How ITIL Can Revolutionize Your Service Center

Transcription

1 How ITIL Can Revolutionize Your Service Center Helping IT departments adapt to the growing demand for their services in strategic corporate initiatives A White paper from By John Todaro iet Product Marketing

2 How ITIL Can Revolutionize Your Service Center Table of Contents Executive Summary... 1 Limitations of Typical IT Groups... 1 Emergence of ITIL Best Practices... 2 Service Management in Action... 3 Service Management Benefits... 3 Service Management ROI... 4 iet s Service Management Solution... 4 Final Critical Ingredient... 6 Conclusion... 6 Copyright 2003 iet Solutions, LLC. ii

3 Executive Summary Today s Information Technology (IT) organizations are challenged to improve service levels throughout the organization while reducing costs even as the demand for IT services intensifies. No longer can IT departments serve their purpose by simply responding to users requests for technical services. In today s short-staffed, cost-conscious organizations, IT departments are tasked with a growing range of services including even strategic corporate initiatives that enable competitive differentiation. To cope with the complexity of IT s expanded role, many organizations are establishing Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and other best-practice service-management processes that formally manage IT s responsibilities and business users expectations for service levels associated with completing specific IT tasks. Such accountability-driven processes have helped many organizations realize significant improvements in the effectiveness, efficiency and strategic visibility of their IT groups. Limitations of Typical IT Groups IT has always played a crucial role in managing technology infrastructures that drive all data-driven decision making. Increasingly, though, IT departments are hard-pressed to satisfy business users relentless demand for an ever-expanding scope of IT technology. To complicate matters, most IT departments remain static in size, forcing overtime hours as IT groups do more with less. As a result, many organizations suffer from the following IT-based problems: Traditional Help Desks Modern Service Desks Inefficiency: Traditional helpdesks were designed as standalone products where one group of technicians assisted one single business unit Example: The periodic need to reboot certain laptops could be caused by a hard-drive flaw shared by a fleet of dozens of machines company-wide seeing the pattern would help Inconsistency: Isolated support groups resolved problems in their own way, with the simple goal of closing a ticket and moving on to the next one Imprecise planning: Unless all business units observe company-wide objectives and key performance indicators, decisions are made somewhat arbitrarily React to next in queue Prescribe workarounds if solution is not obvious Fix predictable problems Operate as standalones Struggle for resources Are proactive Fix the underlying causes of problems Explore underlying factors Share centrally managed corporate goals Justify resources Accountability: Friction between end users and IT groups results from poorly communicated responsibilities, expectations, and priorities Example: Siloed IT groups may be unaware of the demand for integration among complementary workloads such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). Copyright 2003 iet Solutions, LLC. 1

4 In short, conventional systems for managing IT services do not properly align with business needs. In fact, according to a recent Gartner survey, the #1 management priority of CIOs nationwide is strategizing for IS/business linkage. 1 Emergence of ITIL Best Practices Given the circumstances, it s not surprising that a globally recognized standard has emerged to address the complicated needs of the modern IT infrastructure. In 1987, the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) was devised by the United Kingdom's Office of Government and Commerce as a means to establish process standards for UK government agencies IT departments. Since then, the ITIL standard has helped IT executives and organizations throughout the world reduce costs and improve customer satisfaction by managing all IT activities efficiently from a business perspective. The market for service-management tools including ITIL-inspired ones is growing. According to IDC, a leading industry analyst firm, the worldwide revenue for problem management software in 2002 was about $935 million and will increase to $1.3 billion by 2007 at a 6.3% compound annual growth rate (CAGR). IDC defines problem management software as solutions that record, track, and manage problems associated with the internal IT help desk. 2 ITIL s goal is to align technology services with business needs, and to help IT departments ensure they can deliver IT services in a controlled and disciplined way. ITIL does not prescribe implementation-specific details, but rather offers guidelines for managing complex processes. When implemented properly, ITIL effectively converts a reactive trouble-ticket center to a proactive, efficient internal customer-service organization. Ideally, an ITIL-compliant service-management software solution should incorporate core ITIL processes out-of-the-box, coupled with built-in, intuitive tools that adapt that functionality to specific organizations needs. Without such adaptability, organizations risk compromising their own uniqueness by conforming to arbitrary, inflexible product functionality. 1 Per Gartner EXP Research, CIO Agenda 2002, as referenced in itsmf November 2002 presentation. 2 IDC market analysis, Worldwide Problem Management Software Forecast, , Frederick W. Broussard, March, Copyright 2003 iet Solutions, LLC. 2

5 Service Management in Action Following is a practical example of how a service-management system can help automate multiple steps required to complete an IT project in this case, the process by which a company could detect, diagnose and rectify an over-capacity transactional system. ITIL processes appear in bold. 1. Supply-chain management system exceeds capacity for transaction volumes as defined by system monitoring tool. System monitoring tool notifies service desk for corrective action. 2. Service desk automatically opens a ticket and, based on built-in workflow rules, and routes it to appropriate personnel. Such automated steps save valuable time while maintaining consistency. 3. Service desk also feeds incident into problem management, whose purpose is to detect the underlying cause of a problem and prevent it from recurring. 4. Problem management reviews transactional system s configuration data in configuration management, diagnoses root cause of incident, and accordingly issues a request for system changes to change management process. 5. Change management defines, prioritizes, plans, tests and implements new changes, with an eye on the impact the changes will have throughout the organization. 6. Change management notifies service desk of new changes made to transactional system s configuration to prevent further problems. Service desk in turn informs user community of the change and closes all associated tickets by closing the parent ticket. Service Management Benefits Benefit Better alignment of IT capabilities with business needs Decrease in volume of trouble tickets Improved IT staff morale, reduced staff turnover Improved efficiency and effectiveness of IT service provision Ability to provide demonstrable performance indicators Ability to predict business performance Improved coordination of time-sensitive activities Anticipate and manage change successfully How the Benefit is Achieved IT prioritizes projects and their associated IT tasks based on their relative importance to corporate-wide priorities. Elimination of underlying causes of recurring problems Clearly defined IT accountability and user expectations Elimination of redundancy and insular silos of IT projects SLA compliance and other metrics are easily documented and shared Metrics on customer satisfaction, staff training, internal processes and service metrics provide better snapshot of company s health than revenue and market share do Careful prioritization of tasks is coupled with workflow-driven reminders Change management processes assess the resource requirements, impact and risk before implementing tasks Copyright 2003 iet Solutions, LLC. 3

