Continual Service Improvement ITIL V 3 Continual Service

Continual Service Improvement & ITIL V 3

Continual Service Improvement Phase This phase is responsible for managing improvements to IT Service Management Processes and IT Services. Processes: • 7 Step Improvement Process • Service Measurement • Service Level Management

Continual Service Improvement 7 Steps to Service Improvement

Source: Deming Continuous Improvement –control and manage quality surance Quality As Plan Do Act Check Improvement

7 Steps to Service Improvement © Crown Copyright 2007 Reproduced under license from OGC Identify • Vision • Strategy • Tactical Goals • Operational Goals 1. Define what you should measure 2. Define what you can measure 7. Implement corrective action Goals 6. Present and use the information, assessment summary, action plans, etc. 5. Analyse the data Relations? Trends? According to plan? Targets met? Corrective action? 4. Process the data Frequency? Format? System? Accuracy? 3. Gather the data Who? How? When? Integrity of data?

Continual Service Improvement Service Measurement

Service Measurement – Value to business Responsible for defining how to measure IT Service Management and IT Service improvements. Coordinate the data collection for measurements from the other processes and functions. There are four main reasons to monitor and measure: 1. To validate 2. To direct 3. To justify 4. To intervene

Baselines A benchmark used as a reference point for later comparison. Examples 1. An ITSCM Baseline can be used a starting point to measure the effect of a Service Improvement Plan. 2. A performance Baseline can be used to measure changes in performance over the lifetime of an IT service. 3. A Configuration Management baseline can be used to enable the IT infrastructure to be restored to a known configuration if a change or release fails.

Types of Metrics There are 3 types of metrics that an organization will need to collect to support CSI activities as well as other process activities: • • • Technology Metrics Process Metrics Service Metrics

Tension Metrics The job from any support team is a balancing act of three elements: • • • Resources – people and money Features - the product or service and its quality The schedule

Scale of measurement In general, a metric is a scale of measurement defined in terms of a standard, i. e. in terms of a well-defined unit. The quantification of an event through the process of measurement relies on the existence of an explicit or implicit metric, which is the standard to which measurements are referenced.

Business Models Metrics used in several business models, including CMMI, are used in Knowledge Management (KM). These measurements or metrics can be used to track trends, productivity, resources and much more. Typically, the metrics tracked are KPIs.

How many CSF’s and KPI’s? It is recommended that in the early stages of a project only two or three KPI’s for each CSF are defined, monitored and reported on. As the maturity of a service and service management processes increase, additional KPI’s can be added. Based on what is important to the business and IT management the KPI’s may change over a period of time. In addition, as service management processes are implemented this will often change the KPI’s of other processes.

Next step The next step is to identify the metrics and measurements required to compute the KPI. There are two basic types of KPI: • • Qualitative Quantitative

KPI’s An important aspect to consider is whether a KPI is fit for use. Key questions could be: • What does the KPI really tell us about goal achievement? • If we fail to meet the KPI, does it mean we have failing to meet our goals? • How easy is the KPI to interpret? Does it help us decide on a course of action? • When do we need the information? How often? How will it be made available? • To what extent is the KPI stable and accurate? • How easy is it to change the KPI? • How can we measure the KPI now?

Goals and Metrics Each phase of the service lifecycle requires very specific contributions from the key roles identified in Service Design, Service Transition and Service Operation, each of which has very specific goals to meet. Ultimately, the quality of the service will be determined by how well each role meets its goals, and how well those sometimes conflicting goals are managed along the way. Therefore, it is essential that the organization finds a way to measure performance – by applying a set of metrics to every goal.

Service Quality Metrics Organizational or process metrics can be further broken down into product quality metrics and process quality metrics. Product quality metrics are the metrics that support the contribution to the delivery of quality products. Process quality metrics are the quality metrics related to efficient and effective process management.

Using organizational metrics To be effective, measurements and metrics should be woven through the complete organization, touching the strategic as well as the tactical level. To successfully support the key business drivers, the IT Service Manager needs to know what and how well each part of the organization contributes to the final success.

Service Measurement It is no longer sufficient to measure and report against the performance of an individual component such as a server or application. IT must now be able to measure and report against end-to-end service. There are 3 basic measurements that most IT organizations utilize: • Availability of the service • Reliability of the service • Performance of the service

Measuring at component level Measuring at the component level is necessary and valuable, but service measurement must go further than the component level. Service measurement will require someone to take the individual measurements and combine them to provide a view of the true customer experience.

Developing a Service Measurement Framework A challenge many organizations face is the creation of a Service Measurement Framework that leads to value added reporting. It can prove difficult at first but the result over time prove that it is worth the effort. Keep in mind that service measurement is not the end result, in itself. The end result should be to improve services and also improve accountability.

