I had a frustrating conversation with one client I’ve worked with quite a bit in the past, who wants to have us back to help them build a Service Catalog, including Service Level Agreements, OLA’s, and a bunch of other related things. One of those things is a web-based IT request portal for security and application access that automates the multiple approvals, keeps everything auditable so the compliance folks are happy and reduces everyone’s workload.
Okay, so last time we had a chance to chat, I made the statement that running CMDB and Service Catalog projects can increase the acceptance of operating in a service-oriented fashion. If you recall, my reasoning was largely due to how foreign a service concept is to IT. So I proposed that by building a data model that integrates the service catalog and CMDB, one can establish a familiar reference point for IT which brings the adoption rate into acceptable portions.
In the past few weeks I’ve been getting my first close look at HP / Peregrine software’s ServiceCenter Service Catalog module in the 6.2 release that’s just out, and frankly it’s changing my standard opinion about Service Catalog tools, and “ITIL software” in general.
My old stock answer to “which software should I use for ITIL?” is that you could “do” ITIL with almost any of the toolsets out there advertising. I’ve personally worked with Remedy, Peregrine, Mercury, some of IBM’s Tivoli stuff, some of CA’s products, plus other niche or point products like NewScale. And the painful honest truth was, you still had to do a bunch of “make your own” integration and customization to make any or all of these products really work in an ITIL environment.
Which comes first, Change and Configuration, or Service Catalog and Service Level Management?
This is a trick question. I’ll give you the answer later. And it’s also the actual decision we’re facing right now as Phase 1 of this client’s ITSM initiative wraps up and Phase 2 planning is in full gear. Based on the current state assessment, I personally think the most business value “bang for the buck” is in improvements to Change and Configuration Management.
But there are some important reasons why SLM and Service Catalog are important too. Those reasons are key Directors in the organization, who have a vote in the budgeting decision for Phase 2. And they also have specific objectives of their own that they want to get completed as soon as possible.
Our project sponsor understands all of this, and agrees that from the ITIL perspective, and more importantly from the business value point of view, Change and Configuration should be tackled next. But he also understands that “The other Directors understand why Change and Configuration Management are important, but they don’t see why they need to be addressed first. However, what they do understand is why their Service Level Management and Service Catalog goals are immediately important.”
So what’s up? How are things going? I hope everyone had a good holiday full of quality family time and turkey. Such is life-all holidays must come to end, and we all have to get back to work.
So when last we chatted, we were discussing some benefits of undertaking a strategy to construct a service catalog and CMDB in a joint effort. The first benefit that I mentioned was the ability to identify the composition of a service, which includes Hardware, Software, Manpower Governance, Standards, etc. Let me elaborate. One of the biggest challenges for IT is to gain a universal understanding of what a service is. You might laugh but a common reaction when first trying to define a service is skepticism and uncertainty. A common feeling is that if the item can not be shoved in a rack or is not the latest flashy piece of technology, it is worthless or a waste of money. The reality is that IT functions in the realm of the tangible. So there is not the typical warm-heart welcome when someone brings up the concept of a ’service’.
So how does one get around this?
I’m currently working with a client to help improve their processes using ITIL as a guide and benchmark. We started with a maturity assessment and used the results to identify major gaps (as defined by business value, not ITIL’s textbook). Serve Desk and Incident Management were two of the key foundation areas for improvement, so we started there first.
If you’ve worked with ITIL much, you know it didn’t take long for challenges to show up. Specifically, one of the key requirements of a good Service Desk is enforcing the defined SLAs and OLAs - as defined by the Service Catalog. Well- this client doesn’t have a Service Catalog. Not yet, anyway. So we had a long series of conversations about “What is a Service Catalog?” and “How can we define a Service Catalog that supports the business?”
Yes the holidays are an exciting time, and so is having a chat about how to increase the value of IT by building a structure to become the Chuck Norris of IT. While I joke with an infamous Chuck Norris reference, because the reality is no one can be that cool. I would say investing in a comprehensive structure that addresses the establishment of a Service Catalog and CMDB. Why would I say this?
Hey all! I am back. I wanted to chat for a spell about another point that I brought up in Part 2 of my wonder twins powers series. If you remember, and I do not know how one could forget, but just in case the thoughts of Thanksgiving dinner have made our discussion slip your mind, I will refresh your memory. I was pontificating on the benefits of establishing a service catalog and the value of spearheading a CMDB effort simultaneously. Does this refresh your memory? Cool.
So why do this? What are the benefits? Thank goodness you asked.
The reason that this is the bee’s knees is related to the day after the service catalog is deployed. What happens?
Hey there everyone?. It is ‘I’. I wanted to take some time and to elaborate on the points that were mentioned in Part 2. If you recall, I discussed my belief that the value of implementing a service catalog can be extended by establishing a CMDB in parallel. I am sure some of you had thoughts of this being the beginning of my pitch to sell you a time share in some tropical island location, but I assure you this is not the case. No, my reasoning has only been founded through the pain and suffering of being limited on what can be delivered within the context of a service catalog project.
Hey there everyone! It is me. Yes again. I want to qualify my belief that establishing a Service Catalog is a great undertaking. There is no doubt this is an unruly call to duty but it can be a valuable achievement that provides a tremendous amount of benefit not to just IT but the entire organization.
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