CONTINUAL SERVICE IMPROVEMENT MANAGER

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3 CONTINUAL SERVICE IMPROVEMENT MANAGER

4 BCS, THE CHARTERED INSTITUTE FOR IT BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT champions the global IT profession and the interests of individuals engaged in that profession for the benefit of all. We promote wider social and economic progress through the advancement of information technology, science and practice. We bring together industry, academics, practitioners and government to share knowledge, promote new thinking, inform the design of new curricula, shape public policy and inform the public. Our vision is to be a world-class organisation for IT. Our 70,000 strong membership includes practitioners, businesses, academics and students in the UK and internationally. We deliver a range of professional development tools for practitioners and employees. A leading IT qualification body, we offer a range of widely recognised qualifications. Further Information BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, First Floor, Block D, North Star House, North Star Avenue, Swindon, SN2 1FA, United Kingdom. T +44 (0) F +44 (0)

5 CONTINUAL SERVICE IMPROVEMENT MANAGER Careers in IT service management David Whapples

6 2015 BCS Learning & Development Ltd All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted by the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, except with the prior permission in writing of the publisher, or in the case of reprographic reproduction, in accordance with the terms of the licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries for permission to reproduce material outside those terms should be directed to the publisher. All trade marks, registered names etc. acknowledged in this publication are the property of their respective owners. BCS and the BCS logo are the registered trade marks of the British Computer Society charity number (BCS). Published by BCS Learning & Development Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, First Floor, Block D, North Star House, North Star Avenue, Swindon, SN2 1FA, UK. ISBN: PDF ISBN: epub ISBN: Kindle ISBN: British Cataloguing in Publication Data. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available at the British Library. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this book are of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Institute or BCS Learning & Development Ltd except where explicitly stated as such. Although every care has been taken by the author(s) and BCS Learning & Development Ltd in the preparation of the publication, no warranty is given by the author(s) or BCS Learning & Development Ltd as publisher as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained within it and neither the author(s) nor BCS Learning & Development Ltd shall be responsible or liable for any loss or damage whatsoever arising by virtue of such information or any instructions or advice contained within this publication or by any of the aforementioned. BCS books are available at special quantity discounts to use as premiums and sale promotions, or for use in corporate training programmes. Please visit our Contact Us page at Typeset by Lapiz Digital Services, Chennai, India. iv

7 CONTENTS List of figures and tables Author Abbreviations Preface vii viii ix xi 1. INTRODUCTION 1 Why change? 1 Service improvement 3 The role 3 Key factors 5 Summary 6 2. OVERVIEW OF THE FIELD 8 Introduction to continual 8 Promotion of continual 11 Coordination of improvement activity 12 Recording of improvement activity 15 Provision of advice and guidance 16 Measurement 17 Reporting THE ROLE 20 Purpose and objectives of the role 20 Scope 27 Ownership 29 Strategy 31 Skills 37 Responsibilities 39 Interfaces and dependencies 47 v

8 CONTENTS 4. TOOLS, METHODS AND TECHNIQUES 53 Standards 53 Leading practice frameworks, procedures and processes 54 Tools 55 Tooling Options 58 Techniques 59 Service measurement 86 Metrics and measurement 87 Critical success factors and key performance indicators CAREER PROGRESSION AND RELATED ROLES 89 Career progression 89 Related roles CASE STUDY 94 Monthly reporting 94 Service improvement forum 97 Process workshops 99 Working with service managers 101 Preparation for an external audit 102 Supporting the incident manager in planning a major process change 102 Planning and organisation 103 APPENDIX: SERVICE MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK TEMPLATE 105 Reference 110 Index 111 vi

