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| Service management as a practice
best practices and using the ITIL qualification
scheme for professional development.
Certification to ISO/IEC 20000-1 by an accredited
certification body shows that a service provider is
committed to delivering value to its customers and
continual service improvement. It demonstrates
the existence of an effective SMS that satisfies the
requirements of an independent external audit.
Certification gives a service provider a competitive
edge in marketing. Many organizations specify a
requirement to comply with ISO/IEC 20000 in their
contracts and agreements.
2.4 The service lifecycle
Services and processes describe how things
change, whereas structure describes how they
are connected. Structure helps to determine
the correct behaviours required for service
management.
Structure describes how process, people,
technology and partners are connected. Structure
is essential for organizing information. Without
structure, our service management knowledge
is merely a collection of observations, practices
and conflicting goals. The structure of the service
lifecycle is an organizing framework, supported by
the organizational structure, service portfolio and
service models within an organization. Structure
can influence or determine the behaviour of the
organization and people. Altering the structure of
service management can be more effective than
simply controlling discrete events.
Without structure, it is difficult to learn from
experience. It is difficult to use the past to educate
for the future. We can learn from experience but
we also need to confront directly many of the most
important consequences of our actions.
See Chapter 1 for an introduction to each ITIL
service lifecycle stage.
2.4.1 Specialization and coordination
across the lifecycle
Organizations need a collaborative approach
for the management of assets which are used to
deliver and support services for their customers.
Organizations should function in the same manner
as a high-performing sports team. Each player in a
team and each member of the team’s organization
who are not players position themselves to
Service Design BOOK TEL v0_7.indb 18
support the goal of the team. Each player and
team member has a different specialization that
contributes to the whole. The team matures
over time taking into account feedback from
experience, best practice, current process and
procedures to become an agile high-performing
team.
Specialization and coordination are necessary in
the lifecycle approach. Specialization allows for
expert focus on components of the service but
components of the service also need to work
together for value. Specialization combined with
coordination helps to manage expertise, improve
focus and reduce overlaps and gaps in processes.
Specialization and coordination together help to
create a collaborative and agile organizational
architecture that maximizes utilization of assets.
Coordination across the lifecycle creates an
environment focused on business and customer
outcomes instead of just IT objectives and projects.
Coordination is also essential between functional
groups, across the value network, and between
processes and technology.
Feedback and control between organizational
assets helps to enable operational efficiency,
organizational effectiveness and economies
of scale.
2.4.2 Processes through the service
lifecycle
Each core ITIL lifecycle publication includes
guidance on service management processes as
shown in Table 2.1.
Service management is more effective if people
have a clear understanding of how processes
interact throughout the service lifecycle, within
the organization and with other parties (users,
customers, suppliers).
Process integration across the service lifecycle
depends on the service owner, process owners,
process practitioners and other stakeholders
understanding:
■■ The context of use, scope, purpose and limits of
each process
■■ The strategies, policies and standards that apply
to the processes and to the management of
interfaces between processes
■■ Authorities and responsibilities of those
involved in each process
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