Tuesday, August 19, 2008
ITSM Olympics - ITSM Olympic Events We’d Like To See – Part Deux
Yesterday, I proposed a few service strategy events for the ITSM Olympics. Today, I will propose some Service Design events. Of course there could be different events. I am only trying to get the ball rolling. By the way, the events are inspired by reality TV shows and television games shows.
Service Design
Service Catalog Management
This is a “connect the dots” event. Each team is given the same configuration. The field is 100 m x 100 m. Three team members are up in an observation tower and direct the team members on the ground. There are three types of items; business processes, services and IT infrastructure items. There are three types of string (different colors) to represent the connectivity between the items. The team members on the ground must connect the items together based on the information given to them by the observers in the tower. The observers must not only direct the team members on the ground team only needs to identify the connections between the various items based on a list of business requirements. The teams have 2 hours. Correct connections are worth one point. One point is deducted for any missing connection. Two points are deducted for incorrect connections. The team with the most points wins. The “winning” team could win with a negative score.
Service Level Management
This is a team sport with a twist. Each contestant organization is made up of two groups. The first group is IT management and the second group is IT. Neither group is allowed to communicate with the other. Contestant organizations make the most outrageous promises to the customers they can without consulting their IT departments. The IT group must then try with the limited resources allocated to them to meet those promises while constantly being challenged to deliver additional projects with competing deliverables and deadlines. The team with the most IT staff remaining after the event is declared the winner.
Availability and Capacity Management
This is the team triathlon event. In the first part of the event, teams try to sort out everything they do and make it available to the customers without knowing what the customer really needs or want. Points are allocated for matching the items provided to the customer requirements provided at the end of the leg. In the second leg of the event, literally tons of stuff (actually made of soft squishy material) is pelted on the teams (by the audience so it makes for a funnier event) and their goal is to sort the items and store them in the appropriately unlabeled bins of all shapes and sizes. Points are allocated for storing the appropriate stuff in the appropriate bin; labeling the bins results in disqualification. In the third leg of the event, the teams must now find the items on a long list of requirements. Points are allocated for matching the correct items to the requirements. Each leg has a time limit; however the teams don’t know how much time they have. The team with the most points wins. NOTE: teams should not even dream of terminating a leg in the time allowed.
IT Service Continuity Management
This is a very interesting event. An IT crisis is simulated. IT Management takes on the role of the IT staffs and the IT staffs take on the role of IT management. With the IT staff in charge and IT management doing the work, the team that best handles the situation is declared the winner. Of course this is a judged sport so interpretation by the judges (an international panel of self proclaimed ITSM experts) can be a factor. The team with the highest overall score wins. Judging is based on the following factors
- addressing the situation based on effectiveness, efficiency and time
- delegation
- communication
- amount of money lost
- damage to the brand, sales and reputation
- returning to the normal situation; this also includes IT staff giving control back to IT management and IT management having a better appreciation for their IT staff
- customer satisfaction survey results
IT Security Management
This sport is based on the hurdle races in track and field, except that this time the competitors are setting the hurdles. This is also a relay race where 4 customers must negotiate the obstacle course without giving up and going elsewhere. This sport is actually made up of 7 events. This is the heptathlon.
- Identifying business requirements
- Identifying the technology provided (each team receives the same technology)
- Setting up the hurdles (security obstacles)
- Educating the customer – the one actually negotiating the obstacle course
- Addressing issues every time the customer is stymied by an obstacle
- Applying correctives so that the next customer avoids the obstacle
- Keeping customers
Penalties are given for incidents, problems, delays, and lost customers. Deductions are also received for going over the time limits for each event. The team with the fewest penalties wins.
Supplier Management
This is a team sport where the object is to score the most points. There are two periods in each game. In the first period, each team tries to prevent the other team from scoring into its own net. This is known as the “let me help you phase”. In the second period, two extra players on each team are added; the account representative and the manager. The account representative can do (almost) anything to try to stop the opposing players. The manager tries to stop the opposing account representative. The other players continue the play as in the first period. The game usually ends when the two managers and the two account representatives are so tangled up together that the other players are simply watching them.
Tomorrow: Service Transition events
Monday, August 18, 2008
ITSM Olympics - ITSM Olympic Events We’d Like To See
Over the last few entries, I have compared Olympic events with ITSM activities. Now let’s have some real fun and let us explore some ITSM specific Olympic events. The intent is for humor purposes only and is not intended in any way, shape or form to make fun of anyone, any role or any organization.
