I know of a company that has a very large user community. Most of the entry pathway to IT was via telephone. While there also were a significant number of email requests for services, their process required a help desk analyst to call the requestor back.

The company knew that a Service Catalog would enable a massive reduction in the number of phone calls to or from IT. This alone would help them down their path to Lean IT and a reduction in costly manual touch points.

There was another issue. Besides a minimal amount of IT process automation, the company offers unlimited IT support, for unlimited cost. Support and IT offerings were so widespread, that people were even phoning the help desk to open issues about their personal IPods and cell phones. As a service organization, there was a perception that it was their job to fix anything. Hence, it was often difficult denying these requests for services that would not be supported in most other organizations.

The IT department realized that offering unlimited support for anything the user wanted was an unsustainable model.

Yet they had a challenge. How could they reduce the need to provide unlimited support for personal items or systems outside of their domain, without the appearance of saying "no?"

How many of you find this situation familiar?

This is where a Service Catalog is of value, by changing perceptions and "reframing the conversation" around what IT does offer, not what it does not.

There are parallels to this concept found within virtually any other industry. An airline will not fly you to any city. They have routes and schedules -- not that they actually meet those schedules. A movie theatre does not show whatever film you desire at the moment. They have movie times and distribution agreements for only the latest releases. And you cannot go into a restaurant and order anything you like. It must be on the menu.

When IT or another provider organization within the enterprise, establishes a Service Catalog, they create a publishing vehicle. This enables them to define their offerings in descriptive terms, with associated costs, service levels, deliverables, and metrics for performance. A Service Catalog enables IT to illustrate the value of its offerings.

And by listing only what services are offered from IT, you can naturally provide a reduction in non-supported service requests, without the need to say "no." How?

Think about the next time you go out to eat. You do not go to a pizzeria and order Chinese food. You do not typically enter a seafood restaurant and order a cheeseburger. Why not?

It is not on the menu.