Service Desk serves as a Point of Contact between a Business organization (IT) and its employees, customers, as well as business partners. They provide access to users and stakeholders to report issues, questions, queries and requests, and have them acknowledged, classified, owned and actioned.

Service Desk staff handle a wide range of requests. Starting from a Simple query to technical issues faced by individuals or system outages that impact the entire organization.

Service Desk services can be availed by the users thru different channels Like: chat, email, phone calls, service portals and mobile applications, Walk-in, text and social media messaging

Service Desk staff are required to answer or resolve a wide variety of questions and queries related to the many business area’s. To handle this, they need to be skilled and knowledgeable. Particularly they need to have excellent customer service skills such as empathy, incident analysis and prioritization, effective communications, and emotional intelligence. But the most important skill they require is to be able to fully understand (business priority) and diagnose a specific incident and to take appropriate action on it. 

Different Service Desk structures are as follows:

There are a number of ways to set up a Service Desk. Few of them are listed below:

• Local Service Desk

A local Service Desk is one that is located in or near a company’s premises. In this case the Service Desk and their users are co-located at same Building or premise.

• Centralized Service Desk

Centralized Service Desk is a dedicated team working in a single location. They can cater to many different user groups. Like Service Desk team setting in Building 1 and catering to users from Building 1 , Building 2, Building 3.

You can set up a Centralized Service Desk by merging different Local Service Desks.

• Virtual Service Desk

A virtual Service Desk is set up to allow Service Desk staff to work from multiple geographically dispersed locations. Virtual Service Desk is now a days most popular type of Service Desk used by many companies these days. For a virtual Service Desk to work to it’s full efficiency, use of sophisticated supporting technology mainly internet and cloud-based is must. With that other technologies like interactive voice response, routing, automatic call distribution and escalation also are very much needed for ensuring good customer service.  

Benefits of Service Desk:

Improved the Service Experience: A good service Desk improves customer satisfaction by meeting their expectations.

Greater Visibility: Setting Service Desk allows departments to know what is happening in all areas of the business such as current technical issues, areas of concern etc.

Better Communication: A Service Desk can answer wider range of queries and questions which help to have a better communication with the users and stakeholders

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ITSM – ITIL : How Similar and How Different?

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The ITIL 4 Certification Scheme comprises of the following modules:

• ITIL Foundation
• ITIL Specialist
• ITIL Strategist
• ITIL Leader
• ITIL Master

Above 5 levels have seven core modules within the ITIL 4 syllabus:

• ITIL 4 Foundation
• ITIL 4 Specialist: Create, Deliver and Support (CDS)
• ITIL 4 Specialist: Drive Stakeholder Value (DSV)
• ITIL 4 Specialist: High-velocity IT (HVIT)
• ITIL 4 Strategist: Direct, Plan and Improve (DPI)
• ITIL 4 Leader: Digital and IT Strategy
• ITIL 4 Master

• ITIL 4 Foundation

ITIL 4 Foundation is the entry level certification, offering end -learners a general awareness of the key elements, concepts and terminology used in ITIL 4

ITIL 4 Foundation is aimed at entry level IT professionals, those who need a basic understanding of ITIL, or would like to progress to higher levels within the ITIL 4 certification scheme

• ITIL Managing Professional

ITIL Managing Professional (ITIL MP) targets IT practitioners working within technology and digital teams across businesses. The Managing Professional (MP) stream provides practical and technical knowledge about how to run successful IT projects, teams and workflows.

ITIL Managing Professional integrates three specialist modules (Create, Deliver & Support, Drive Stakeholder Value, and High Velocity IT) and the ITIL Strategist Direct, Plan & Improve module. All modules are valuable independently but all 4 must be completed to obtain the ITIL Managing Professional designation. 

The ITIL Managing Professional modules mandates completion of ITIL 4 Foundation as a prerequisite.

• ITIL Strategic Leader

ITIL Strategic Leader recognizes the value of ITIL, not just for IT Operations, but for all digitally enabled services. Becoming an ITIL Strategic Leader (ITIL SL) demonstrates that the professional has a clear understanding of how IT influences and directs business strategy. 

ITIL Strategic Leader integrates the ITIL Strategist Direct, Plan & Improve and ITIL Leader Digital & IT Strategy module. Both modules are valuable independently but both must be completed to obtain the ITIL Strategic Leader designation. 

The ITIL Leader Digital & IT Strategy module mandates 3 years of managerial experience as a prerequisite along with completion of ITIL 4 Foundation.

