1 2 3 4 5 6 LOB – Line of Business 7 8 9 10 HOT TOPIC #1 – ITIL 4 ITIL 4 placing at number one across the 30 topic areas is a surprise and yet unsurprising. There has been so little information made available about what it will entail that there’s probably pent-up demand from those people who have spent potentially their whole careers studying and then working with ITIL best practice. For many people, and organizations, AXELOS can’t afford to underdeliver with ITIL 4. Thankfully the wait will soon be over – with the first ITIL update publication launch happening mid-February. We’ll be creating content on what ITIL 4 means for the ITSM industry, and the people and organizations within it, once the first publication is released. HOT TOPIC #2 (JOINT) – AUTOMATION As I wrote when automation topped last year’s poll: “Automation is nothing new. IT management and ITSM solutions have been sold for decades based on the ability to automate previously manual activities for speedier and better outcomes, plus lower costs. And now, in addition to traditional IT automation capabilities – such as scripts, process-workflow automation, and third-party system orchestration – AI, and in particular machine learning, is capable of extending and enhancing automation capabilities.” 11 There’s no doubt of its importance to ITSM and other business functions, with it playing a vital part in transforming business operations to meet the needs of digital transformation and the opportunities and challenges this transformation addresses. HOT TOPIC #2 (JOINT) – PEOPLE Well isn’t this a pleasant surprise. I think few people would have predicted that people would be a top-3 topic area for ITSM pros. Paul Wilkinson and his pointy finger will likely be doing a little jig of joy right now. Its importance makes so much sense though – there’s little in ITSM that goes right (or wrong) without the influence of people. And the possible coverage areas are wide – from the required skills and capabilities for particular ITSM jobs, through effective leadership and management, to the need for organizational change management when driving change. And let’s not forget wellbeing! Hopefully, 2019 will be the year when the ITSM community finally wakes up to realize the importance of people – and everything that makes them the best they can possibly be – to the success of IT service delivery and support. HOT TOPIC #4 – ENTERPRISE SERVICE MANAGEMENT Again, as with automation, enterprise service management is nothing new. In fact, much of ITSM.tools’ enterprise service management content was written 2-3 years ago when its profile was rising rapidly within the ITSM community. Recent ITSM industry surveys, such as HDI’s 2018 “The State of Enterprise Service Management” report (registration required), show just how far enterprise service management has come in terms of adoption and the proof of benefits. Plus, the connection of enterprise service management to the third element of digital transformation – back-office transformation – is another driver for interest and adoption. HOT TOPIC #5 – DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION Digital transformation is another top-5 holdover from 2018, albeit with a minor drop. And the words from my 2018 article still hold true: “There’s no doubt that a key ITSM challenge for <> will be delivering against the business need for “digital transformation” – from generating new revenues (driven by technology and data), providing better customer engagement capabilities, and the need to bring corporate back-office operations into the 21st century.” And I’ve still not seen anything that contradicts the point of view that enterprise service management (and thus ITSM) can be a great platform for digital transformation – from better designing, delivering, managing, supporting, and improving IT/business services to helping to improve business back-office capabilities using ITSM principles, thinking, capabilities, and technologies. 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 CSF – Critical Success Factor, KPI – Key Performance Indicator SLA – Service Level Agreemnt, OLA – Operation Level Agreement 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 3 36 37 38 39 The SIAM framework covers the 6 major dimensions of Service Integration and Management. It sets out different levels of maturity for the service integration function and the corresponding capabilities required. It provides a structure to understand capabilities needed and to plan their development, implementation and continuous improvement. 1. Process: The set of common processes that define the interactions among the Client Agents in the ecosystem. In any Multi-Sourcing Ecosystem, the need for clearly defined interfaces is critically important. Two key aspects to consider are: The interfaces between different processes Process interfaces are the items of information which relate different processes; Typically they are defined as inputs, outputs or controls within each individual process definition document; and It is also of high value to illustrate such interfaces in an overall “process context diagram”. Organizational interfaces: Organizational interfaces indicate who is responsible for doing what; 40 and Typically they are defined as process-specific roles, each with a list of associated responsibilities. 2. Tooling: The tools, which support the execution of the operating model. The SIAM Tools Domain has three major components: A SIAM ITSM toolset; An Integration Layer to enable integration to the ITSM Toolsets of the different Client Agents; and A SIAM Reporting Engine and Dashboard. 3. Organization: The structures, enablers and behaviors that are put in place so that each Client Agent knows its contribution and is properly equipped to deliver it. A key enabler for the alignment of the SIAM and the Client Agents is the Operational Level Agreement, which is described in more detail later. 