Service Strategy
Service Strategy as a process:
This is team sport where the goal is to set the best targets (to be used by other events later). Shooting first and painting the target around the best cluster of hits results in disqualification
Demand Management
This is a team sport where competitors try to predict the demand for their services and products. This is a slow event where the spectators usually lose focus and actually forget that the event is in progress. Revising figures during the event results in disqualification
Financial Management
This is an individual event where competitors must throw their money in various buckets as defined by the service strategy as a process event. The money must be thrown in more than one bucket. A pre-determined minimum number of buckets will be announced at the beginning of each round.
Service Portfolio Management
This is a team event where the most effective use of resources throughout the lifecycle of a service will be given scores by a number of international judges. All competitors will be given the same service and its lifecycle will be restricted to only 2 versions to keep the spectators interested. There is often a lot of controversy regarding the scores and many appeals are still ongoing from previous games. Bribing the judges to give decent scores has been banned for all future events.
Tomorrow: Service Design events
ITSM Olympics - The Use Of Tools
There are Olympic events that require the mastery of a tool. I have already covered some of them. However, in this case I will write about cycling, sailing and equestrian sports.
First, let me say for all animal lovers out there that the horse is an animal, not a tool. However, the horse does most of the work in equestrian sports. Yes the rider must control and direct the horse so the rider is needed. The horse by itself will not do the circuit for show jumping or do the dressage patterns.
Second, let me say that the bicycle by itself will not do much. The rider must use the tool effectively. However, should a mechanical break occur or should the cyclist fall, the race may be over for the rider.
Third, without a sail boat, sailing events would be swimming events. I did some sailing as a teenager and using a sailboat is not always as easy as it seems. The sailor or the sailing team must understand how to use the sailboat in different winds and try not to hit anyone else.
There are other sports that require the use of tools. Tools in sports include, among many others, the racquet, the foil, the pole (pole vaulting), the trampoline, the starting blocks for races, the bars in gymnastics and the kayak and paddle. So why concentrate on cycling, sailing and equestrian sports? Simple, I had not covered them yet.
What do all these sports have in common? The participant has to rely on something to complete the event. The participant must understand the capabilities of the tool (what it can do) as well as how to use it in different conditions. This is especially true for cycling and sailing. In the case of equestrian sports, there are different types of events where the horse must execute drastically different tasks; jumping versus dressage.
In the case of sailing and cycling, the tools must conform to established and known mandatory requirements. This is designed to make sure that advances in technology do not unfairly favor one competitor over another.
The competitors must know their tools, how to use them effectively and efficiently. They can configure them to their specification (within the rules) but they must maintain them as well. In IT, we need to do the same, we need to know the tool, how to use it, and how to configure it within the boundaries defined and imposed by the infrastructure.
What I see too often is that IT departments do not train their staff on the tool at the right time or never train them at all, expecting them to just “pick it up”. Education and training is critical if an organization wants to optimize the effective and efficient use of IT tools.
By the way, the tool does not come first, the people and the process do. For Olympic sports (and most sports actually), competitors have to be educated on the rules and regulations of their sports, the psychology of the sport, the use of the tool, then they must practice, practice and practice some more.
I am fully aware that education and training in IT is both expensive and time consuming, but it has to be done. The most successful organizations usually have a culture of education and training and foster a coaching and mentoring environment.
The worst excuse that I have heard for not training staff is that people will be more marketable and will leave at the first opportunity. Why should we pay for this? Well, if this is the mentality in an organization, then my prediction is that the people will leave no matter what.
Tools are all around us and we can’t escape them. But remember the saying, “A fool with a tool is still a fool”.
As for Olympic events, the tools are usually in good hands but mishaps do happen unfortunately.
Enjoy the games.
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
ITSM Olympics - Don’t Pass The Ball To Others
What do I mean by not passing the ball around? I don’t mean that you shouldn’t do this in a team sport. Players need to pass the ball to teammates in order to control the game and to create opportunities to score a point. What I’m talking about is the poor little object being used in racquet sports as metaphor for how we treat the customer; we just send the ball (the customer) over the net to someone else.
I have witnessed this far too often in my career in IT and I still see it today when I consult for organizations. I still witness this when I am the customer and I am trying to purchase a product or service, and I find it totally unacceptable.
Isn’t there some saying somewhere along the lines of “treat others like you want them to treat you”?
So why am I using racquet sports here? I love to watch tennis, table tennis and badminton. I have dabbled in all three sports and can appreciate the dedication, training, preparation these athletes go through to reach that level.
