Index for my ServiceNow ITSM Blogs

Ovum has observed what might be the start of an interesting trend in IT management (ITM) software. Traditionally, there have been IT service management (ITSM) and infrastructure management vendors, plus mega-vendors with operations in both camps. ITSM vendors have already moved into the infrastructure management space with discovery, event monitoring, software distribution, and automation capabilities, but now the reverse is happening – infrastructure management vendors are entering the crowded ITSM space. It’s an interesting move and one that we believe offers a valuable opportunity for organizations.

Why are infrastructure management vendors making this move?

The ITSM software marketplace’s obsession with, and reliance on, ITIL-alignment has made it easy for new vendors to enter the market. It’s simply a case of delivering the capabilities to support the most often adopted ITIL processes within an envelope of professional services. Newer “pure-play” ITSM vendors (both SaaS and on-premise) have already adequately demonstrated this.

For the infrastructure management software vendors, it’s a lucrative opportunity to cross-sell to existing clients, retain clients by offering greater value and capabilities, or gain customers looking for a more complete ITM solution. It will be interesting to see how many more infrastructure management software vendors explore a move into the ITSM space.

How will IT organizations benefit?

Increased competition can be both a good and bad thing for IT organizations. There is greater product choice and potentially more competitive pricing on offer in order to win deals, but the ITSM market is saturated and already difficult to pick a “winner” from. The entry of infrastructure management vendors also increases the possibility of the long-predicted shake up in the ITSM marketplace, with the unavoidable casualties being vendors and their customers. However, the blurring of the lines between infrastructure management and ITSM is good for IT organizations, not only from a cost perspective but also in terms of ease of use.

A good example is Dell KACE’s K1000 systems management offering. It initially introduced its service desk as an optional, separately priced add-on to the K1000, but it is now rolled into the main product in terms of pricing. From an ease of use perspective, being able to seamlessly start diagnosis or resolution from within the incident ticket (called “one-click to resolution” by Dell KACE) is an obvious advantage. While not a new concept (it is a common feature within mega-vendor ITSM offerings), there is a lack of complexity and potential cost when provided from a single, purpose-built solution, rather than from an amalgam of home-grown and acquired point solutions.

In addition, as IT organizations evolve to reflect the changing IT landscape, particularly the introduction of cloud-delivered services, IT will most likely need to become more dependent on IT generalists rather than specialists. These generalists will be heavily reliant on both infrastructure management and ITSM tools, so the use of a single user interface and a common way of working can only benefit them as they endeavor to “deliver more with less”.

Will this increase or slow down ITSM software churn?

There has long been a level of churn in the ITSM software market, with IT organizations changing their tool of choice every five to six years, and this is even more evident now with newer ITSM vendors stating that they offer better ROI and a smoother upgrade path.

The infrastructure management/ITSM hybrid offering will add to this, but it will also provide customers with the opportunity to increase ITSM activity in line with the vendors adding tool functionality. Unlike pure-play ITSM tool vendors, infrastructure management/ITSM hybrid vendors have no pressure to deliver and to compete with 14 ITIL-compliant processes from day one. Alternatively, they can offer a mandatory core of incident, change, and configuration management, and then add to the processes at a speed that encourages customers to grow with them.

Some organizations would benefit from the adoption of an ITSM tool that “grows” with them, rather than opting for one that exceeds their level of ITSM maturity. Such a tool might even turn out to be one that they can grow old with.

Originally published on www.ovum.com/news

Business-IT Dialog?

Posted on August 2, 2010 by stephenmann

ITIL has long espoused the need for IT-to-business alignment. However, the levels of IT organization success in achieving this are somewhat patchy. Portfolio management techniques can be used to demonstrate the level of IT congruence with business strategy, but in Ovum’s opinion there is also real value to be gained from an ongoing dialog with key stakeholders within the business – a formalized dialog which is part of the overall IT service management ecosystem.

