Troy’s IT Service Management Resolutions 2018

“IT was the Best Of Times, it was the Worst Of Times, a season of wisdom, an age of foolishness, an epoch of belief and incredulity…” - Charles Dickens

I believe these words aptly describe the incredible tension and paradox we all feel as our industry adapts to emerging technology trends that both excite and terrify us at the same time. We face a period of un-paralleled change and demand, creating a tangible need to increase speed and agility. The drivers behind this change are a combination of several market forces, including:

  • Consumer attitudes and expectations for mobile & self-service options
  • The ubiquitous availability of cloud-based business automation platforms enabling the rapid go-to market for new disruptive business models and brands
  • An increased integration of third-party suppliers
  • The growing use of Artificial Intelligence & Workforce Automation technologies

These, as well as many other factors have created an irresistible tension to finally address longstanding issues impacting efficiency and effectiveness such as a lack of governance, leadership-alignment, standardization, longstanding technical debt and a culture focused on silos vs. value systems. The banner that has been raised to describe this movement is the hyped label of ‘Digital Transformation’. However, the issues that organizations have to face to address this goal are very real and firmly entrenched in organizational culture, current management systems and structure. The answers to these challenges are equally complex and can only be solved by addressing the Full Stack of IT Capabilities including People and Culture, IT Practices and Automation. To support these objectives, the following list represents my 2018 IT Service Management resolutions:

  1. Address Cultural, Alignment & Collaboration Challenges Through Leadership & Teaming A key constraint facing our industry is the lack of shared values, beliefs and practices across multiple service groups. Lean Leadership, Cross Functional Teams and Organizational Change capabilities are key to solving these challenges.
  2. Stop Arguing About Who Has The Best Framework &/Or What Model Solves All IT Problems Many organizations have adopted various IT improvement models such as ITIL®️, Agile, Lean and DevOps. However, rather than combine these various approaches for increased value they are often competing and in conflict with each other. It’s time to “Integrate” the various frameworks to gain the best value from their combined effect.
  3. It’s Time To Start Re-Investing In Professional Development It has been many years since the global financial crisis of 2008 and most industries have long since recovered and are investing in the new technology trends. However, we have not seen the same focus on talent and professional development. Our industry needs to upskill its workforce to face emerging trends – companies have not focused enough attention on skills and knowledge development. It’s time to re-invest in your most important asset through learning, development and community-building opportunities.
  4. Refocus on Value, Lean-out Processes & Reduce Technology Debt Over time, all capabilities (Services, Processes, Technologies) acquire unnecessary complexity, bureaucracy and waste. It’s time to break our Lean skills and focus on Voice Of The Customer, standardization, simplification and automation to gain the increased speed and flow necessary to meet business demand.
  5. Get Your Agile On To Enable Innovation & Adaption As our industry enters uncharted waters and needs to adjust to dynamically changing business environments, it is critical that we acquire the ability to shift and innovate faster with improved collaboration and feedback cycles. We can do this through the use of adaptive vs. predictive project management approaches described by Agile.

Best Wishes and Happy New Year To You & Your Teams!

Troy DuMoulin
VP Research & Development

“The beginning is the most important part of the work.” ~Plato

 

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