• ITIL Managing Professional – Transition Module (ITIL V3 to ITIL4)

The ITIL Managing Professional Transition Module is designed for ITIL v3 candidates who are ITIL Experts or who have achieved 17 credits from across the v3 scheme. 

After achieving the ITIL Managing Professional (ITIL MP) designation, if you are interested in pursuing the ITIL Strategic Leader stream then you only need to complete the ITIL Leader Digital & Strategy module to become eligible for ITIL Master

The transition module will cover the core elements from the ITIL Managing Professional stream. It will have a mandatory training element and exam, enabling v3 candidates to transition their existing designations into the new ITIL 4 certification scheme.

• ITIL Master

The ITIL Master certification validates your ability to apply the principles, methods and techniques from ITIL in the workplace.

To achieve the ITIL Master certification, you must be able to explain and justify how you have personally selected and applied a range of knowledge, principles, methods and techniques from the ITIL Framework and supporting management techniques, to achieve desired business outcomes in one or more practical assignments.

Every ITIL Master candidate will select a different range of experiences that are personal to them, so there is no fixed syllabus for this qualification. There is also no prescribed training course since the theory being tested will vary depending on the nature of the situation each candidate will choose.

To be eligible for the ITIL Master certification, you must: have achieved the ITIL Expert certificate; and have worked in IT service management for at least five years in leadership, managerial, or higher management advisory levels.

In order to achieve your ITIL Master certificate, you must ensure you have extensive practical hands-on experience with ITIL and can demonstrate active involvement in implementation of the practices.

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In ITIL, management practices are defined as “a set of organizational resources designed for performing work or accomplishing an objective.”. These Management practices are the core or main component of Service Value System (SVS).

In the Earlier ITIL versions the focus was on processes but with ITIL 4 there is more focus on practices and flexibility.

The New ITIL® 4 practices are as follows:

General Management Practices (14) – They have been adopted and adapted for service management from general business management domains

Service Management Practices (17) They have been developed in service management and ITSM industries

Technical Management Practices (3) They have been adapted from technology management domains for service management purposes by expanding or shifting their focus from technology solutions to IT services.

Here we try to explore Service Management Practices developed in service management and ITSM industries

Availability management

—  The purpose of the availability management practice is to ensure that services deliver agreed levels of availability to meet the needs of customers and users.

Business analysis

—  The purpose of the business analysis practice is to analyze a business or some element of it, define its associated needs, and recommend solutions to address these needs and/or solve a business problem, which must facilitate value creation for stakeholders.

Capacity and performance management

—  The purpose of the capacity and performance management practice is to ensure that services achieve agreed and expected performance, satisfying current and future demand in a cost effective way.

Change control

—  The purpose of the change control practice is to maximize the number of successful IT changes by ensuring that risks have been properly assessed, authorizing changes to proceed, and managing the change schedule

Incident management

—  The purpose of incident management is to minimize the negative impact of incidents by restoring normal service operation as quickly as possible.

IT asset management

—  The purpose of the IT asset management practice is to plan and manage the full lifecycle of all IT assets

Monitoring and event management

—  The purpose of the monitoring and event management practice is to systematically observe services and service components, and record and report selected changes of state identified as events.

Problem management

—  The purpose of problem management is to reduce the likelihood and impact of incidents by identifying actual and potential causes of incidents, and managing workarounds and known errors.

Release management

—  The purpose of the release management practice is to make new and changed services and features available for use.

Service catalogue management

—  The purpose of service catalogue management is to provide a single source of consistent information on all services and service offerings, and to ensure that it is available to the relevant audience.

Service configuration management

—  The purpose of the service configuration management practice is to ensure that accurate and reliable information about the configuration of services, and the CIs that support them, is available when and where it is needed.

Service continuity management

—  The purpose of the service continuity management practice is to ensure that the availability and performance of a service is maintained at a sufficient level in the event of a disaster.

Service design

—  The purpose of the service design practice is to design products and services that are fit for purpose, fit for use, and that can be delivered by the organization and its ecosystem.

Service desk

—  The purpose of the service desk practice is to capture demand for incident resolution and service requests. It should also be the entry point and single point of contact for the service provider with all of its users.

Service level management

—  The purpose of the service level management practice is to set clear business-based targets for service performance, so that the delivery of a service can be properly assessed, monitored, and managed against these targets.

Service request management

—  The purpose of the service request management practice is to support the agreed quality of a service by handling all pre-defined, user-initiated service requests in an effective and user friendly manner.

Service validation and testing

—  The purpose of the service validation and testing practice is to ensure that new or changed products and services meet defined requirements.

