Service Strategy Approach

Service strategy processes themselves should undergo continual improvement like any process. Both the strategy and its processes are directed by the senior executives of the organization.

Service strategy determines how the service lifecycle functions and how services are designed, transitioned, operated, and improved. It is critical that the implementation of service strategy processes follow the service lifecycle.

Implementing the service strategy processes for the first time is best done using the organization’s program and project management approach, and the implementation should be managed as a formal project or series of projects.

The strategy for the implementation should, at a minimum, include the following areas:

• The current state should be assessed and the desired end state defined.
• The gaps between the two states should be analyzed.
• The project should be identified, and activities with specific objectives to close the gaps should be grouped together.
• The scale of the project needs to be sized, so an analysis of the project’s scope, scale, interdependencies, risks, costs, and resource requirements is required before it can progress.
• The various projects should then be grouped into logical streams to address key aspects of governance, people, and so on.
• Finally, a road map should be drawn up. This is a time-bound action plan showing the sequence of the initiatives and projects required to close the gaps.

Although a formal service strategy may be absent, every organization has a culture and a way of making decisions. The existing environment must be considered when a service strategy is implemented.

Cultural change like this requires significant organizational change management. A method for gathering feedback during implementation is essential; the plan may need to be deferred or adjusted in light of factors discovered during the design, transition, and operation stages. The importance of executive ownership of the initiative and processes cannot be overemphasized. This is not just an IT project; service strategy is at the heart of the business of the service provider and is a key executive responsibility, which they must appreciate and accept.

Service Design Approach

In service design, the processes, tools, and organizational structure (if required) will be designed. This includes gathering detailed requirements and the actual design of the tools and procedures to be used.

The information that is gathered should include process design of each of the strategy processes, the definition of roles for these processes, and the interfaces between processes, especially between strategy management and business relationship management.

For strategy management, service design should include an agreed assessment method, forecasting and planning tools, document control tools, and identified sources for industry information.

The design should incorporate the policies and processes for the service portfolio, customer portfolio, customer agreement portfolio, and a standard for defining service models and assessing the business impact of new services or changes to existing services.

Financial management tools, policies, charts of accounts (if these do not already exist), cost model definitions, charging strategies and methods, demand management procedures, techniques, and tools will all need to be addressed as part of design.

Service Transition Approach

During transition, the designed service strategy processes and tools will be built or purchased (and customized if necessary) and then tested and deployed.

This stage includes some high-level activities, such as training the project teams and developing or purchasing any tools they need. Tool administrators will need to be trained on how to manage the tools, and process managers should be trained on how to manage the process.

It is important to make sure the tools are tested for utility and warranty, and the processes should be tested to show they can achieve the desired results as planned. Another important factor is running a pilot for the tools and/or processes and training the users of the tools and the staff who will need to comply with the processes. Following the pilot, the tools and/or processes should be deployed. Finally, a postimplementation review should be carried out to ensure that the tools and processes are delivering as they were designed and to provide appropriate feedback.

Service Operation Approach

In service operations, the service strategy processes will actually be executed.

The following generic activities will be included in this stage:

• The execution of process activities as defined in the process documentation and according to the defined policies for the process
• The maintenance of the tools used to support these processes, monitoring the performance and the quality of the output of the processes, and identifying and resolving process exceptions
• Finally, monitoring the overall success of the strategy, services, and customer relationships

Continual Service Improvement Approach

The role of continual service improvement will include the generic CSI activities, applied to service strategy:

• The assessment of the metrics of each process
• Evaluation of the effectiveness and efficiency of each process
• Revision of the requirements for metrics and information as the processes mature
• Identification of opportunities for improvement of processes
• Evaluation of whether the strategy and services are meeting the objectives set
• Plans to address the situation if they are not

Service Design Stage

Service strategy sets the direction for the design of services, the objectives the services need to achieve, and the specific outcomes they need to achieve. It defines what is required to ensure both competitiveness and satisfied customers and how this will be achieved.

Service strategy enables design, and it also defines boundaries within which that design must be undertaken.

The design of a service is based on the outcomes the customer desires, expressed in terms of utility and warranty. Determining which attributes of a service are essential, which add value, and which are purely “nice to have” is an important part of designing a service, made clearer by the work done during service strategy. Service strategy will also identify the constraints under which the service needs to be developed. You can see examples of these constraints here in Figure 8.3.

Service Transition Stage

Service transition is not just a tactical stage in which services are moved into operation; it is critical in achieving a change of strategy. This stage is responsible for the cultural, organizational, and service changes required to meet changing objectives.

Service strategy impacts service transition in three ways:

• Firstly, service strategy assists in deciding how services should be transitioned, considering aspects such as customer involvement, what release and deployment mechanisms are appropriate, and training requirements for the new or changed service.
• Secondly, service strategy defines what needs to change, when, and to what extent.
• Finally, because service transition validates the ability of the new or changed services to achieve the objectives and outcomes defined during service strategy and service design, it is service strategy that provides the basis for the tests and service evaluation.

Service Operation Stage

Service operation is where the value that was anticipated and designed is finally realized. Strategies must consider the limits to operational capabilities, and operations must understand the required outcomes and work to achieve these.

It should be possible to measure how successfully the strategy is being executed and how well it is achieving its objectives by measuring operational activities, but only if these metrics have been anticipated in the design of the service.

Continual Service Improvement Stage

Continual service improvement takes its lead from service strategy; it uses the defined strategies and desired outcomes as a basis for evaluating whether services are successful.

At the same time, continual service improvement acts as an initiator of strategy. Through continual assessment and measurement, it assists in determining where a strategy needs to be changed and how it can be made more effective. It detects changes in the use and outcomes of services and determines the ongoing relevance of services.