Four years ago during the Olympic in Athens, Greece, the Canadian television broadcaster (CBC) decided to show how television broadcasters from other countries describe certain sporting events; it was really cool. I especially liked it when they showed a gold medal match in table tennis by an Asian broadcaster. The enthusiasm of the commentators was something to experience. How they could describe the fast pace action and movement of the ball was amazing.
What a contrast from tennis where North American commentators are silent during play. Don’t get me wrong, I really appreciate this, I much prefer to watch the action instead of listening to commentators babble. Actually this sounds a lot like many meetings I have attended in my career where everything was discussed except the topic for which the meeting was called in the first place. But I digress.
So here is a description of analogies that relate racquet sports to customer service.
Table tennis: this sport can be so fast, especially in doubles. When you need to transfer a customer to another person or department, please do so politely and introduce the customer to the new party. Don’t forget to explain why the customer is being transferred and what their issue is. Don’t blindly transfer the customer to someone else. There is nothing more frustrating than having to explain your story all over again. How does this relate to ITSM? Incidents, problems, changes, releases, requests, reports, etc are being circulated between IT personnel. Don’t simply drop something on someone without an explanation.
Take your time and do the job right the first time. Transfer (or escalate) at the appropriate times.
Tennis: Powerful serves, great baseline exchanges, volleys, running left to right and right to left. This is how I often feel when I am passed from one department to another. I have seen too many retail associates in North America who wear a button that says “I am here to help”, yet hide the moment they make eye contact with you. If you manage to talk to one, they either don’t know or it’s not their job or they are too busy and some even look at you as if you are stupid for not knowing.
Badminton: Graceful, lightning fast reflexes and lots of shoe tread squeaks from moving around. One instant you lob the shuttle gracefully over the net and the next you execute a powerful smash. But what does this sport has to do with the topic at hand; everything actually. You can bounce the customer around for a while (long exchanges) or simply dispatch them (smash). Sounds like fun but there won’t be too much repeat business once word gets around that you provide poor customer service.
Life is full of imagery and analogies. That is why I use them. Seemingly complex concepts are greatly simplified if we relate them to something we know.
By the way, don’t make the mistake of treating your customers or your colleagues for that matter as if you were playing a racquet sport. Racquet sports are played in single or doubles competition. However, being a team player is much more important.
In sports, fair play is a basic tenet; “avoir l’esprit sportif” as we say in French. Be fair, play by the rules and be graceful in defeat. Your customers and your colleagues are not your adversaries. Without them you are not in business.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
ITSM Olympics - Getting Your Feet Wet…
So far I have discussed why ITSM should have its own Olympics, the opening ceremonies, selecting your service manager, track events and quick (and no so quick wins), choosing your change agents and doing the heavy lifting.
Today I want to discuss aquatic events and how they relate to an ITSM initiative. First things first. What aquatic events are we talking about here? Lets talk about diving, canoe/kayak, rowing, sailing, swimming, synchronized swimming and water-polo.
There are a lot of puns we could use here. The opportunity is too great. The temptation is too great. Please forgive my bad puns in advance. Here we go…
Diving: You’ll have to dive in, but try not to do it head first and always dive in the deep end. I am not really afraid of heights or diving in the water; I am actually afraid of the impact if I dive incorrectly. So when you are dealing with your ITSM initiative please remember that there are many ways, many heights and each dive has a different degree of difficulty. Diving into your initiative will depend on the maturity, complexity, scope and scale of the services and processes to implement (the actual dives), the existing infrastructure (diving boards) and the existing organizational culture (the water).
Canoe/kayak: It sometimes feels that some project stages are like a race to the finish. Try to paddle a kayak requires the proper technique (education/training anyone?). It requires pacing yourself so that you have enough energy for the last few meters. I find that slalom (white water) is not only more exhilarating but much closer to what we actually experience in ITSM. You have to be careful to avoid obstacles (seen and unseen), and you have to navigate the course in the correct order and can’t skip any gateways. What can go wrong? What about flipping and ending up-side down? What about missing a gate and having to go against the current (can you say resistance to change?)
Rowing: We all have to pull in the same direction (...) on this one. People have to be sold on the direction and benefits of the ITSM initiative. In rowing people are facing backwards not forward. One the coxswain (in some events) is facing forward. The same will happen in your ITSM initiative. Most people will be looking back at the way they used to do things. Only some will be looking forward and have the guts to guide people in the right direction.