Copyright © AXELOS Limited 2019. Used under permission of AXELOS Limited. All rights reserved.

The post ITIL® 4 Service Management Practices appeared first on World Of Agile.

In ITIL, management practices are defined as “set of organizational resources designed for performing work or accomplishing an objective.”. These Management practices are the core or main component of Service Value System (SVS).

In the Earlier ITIL versions the focus was on processes but with ITIL 4 there is more focus on practices and flexibility.

The New ITIL® 4 practices are as follows:

• General Management Practices (14) – They have been adopted and adapted for service management from general business management domains
• Service Management Practices (17) They have been developed in service management and ITSM industries
• Technical Management Practices (3) They have been adapted from technology management domains for service management purposes by expanding or shifting their focus from technology solutions to IT services

Here we try to explore General Management Practices adopted and adapted from general business management domains

• Architecture Management – The practice of providing an understanding of all the different elements that make up an organization and how those elements relate to one another.
• Continual Improvement – The practice of aligning an organization’s practices and services with changing business needs through the ongoing identification and improvement of all elements involved in the effective management of products and services.
• Information Security Management – The practice of protecting an organization by understanding and managing risks to the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information.
• Knowledge Management – The practice of maintaining and improving the effective, efficient and convenient use of information and knowledge across an organization.
• Measurement and Reporting – The practice of supporting good decision making and continual improvement by decreasing levels of uncertainty.
• Organizational Change Management – The practice of ensuring that changes in an organization are smoothly and successfully implemented and that lasting benefits are achieved by managing the human aspects of the changes.
• Portfolio Management – The practice of ensuring that an organization has the right mix of programmes, projects, products and services to execute its strategy within its funding and resource constraints.
• Project Management – The practice of ensuring that all of an organization’s projects are successfully delivered.
• Relationship Management –The practice of establishing and nurturing links between an organization and its stakeholders at strategic and tactical levels.
• Risk Management – A possible event that could cause harm or loss, or make it more difficult to achieve objectives. Can also be defined as uncertainty of outcome and can be used in the context of measuring the probability of positive outcomes as well as negative outcomes.
• Service Financial Management – The practice of supporting an organization’s strategies and plans for service management by ensuring the organization’s financial resources and investments are being used effectively.
• Strategy Management – The practice of formulating the goals of an organization and adopting the courses of action and allocation of resources necessary for carrying out those goals.
• Supplier Management – The practice of ensuring that an organization’s suppliers and their performance are managed appropriately to support the provision of seamless, quality products and services.
• Workforce and Talent Management – The practice of ensuring an organization has the right people with the appropriate skills and knowledge and in the correct roles to support its business objectives.

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What is Utility and Warranty?

It is important to assess a service with consideration to the impact of costs and risks on utility and warranty. This is important to gain a complete picture of the viability of a service.

So Let’s look at what is Utility and Warranty.

Utility

Utility is the functionality offered by a product or service to meet a particular need. 

Utility can also be described as ‘what the service does’ and can be used to determine whether a service is ‘fit for purpose’.

To have utility, a service must either support the performance of the consumer or remove constraints from the consumer.  Or do both.

Warranty

Warranty is Assurance that a product or service will meet agreed requirements.

Warranty can be summarized as ‘how the service performs’ and can be used to determine whether a service is ‘fit for use’.

Warranty often relates to service levels in form of “formal agreement, or a marketing message or brand image” aligned with the needs of service consumers.

Warranty is typically referred to as availability of the service, its capacity, levels of security and continuity.

A service warranty is said to be fulfilled, if all defined and agreed conditions of service are met.

Both utility and warranty are essential for a service as it facilitates desired outcomes and therefore help create value.

As Utility and Warranty take into consideration Value. Let’s understand What is Value?

Value

Value is that a person perceives as benefits or usefulness or importance of something.

Value is very subject as it is related to the perception of the stakeholders

Value can be subjective.

For each stakeholder the definition of value is different.

Like Which car is suitable for me? Is it Hatchback or normal Family car or SUV?

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To support a holistic approach to service management, ITIL® 4 defines four dimensions. These dimensions are critical to the effective and efficient facilitation of value for customers and other stakeholders in the form of products and services. The four dimensions must be considered for every service.

The four dimensions are relevant to all elements of the Service Value System (SVS). Failing to consider all of the four dimensions can lead to services that offer poor quality or efficiency or may even mean services aren’t delivered at all. The four dimensions can overlap and interact in unpredictable ways. The dimensions are:

·         Organizations and People

·         Information and Technology

·         Partners and Suppliers

·         Value streams and Processes.