9 LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figure 2.1 Sources of improvement inputs 12 Figure 3.1 Differing views of the Service Improvement Plan 26 Figure 3.2 Service improvement pain value 36 Figure 3.3 Service management roadmap 39 Figure 3.4 Continual framework 40 Figure 3.5 Continual roadmap 43 Figure 3.6 Continual process 46 Figure 4.1 Service management tool data structure to include service improvement tasks 58 Figure 4.2 SWOT analysis 61 Figure 4.3 Deming cycle 62 Figure 4.4 Continual model 65 Figure 4.5 Step improvement process 74 Figure 6.1 Typical service availability graph 95 Figure 6.2 Alternative service availability report 96 Figure 6.3 Vicious cycle of uncoordinated Figure 6.4 s 98 Continual process and the forum 99 Figure 6.5 Action plan template 102 Figure A.1 Documentation of processes 108 Table 3.1 Example assessment output template 24 vii

10 AUTHOR David Whapples first discovered ITIL in 1994 and was one of the first 600 in the world to gain the, then, Manager s certificate. At that time the concept of continual service improvement was buried deep within leading practice and only surfaced occasionally. Over the course of the next 20 years David has gained firsthand experience of continual as both a consultant and also in permanent roles, pragmatically assisting organisations in coordinating and driving improvements forward. From process design, process enhancements, toolset implementations, setting up improvement frameworks to fullblown improvement projects, David has assisted organisations in achieving business benefit from improving IT services. During this time David was part of the review team of the first ITIL continual book and has worked for the ISEB as an ITIL examiner as well as presenting at many itsmf events. viii

11 ABBREVIATIONS BCS CAB CMMI CSF CSI ISACA ISMS IT ITIL ITSM KPI KSI OLA PIR RCA SAM SIP SLA SMART SMS BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT Change Advisory Board Capability Maturity Model Integration Critical success factor Continual Information Systems Audit Control Association Information security management system Information technology Information Technology Infrastructure Library IT service management Key performance indicator Key success indicator Operational level agreement Post implementation review Root cause analysis Software asset management Service improvement plan Service level agreement Specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely Service management system ix

12 CONTINUAL SERVICE IMPROVEMENT MANAGER SPICE SWOT TOGAF Software Process Improvement and Capability determination Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats The Open Group Architecture Framework x

13 PREFACE The concept of continually improving whatever you do is not new. One could argue that it is nothing more than common sense coupled with personal pride that drives individuals to improve in whatever field they are in and whatever they do. Leading practice in the form of ITIL has always promoted continual. However, the fact that perhaps it was assumed that individuals would just do it accounts for its lack of prominence in early volumes. Everyone is responsible for continual after all. The latest leading practice iterations have brought continual to the forefront with its own volume, which details methods, tools and techniques to identify and implement improvements. At this point the role of continual manager was first mentioned. However, why introduce a role when the responsibility for improvement was the responsibility of everyone already? Perhaps what needs to be emphasised more in leading practice volumes is how continual needs to be introduced more formally in an organisation, how the newly established role needs to drive and coordinate improvements within an organisation and how a culture for making continual improvement is cemented. Continual, it can be argued, is not a process but more of a framework allowing improvements to be coordinated, prioritised and driven within an organisation. xi

14 CONTINUAL SERVICE IMPROVEMENT MANAGER The role of the continual manager is therefore more about establishing this framework and creating a culture. The role is very much about persuading, influencing and driving people to make changes to the way that they work changes that they may not always be comfortable with making. Get it right and some people in the organisation will not even know that the continual manager exists, but get it wrong and there may well be a Crime Scene that needs Investigating. xii

15 1 INTRODUCTION WHY CHANGE? All organisations continually need to evolve. Whether this is driven by survival instincts to stay ahead of their competitors or whether it is that they are actively seeking to grow or to reduce costs, this cannot be achieved without change and continual improvement. The primary purpose of continual is to continually align and re-align IT services to the changing business needs by identifying and implementing improvements to IT services that support business processes (ITIL Continual Service Improvement 2011 (TSO)). Left to individuals, such as service owners or process owners, improvements may never be identified in the first place, let alone aligned. Or, once identified, they may struggle to be implemented, or they may be pushed aside by the next priority task. This is primarily due to the fact that these individuals have a day job to perform, but also because within the organisation there may be no drive on a daily basis to push improvements through to completion, only their own self-determination, balancing improvement activities with the day-to-day operational pressures. Individuals within an organisation have a sphere of influence and s may fail because they cannot be implemented without the agreement of individuals outside that sphere. 1

