FOREWORD

In this guide, we have set out the fundamentals of an approach to collaborative business service design. The approach will assist both the demand and supply sides (and the SRO) to address the principal needs and drivers that set the requirements, conditions, outputs and outcomes for robust IT-driven services that properly support the business. This approach is rooted in the dynamics of the business stakeholders and focuses on IT-driven services that are fit for purpose.

Who made us the experts? No one. We have not reinvented any best practice wheels or thinking, nor have we altered existing best practices. The approach is based on well-established service design thinking and an extension of that thinking to embrace existing best practices such as PRINCE2®, Gateway®, P30® and many others. Joining up these practices led to a simple and pragmatic approach that becomes a tool to focus on the alliance between the business and IT. This is extensively discussed and presented in our book published by ITGP, Collaborative Business Design; Improving and innovating the design of IT-driven business services.

But sometimes you just need a handbook and a few instructions that focus on the essentials. And this is presented in the book you have here: Collaborative Business Design: The fundamentals. This guide illustrates to you how to use the approach and come up with a service design brief. This ‘Service Design Statement’ as we call it, will guide and help you to navigate the IT-driven business service lifecycle.

You can find more instructions and insights in our blog at ITWNET, and of course the website of ITGP. More information about training opportunities and discussions is available on the ITWNET website.

We hope CBSD supports you in improving the development, building and servicing of IT-driven business services in your organisations.

Brian Johnson

Léon-Paul de Rouw