In my previous blog post I outlined the three key elements that people face surrounding the successful implementation of ITIL, which were processes, technology and suppliers. Let’s now examine these elements more closely to see how we can integrate them into our implementation.
1. Processes: Should people follow or lead?
If life was simple, then we could just take the ITIL publications and adopt all the process flows provided. But unfortunately, it’s not that easy! The processes provided within the ITIL framework are best practice, but not necessarily best practices for your organization.
You may have certain internal or external regulations, policies or procedures or be tied under certain financial restrictions that don’t allow for the adoption of the ITIL framework. Therefore, we must take the best practice material and then learn to modify, adopt and improve within our own organization.
2. Technology: Customize or off the shelf?
For technology to successfully underpin the delivery of our services, there may be situations where we will have to customize or adapt an off-the shelf-solution. Internal customized solutions allow for knowledge to be kept internally and, more importantly, support for this is likely to be more effective and efficient as opposed to relying on an external supplier for a solution.
Off-the-shelf solutions can present difficulties, especially if the tool is dictating the process management. Off-the-shelf solutions can be a good option for short-term situations where immediate control and coordination is needed.
Both approaches will require involvement from people, processes and suppliers. However, the emphasis on these elements will depend on the approach chosen. An internal, customized solution will rely heavily on people and processes within, as opposed to an off-the-shelf solution, which will have more focus on supplier engagement.
3. Suppliers: Food for thought
Suppliers could provide services in relation to people, knowledge, process design/implementation, technology solutions, and environmental offerings.
Think of something that you recently acquired from an external supplier. Did you encounter any issues? If yes, I would bet that a majority of these issues were not directly related to the functionality of the service (e.g., support arrangements for a new service not being fully understood until the service went live).
More often than not, issues are experienced with areas that surround the service, and this is where the key elements come into action!
For example, when acquiring a service from a supplier, we need to clarify the roles and responsibilities (people); we may need to be trained on the new way of working (process); and modifications may need to be made to our internal toolsets to compensate for supplier involvement (technology).
In summary, we have to think about how we ensure full integration between all these elements throughout the ITIL implementation journey.
Hitesh Patel is an instructor and course author for Learning Tree International.
Related Links:
Hitesh Patel's Blog - ITIL Implementation: Three Elements to Consider Before, During and After
Hitesh Patel's Blog - ITIL Implementation: Achieving the Right Mix