16 CONTINUAL SERVICE IMPROVEMENT MANAGER Do some of the following scenarios sound familiar? y How many improvements are added to your annual review and not looked at until the next review? y How many times have you strived to make improvements only to find at least another three people trying to do the same? y How many times have you tried to change a process in one area that has knock-on negative implications elsewhere with the organisation, or have been the victim of an un-communicated improvement elsewhere within your organisation? y How many times has your organisation breathed a big sigh of relief when an improvement project is implemented, only to find a few months later that the improvements have fallen into disrepair? y How many times has an improvement failed or caused negative effects because nobody knew that it had been implemented, or the reasons behind it had not been fully communicated? Many organisations view continual as a nice to have something to do when there is surplus budget or time. However, these views do not fit with the increasing pressures placed upon a modern IT organisation. Simply: we must improve to survive. Process owners and service owners may cross functional boundaries to ensure processes and services are delivered, but there is always the question of whether they have the clout within an organisation to get people who are not directly managed by them to make changes. In summary, within an organisation individuals can make great strides to improve within their circle of influence, but when improvements to your process need the support of others in different functional areas, under different managers all of which have different priorities and objectives change becomes harder. 2

17 INTRODUCTION Forward-thinking organisations will employ an individual to coordinate activities across functional areas: the role of a continual manager. SERVICE IMPROVEMENT Before we discuss the role in some detail we need to look at, and in particular its goal. The goal of breaks down into two main areas. First, the organisation seeks to achieve service objectives in a cost-efficient manner. The objectives should be linked to the overall strategy of the business. The efficiency issue for an organisation is determining that the process is achieving its objectives with the most cost-efficient use of resources. There is potential for cost savings through eliminating unnecessary, redundant, overlapping or manual process activities and procedures. This is a significant benefit driver for justifying improvement. The second goal of is that the organisation identifies those elements of processes that detract from meeting service objectives effectively. Effectiveness relates to the ability of the process to achieve or exceed its principles and goals. To achieve this, improvements focus on addressing perceived or measurable process deficiencies. These are deficiencies that are impacting specific organisational objectives, and can be quantified as delivered improvement benefits. THE ROLE The continual manager (or process improvement manager, manager, service management specialist whatever you call the role) has one purpose and that is to coordinate, drive and communicate improvements to the way IT services are delivered. It is to assist service owners, process owners 3

18 CONTINUAL SERVICE IMPROVEMENT MANAGER or whomever else within the organisation by providing additional resource if required, but more importantly by helping them to push forward with the improvements they want to make but have not been allowed to do. This can be done by coordinating activity, ensuring that improvements are prioritised and resource, which is always a scarce commodity, can be directed and used efficiently. It is also about ensuring that these improvements are followed through to conclusion and implemented effectively. Often in the types of environment where there are great dayto-day operational pressures, any change, even the simplest of improvements, gets a disproportionate reaction when someone tries to implement it. Why is this? When people sit at their breakfast table thinking ahead to their day at work, they do not think I m going into work and going to stop change happening or Today I must ensure process changes fail. Rather, these are reactions to poorly communicated changes and are borne out of fear of exclusion. A key element of the role of the continual manager is therefore around the cultural change elements associated with making improvements and getting individuals to change the way in which they work. It is about setting the foundations for an environment that accepts and proactively makes continual improvements. The art of continual is about creating a wave within an organisation on the back of which improvement can ride. The classic example is the introduction of a new service management toolset. Alternatively, negative waves, such as the major loss of a service, can also be used as an incentive or wake-up call on which improvements can be implemented. Continual managers do not drive change through organisations as the word drive implies forcefully implementing change. Changes will only stick if individuals feel a part of the change, have bought into it and can see the benefits and this is what the continual service improvement manager must do to improve services. 4