4. Governance: The definition of the decision-making and control structure in the ecosystem. The governance model is based on the agreed principles of vested sourcing: Customer will retain overall control and gain relationship, technology innovation and cost advantages through Customer’s and Supplier’s joint organizational and governance approach. The proper governance model includes: A clearly articulated decision framework on how and by whom decisions will be made and clear responsibility for executing against decisions; and A shared vision for the type of relationship the parties aspire to have and how they will manage the relationship. Next to this governance model which will be implemented between Supplier and Customer we will also respect the existing outsourcing governance commitments, which are in place for the external business contracts. We will review these commitments and optimize where possible, without jeopardizing the existing relationships. 5. Information: The collection of data with regard to measuring service quality and process performance that is needed to control and report on the performance of the ecosystem. 6. Business: Positioning Service Integration as a ‘business within a business’ aligns business demand with the service catalog and capacity. This capability defines the way the service delivery is structured. In what way demand for service is captured and how the scope of service delivery is divided between Customer’s retained groups, SIAM and the Client Agents. 40 41 42 43 Let’s be clear: ITIL is important. Around two million people have been trained in it, and as the closest thing to an industry standard for IT management that currently exists, it has global reach. Lots of people read the ITIL volumes as guidance to their IT organizations. Throughout all its versions, ITIL has been framed as a complete approach to managing the IT function, with the specific exceptions of project methodology and systems architecture. Plus, it’s worth noting that ITIL also informs the product directions of vendors selling IT management tools; in fact, they often market their IT service management tools as “supporting” the ITIL processes. 44 45 46 47 The common perceptions of ITIL and DevOps seem to contradict each other on the first glance rather than illustrate a perfect match: DevOps is agile, quick and collaborative while ITIL’s strength lies within the rigid and detailed definition of processes, services and roles to manage and avoid risks rather than to learn from them. However, if evaluated carefully, both frameworks complement each other. ••While executing DevOps which focuses on the realization of functional requirements (“features”), ITIL also ensures that requirements like availability, scalability and security are met by following proven processes and using well established metrics and KPIs. The almost rigid and in detail described processes in ITIL even create the basis for automation – you cannot automate what has not been well described previously. •• It is important to note that ITIL grants a degree of flexibility too. The framework often solely describes what shall be done, but not how (example: KPIs). This flexibility can be leveraged to make ITIL more agile, customer-centric and even customer-led by applying tools and methods from DevOps. 48 49 50 - ITSM is still seen by many as purely ITIL-focused or relevant only to internal IT operations. - ITSM needs to grow up. In the past this has been too narrowly focussed on internal IT functions, projects and costs. - ITIL has been the ‘de facto’ training and development approach for the last 10 to 15 years, yet those involved in delivering it know that ITIL is not enough – success requires much more than knowledge of a process framework. In reality ITIL currently offers little in terms of practical guidance around successful ‘implementation’. IT and ITSM also need to be viewed and appreciated more in a business broker role, more able to react quickly and be a solution provider rather than a ‘blocker’ - or the guys who always say ‘no’. Without a significant change in speed of delivery, quality and perception of service and demonstrable value, many IT internal departments and external IT companies will become more and more exposed as obsolete and, ultimately, redundant. The ITSM industry itself also needs a make-over, with fresh and accessible content, some new and contemporary framing and messaging, in order to remain attractive and relevant. - There is a large gap in the body of knowledge around ITSM – ITIL is primarily focussed on process, whereas successful ITSM requires a much wider portfolio of skills and capabilities. ITIL does not define organisational change, human interaction or customer experience, all essential for success. Many organisations have expected 51 ITIL to deliver results way beyond its capability or remit, seeing ITIL itself as the solution and ignoring these other factors. The result has been a lot of failed or incomplete ‘ITIL projects’ – these have burned cash and resources with few positive results, leaving the brand names associated with ITIL and ITSM damaged. Without a central body to manage these issues, each area of the industry has continued unilaterally to deliver point solutions with limited success and restricted commercial penetration. ITSM is therefore not a properly codified discipline. In its current form it will not be sustainable, and the industry needs a new and wider definition, vision and structure. This should include, for example, a broader definition and portfolio of skills and capabilities, body of knowledge, and organisational standards, plus clear career development paths, higher education qualifications and a code of conduct. ITSM needs to be clearly positioned and presented as a business approach both within and beyond IT organisations. This is a growth area as many organisations are now using ITSM processes and tools to deliver wider collaboration and work management functions. C-level value propositions must be universally promoted around ITSM as an enabler, broker, orchestrator, rather than administrator. All stakeholders need to engage and play their part in the delivery of Service Management - it’s a team game. We need to move away from thinking that ITSM is ‘just what the Service Desk do.’ In other words, in order to survive, the IT and ITSM industry has to move to the next level of maturity - we collectively need to grow up. 51 52