6 Service Management ROI Many companies and government organizations have realized significant Return on Investment (ROI) resulting from the efficiencies gained from implementing an ITIL-inspired service-management system. Here are several examples: Proctor & Gamble saved about $500 million over a four-year period by implementing ITIL processes across multiple departments. "It all comes down to the fact that IT is an integral part of supporting the business," says Morton Cohen, manager of global service management at Proctor & Gamble. "When IT processes are done by 5,000 people consistently across one company, service management can deliver tremendous savings." 3 The Mexican $1.6 billion Cemex company, one of the world s largest manufacturers of cement products, confirmed that ITIL: o Slashed its delivery window from three hours to 20 minutes 98 percent of the time o Saved about $100 million a year in fuel, maintenance and payroll 4 A solution implemented by InterPromUSA, a consulting firm that specializes in implementing and training IT organizations in ITIL, reduced the causes of system downtime by 65 percent, resulting in increased annual productivity savings of $197,000 per 100 users and reduced revenue losses of $7 million per 100 users. 5 Another InterPromUSA customer saw resolution times for service calls decrease by more than 50% In a third InterPromUSA example, a customer saw an increase of its call volume from 450 per week to 2,000 per week over a one-year period, without expanding its helpdesk staff of five employees iet s Service Management Solution iet ITSM is a web-based service management software solution that automates ITIL s service-support processes and extends them to additionally provide Account Management, Contact Management, and Action Management processes (see descriptions below). These extensions enrich the ITIL model with naturally synergistic processes borrowed from iet s rich CRM heritage. iet ITSM s core ITIL processes were built from scratch with ITIL in mind, using the same advanced, intuitive iet configuration tools that our customers use to tailor the out-of-box solution to their needs. This translates to straightforward implementations and a low cost of ownership. 3 Reaping the Rewards of Best Practices, Network World Fusion, by Denise Dubie, Network World, September 30, 2002, 4 Justification of ITIL white paper, InterPromUSA, 5 Justification of ITIL white paper, InterPromUSA, Copyright 2003 iet Solutions, LLC. 4

7 iet ITSM provides these natively and seamlessly integrated modules: Configuration management: Inventory and management of hardware and software, along with the personnel authorized to use and maintain each unit. Includes account management functions shared with iet CRM. Service desk: Functions for logging, classifying, tracking and resolving all user inquiries, aided by dashboards, diagnostic tools, reports, charts and a search engine. Also sets in motion workflow for assignments, notifications and escalations. Problem management: Minimizes recurring support calls by detecting and resolving their underlying causes instead of just offering workarounds. Service level management: Detailed definition and tracking of all SLAs that govern IT s responsibilities and business users expectations for the availability of every hardware and software product throughout an organization. Change management: Provides business users with simple tools for iet Solutions ITSM iet ITSM provides a faithful representation of ITIL s IT servicemanagement best practices, and, drawing from iet s strong CRM heritage, expands the ITIL model to provide relevant functions such as action management and account management. requesting and tracking IT projects, or changes, such as system upgrades. Requests are automatically forwarded to management for approval or rejection. Action management: Unique to iet ITSM is the use of action plans that itemize and track all the tasks associated with resolving an inquiry, problem or change. Action plans ensure the efficient coordination of complex, time-sensitive issues by leaving nothing to chance. Copyright 2003 iet Solutions, LLC. 5

8 Final Critical Ingredient As with any fundamental change to the way an organization operates, executive buy-in is key. Senior management must share the ITIL vision and declare it a corporate mandate for it to be successful. It also helps to partner with a software provider that practices an implementation methodology that properly manages cultural issues. Conclusion Today s fast-paced organizations have outgrown the traditional service and support solutions that served their IT needs for many years. In order to better align IT with users business requirements, many IT leaders are shifting from a technology focus to a centralized service-model approach that efficiently delivers a specified service level to business users. Organizations are well advised to choose an adaptable software solution that incorporates the best practices as defined by ITIL, the most widely accepted service-management standard. iet s ITSM application provides out-of-box ITIL processes, along with flexible configuration tools, for people who value a low total cost of ownership. iet ITSM Differentiators ITIL-compliant service management design was built into iet ITSM solution from day one contrast this elegant approach to competitors strategy of retrofitting a legacy helpdesk solution Out-of-box solution, including pre-enabled workflow, is easily and quickly adapted to your company s needs Straightforward adaptability: Wizards and other graphical tools for customizing your solution are the same tools iet used to configure both our ITSM and CRM solutions in the first place Out-of-box support for Web and Windows clients Quick implementations some customers have gone live in 4-6 weeks Award-winning technology Over 50 ITSM customers worldwide Proven implementation methodology ensures proper configuration and corporate-wide endorsement Global capabilities include time zones, currencies and follow-the sun SLAs Copyright 2003 iet Solutions, LLC. 6