The Business Case for ITSM Best Practices

Corporate reliance on IT Services is at an all-time high. That dependency will grow as CEOs invest in digital technologies to innovate, adapt, and improve customer satisfaction. Consequently, the business case for ITSM best practices has never been stronger.

It's hard to be an ITSM professional.

Senior management can easily understand developers' roles in creating software, the tangible nature of operating a data center, or the specifics of implementing an ERP or CRM system.

Yet, the need for a service management program and ITSM best practices — and why they are essential to the CEO's goals of innovation, adaptability, and customer satisfaction — remains somewhat fuzzy.

Over my 40+ year career in information technology, I've seen ITSM come into and out of vogue within organizations. I've witnessed effective service management programs disbanded with changes in CIO leadership, only to be reinstated after declining service levels.

Extensive evidence exists on how ITSM programs and best practices can improve reliability, availability, security, and customer experience. So, why hasn't ITSM as a practice been more widely adopted?

Marshall McLuhan once said, "The medium is the message," and the business case (see below) is indeed the best medium to convey the value of IT Service Management.

The Role of ITSM and the Service Management Professional

IT Service Management - ITSM is a set of best practices that enable an organization to effectively manage IT and Business Services throughout their lifecycle, from service design to development, implementation, operation, improvement, and retirement.

ITSM consists of interrelated processes and practices, such as Service Design, Software Development and Management, Release Management, Incident Management, Change Management, Service Level Management, and IT Security Management.

Each of these processes contributes to various phases of the overall service lifecycle. They ensure services' reliability, availability, performance, and security.

Whether you follow ITSM best practices or not, the work required to manage your IT services still needs to get done; the problem is that you may be doing the work in disconnected silos. This misalignment can lead to inefficiencies, service outages, and negative user experiences.

ITSM Use Case

Let's look at the case of designing and implementing a new business service across the service lifecycle:

• Service design phase: During this phase, if you neglect to consider how the infrastructure team will monitor the service's performance and availability during operation, this oversight can lead to challenges in maintaining consistent service quality.
• Service Development Phase: Accumulating technical debt by taking shortcuts to meet deadlines can result in more significant problems later, such as increased maintenance efforts and reduced system reliability.
• Service Transition Phase: A failure to test for security flaws and performance issues due to inadequate collaboration between the test engineer and stakeholders can leave vulnerabilities unaddressed, potentially exposing the organization to risk.
• Operations Phase: The absence of adequate service continuity planning due to poor service level management can compromise the organization's ability to respond to major incidents.

The Lack of an ITSM Plan

In this example, each phase of the service delivery lifecycle introduced potential issues affecting the service's reliability, availability, performance, and security.

Imagine waking up one morning to find a vulnerability that allowed ransomware to infect the service. 

If operations lack the necessary monitoring, incident management, backups, or disaster recovery plans, detecting and recovering from a major incident becomes extremely difficult. The impact is not only on the business service but also on your organization's reputation.

The Holistic Approach of ITSM

ITSM is a holistic approach to service management. By establishing an integrated ITSM program, organizations can prevent problems before they occur and set the necessary processes to deal with them if they do arise. 

A practical ITSM framework aligns IT services with business needs, enabling IT to deliver value and support organizational goals.

ITSM Challenges

Despite the clear advantages, many people remain skeptical of implementing ITSM best practices. Please don't ignore them; they provide valuable insight to help you succeed.

Some of the common complaints include:

• Complexity and Overhead: ITSM best practices and processes are seen as complex, detracting from organizational agility.
• Past Failures: Leadership may be skeptical due to experience with failed implementation and are reluctant to invest in ITSM.
• Resistance to Change: People believe they are already doing their best and see no need to change, leading to pushback against ITSM best practices and processes.
• Cost: The cost associated with ITSM tools, training and resourcing is prohibitive, especially for smaller organizations.
• Bureaucracy: ITSM can sometimes create a bureaucratic environment that stifles innovation and quick decision-making.

These challenges are valid and represent real issues people experience with ITSM processes and programs. However, they are symptoms of inadequate justification and poor implementation.

