Published: October 24 2008, 08:31 AM | 1 Comment(s)
by Robert Stroud

I ended Part 1 of this 2 part posting by saying that to do real service level management (SLM) we must know what the expectations and committed deliverables are from the client perspective. Without this information, we are guessing. And last time I checked, being psychic was not on the skills required for IT professionals.

The reality is that the "bottom up" approach will require huge resources. We must understand the customer perspective to not only deliver value but additionally reduce the effort required to deliver.

Now, business and IT Integration is a target for us all as professionals. We don't get up each morning with the objective of disappointing our business customers. Rather we want to meet or even exceed expectations. This is where ITIL® v3 Service Design can assist.

The service lifecycle approach parallels the manner in which the business operates. Business constantly evolves to identify and leverage new revenue opportunities. Therefore some activities that were previously growth areas may now be commodities or areas of lower focus.

Imagine the situation if IT, unaware of a change in business focus, provides services in excess of the appropriate level of service.  If we do not have a consistent and continual discussion with the business, reviewing the services the business delivers,  then this is the paradigm that IT will find itself in--spending more money on delivery of service than is warranted, or perhaps spending less than is needed. In my presentations, I often mention the bank in which all ATM outage situations were resolved in less than 90 minutes.  This was an initial differentiator that the bank established, but over time, as the ATM service became a commodity, the IT department never changed its focus to a more strategic service.    

The Service Design V3 book discusses the importance of the service life cycle and incorporates the SLM process as a primary consideration for the delivery of service that is completed prior to development of the service and the transition into production.  How do you measure today?  Are your service levels in IT metrics or have you transitioned to business-facing metrics?

To collect business metrics, consider walking a day in the shoes of your internal and external business customers.  But before you do, may I suggest that you first start with your organization's strategic and tactical plans (not the IT plan)?

From there look for the organization's objectives for the coming financial period including, if you're lucky and there is one, the organization's scorecard or dashboard.  These are gems with give you business context, allowing you some initial credibility as you start communications with the business.

So walk a day in the shoes of your internal and external business customers. Spend time in their departments, and consume the IT services they do.

Imagine what changes the airline would implement had they been with me to receive my blackberry message proactively notifying me of my cancelled flight, only to be turned away, confused and embarrassed, by the ticket counter.

Readers, do you have similar stories to share? Where technology could have triumphed but in the end, failed to fulfill service level expectations?