ITSM:It’s about managing change

Implementing ITSM is as much an educational and change management taskas a technology task; to ensure its success, IT executives must obtain executiveand broad organizational support, engage IT staff responsible for bothmanaging and executing ITSM processes, and overcome resistance to change.It’s also critical that the organization address its competencies, rather thanmerely skills, and ensure that the changes it implements are internalized.2

Executive summary

IT Service Management (ITSM) is a proven andeffective framework for helping IT organizationsbecome more adaptive, flexible, cost-effective, andservice-oriented. It does this by driving fundamentalchange within the IT organization, from how itmanages its processes, technology assets, vendors anddeploys personnel, to how IT staff view theirorganizational roles.Implementing ITSM is therefore as much aneducational and change management task as atechnology task; to ensure its success, IT executivesmust obtain executive and broad organizationalsupport, engage IT staff responsible for both managingand executing ITSM processes, and overcomeresistance to change. It’s also critical that theorganization address its competencies, rather thanmerely skills, and ensure that the changes itimplements are internalized.The IT organization must start by articulating ITSM’svalue to the organization and obtaining executive-levelbuy-in. This is accomplished by a communicationsprogram that, among other elements, articulates boththe short-term impact of an ITSM implementation andits ROI — both anticipated and, eventually, actual.In some cases, IT executives may wish to leverageexternal change agents to speed implementation andmaintain momentum once organizational support isobtained.It’s also critical that ITSM training be leveraged as anITSM implementation tool; in this way, betterunderstanding of ITSM principals can help theorganization define and refine processes, secure buy-inand support, and recruit leaders who will ensure thesuccess of the ITSM implementation. An effectivetraining program can also help IT organizationsidentify potential resistance to change and win staffsupport.ITSM provides the tools and templates to transform ITorganizations into adaptive, service-oriented entitiesthat contribute measurable results to the business. Thiswhite paper describes critical steps IT executives musttake to prepare for change and manage an ITSMimplementation to maximize its value and ensure that itachieves the full transformational effect it is capable ofdelivering.

ITSM: it’s aboutmanaging change

There was a time when information technologyfunctioned as a set of discrete tools supporting discretebusiness processes. That is no longer the case. Forcorporations today, critical business processes arehighly dependent on and integrated with IT; the twoare essentially inseparable. The demands on corporateIT executives have therefore become both broader andmore exacting. While raw system performance,reliability, and cost effectiveness is still crucial, it is nolonger enough: the corporate IT service deliveryorganization must also support highly adaptable,measurable, scalable, consistent and controllable ITprocesses that are tightly coupled with the businessprocesses that rely on them.IT Service Management (ITSM) is a proven andeffective framework for accomplishing this. But thereason ITSM is so effective is that it drives fundamentalchange within the IT organization, from how itmanages its processes, technology assets, and vendorsto how it deploys personnel.Implementing ITSM is therefore as much aneducational and change management task as aprocess design and technology task.

ITIL: means to an end

ITIL was conceived from the beginning as a means toachieve transformative change. It began as a projectlaunched by the government of the United Kingdom(U.K.) in the early 1980s. Faced with a seriouseconomic downturn, the government recognized it mustdevelop innovative ways to improve IT serviceefficiencies and thereby lower costs. To do this, theBritish Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA), an executive Cabinet Office agencydedicated to improving the delivery of public servicesthrough IT, developed a set of best practice-basedITSM processes. These were documented using acommon glossary of terms and published in anintegrated series of 40 books. The series, sinceupdated and packaged as seven books, is nowreferred to as the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL).Recognizing the value of the ITSM processes definedby the ITIL, companies and governments around theworld have since adopted them. Independentorganizations such as the IT Service ManagementForum (itSMF) have been founded to share ITIL bestpractices. Many consulting and educational firms nowoffer ITIL training and certification programs for ITprofessionals.

“Corporations cannotrespond flexibly and quicklyto markets, customer demands,and regulatory obligationsunless they are supported byflexible, reliable, service-oriented IT infrastructures thatare tightly focused on meetingthe needs of the corporations’internal customers.”

Leveraging ITIL was a natural extension of HP’s commitment to helpingcorporations enhance the value of their IT infrastructures. HP beganworking with ITIL in 1993 and is today a recognized leader in ITSMbest practice implementation. HP has been instrumental in establishingmany itSMF chapters, and continues to contribute to existing chapterswhile actively supporting the formation of new chapters worldwide.HP’s ITSM experts contribute regularly to ITSM literature anddocumentation; HP has also enhanced its ITSM leadership andpresence through strategic acquisitions of industry-leading ITILeducation and consulting firms, and IT asset and service managementsoftware providers.

HP’s ITSMhistory

Yet like all tools, ITIL-defined processes are limited byhow effectively they are used. In particular,implementing ITSM as a set of discrete, tactical toolswithout simultaneously reengineering IT processes self-limits the effect of ITSM.Yet the majority of IT organizations are vulnerable toapproaching ITSM in precisely this way. Typically, ITorganizations were founded and have subsequentlyevolved along functional or architectural componentlines. But in today’s business environment, functioningas a reactive IT organization is a potential businessliability with significant negative consequences.Corporations cannot respond flexibly and quickly tomarkets, competition, customer demands, andregulatory obligations unless they are supported byflexible, reliable, service-oriented IT service deliveryorganizations that are tightly focused on meeting theneeds of the corporations’ internal customers.Conversely, failing to meet a corporation’s criticalbusiness needs has significant consequences for bothIT organizations and corporations. IT organizations riska loss of trust and potential budget decreases.Corporate risks include dysfunctional operation, failure