Within ITIL v2 this was subsumed within monthly or quarterly service level management meetings. ITIL v3 however takes the need for such dialog a step further with the introduction of a business relationship manager role, with the business relationship manager (or managers) tasked with acting as a liaison between IT and the business. A business relationship manager should have significant knowledge in subject matters pertaining to both IT and the business. They should be specifically responsible for understanding the business and its needs, assisting in the prioritization of IT-related projects, and directing IT strategy in support of business strategy. Importantly, the role differs from that of a customer relationship manager in that it should act as an advocate for the business within IT, acting in a way that is not driven by the need to sell more IT product and services.

Business relationship managers should also work closely with the product and service managers responsible for developing and managing services across the service lifecycle, ideally working via service and customer portfolios. At a more granular level, they should work with all levels within the business, from day-to-day operations to strategic planning, to ensure the right services are delivered at the right price to meet business needs. Their primary goal is to build a true partnership between IT and the business (most likely at a business-unit level) providing the business with the opportunity to help shape the IT services delivered.

In Ovum’s experience, the business relationship manager position is still an emerging role within IT organizations. However, whether the role exists or not, an ongoing two-way business dialog (with business unit or functional champions) is a recommended starting point for both ITIL v3 adoption and the ability to demonstrate delivered business value. An IT organization should, in particular, assess and educate key stakeholders in their understanding of what IT does and what IT governance and IT service management means to them, and should establish what is important in terms of demonstrating IT performance, the stewardship of IT resources, and the value that IT delivers to the business.

Originally published on www.ovumkc.com

What’s hot in IT service management?

Posted on July 12, 2010 by stephenmann

Analysis of the presentations at the upcoming IT Service Management Forum (itSMF) UK Conference reveals three “hot topics” coming to the fore. Last year’s emphasis on people is continued, while the oft-neglected ITIL v3 disciplines of service design and continual service improvement get significant coverage. All three need greater exposure and attention within IT organizations. Without this, IT functions place themselves at risk of being unable to adapt to tougher business demands and the rapidly changing IT landscape.

Are IT organizations capable of leveraging people talent?

For last year’s itSMF Conference, Ovum offered the opinion that “the people side of IT, while lauded as part of the oft-quoted ITIL mantra (of people, process, and technology), is well due its time in the spotlight.” But while it’s great to see this year’s conference again focus on people, one has to ask what IT organizations have achieved in this area since last November.

Given the fact that IT functions’ struggle with people (or “talent”) management is a long-held area of concern, one has to ask whether they are ever going to get it right. But something’s got to give. With the increasing focus on IT delivered “as-a-service” and the changing technology landscape, more will be demanded of IT people, and especially of their non-technical capabilities. In particular, the advent of cloud computing will change the way that IT organizations look at, and eventually deliver, IT services. While not requiring an immediate technology change, IT organizations need to be addressing cloud-related people issues and opportunities now.

As the adoption of cloud computing services becomes more prevalent, IT organizations will face a variety of new IT service management challenges. Not only will they need to ensure that existing policies, processes, procedures, and supporting technologies are fit for externally delivered IT services; they must also ensure that the IT organization and its people remain a relevant and effective part of the IT service delivery chain. IT organizations will need to evolve to reflect the change in focus caused by the externalization and loss of immediate management of some infrastructure and services, with an even greater need for IT or business resources to manage service delivery using best practice IT service management processes.

Service design and continual service improvement are key to improving IT organization performance

Many IT organizations neglect the ITIL v3 service design processes of IT financial, service portfolio, and demand management. However, IT organizations cannot continue to ignore the need for IT financial management maturity; they need as a minimum to get the IT financial management basics right. Service costing should also be seen as mandatory, and IT funding models will probably need to change in line with the shift in IT delivery models, potentially with a capital-light and service-centric budget model.

We believe that reactive cost management is no longer enough, and that IT financial management needs to go beyond traditional disciplines to add in the dimension of “value.” An example would be for IT organizations to not just look at the cost of an IT service, but also to gain an understanding of how the related expenditure ultimately delivers value to the organization in support of business processes and corporate goals. Portfolio management processes, tools, and techniques can play a key role in this.