Sailing: I did some sailing as a teenager and I loved it. It was a lot of fun to be on the water with the sun, the wind and the waves. That is until you have to coach someone less experienced than you or someone who is afraid of water. Sometimes there would be no wind, we would just drift. The same can happen to your initiative. Sometimes people have difficulty learning new ways and sometimes your project just stalls. There are also times when the weather is uncooperative in a different way: high waves, high winds, rain, etc. There are socio-economic events that your organization has to weather before being able to continue. The dangers of capsizing (turning over) are real, but what about direction? There are no roads on the waters, other sailboats are going in different directions all around you, there are unseen obstacles if you do not pay attention to the topography of the sea floor. There are motor boats, jet skis and ships on the water as well. Usually this is not true during a competition, but it happens in real life. By the way, a huge tanker can not stop on the proverbial dime.
Swimming: The simplest way to explain this is to think of swimming as track events. It is about speed yes but there are also relays (without a baton like on dry land). There are also different swimming styles, sprints and long distance events as well. Then there are the medleys. This is kind of the decathlon of swimming (or should it be the quadathlon?). To be able to excel at four different styles of swimming is quite an achievement. Imagine what it takes to make it to the final race.
Synchronized swimming. Talk about coordination! Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to have everyone in the organization to not only be in sync (compliance to the process or service) but to do it to a musical number (can you say framework?) and to do it without complaining. Hey, these swimmers are holding their breath for a long time and they are always smiling.
Water-polo: This is a team sport that requires individual endurance and stamina. You can’t touch the bottom of the pool like in the backyard. You also have to watch for what is happening above and below the surface. You can get penalized for kicking someone and you can’t drag someone under water (darn). It is sad to say that in every organization someone is always doing something under the surface to sabotage your initiative. There are many reasons for this, but I find it hard to believe that it actually happens.
Thanks,
Pierre
Monday, July 28, 2008
ITSM Olympics - Why ITSM Implementations Require Continuous Heavy Lifting
The official 2008 Olympic website has the following about the origin of weightlifting:
As a basic athletic activity and a natural means to measure strength and power, the lifting of weights was present in both the ancient Egyptian and Greek societies. Developing its international scope chiefly in the 19th century, weightlifting was among those few sports (alongside athletics, swimming, gymnastics, fencing, wrestling, shooting and cycling) which featured on the programme of the first modern Olympic Games, in 1896, in Athens.
This means that throughout the ages, people had to lift weights to demonstrate their strength and agility. This is true of with any ITIL implementation. You can not buy ITSM on a disc, put it into the CD drive and “install” it in your organization. Sure there are starter kits. Sure there are tools that can be installed, configured and used. Sure documentation can be bought and shared. But none of these in and of themselves will do your organization any good.
You and your organization will have to put in some “sweat equity”. You need to read and learn, to create documentation, to assess and investigate issues, and to analyze and recommend solutions.
In weight lifting, there are many weight classes for the athletes; it is recognized that people will be able to lift weight based on their stature. Theoretically speaking, a weight lifter who weighs 50 kg is unlikely to lift more than someone who weighs 100 kg. Now we have to remember that these athletes have spent years training for these events. They have followed a rigorous training program and diet. Many have also been using sport psychologists to help them get over a defeat or an injury or a mental block about not being able to lift more than x kg.
What does this all have to do with ITSM? A lot.
If you want to be very knowledgeable about something, you need to read, to study and to practice it. You can not become an expert overnight. Too many organizations believe that attending a 2 or 3 day foundation level course is enough to become an expert at implementing ITSM. Dream on!
If I were managing the ITSM implementation in your organization, I would look at the people who do put in the sweat equity and the heavy lifting, and make them my champions, my process managers, leads, coaches and mentors. Here is how I see the different weightlifting Olympic Champions:
Gold medal winners would become my process managers and mentors. The silver medal winners would become my process leads and coaches while the bronze medal winners would become my local subject matter experts and the members of the process design, implementation and improvement teams.
We hear too many stories about people who start a training program without consulting an expert and/or doing their research or being too ambitious only to get injured or simply disillusioned about perceived poor results since they are not becoming champions in a matter of days.
The same applies to an ITSM initiative. Don’t think that sending someone to a foundation level course will make them an expert. Don’t think that buying a sophisticated tool will automatically make your initiative successful. If people do not respect the tool, if they misuse the tool or if they improperly configure the tool, they are going to get injured (mostly in their ego). A weightlifter would get severely injured if they dropped the bar anywhere (watch at least your toes), did not use proper technique (severe leg, arm or back injuries) or put all the weight on one side of the bar (how could they lift this at all?)