19 INTRODUCTION This book has been written to promote an understanding of the importance and value of the continual role and also to pass on valuable information and pointers based on practical experience of carrying out the role within a variety of organisations. It is not about regurgitating ITIL theory, although undoubtedly you will recognise some of it. It is about practical experiences of ensuring an organisation can continually improve and, in today s economic climate where cost is key, how continual can deliver cost savings as well as improving service quality. KEY FACTORS The role of the continual manager has many elements. One element will be the actual doing, including identifying improvements and making them happen. These are described heavily in the ITIL guidance, but the main focus of this book is on other key elements of the role that perhaps do not get the focus they deserve. Namely: y The continual manager will coordinate and prioritise s within an organisation. Without coordination many improvement initiatives will ultimately collide and get in the way of each other. Often the priorities given are more local priorities of functional management and may not match the priorities of the business. The continual service improvement manager is key to bringing structure and business focus to delivering improvements. y The continual manager will provide support and guidance to others to assist them in implementing change. A continual manager cannot implement every improvement single-handedly. In addition to not having enough hours in the day, the key to improvements sticking within 5

20 CONTINUAL SERVICE IMPROVEMENT MANAGER an organisation is stakeholders delivering these improvements themselves, but with the continual manager being there to support, encourage and offer advice and guidance. y In more mature organisations the continual service improvement manager may also undertake the role of service reporting. A lot of time, effort and resource are spent in organisations producing reports to show service performance to customers and process performance internally. In addition, a lot of time is spent discussing the accuracy of reports and, perhaps, one function providing another set of reports to disprove the validity of the reports produced initially. A central reporting function has many benefits, which we will discuss in Chapter 2, Reporting, but essentially the main benefit is to provide a single version of the truth. As the continual manager is a major user of the output of the reports to identify improvement initiatives, coupled with their departmental independence within an organisation, service reporting seems a logical fit to the continual manager s remit. SUMMARY The role of the continual manager is very much about persuading people of the need to improve and the cultural change elements that need to be addressed to make this happen. The basis for any successful improvement implementation is embracing change. When we talk of ITIL, we talk about three elements working in harmony to deliver a service process, technology and people. You can employ an army of consultants to develop and write perfect process and procedures, you can 6

21 INTRODUCTION spend your money on an all singing and dancing top-of-therange toolset, but if the people who will be using them to aid service delivery do not embrace them, will your service be a success? The continual manager s role is about assisting people to make changes that at the time may feel uncomfortable and persevering through the pain to see a successful outcome. The role is about setting the climate within the organisation to ensure change continually happens. Success breeds success. Therefore, the first improvement delivered over the finish line may be the hardest, so choose carefully. Improving service is easier in an organisation that has a climate and a framework used to improving, and part of the role of the continual service improvement manager is to make the organisation receptive to change. First-hand experiences show that an organisation employing a continual manager means that it wants to have a climate for implementing improvements. Your appointment is probably the first step on the road to implementing a culture of improvement within an organisation. However, it may also be coupled with many high expectations that will, no doubt, be expected to be realised in a short time frame. We will talk about critical success factors (CSFs) of the role as we progress, but if I were to be asked what success looks like for the role of a continual manager, it would be working in an organisation where all around the people were continually making improvements to their processes and procedures with minimal involvement from the continual manager, using the framework that had been developed and implemented. 7

22 INDEX 7-step improvement process Act stage (Deming cycle) 63 action plans 23, 66, alignment of services with business needs 28 analysis phase (of risk management) 84 5 anecdotal evidence (improvement input source) 14 annual reviews 2 assessments 10, 14, 23, audits 13, 32, 101, 102 availability management 49 baselines 63 4 benchmarking 71 4 budgets/resources 47 business (as audience) 81 CAB (change advisory board) 21, 46, 52, 98 capability maturity models 68 career progression case study change management 37, 51 2, 89 changes (improvement input source) 13 Check stage (Deming cycle) 63, 69 choosing battles 38 9 climate for change 41 2 CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration) 23 COBIT 5 (framework) 54 5 component failure impact analysis 82 continual service improvement: barriers to 20; coordination of improvement activity 12 15; defining 8; framework 40; implementation of 8 9, 33 4; interfaces/ dependencies 47 52; and measurement of services 9, 17, 86 8; model 64 6; objectives 9 11; ownership of 29 30; process 45 6; promotion of 11 12; purpose of 1 2, 8 9; recording of improvement activity 15 16; scope of 27 9; strategy 31 7; techniques see techniques of continual service improvement coordination of service improvements 5, 12 15, 20 1, 26, 32, 35 6, 97 cost effectiveness 8, 10, 44 creating waves 4, 85 cross-functional/ cross-process improvements 30, 33, 44 CSFs (critical success factors) 88 CSI (continual service improvement) 43 5 cultural change elements 4, 6, 41 current situation assessment 65 customer reviews 48 customisation of toolsets

