helping secure profitable projects and contracts. In addition, the successful implementation of best practice methods such as ITIL® can help your organisation achieve one of the steps towards the highly sought-after ISO20000 accreditation. Overwhelmingly however, the business will benefit from having an IT service provision that is manageable and nimble; a provision that can grow with the business and meet the needs of customers and corporate objectives alike. How does Service Management work? It is not simply a question of redesigning the set of best practice processes (see following section) and issuing them to staff. Service Management is much broader than this. Initially, there is indeed a period of assessment. The processes, procedures and working practices that are in place need to be reviewed, to discover the ones that are ineffective and to identify the root causes. So far, so good, you might think. But this is where Service Management often starts to go wrong. To be effective, Service Management cannot look at the processes and the technology alone; people are required to perform the processes, to work together and to deliver the service. Service Management therefore looks in detail at three key areas involved in IT service provision; people, processes and technology. The 'people' aspect is the area most often neglected. It is vital that you address any cultural and inter-departmental problems through consultation, education and training; only then can the changes be fully established and embedded throughout the organisation. Like any other project of this kind, it needs to continue to grow and evolve. To reap the full rewards of Service Management, organisations need to look upon it as an ongoing project, or a Continuous Service Improvement Programme (CSIP); enabling them to benefit from Service Management now and in the future. What does Service Management cover? These two areas are then further broken down into ten key processes and one function that make up all the areas covered by Service Management.
In general, IT Service Support focuses on the day-to-day operation and support of services, while IT Service Delivery concentrates on the more strategic planning of IT Service provision. ITIL also covers Infrastructure Management, Security Management and Application Management. |
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