There is a lot more to weightlifting than brute strength. Like all other sports, it takes preparation, dedication, education and tonnes of practice.
Approach your ITSM initiative the same way. Prepare properly (plan), be dedicated (it takes time), get the right level of education throughout the organization (use a communication plan), educate and train your people on a ongoing basis, and make sure people do not fall back to the “old” way of doing things.
ITSM is not that difficult but it takes time, determination and sweat equity.
Next, I’ll have a look at aquatic sports. Hey, you need to get your feet wet at some point!
Thursday, July 24, 2008
ITSM Olympics - Choosing Your Change Agents
Can you use contact sports to select your change agents? This may be more of a pipe dream than anything else. My inspiration for contact change agents is more mob and gangster movie related, but I will stick to the Olympics metaphor.
I have heard all sorts of horror stories about change management and trying (dismally in some cases) to get people to comply with processes. Often companies enforce no repercussions for a poorly executed job. Whereas completing the job done in record time without actually solving the problem receives positive comments. Go figure.
So what do Olympic contact sports have do to with this? I’m getting there…
First, I would use the winners of the fencing competitions, the foil or the saber. Why you ask? A sharp prod to ensure that all RFCs are properly documented, records kept up-to-date and demands expedited. The good thing about fencing is that no one dies and there are very few injuries, except maybe to one’s ego. It would be entertaining as well. Imagine the people in the office having to change into their fencing equipment to face the change coordinator. Better yet, coming back from this meeting with their clothes ripped to shreds. I am sure there is a Zorro somewhere in your office ready for this task.
So the RFC is accepted. For the CAB I would use the boxing champs, because I have always felt that attending change meetings was a lot like a boxing match. Don’t get me wrong, I am not a violent person nor am I condoning violence. You see, in this case, I would use the huge inflatable boxing ring and gloves like the ones you can rent for special events. This way, there would be fewer injuries and it would be quite entertaining.
So our change is approved. How do we keep people complying to the schedule? Easy… Hire the wrestling champions. Unlike “professional entertainment wrestling” the Olympic wrestling events are about agility, flexibility, endurance and getting out of difficult situations. Of course, all precautions would be taken to ensure everyone’s safety. I would still use weight classes to ensure that people are matched with someone their own size.
Use the wrestling champions as my “compliance agents”, developers could not implement anything into the live environment, without it being independently tested first. The same would apply to the independent testers, the documenters, the trainers, the communicators and, of course, managers and the business. Ah! To dream in colors.
So where does this leave the judo and taekwondo champions? I would use these fine people as my service level managers and supplier managers. This would make for some interesting negotiation sessions.
Next, why implementing services and processes require heavy lifting…
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
ITSM Olympics - Track Events, Quick And Not So Quick Wins
In his book “Leading Change” John P. Kotter talks about planning for and creating quick wins. What does this have to do with track events? Everything!
You see, people often mistake quick wins for something that will take no time at all, will be easy to do, and people will see the results and benefits, well, quickly. In actual fact, as real transformation and change takes time (and lots of it), it is important to achieve short-term wins in an effort to keep the change effort going in the right direction and to ensure that people’s energy and commitment remain high throughout the change.
In track events there are three broad categories of races; sprint (up to and including 800m), endurance (from 1500m to 10km, both running and walking) and finally, ‘grueling’ endurance for everything over 10km for both walking and running.
The 100m sprint event is thought by some as a quick win; it’s over in about 10 seconds, give or take a few one-hundreds of seconds. The marathon (42 km) is the opposite and takes over two hours.
But what about preparation for the Olympics? The amount of lifetime training and dedication that each athlete puts in to qualify for the Olympics is extraordinary. There is a lot of preparation, studying, nutrition, and conditioning involved.
So what do process designers and implementors do? They look around for something that looks and feels like ITSM, “tweak” it a little, and voila! The [insert name here] looks, smells and behaves like it says in the ITIL books. Give me a break!
Sure, it can be done, but rarely. You need to plan, design, transition and use your quick wins to create momentum. Then you need to keep on improving. Then you need to keep generating more change. There is an entire lifecycle approach to the whole thing. It does not happen overnight. I know someone out there will claim that this has actually been done. I am not debating this, I am saying that overnight success is rare.
Some short terms wins are achieved in a matter of weeks, others will take months or even years to be completed. No matter how fast you attempt to create a quick win, there is a lot of pre-work that needs to be done. You need to pick and choose your wins. Will people see them as wins? Do they make sense?
Finally comes the hardest part: institutionalizing the change, making it a part of the day-to-day culture of the organization.