23 data analysis 48 9, 50, 64, data gathering 76 8 data processing 78 9 defined level (CMMI framework) 23 deliverables, review of 29 Deming cycle 62 3, 68 9 Deming, W. Edwards 62 Do stage (Deming cycle) 63, 69 drivers for improvement driving change 4 embracing change 6 7 end-to-end service 29, 31, 86 7 evaluation of service improvements 33 evolution of organisations 1 exceptions 76 8 existing toolset evaluation 75 6 expectations, managing 11 extended incident lifecycle 84 facilitation of service improvements 22 failure of improvements 1 2, 16 fault tree analysis 82 3 financial pain 36 full assessments gap analysis 71, 76 generic metrics 88 goal of service improvements 3 health of IT service management 27 8 identifying improvements: 7-step improvement process 74; and assessments 70; and continual service improvement strategy 32; and coordination of improvement activity 12 15; and measurement of services 17; and purpose of continual 1, 8; and role of continual service improvement manager 22 4; and service reporting 18; SWOT analysis 60; and technical observation 83 implementation of continual service improvement 8 9, 33 4 implementing corrective action 81 2 improvement input sources incident management 50, incidents (improvement input source) 12 industry norm comparisons 67 8, 72 3 initial level (CMMI framework) 23 interfaces/ dependencies of internal IT (as audience) 81 internal projects (improvement input source) 14 ISACA (Information Systems Audit Control Association) 54 ISMS (information security management system) 53 ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) 5, 6 7, 8, 9, 30, 31, 45, 47, 54 itsmf (IT Service Management Forum) MONITOR toolkit 23, 67 knock-on implications of improvements 2, 97 KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) 50, 64, 88 large-scale service improvement evaluation 33 leading frameworks 54 5 Lessons Learned reviews 14 local service improvement evaluation 33 major incident reviews (improvement input source) 13 managed level (CMMI framework) 23 management of identified risks phase (of risk management) 85 maturity assessments 28 9,

24 measurement of services 9, 17, 74 82, 86 8 metrics 66, 67 8, 75, 77, 87 8 momentum 66, 85 monitoring 76 8 monthly reporting 94 6 negative effects/ behaviour 2, 4, 73, 87 new customers (improvement input source) 14 new suppliers (improvement input source) 14 operational baselines 64 operations review 95, 96 opportunities (in SWOT analysis) 60 2 optimising level (CMMI framework) 23 organisational change 41 2 ownership of continual pain 7, 22, 33, 36 people, process and technology assessments 69 PIR (post implementation review) 13 Plan stage (Deming cycle) 62 3, 68 planning and organisation points of attention (Deming cycle) 62 pragmatism 38 presenting information 80 1 Prince2 (framework) 55 prioritisation of service improvements 5, 21 2, 27, 32 3, 82 priority tasks 1 problem management 49, 51 problems (improvement input source) 13 process deficiencies 3 process owners: and assessment of processes 24; and benchmarking 72; and career progression of continual service improvement managers 90; and change management 52; and continual process 45; and maturity of services assessment 28 9; and process workshops 100; and purpose of continual service improvement 1; role of 92; and role of continual service improvement manager 3 4; and service improvement plans 26; sphere of influence 2 process reports 24 process workshops 22, 55, process-only assessments 69 project tasks 104 quality management methodologies 10 raw data 78 9, 81 RCA (root cause analysis) 13 recording of improvement activity 15 16, 25 7, 32 registration of service improvements 25 7 related roles 90 3 repeatable level (CMMI framework) 23 reporting (improvement input source) reporting analysts 92 3, 95 reputational pain 36 responsibilities of continual service improvement managers return on investment 70 riding the wave 85 6 risk management 57, 84 5 role of continual manager 3 5: alignment of services with business needs 28; assessment of processes 23 4; budgets/resources 47; and career progression 89 90; case study ; and continual service improvement process 45 6; and continual strategy 32 7; coordination of service improvements 5, 20 1, 97; and cultural change elements 4, 6; embracing change 6 7; facilitation of service 113

