Published: January 24 2011, 05:00 PM | no comments
by Robert Stroud

Of late I have been hearing more frequently about large service management implementations fixated on a long term vision  of a vague 5 year implementation with minimal project strategy. The implementations typically commence incident and problem management with the objective of driving better availability and some of these implementations get into what I call the "Incident Only Focused Death Spiral." The Incident Only Death Spiral is where a service management implementation focuses on being reactive and solving problems with little or no focus on the business case or the value proposition.  Now being very effective at solving incidents is not a bad objective but if you fail to focus on the other aspects such as incident removal, providing usable and productive knowledge then you are going to suffer customer satisfaction challenges. A good example is your local restaurant, if they make the same mistake every time you arrive then over time you will find somewhere else to eat even if it means travelling further.

Service Management implementations must be balanced. In this day and age where change is accelerating, technology is rapidly changing and your supply chain becoming increasing more complex, focus must be on a balanced implementation delivering enough across the full service lifecycle.

To avoid the trap of the long-running, never-ending project, include the following;

1. Service Management must be a structured and ordered implementation with defined implementation milestones and metrics.
2. Each phase should be based on the 80/20 principle. 20% of the implementation should give you 80% of the value
3. Each phase of the implementation should drive value to the organization including cost efficiencies that will allow the organization to fund the next phase.
4. Implement factual reporting and attestation that supports data driven decisions that is linked the business with business metrics at the forefront.

These are some of the tips and techniques from the feedback of multiple effective Service Management implementations that I have experienced.  Based on the ongoing number of requests and questions that I am currently getting, I have rolled this advice and additional advice into a presentation titled "Efficient, effective and ‘just enough' Service Management" that I will be presentating at a series of events this year, which began last month at a lunch in Denver.  Keep an eye out for locations or simply email me to find the closest event or request the presentation in your area.