You cannot purchase a gym membership, trendy exercise clothes and a dieting book and expect to lose weight and get in shape. You have to actually follow the diet and exercise programs!
The same applies to ITSM. Everything is part of a lifecycle. You have to look at how and when you will start improvement initiatives for your ITSM deliverables during the planning phase. Don’t wait until after launch to start thinking about it.
ITSM is a grueling endurance event. But, unlike track events, there is no finish line and there are no medals.
You can sprint to achieve a quick win but you must sustain it to ensure that it can endure until more quick wins are achieved. Then you are in for the the long run. Don’t give up. People and their organization can be winners when it is done properly.
Tomorrow - choosing your change agents through contact sports
Monday, July 21, 2008
ITSM Olympics - Choosing Your Service Manager
Here we are at the ITSM Olympics. This is a great place to select the various people to fill the roles of an ITSM initiative. To ensure success, we need someone who is knowledgeable about all aspects of ITSM. This person does not need to be the best in every field, but should be competitive with the best of them. This person needs to understand all aspects of a project from planning to people selection, from process design to tool selection, and from communication to celebration.
In my mind, there is no better candidate than the winner of the decathlon or the heptathlon. These athletes are talented in many disciplines, yet may not be the world or olympic record holder in any one of the individual events. In order to compete you need to excel at 10 different disciplines for the decathlon, seven for the heptathlon.
My vote for the role of the service manager goes to the winner of the decathlon or the heptathlon.
Tomorrow - a look at the relationship between track events (i.e. running and walking) and ITSM
Friday, July 11, 2008
What If ITSM (Based On V3) Had Their Own Olympics?
In the spirit of the upcoming 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China ,(en.beijing2008.cn) I have decided to poke some fun at ITSM by equating certain Olympic events to either implementing or executing ITSM best practices.
The event schedule for the summer games lists 41 different sporting event categories. I will use some of these high-level categories, as there are so many sub-categories including women’s and men’s, individual and team, and different classes within each event that the games would long be over by the time I am done mapping all of them to ITSM. In addition to the sporting events, I will write about the opening and closing ceremonies. There are also a fantastic number of cultural events happening throughout the games but I know more about sports than culture, so I will stick with the sports theme.
Olympic event: Opening Ceremonies
ITSM event: The implementation kickoff meeting.
I know, I know… Planning to host an Olympic game starts way before the opening ceremonies. In fact, it probably starts about a dozen years (or more). Since we are comparing the kickoff meeting to the ITSM implementation project in this case, I would describe this meeting as a celebration following the weeks and months of internal discussions with the executives who agreed to fund the initiative.
How do the opening ceremonies map to the kickoff meeting? First, the venue is arranged (meeting room) and the invitations are sent. Some people will come, others will not show and some might even boycott. During the opening ceremonies, there are musical and dance numbers, usually with audio visuals, pyrotechnics, etc. The ITSM people do their own song and dance routines to sell the benefits of the initiative: They use spiffy powerpoint presentations and hire consultants to prove how much the organization can benefit from the ITSM initiative.
Next, the parade of participants starts as people trickle into the meeting room. In the old days, coffee and donuts may have been enough to attract participants but now more elaborate methods are used to attract them. We promise cost savings, staff reductions and praise to get people on-board. Of course, if things go badly, the naysayers will be the first to tell you “I knew it wouldn’t work” or my favorite “It would have worked if I had been leading this.” The Olympics attract athletes with dreams of medals and lucrative endorsement contracts should the athletes initiatives be successful.
Next comes the opening speeches. At the Olympics, speeches refer to “citius, altius, fortius” ( swifter, higher, stronger). It is also an opportunity for all countries to set aside their political and economic differences (or on the surface at least).
The kickoff meeting is no different. An opening speech welcomes the participants and preaches the virtues of the initiative: to support corporate objectives, save time and money, make things easier for all, etc, etc. You know the drill; I will spare you my sarcasm.
At the Olympics, the torch is lit and the games can begin. In past Olympics, they held certain competitions before the games even started. Don’t get the idea that you can do the same and start the project before it is officially started. No one would ever do that in your company, but we all know one company that did. Wink. Wink.
In the case of the kickoff meeting, the sponsor endorses the project champion and gives his or her blessing for a successful initiative and reminds the participants that he or she will be there to help see this project to the end. You can count on him or her. (I have to bite my tongue here)
So the games start. The project starts. Everyone is pumped. We know we can do this. At the Olympic Games, the Cinderella story will play itself out.