25 improvements 22; forging relationships 47, 101 3; identifying improvements 22 4; key factors 5 6; maturity of services assessment 28 9; measurement of services 17; monitoring health of IT service management 27 8; and ownership of continual service improvement 30; planning and organisation 103 4; prioritisation of service improvements 5, 21 2, 82; process reporting 24; purpose and objectives of 20 7; registration of s 25 7; role profile 42 5; selecting improvements 35 7; service manager relationship 101; service reporting 6, 18 19, 24, 45, 81 2, 94 6; and scope of continual service improvement 27 9; and SIPs 25 7; support/guidance 5 6, 16 17, 35, routine tasks routine 94 SAM (software asset management) 54 scope of continual 27 9 selecting improvements 35 7 self-assessment 66, 67 senior management (as audience) 81 service availability reports 95 6 service desk 17, 51, 79, 96 service failure analysis 83 forums 46, 52, 97 9 roadmap 42, 43 tasks 55 6, 57 8 service level achievement results 9 10 service level management 44, 48 9, 90 1 service lifecycle 9, 28 9, 41, 44, 47, 77, 82, 84, 90 service management framework 39 40, service management toolsets 4, 12, 15, 27, 58 9, service owners 1, 2, 3 4, 26, 90, 91 2 service reporting: and continual objectives 10; and identifying improvements 18; independence of 19; interpretation of reports 18; monthly reporting 94 6; and presenting information 81; quality/accuracy of 19; and responsibilities of continual service improvement manager 42; and role of continual manager 6, 18 19, 24, 45, 81 2, 94 6; and service level management 48 9 service reviews 14, 15, 26, 43, 49, 55 7, 58, 101 shared spreadsheets 59 SIPs (service improvement plans): and action plans 66; and audits 101; and continual strategy 34; and continual service improvement process 46; and coordination of improvement activity 12; differing views of 26; and prioritisation of s 27; production of 25 6; and recording of improvement activity 15; and responsibilities of continual service improvement manager 42; and role of continual service improvement manager 25 7; and service improvement tasks 57 8; and service level management 49 skills of continual managers 37 9, SLAs (service level agreements) 13, 18, 49, 56, 75, 80 SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely) principle 61 SMS (service management system) 53 sphere of influence 1, 2, 30,

26 SPICE (Software Process Improvement and Capability determination) 54 spikes 24 standards 53 4 strategic baselines 64 strengths (in SWOT analysis) 60 2 success, promotion of 11 supplier reviews (improvement input source) 14 support/guidance 5 6, 16 17, 35, SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis tactical baselines 64 technical changes 52 technical observation 83 techniques of continual service improvement: 7-step improvement process 74 82; assessments 66 70; baselines 63 4; benchmarking 71 4; component failure impact analysis 82; continual service improvement model 64 6; Deming cycle 62 3, 68 9; extended incident lifecycle 84; fault tree analysis 82 3; gap analysis 71, 76; riding the wave 85 6; risk management 84 5; service failure analysis 83; SWOT analysis 59 62; technical observation 83 technology metrics 77, 87 third party assessments 66 7 threats (in SWOT analysis) 60 2 to-do lists 12, 15 TOGAF (The Open Group Architecture Framework) 55 tool replacement tool requirements 55 8 tooling options 58 9 trend analyses 24, 25, 48, 50 1, 79, 92 3, 96 uncoordinated service improvements 2, 97 8 verification of improvement delivery 66 visibility of improvements 34 vision 65 waves 4, 85 6 weaknesses (in SWOT analysis)

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