Understanding these objectives can position you to overcome them.

Addressing the ITSM Challenges

Processes can become unnecessarily complex and bureaucratic if they are not measured, managed, governed, and improved. Optimizing workflows by removing waste can enhance engagement and buy-in from all teams.  Implementing business process governance will ensure your processes continue to add value.

Organizations can offset the costs associated with ITSM by avoiding even a single major incident each year. Demonstrating to staff how ITSM processes can streamline their work and improve their success can help relieve resistance to change.

Additionally, providing ongoing training, facilitating open communication about ITSM's benefits, and involving teams in the implementation process can foster a culture that embraces best practices and continuous improvement.

The IT Service Management Professional

The ITSM professional brings a unique set of skills to the management of IT services. Their focus is less technical and more about the assessment, design, governance, and continual improvement of the ITSM practices and processes supporting the IT services.

The ITSM professional typically has training, experience, and certification in practices such as ITIL, COBIT, Six Sigma, and Project Management.

They should also have experience in techniques such as Business Process Management (BPM) and workshop facilitation.

The Service Management professional often works in the Service Management Office, which is a competency center focused on improving the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of delivering IT Service Management (ITSM) services.

Check out this comprehensive article on the Service Management Office (SMO).

Together, the service management professional and the Service Management Office support the CEO's objective of using digital technologies to innovate, adapt, and improve customer satisfaction.

They are often the ones who create and implement the business case for ITSM best practices and processes.

Building the Business Case for ITSM

Here is an outline for building your business case for ITSM best practices. We provide descriptions of each section in the business case and offer some ideas to help you get started. Expand and tailor each section to meet your specific needs.

Executive Summary:  

Start by concisely summarizing the business case and outlining the remainder of the document. Here is an example that you can tailor and expand upon.  

To enhance customer satisfaction and operational efficiency while decreasing costs and improving service effectiveness, we propose implementing an ITSM framework based on ITIL practices and adopting automation tools. Additionally, this business case emphasizes the need for ITSM best practices to improve compliance with regulatory requirements and strengthen risk management.

This business case outlines the problem, establishes measurable objectives, analyzes various options, and recommends a solution along with its benefits. It also details the associated costs, provides an implementation plan, and defines key performance indicators (KPIs) for measuring success.

Problem Statement:

The purpose of the problem statement is to define the issues, focus efforts, provide context, align stakeholders, and prompt action. Here is a sample problem statement.

Our IT service delivery faces high incident resolution times, frequent service disruptions, and low user satisfaction rates. Manual processes in managing IT services lead to inefficiencies, errors, and higher operational costs. In addition, The organization faces challenges in maintaining compliance with regulations due to a lack of standardized processes, resulting in audit failures.

Objectives:  

The objectives section in a business case outlines specific goals the project aims to achieve, guiding the project direction and measuring success. Here are some sample objectives for the implementation of ITSM best practices.

Our objectives in implementing ITSM best practices includes:

• Reduce incident resolution time by 30% within six months.
• Achieve a user satisfaction score of 90% within one year.
• Automate 50% of service requests within the first year.
• Reduce operational costs by 15%.
• Achieve 100% compliance with regulatory requirements within one year.
• Implement risk management processes to reduce vulnerabilities by 40%.

Options:

The options section in a business case presents potential solutions to the problem and evaluates their feasibility, benefits, and risks.

We conducted a thorough analysis of three different different options as input into our recommendation.

• Option 1: Maintain current service management practices without change (not recommended).
• Option 2: Implement a partial ITSM framework focusing solely on ITSM tool implementation and adoption (limited impact).
• Option 3: Implement a comprehensive ITSM framework based on standards such as ITIL and COBIT, including automation and best practices for compliance and risk management (recommended).

Preferred Solution:

The preferred solution section in a business case identifies the chosen option and details why it is the best fit based on an analysis of benefits, costs, and risks. Here is a sample.

We recommend the adoption of a comprehensive ITSM framework based on ITIL practices that incorporates automation tools to enhance operational efficiency, customer satisfaction, compliance, and risk management.

