Today’s IT department is all about serving the needs of the business. This success hinges on the ability of IT to properly leverage technology to meet challenging organizational goals. Organizational leaders desire business outcomes derived by the effective delivery of IT services.
Service models are the conduit between IT and the business. What is a service model? Simply put, it is defining the IT services that are relevant and valuable to the business, and “modeling” those services to ensure ongoing, reliable, and cost effective service delivery.
Service modeling requires an effective approach. A business-process approach (often referred to as a top-down approach) is usually most desirable, because it addresses the IT services from a customer or business outcome perspective.
With this approach, you start with business outcomes and identify key business processes, capabilities, and resources that facilitate those outcomes. Then, you identify primary IT components such as applications and servers that support those processes.
From there, you continue to lower supporting technology layers until you get to the bottom layer of infrastructure.
There may be instances, however, where a bottom-up approach is more appropriate. For example, if you are trying to inventory and reconcile your IT infrastructure, you would want to start with your servers and model upward to understand what business processes or services those servers support.
Regardless of the service you choose to model, you need an optimal set of tools to model that service. Tool sets such as a repository (CMDB), automated discovery, or event monitoring might also vary from service to service depending on the business objective.
A successful service modeling project requires that correct tools are in place. That is why it’s essential to partner with an IT consulting services provider with solid experience and expertise in service modeling to help.
It is important to keep in mind that the goal is to remain focused on business outcomes. To accomplish this, your IT focus becomes more service-oriented. Here is an effective service modeling framework to achieve business goals:
- Identify your desired outcomes for service modeling
- Define the IT service
- Model the service
- Implement and maintain the service model
- Refine the service model (continuous improvement)
Best practices dictate that you should spend the most time on Steps 1 and 2. It’s most effective to follow this framework for each service individually (or in logical groups of related services).
Be cognizant that each business is at different levels of readiness and has different issues to solve, with different levels of executive commitment. To get started, here are some guidelines and tips to keep in mind:
- Obtain executive-level support
- Clearly define roles and assignments
- Keep moving forward – don’t get stuck or over-analyze
- Set expectations at the outset and clearly define success
- Identify influential stakeholders and ensure they are on board
- Don’t build service models in isolation – keep business segments involved
- Be committed to continuous improvement – maintaining and enhancing the service model is key
- Foster a collaborative relationship between application developers/owners and IT infrastructure groups
- Don’t seek perfection or try to “boil the ocean” – do just enough to achieve your objectives and be able to announce success
I encourage you to consider the importance of service models and your organization’s level of readiness. Seek an IT consulting services provider who is committed to real, practical outcomes and who approaches service modeling using a framework similar to the one I have outlined above. I welcome your comments and questions.
Practical Tips for Service Models was posted at Optimize IT. | http://www.datatrend.com/optimize-it