In the corporate world, there is no Cinderella story. Too often, it becomes a horror show as scope creep shares the spotlight with time delays and pressures.
At the Olympics only three athletes ever get a medal in any discipline. In an ITSM initiative, there can be no medals, as there is no end. Projects have a start and end date, processes don’t.
For those of you looking for information about the roles of executives, you can read the following article in our PinkLINK section (PinkLinkArchives).
- The Leadership Role Of Executive Sponsors
- Top 10 Things Managers Should Know About Implementing ITIL
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I will explore the actual sporting events in my upcoming entries.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Why do IT customers demand quality?
As a customer, why would I want to purchase something that is sub-par? The IT customer expects IT to deliver value for their money. Intuitively, the customer understands that technology is a tool that is part of a greater whole; the business itself. The customer also intuitively understands why they require the technology even though they may not communicate in the same language as IT.
One of the greatest difficulties isunderstanding what quality means and how to express it. The problem is that IT still does not “listen” to the business. When IT starts to listen to the business and when IT sees itself as being part of the business the meaningful dialogue will start. IT still speaks in “techno-babble.” The business still hopes that everthing is clear and obvious to all. IT must change its ways from a technology-oriented approach to a service-oriented approach. The business must at least meet IT halfway and come up with appropriate requirements and reasons for their technology needs. Both parties must undertand that technology is only part of the whole solution; processes and people are part of the equation as well. Or should I say, business (and IT) processes and business (and IT) people.
I will say it again. IT must stop putting “IT” in front as a “differentiator”. IT is part of the business, therefore, we have business processes and business people. Period.
Now that people understand each other, will come the other difficuult part, having the same definitions for many day-to-day tems. It is not easy to define terms like quality in the first place but nonetheless a dialogue is required to understand each other.
The most simplistic definition I have ever heard for quality is “fit-for-purpose”. This means that if the business needs a hammer, IT should not deliver a sledge-hammer. The opposite is also true. From this simplistic definition we can move towards something a little more complex such as introducing concepts such as utility and warranty. after that we can start introducing resources and capabilities to deliver the utility and the warranty.
We are all customers. It is time that we treat our colleagues as customers. As a customer you probably don’t like being badly treated. I know I don’t. However, as treat my colleagues like customers; with respect since I want them to come back again and again. So if you want to keep your customers (your business colleagues) threat them like you would want t be treated; with respect empathy and understanding.
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Stimulating Discussions
There is nothing more stimulating then having a colleague ask what appears to be a simple question which in turn generates a very lengthy but healthy email discussion with half a dozen people.
Then imagine the added benefit of having that same discussion in person over a beverage. It is so much fun to have different point of views shared and debated. It is invigorating.
Imagine the wealth of different views from so many people with both book knowledge and practical experience. It is so much fun to have someone bring out the ITIL books and discuss the different nuances throughout the books.
One of my favorite expressions when conceding a point to a colleague is “you may be right, but I am not wrong either.”
Until next time,
Monday, May 26, 2008
About Service Design
When you read the service design book, there are two major things to consider. The first relates to the processes involved in this phase of the lifecycle. The second relates to designing services. The two are entertwined of course but the proceses are also invloved in the ongoing management of services.
What is meant by designing a service? For one it means that when we look at a brand new service or mofification to an existing service we must look at five major aspects. They are:
■ Service solutions, including all of the functional requirements, resources and capabilities needed and agreed
■ Service Management systems and tools, especially the Service Portfolio for the management and control of services through their lifecycle
■ Technology architectures and management architectures and tools required to provide the services
■ Processes needed to design, transition, operate and improve the services
■ Measurement systems, methods and metrics for the services, the architectures and their constituent components and the processes.
(See Service Design book section 3.2 Design Aspects page 30)
An other aspect of designing services applies to the servies that your organization already offer; you need to reverse engineer them. By this I mean that you need to apply the concepts of service design to what you already do. In previous entries in this blog, I have provided explanation about the resources an capabilities, the utilitiy and warranty of a service ans the types of services.
It is not an easy exercise to do but it should be done and will be very useful to not only design your service catalog but change the culture of the organization to be more service centric as opposed to technology centric.
The processes from all five phases of the lifecycle are necessary to properly design services. But we don’t have all rpocesses in place you may say. I would challenge this. All organizations perform the activities of all processes in some way, shape or form. They simply are not done the way ITIL proposes or recognizable as such or have a different name or are part of a procedure instead of a process. The opportunity and the time and the resources to develop or redesign the processes “à la ITIL” will present themselves later.