Continual service improvement is not just another ITIL v3 process that can be adopted in isolation. It should be applied across all ITIL domains and processes, and is a capability that needs to stem from a culture of improvement. In our opinion, the continual service improvement process will be sub-optimal without a culture that actively seeks improvements from any part of the organization – an organization where innovation is not just the preserve of senior management. The contribution of people to continual service improvement must therefore be treated as an integral part of ITIL v3 adoption.

Originally published on http://www.ovum.com/news/

IT Service Management Blogs on WordPress

Posted on July 8, 2010 by stephenmann

I’m sure it’s not exhaustive and I’m not sure how it works other than maybe picking up posts categorised as IT service management

http://en.wordpress.com/tag/it-service-management/

Should IT service management go back to basics?

Posted on July 7, 2010 by stephenmann

Ovum is witnessing what is hopefully the start of an interesting go-to-market trend for IT service management (ITSM) software vendors – a change of product “markitecture”, from ITIL alignment to addressing key IT challenges in better meeting business needs and demonstrating IT-delivered value. While ITIL is still and will continue to be the de facto best-practice framework for ITSM, this change in vendor messaging is just what ITSM needs to solve the growing gap between ITIL theory and its real-world adoption.

ITIL has long driven the ITSM software market – will and should this continue?

In many ways, ITIL is now a technology blueprint for ITSM vendors. There are both pros and cons to this. The alignment with ITIL allows IT organizations to better understand a product’s capabilities and its use once deployed, and there is no doubt that the availability of fit-for-purpose technology has helped with the worldwide adoption of ITIL. On the downside, the parochial vendor and enterprise focus on ITIL has stifled ITSM innovation and limited the thinking of IT organizations.

However, recent briefings from CA Technologies and HP have provided us with food for thought on this. These vendors have crafted ITIL-light messaging that focuses more on business and IT organization need, than on the adoption of the best-practice framework. This is delivered in a markitecture that depicts the most commonly adopted ITIL v2 disciplines (of incident, problem, service level, and change management) with the ITIL v3 service catalog management process, supported by IT financial management, and asset and configuration management. Importantly, each element is targeted at pertinent enterprise pain points rather being elements of ITIL adoption. This is how ITIL was intended – “adopt and adapt” to business needs.

While ITIL will hopefully continue to change the thinking of IT organizations and be a critical part of their management toolkits, Ovum believes that such a focus on business-driven ITSM over “following the gospel according to ITIL” will benefit everyone, including the OGC and itSMF.

IT organizations would also benefit from a back-to-basics approach to ITSM

ITIL adoption has continued to gain a foothold in enterprise IT organizations worldwide, as more than 20,000 people per month gain the ITIL Foundation Certificate. The level of ITIL certification, however, belies the real level of ITSM capabilities within enterprises, with it being too easy for enterprises to overstate their position – stating that they “do” ITIL when in fact they only “do” a limited subset of the ITSM best-practice framework’s processes, mostly around the more reactive ITIL disciplines such as incident management. There is also often too heavy an emphasis on process. But just implementing an ITIL process is missing the point – IT organizations neglect the required change in mindset.

The service desk and incident management practices are a good example of this, as far too many IT organizations fail to understand the importance of service desk people on the business’s perception of IT performance. The service desk is the business’s “window into IT”. Service desk analysts are often the IT people that the business deals with most. Rightly or wrongly, their ability to efficiently and effectively resolve business stoppages caused by IT issues constitutes a large part of end-user opinion on IT as a whole. Consequently, an IT organization should take a second look at its service desk, understand its level of customer focus, and improve its ability to prioritize and solve end-user issues based on business impact – especially outside of the prescriptive following of “how-to” scripts. It should ask some difficult questions, such as:

Is our service desk only as good as its people? If so, how good are our people?
Where do our analysts sit in our IT hierarchy? How are they paid, educated, and trained?
How is their performance reviewed? How are they valued?
Do we prioritize the resolution of IT issues based on business impact?

Ultimately, service desk people can and should be the backbone of effective IT service management and IT organizations need to start treating them as such.

Originally published on http://www.ovum.com/news