Organizations and people

In the modern world the complexity of organizations is growing. It is important to ensure that the way an organization is structured and managed, as well as its roles, responsibilities, and systems of authority and communication, is well defined and supports its overall strategy and operating model.

Information and technology

The second dimension of service management is information and technology. Information and Technology applies both to service management and to the services which is being managed

When applied to the SVS, the information and technology dimension includes the knowledge and  information necessary for the management of services, as well as the technologies required.  It also incorporates the relationships between different components of the SVS, such as the inputs and outputs of activities and practices.

Partners and Suppliers

The third dimension of service management is partners and suppliers. Every organization and its service depends to some extent on services provided by other organizations.

The partners and suppliers dimension encompasses an organization’s relationships with other organizations that are involved in the design, development, deployment, delivery, support and/or continual improvement of services. This dimension also incorporates contracts and other agreements between the organization and its partners or suppliers.

Value streams and processes

The fourth dimension of service management is value streams and processes. Like the other dimensions, the value streams and processes dimension is applicable to both the SVS in general, and to specific products and services.

In both contexts it defines the activities, workflows, controls, and procedures needed to achieve agreed objectives. Applied to the organization and its SVS, the value streams and processes dimension is concerned with how the various parts of the organization work in an integrated and coordinated way to enable value creation through products and services.

The dimension focuses on what activities the organization undertakes and how they are organized, as well as how the organization ensures that it is enabling value creation for all stakeholders efficiently and effectively.

External factors

Service providers do not operate in isolation. They are affected by many external factors, and work in dynamic and complex environments that can exhibit high degrees of volatility and uncertainty and impose constraints on how the service provider can work.

To analyze these external factors, frameworks such as the PESTLE (or PESTEL) model are used. PESTLE is an acronym for the Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental.

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“A guiding principle is a recommendation that guides an organization in all circumstances.”

One of the most important components of the ITIL Service Value System is the ITIL Guiding Principles.

A guiding principle is nothing but a recommendation that provides universal and enduring guidance to an organization, and applies in all circumstances, regardless of changes in its goals, strategies, type of work, or management structure.

In every day operations many things change like Goals, Staff or Management structure but The principles remain constant, no matter what else changes.

The guiding principles should encourage and support continual improvement. They apply across the whole organization at all levels – ALL staff should be aware of them. In each situation, staff and organizations should consider their principles and what is applicable.

Not all principles are relevant in every situation, but they all are reviewed on each occasion to assess if they are appropriate.

The 7 ITIL Guiding Principles are as follows:

·         Focus on value

·         Start where you are

·         Progress iteratively with feedback

·         Collaborate and promote visibility

·         Think and work holistically

·         Keep it simple and practical

·         Optimize and automate

Let us understand the Guiding Principles in detail now:

Focus on value

Everything the organization does should link back, to value for itself, its customers, and other stakeholders. The focus on value principle encompasses many perspectives, including the experience of customers and users.

Start where you are

Do not start from scratch and build something new without considering what is already available for use. There is likely to be a great deal in the current services, processes, programmes, projects, and people that can be used to create the desired outcome.

The current state should be researched and observed directly to make sure it is fully understood.

Progress iteratively with feedback

Do not attempt to do everything at once.  Even huge initiatives must be accomplished iteratively.

By organizing work into smaller, manageable sections that can be executed and completed in a timely manner, it is easier to maintain a sharper focus on each effort.

Collaborate and promote visibility

Working together across boundaries produces results that have greater buy-in, more relevance to objectives, and increased likelihood of long-term success. Achieving objectives requires information, understanding, and trust.

Work and consequences should be made visible, hidden agendas avoided, and information shared to the greatest degree possible.

Think and work holistically

No service, or element used to provide a service, stands alone.

The outcomes achieved by the service provider and service consumer will suffer unless the organization works on the service as a whole, not just on its parts.

Results are delivered to internal and external customers through the effective and efficient management and dynamic integration of information, technology, organization, people, practices, partners, and agreements, which should all be coordinated to provide a defined value.

Keep it simple and practical

If a process, service, action or metric fails to provide value or produce a useful outcome, eliminate it. In a process or procedure, use the minimum number of steps necessary to accomplish the objective(s).

Optimize and automate

Optimization means to make something as effective and useful as it needs to be.

Before an activity can be effectively automated, it should be optimized to whatever degree is possible and reasonable. Organizations must maximize the value of the work carried out by their human and technical resources. Eliminate anything that is truly wasteful and use technology to achieve whatever it is capable of.

Human intervention should only happen where it really contributes value.

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