There is a lot of talk about assessments and implementing ITIL-based processes. Start by reading up on the various processes and map the activities to the functional groups that you have. I know this is not the the perfect way of doing things but it is a start. Get the proverbial ball rolling, do something. Once you have the processes identified, see if any needs immediate attention.
Then look at the service you already ofer. For this talk to the business and ask them to identify the services they belive they are receiving from IT. Then ask IT what they think they are providing as services.
That’s a start. It is not the whole story. It will not be easy. But you need to start eventually so it might as well be noow (or as soon as humanly possible based on your resources and needs.
Stay tuned.
Monday, May 05, 2008
Manager Bridge Course In Malaysia
This week I am delivering a Manager Bridge course in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In the group we have people from Malaysia (of course), Australia, India, Thailand and Indonesia. Let me tell you that they were ecstatic to hear the exam is multiple choice.
It is great to see that there is a lot of interest about V3 and the Manager Bridge certification. It is also good to hear that other training organizations are delivering this course and the Foundation course in the area and all over Asia actually.
The only troubling thing I find is that there are rumors that the exam for the Manager Bridge is unbelievably difficult and the pass rate is dismal. The truth is otherwise. Yes the exam is difficult; it’s not supposed to be easy. I should know; I did it twice (and passed both times). It made me think and no I did not get perfect scores. As I am a senior examiner with APMG I can not tell you the pass rate at this time (non-disclosure agreement obliges) but I can tell you that we were informed that the pass rate is very satisfactory.
APMG and the examining institutes will eventually publish pass rates but for now, please ignore the rumors.
until next time
Monday, April 28, 2008
More On Service Unit & Unit Of Service
In this blog on march 25 I wrote that there is a difference between unit of service and service unit. The unit of service is from the customer’s point of view and represents the “thing” that the customer orders. The service unit represents the business’ point of view. It is made up of capabilities and resources and offers utility and warranty and includes everything required to provide the “unit of service”.
Aren’t they the same thing? In a sense yes; in a sense no. It all depends on your perspective.
If you are the service provider then your perspective is that of a service unit.
If you are a customer then your perspective is that of a unit of service.
Confused? Don’t be.
Assume that you are shopping for a widget. You go to the store, pick up the widget, go to the check-out kiosk, wait in line (just a little), the widget is scanned; you pay for the widget and go home with a widget. You purchased the widget because you had a need. Your widget comes in a box with instructions, user manual and marketing material. The store provides you many options to pay for the widget. The widget is the unit of service.
Why is the widget the service? Actually, the widget is the physical manifestation of the widget-service. V3 defines a service as:
“A means of delivering value to Customers by facilitating Outcomes Customers want to achieve without the ownership of specific Costs and Risks.”
You need the widget to achieve a specific outcome. However, you don’t want to have to acquire the raw material then manufacture the widget. You want someone else to do it. You don’t want all those extra costs and you don’t want to “risk” it. You are satisfied with buying it from someone who has the knowledge, expertise and capabilities of manufacturing the widget.
For more on utility and warranty see my blog entry for January 30.
Let’s look at the widget-service from the provider’s perspective. Why is the provider calling it a service-unit? It is simply because the provider may offer different versions (or size or options) or different levels of service for the widget. The provider must have the resources and the capabilities to “create” the service units. In most cases, the provider has the ability to manufacture/produce many widgets at a time using the same resources and capabilities. It is usually cheaper for a provider to produce a large number of widgets instead of doing it one at a time on order.
Example – Hotel
When you stay at a hotel, the unit of service you receive is the room. Yet the hotel has more than one room. Each guest in the hotel receives a unit of service. In many hotels there are different types of rooms such as smoking vs. non-smoking, regular vs. honeymoon suite vs. presidential suite. This means that the hotel offers different levels of the same service. The hotel has a whole set of activities to perform to in order to provide you with your room. These are the supporting services. They include, cleaning the room, laundry, mini-bar, ordering supplies, payroll, reservation, scheduling, management, maintenance, training the staff, etc, etc, etc.
All these supporting services are part and parcel with every room. Think of all the people involved in getting one room ready let alone thousands in some hotels. The hotel has a checklist of everything that needs to be done to get a room ready, from checking you in to checking you out. This is what makes up the service units from their perspective.
To summarize, the room a customer receives is “one” unit of service. For the hotel, getting one room ready from one customer to the next is the service unit.
Try this same exercise for all sorts of things around you such as flying, eating in a restaurant, a shopping mall, buying groceries, a school.