The benefits of ITIL adoption to IT Service Management efforts and by extension the Business makes it too compelling for any success driven professional to allow any excuse to stand on his/her way.
The long held perception in some organisations that IT is but a cost centre will not change except IT organisation makes deliberate effort to convince the business of her value.
Let’s face it, Service is often a promise that the Receiver can neither gauge nor quantify before it is delivered, and if one cannot demonstrate (showcase) measurable benefits of allocated resources what will motivate Management to allocate more resources? The goal of Management is to maximize shareholders value, hence the apathy when IT organisation cannot show how request for additional resources will benefit the business.
Too often, people say that they cannot start ITIL adoption because of lack of Management commitment and funding.
While both are necessary for success, they are not mandatory requirements for commencing adoption. Starting adoption and showcasing the gains will often result in securing the ‘elusive’ support and funding.
The only requirement to commence ITIL adoption is the understanding of the framework and how it can help improve Service Management activities.
There are several pieces of the framework that can be adopted under ‘existing’ IT Management authority and budget.
Adoption can start from areas such as:
- Using the Continual Service Improvement Programme (CISP) model to understand and document Business/IT Mission, Vision and objectives, understanding current capabilities, projecting future state and designing road-map for reaching the state.
- Documenting existing processes and procedures to improve service delivery consistency, enable auditing and provide basis for improvement actions
- Developing RACI matrix for existing service management activities to improve accountability, responsibility and collaboration amongst team members.
- Reviewing and documenting KPI’s and metrics to ensure that they are SMART (Specific-Measurable-Achievable-Relevant-Timely) and
- Developing communication plan etc
The efficiencies gained from these efforts will result in cost savings that may be plough back for further adoptions. And the improvements in service quality will enhance trust from the business community.
‘The journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step’ – Lao Tzu.
’Seyi Okanlawon