ITILv3 and HP’s service management solutions portfolio has been introduced more than a year ago. Could you let us in on any “teething” issues ITILv3 was confronted with and how these issues were overcome?
David Wheeldon (DW):Both ITIL V3 as a framework for managing IT and HP’s Service Management solutions which leverage ITIL V3 to achieve IT and business alignment, have gained momentum world-wide and in Asia Pacific. The uptake over the past year can be attributed to companies recognizing the business value of moving to an end-to-end service lifecycle approach.
Businesses in Asia Pacific need to constantly change in order to stay ahead of the market and remain competitive, this need has to be reflected and translated into the IT services, processes, tools and technologies that underpin and support the business. The foundation for this is ITIL.
Version 3 starts at the beginning with the need to create a Service Strategy, this is based on current business strategy and as this strategy changes so does its IT equivalent. From the strategy should emanate a Service Design, not simply a program or application, but the whole end-to-end service that is needed to underpin the business service being offered, whether for financial gain or otherwise. Getting it right can result in substantial cost-savings.
Where businesses have yet to adopt ITIL V3, the key barrier appears to be a lack of understanding internally about the implementation and benefits of ITIL V3. Education is the key to greater adoption moving forward.
What is HP’s approach to service management and why it is unique? How does it set you apart from your competitors?
DW: HP’s approach involves bringing people, process and technology together to enable companies to respond effectively to change. In terms of ITIL, HP is the only technology vendor to author one of the five ITIL V3 core books.
In addition, HP has authored the ITIL Glossary, and has built the overarching process maps for the new library.
Given the contribution that HP has made to IT Service Management, HP has revamped its Service Management offerings, and brings to the market a new set of solutions aimed at leveraging ITIL V3, and once again extending industry best practice.
The HP IT Service Management portfolio provides a holistic view of an enterprise’s entire IT landscape, incorporating all aspects of Service Management. Implementing IT Service Management provides organizations with the service delivery capabilities that are stable and cost-effective yet equally agile and flexible. IT Service Management also delivers a mechanism by which to measure service quality and improvement, delivering greater value to the business.
ITIL is only just gaining traction in the US, how strong is the adoption trend of ITILv3 in APJ?
DW:We are seeing growing adoption as businesses in APJ see ITIL V3 as a catalyst for meeting service level agreements, improved responses to business needs and reduced time and costs. ITIL v3 is also helping many organizations meet their compliance requirements and address risk management.
Which countries in the region do you see leading the adoption? Which ones are lagging behind? Why do you think this is so?
DW:Mature markets such as Australia are leading the adoption of ITIL. Less mature markets are generally lagging but we see growing interest across Asia Pacific as companies are keen to adopt best industry practices in order to drive business growth.
What does the emerging popularity of ITIL say about how the IT industry is moving?
DW:The adoption of ITIL V3 shows that companies are increasingly moving towards a focus on business-technology alignment through continual service improvement. The industry previously used technology for technology sake; but now technology is being used for business advantage and ITIL V3 is all about getting business value from technology.
What role does service management play in today’s organizations and how applicable is this for small and medium businesses (SMB)?
DW:IT departments in today’s organizations are faced with more responsibility and accountability for the growth of the business than ever before. In order to better contribute to their company’s growth and innovation, IT must establish a sustainable, service-centric approach that continually delivers value to the business.
IT Service Management is applicable to both SMB and large enterprises as it helps plan, deliver, manage and continually improve the full lifecycle of a company’s IT and business services, enabling the company to focus technology-related investments on fulfilling strategic business goals. By transforming IT to a service provider model, companies can achieve lower costs through automation, meet compliance requirements, address risk management objectives and accelerate business growth and innovation.
What are some of the key highlights and measures of success of effective service management implementation in APJ?
DW:Implementing IT Service Management is as much an education and change management task as a technology task.
To ensure its success, IT executives need to gain executive and broad organizational support, engage IT staff responsible for both managing and executing IT Service Management processes, and overcome resistance to change. It’s also critical that the organization address its competencies, rather than merely skills and ensure that the changes it implements are internalized.
Training is critical to the implementation of service-oriented organizational structures, role and responsibilities, and enhancing department staff’s traditional IT system and technical skills with customer-focused competencies.