Benefits:

The benefits section Outlines the advantages gained from the project. Sample benefits include.

The benefits from implementing a comprehensive ITSM framework based on ITIL practices include:

• Increased operational efficiency and reduced costs through automation.
• Improved service reliability and customer satisfaction.
• Enhanced compliance with regulatory standards, reducing the risk of penalties.
• Effective risk management processes to mitigate vulnerabilities and ensure service continuity.

Costs:  

The cost section Estimates the financial and resource expenditures required.  These section should include estimates.

Projected costs will include initial investments in ITSM tools and training, along with ongoing operational expenses. Detailed cost estimates will be developed during the implementation planning phase.

Risk Assessment:

The risk assessment Identifies potential risks and mitigation strategies.

Potential risks include initial resistance to change and challenges integrating new tools with existing processes. Developing a robust organizational change management strategy and providing adequate training will be essential for successful adoption.

Implementation Plan:

The implementation plan Details steps, timeline, and responsibilities for project execution.

The following represents the high-level phases. The actual business case would have significantly more detail.

1. Phase 1: Needs assessment and vendor selection (Months 1-2).
2. Phase 2: Tool customization and training (Months 3-4).
3. Phase 3: Pilot implementation and feedback (Months 5-6).
4. Phase 4: Full rollout and continuous improvement (Month 7 onwards).

Measurement:

The measurement section Defines metrics to evaluate project success and outcomes.

We will use a collection of SMART KPIs: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound, ensuring clear and actionable objectives.

1. Incident Resolution Time:
   • Description: Measure the average time taken to resolve incidents.
   • Target: Reduce the average incident resolution time by 30% within the first year of ITSM implementation.
2. Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT):
   • Description: Utilize surveys to gather end-user feedback regarding their satisfaction with IT services.
   • Target: Achieve a 90% or higher customer satisfaction score within six months of implementing the ITSM framework.
3. Compliance Rate with Regulatory Standards:
   • Description: Track the percentage of compliance with relevant regulatory requirements.
   • Target: Achieve 100% compliance in post-implementation audits within the first year.
4. Cost per Service Request:
   • Description: Calculate the average cost incurred for managing and fulfilling service requests.
   • Target: Reduce the cost per service request by 20% within one year through process improvements and automation.
5. Service Availability/ Uptime:
   • Description: Measure the percentage of time that IT services are available and operational.
   • Target: Maintain a service availability rate of 99.9% within the first year of ITSM implementation.

Following this outline will establish a strong business case for the ITSM program.

Key Takeaways for ITSM Best Practices

Here are five key messages on building the business case for ITSM best practices:

1. Increasing Importance of ITSM:
   • As corporate reliance on IT services grows, a compelling business case exists for implementing ITSM best practices. Organizations must adapt to digital transformation to enhance customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.
2. Understanding ITSM Roles:
   • Senior management may find it challenging to grasp the value of ITSM compared to more tangible IT roles, such as development or data center operations. ITSM professionals are crucial in ensuring service quality, reliability, and alignment with business goals.
3. Identifying and Addressing Challenges:
   • Challenges like complexity, past implementation failures, resistance to change, cost concerns, and bureaucracy can hinder ITSM adoption. Recognizing these challenges as symptoms of poor implementation can help organizations develop effective strategies for overcoming them.
4. Holistic Approach to Service Management:
   • ITSM represents a holistic approach integrating interrelated processes and practices across the service lifecycle. This integration helps prevent issues and ensures that IT services are reliable, available, and secure.
5. Building a Strong Business Case:
   • To successfully implement ITSM, organizations should develop a robust business case that includes a clear problem statement, specific objectives, evaluation of options, preferred solutions, benefits, costs, and an implementation plan. Measuring success through defined metrics will ensure accountability and continuous improvement.

The business case for ITSM best practices is strong in this digital transformation era. By overcoming skepticism and tackling ITSM challenges, organizations can enhance service delivery, boost customer satisfaction, and achieve strategic goals.