Break down the barriers to true IT service management effectiveness

The relationship between an organisation and the traditional IT service provider is sometimes fraught with conflict, born from a lack of mutual understanding and, as a consequence, poor delivery of IT services. This leads to blame and mistrust from both parties and can seriously affect the organisation’s outcomes. 

For IT to become a more effective service delivery unit, there are a few fundamental changes that need to be made: 

Align with the organisation’s objectives 
This sounds obvious, but it so easily gets forgotten! It’s the ‘why are we all here?’ question. It is not possible for many business outcomes to be realised without IT service being one of the enablers, so the objectives of the IT service delivery unit must support the organisation’s strategic objectives, and the IT service provider must understand where IT helps, or hinders, the organisation in achieving these goals.

Speak the organisation’s language 
Communicate with the organisation using business language rather than technical terms. Stakeholders will be more engaged in dialogue that talks about whether a service has the capacity required and the necessary availability.

Gain the organisation’s trust
Agree some service levels with the organisation; understand, and agree, what the organisation expects of IT and what is possible for IT to deliver within the specified budget. IT is always a significant cost to the organisation, which means it’s essential for costs to be transparent; the organisation needs to know how the money is being spent.

Demonstrate value  
This is the most challenging, as value is co-created with the customer, is changeable and is not easily measured. It is therefore imperative for the IT service provider to fully understand the goals and requirements of the organisation (customer) in order to show that IT is contributing to the organisation’s overall success rather than just being viewed as a necessary overhead. Provide measurements of end–to–end services instead of technology metrics; key performance indicators matched to business objectives will demonstrate more alignment with the organisation and therefore show IT’s contribution to the overall business goals.

The move from traditional IT to an effective IT service delivery unit is not easy, and sometimes daunting, but it’s essential for the long–term benefit of the overall business and for the IT service provider’s .

Join us for ITIL 4 Foundation training

ITIL is a globally-recognised framework that can be adopted in your organisation to ensure IT service management best practices are followed. Individuals can achieve ITIL Foundation, Intermediate, Expert and Master qualifications.

The framework defines the organisational structure and skill requirements of the IT operation, and documents a set of operational management procedures to assist the management of IT infrastructure to deliver business-focused services. Importantly, the operational procedures are supplier-independent and technology-neutral.

Governance Europe’s three-day ITIL 4 Foundation training course provides an introduction to the new ITIL® framework.