Once IT Service Management is implemented effectively through education and training, IT can become an adaptive, service-oriented entity that contributes towards measurable business results. The implementation of IT Service Management is often measured in terms of ROI, however a service-oriented framework can deliver broader value in terms of business growth, agility and responsiveness.
What are some of the difficulties faced by customers in migrating from ITILv2 to ITILv3?
DW:ITIL V2 was focused on processes such as incident, problem, change, configuration, and risk management (day-to-day processes that incorporated a service desk). V2 also included some higher-level, planning-oriented processes having a longer-term focus, such as catastrophe management and IT service continuity.
Version 3 takes this process concept and goes one step further— in Version 3 processes are the enablers to creating services that bring value to the business. If a company is using V2 today, they are well-positioned. V2 is incorporated into V3 to help ITIL practitioners move forward.
Difficulties faced by customers moving to V3 are typically related to education and training which is the key to successful implementation or transition to V3.
How long does it take for a company to successfully implement all phases of service management implementation? What additional support is required, if any?
DW:ITIL does not provide the same outcome regardless of where it is applied. On the contrary ITIL provides a framework of building blocks and concepts that must be translated and implemented to each organization's unique collection of resources and capabilities. Every organization has a unique set of technologies/products to deliver and manage services with.
So in other words the first steps to take are to determine where you are today (A) and were you want to be in the future (B). As IT organizations are at different capability/maturity levels and have different goals, the time it takes to get from A to B depends on your starting point and how long you want to travel. For this purpose HP has some ITSM assessment services that help you to do a gap analysis and create a roadmap towards the future.
So to answer the question "how long does it take to implement ITIL V3?" my answer would be "it depends on where you are today, where you want to be in the future and how much you are willing to invest in getting there". And I am not only talking about financial investment, also other topics like effort and willingness to adopt someone else's best practices play a role in this.
My best practice recommendation is to use projects that implement ITIL V3 concepts which are cost justified and deliver desired outcomes within periods of 3 to 6 months each.
What do you see as the top CIO/CEO challenges related to the future of service management?
DW: With the new world of business technology comes a new set of challenges. Today and into the future C-Level execs no longer want IT projects per se. They want business projects—with IT playing an integral role in the ultimate business outcomes. IT can either be part of the business problem—or part of the business solution. Business challenges like compliance, business operations and product differentiation can all be helped with IT. At the same time, IT has to step up and address issues with governance and cost. Only then will the CIO be able to link IT with the business and show the true value of IT.
To truly run IT like a business, companies need to ensure their key initiatives drive business value and IT efficiency at the same time. If you look to the role industry best practices can play in helping companies meet these goals, ITIL leads the way in showing the processes IT operations require. Today, many operations issues are exacerbated because of poor application transition or misaligned strategy. ITIL V3 considers all these aspects while linking strategy, applications and operations.
By leveraging ITIL V3, companies can take a fresh look at service management—and see how it can help them address their most pressing challenges by providing an established set of industry best practices to enable business growth through IT, increase performance of IT services to business and manage costs by increasing IT staff efficiency.
Critics have said that ITIL proves too restrictive; arguing that whilst it delivers several benefits, following the guidelines too closely can also limit an IT department’s flexibility and block high risk but beneficial IT projects. Can you comment on this, please?
DW: ITIL V3 promotes a flexible model for service provisioning using a value network approach, which can be defined as a complex set of relationships between two or more groups or organizations.
Value is gained through the exchange of knowledge, information, goods, or services between a company’s IT department and other areas of the business. ITIL V3 also introduces the concept of adaptable models. This is a key component of the Service Transition book, in which ITIL V3 provides guidance for selecting a fit-for-purpose model for each type of service transition that moves from design into the live environment. Adaptable models help businesses respond quickly to rapidly changing business requirements.
How would you advise an organization about to deploy ITILV3, do to so successfully?
DW:Ensure the organization has the following in place:
a. Software and services to automate the dynamic link between the business and IT by giving the company the insight required to measure, assess and control the business
b. IT Service Management services to help the company make major improvements in managing their IT organization or help them run their IT services on a day-to-day basis
c. Educational services to build the right knowledge and skills in ITIL V3, other important industry best practice models and standards and technologies
d. Technologies for higher levels of automation, operational control and management of information. |