Critical elements of Service Measurement Frameworks For a successful Service Measurement Framework the following critical elements are required: • • • Integrated into business planning Focused on business and IT goals and objectives Cost-effective Balanced in its approach on what is measured Able to withstand change

Creating Reports The most essential starting point when creating reports is to know: • • • Who is the target audience of the report? What will the report be used for? Who is responsible for creating the report? How will the report be created? How frequently is the report to be created? What information will be produced, shared or exchanged?

Reports can be set up to show: • Results for a service – supporting reports would be the individual measurements on components • Health of a service management process – this report will have certain process KPI results • Functional reports – such as telephony reports for the Service Desk.

Continual Service Improvement Service Level Management

Service Level Management GOAL: To ensure that the levels of IT service delivery are achieved, both for existing services and new services in accordance with the agreed targets.

Activities of Service Level Management Service Design Determine Requirements Monitor Development Delivery Negotiate & Agree Design & Plan Process Improve Source: the Art of Service Continual Service Improvement Report Evaluate

Reporting Once the SLA is agreed and monitoring begins, focus must be given to producing Service Achievement Reports. Periodic reporting should include: • Details of performance against SLA targets • Trends in Service Levels • Specific Actions being undertaken to improve service quality • Internal IT performance reviews and Supplier reviews • Any changes that need to be made to documentation Source: OGC (Service Delivery),

Reviewing and Evaluating Periodic review meetings must be held on a regular basis with: § Customers to review service achievements and to preview any issues for the coming period. § Internal IT groups and Suppliers to review OLA’s and UC’s Actions for responding to SLA breaches or identified weak areas should be minuted and reviewed at the next meeting to ensure that action items are being followed up and properly implemented. Source: OGC (Service Delivery),

Service Improvement Programme (SIP) SLM should coordinate with Problem and Availability Management to instigate a SIP to identify and implement necessary actions to restore service quality. SIP’s can also identify initiatives including: User awareness and training programs system testing improved documentation standards Source: OGC (Service Delivery),

Service Improvement Plans (SIP) Service Improvement Plans are formal plans to implement improvements to a process or service. The identified improvements may come from: • breaches of Service Level Agreements • identification of user training and documentation issues • weak system testing • identified weak areas within internal and external support groups.

Responsibilities and Skills Responsibilities: § Senior enough to represent organization; with authority to do what is necessary § Manages Service Catalogue, SLA’s, UC’s, OLA’s § Identifies and manages improvements to services and processes § Analyzes and reports on SL Achievements Skills: § Relationship Management § Patience, tolerance and resilience § Understanding of the Customer’s business and how IT contributes to the delivery of that product or service

KPI’s Statistics: § Number/Percentage of services covered by SLAs § Number/Percentage SLA’s supported by UC’s & OLA’s § Number/Percentage of service targets being met Yes/Why Questions: § Are service level achievements improving? § Are customer perception statistics improving? § Are IT costs for service provisions decreasing for services with stable (acceptable but not improving) SLAch?

Challenges § § § § Monitoring of pre-SLA achievements Targets that are achievable SLAs based on desire and not achievable targets Insufficient focus, resources and time Inadequate seniority of SLM staff Underpinning contracts ignored SLAs too long, not customer focused Improvement actions not adhered to

The Continual Service Improvement Model Items to consider: What is the vision? © Crown Copyright 2007 Reproduced under license from OGC • Vision aligns with business and IT strategies Where are we now? • Obtain an accurate baseline assessment. • Understand agree upon the priorities for improvement. • Verify measurements and metrics are in place. • Momentum for quality improvement is maintained by assuring Changes are embedded in the organization. How do we keep the momentum going? Business vision, mission, goals and objectives Baseline assessments Where do we want to be? Measurable targets How do we get there? Service & process improvement Did we get there? Measurements & metrics

The Continual Service Improvement Model © Crown Copyright 2007 Reproduced under license from OGC What is the vision? How do we keep the momentum going? Business vision, mission, goals and objectives Where are we now? Baseline assessments Where do we want to be? Measurable targets How do we get there? Did we get there? Service & process improvement Measurements & metrics

CSI – Implementation Issues • Identify and fill critical roles and responsibilities e. g. CSI Manager, Service Owner, SLM and reporting analyst. • Governance • CSI and Organizational Change • Communication and Strategy planning

CSI -value to the business For CSI to be successful, it must provide improvement opportunities throughout the entire service lifecycle. There is much greater value to the business when service improvement takes a holistic approach throughout the entire lifecycle. Improvements Benefits Return on Investment Value of Investment

CSI and the Service Lifecycle Service and Process Improvements, Guidance for Investments into IT and refreshed Service Portfolios Service and Process Improvements, guidance for KPIs, metrics and reporting, refined SLRs, SLAs, OLAs & UCs. Continual Service Improvement Request for Changes, Service and Process Improvements, guidance and refinements for testing & validation. Service Strategy Service Design Service Transition Process and Function organization improvements, refined SLAs & OLAs, guidance Service for metrics and reporting Operation