The last few weeks meeting with organizations in New Zealand, Australia, India, France, Denmark, UK and the U.S. reinforced that the current economic climate is forcing IT organizations to get lean. 

Lean for IT does not mean slim and trim; lean in IT is about maximizing IT value while minimizing cost. For lean IT service management it requires focusing on the components that matter to the business to ensure that IT can deliver what the business needs at the right time and optimize service supply and demand. 

In my June 8 blog I discussed a conversation I had in India with a CIO and his approach to "leaning up" his IT organization by using a service catalog.  Not surprising, I am finding this approach is being applied by other organizations globally.

While attending the CA Expo in France earlier this month, another CIO commented that his business is now demanding to see a list of the services that IT can deliver with business related service levels and costs.  Users (or consumers as I like to call them) of IT-enabled business services are becoming more IT savvy. Just think about the growth in sales of goods and services over the internet such as books, airline tickets or satellite television.  Consumers are now very used to identification, negotiation, ordering and tracking goods and services electronically with the expressed service level agreement and cost clearly outlined. In business this is achieved using a business service catalog.  The business expectations are set, the business is engaged and understands the implications of its choice, and the decisions for cost reduction are transferred to the business rather than IT. This helps ensure IT support is directly aligned to business need - helping optimize service supply and demand.