ITIL Process
Assessment is a very misunderstood topic!
What goes
wrong?
We see organizations
every day that have conducted self-assessment questionnaires and
awarded themselves a very high maturity level, when in-fact the
activity may exist but the process is not end to end service
delivery, aimed at the customer. These organizations then tend to
try to implement ITIL as it is straight from the book
which typically fails to take the business needs truly into
consideration.
This then tends to
cause frustration and the organization blames the ITIL process
implementation, where the error is in organizational change. All the
processes described in ITIL relate to each other.
Which ITIL Process to
implement first?
The question often
asked is, 'Which process shall I implement first?'
The best answer is, all of them, as the true
value of implementing all of the Service Management processes is far
greater than the sum of the individual processes. All the processes
interrelate with the other processes and in some cases are totally
dependent on others.
While recognizing
that, to get the complete benefit of implementing IT Service
Management, all of the processes need to be addressed, it is also
recognized that it is unlikely that organizations can do everything
at once. It is therefore recommended that the areas of greatest
needs be addressed first.
What do I do
then?
A detailed ITIL
process assessment needs to be undertaken to ascertain the strengths
and weaknesses of the IT service provision. This should be
undertaken by performing Customer satisfaction surveys, by talking
to Customers, by talking to IT staff and by analyzing the processes
in action. From this assessment, short, medium and long-term
strategies can be developed. It may be that 'quick wins' will need
to be implemented in the short term to improve the current situation
but these improved processes may have to be discarded or amended as
part of the medium or long-term strategies.
If 'quick wins' are
implemented it is important that they are not done at the expense of
the long-term objectives so these must be considered at all times.
However, every organization will have to start somewhere and the
starting point will be wherever the organization is now in terms of
IT Service Management maturity. Implementation priorities should be
set against the goals of a Continuous Service Improvement Plan
CSIP.
Throughout the
implementation process key players must be involved in the
decision-making process. These will include receivers as well as
providers of the service. There can be a tendency when analyzing the
areas of greatest need to go straight for tools to improve the
situation. Workshops or focus groups will be beneficial in
understanding the requirements and the most suitable process for
implementation that will include People, Processes and Technology.
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