Service Strategy
Introduction
A strategy outlines the future potential
of investment and defines the outcomes. It
is made to answer the Who, Why, What, Where, When and How questions. A strategy is deemed successful when the IT organization understands how to provide value to their customer and how to differentiate themselves from competitors.
Core, enabling
and enhancing services
Core services deliver the basic outcomes
desired by one or more customers.
They represent the value that the customer wants and for which they are willing to pay. Core services
anchor the value proposition
for the customer
and provide the basis for their continued utilization and satisfaction.
Enabling services are services
that are needed
in order for a core
service to be delivered.
Enabling services may or may not be visible to the customer, but the customer does not perceive them as services in
their own right. They are ‘basic
factors’ which
enable the customer
to receive the ‘real’ (core) service.
Enhancing services are services
that are added to a core service to make it more exciting or enticing to the customer.
Enhancing services are not essential to the delivery of a core service, and are added to a core service as ‘excitement’ factors, which will encourage customers to use the core service
more (or to choose
the core service
provided
by one company
over those of its competitors).
Value to the Business
Service Strategy
provides the following Value to the business:
• Support
the
ability
to
link
activities performed by the service
provider to outcomes that are critical to internal or external
customers.
• Enable the service provider to have a clear understanding of what types and levels of service will make its customers successful.
• Enable the service provider
to respond quickly and effectively to changes in the business environment, ensuring
increased
competitive
advantage over time.
• Support the creation and maintenance
of a portfolio of quantified services that will
enable
the
business to
achieve positive
return
on
its investment
in services.
• Facilitate
functional
and transparent communication between the customer and the service provider.
• Provide the means for the service
provider to organize itself so that it can provide services in an efficient and effective manner.
Why Have a
Service Strategy?
Strategy, in the context of Service Management, is used by the Service Providers to:
• Attain market focus: Deciding where and how to compete
• Distinguish capabilities: Develop service assets that the business appreciates
Purpose
Service Strategy is a set of strategies designed
to provide direction
for growth, investment and define outcomes that can be measured.
The purpose of the service
strategy
stage of the service lifecycle is to define
the
perspective, position, plans and patterns that a
service provider needs to be able to execute to meet an organization's business outcomes.
In order to implement the best Service
Strategy, every IT organization
must understand how:
• To provide value to their customers
• To differentiate themselves from other providers
Objectives
The objectives of Service Strategy
include:
• An understanding of what strategy is
• A clear identification of the definition of services and the customers who use them
• The ability to define how value is created and delivered
• A means to identify
opportunities to provide services and how to exploit them
• A clear service provision model, that articulates how services will be delivered and funded, and to whom they will be delivered and for what purpose
• The means to understand the organizational capability required to deliver the strategy
• Documentation and coordination of how service assets
are used to deliver
services, and how to optimize their performance
• Processes
that define
the strategy
of the organization, which
services
will achieve the strategy,
what level of investment will be required, at what levels of demand, and the means to ensure a working relationship exists between the customer and service provider.
Service Strategy should be revised on a
regular basis to ensure its alignment with the direction and needs of the business.
The deliverables of Service Strategy include:
• Service Portfolio
• Service Catalog
• Requirements
for
Service
Design, Service
Transition and Service
Operation
cycles
Scope
Service Strategy
starts
by
defining
and
discussing the generic principles
and processes of service
management,
and these
generic
principles
are then applied
consistently to the management of IT services.
Two aspects are covered in Service Strategy:
• Defining a strategy
whereby a service provider will deliver services to meet a customer's business outcomes
• Defining a strategy
for how to manage those services
Service Value Definition
Customers are often wary of the quality and integrity of services offered
by an IT company. In this perspective, the service value comprise of service utility as well as service warranty.
Service Value = Service Utility
+ Service Warranty
Service Utility
defines the functionality
of an IT service from the
customer’s
perspective. Utility, as perceived by the customer, is
the service attributes that have a positive
effect
on
the
performance of tasks
associated
with desired
business outcomes. This is often referred to as ‘Fit for Purpose’.
For example:
Hardware technicians in
the field securely access enterprise
applications
(increase gain) without being
constrained by
location (decrease constraints).
Service Warranty for a service provides the customer
with a level of reassurance
and guarantee
to meet agreed
upon requirements. Warranty will minimize possible
losses for the customer due to variations in performance. This is often referred to as
‘Fit for Use’.
For example:
The technicians are able
to
contact
a Service
Desk
when
they encounter incidents pertaining to their equipment, and the Service Desk Agent is able to resolve the incident or provide a work around solution (increase
service availability to the technicians).
Value Creation through
Services (Customer Assets)
The customer of IT (the business) uses its assets to create value for their customers
(end-customer). These assets are called Customer assets.
IT organizations
can create value for their customers by enhancing the performance of these customer assets. Hence, value creation of a service
can be increased by increasing the utility or warranty attributes.
Some examples of outcomes are described as:
• Increase in throughput
of business process
• Increase in customer satisfaction
• Decrease in fixed costs of business process
Value Creation through
Services (Service Value)
Value is defined not only strictly in
terms of the customer’s business outcomes. It is highly dependent on customer’s perceptions.
Perceptions are influenced by:
• Attributes of a service
• Present or prior experiences with similar attributes
• Relative endowment of competitors and peers
• Customer’s self-image or actual position
on the market
It is the provider’s responsibility
to demonstrate value,
influence perceptions
and respond to preferences. Perceptions of value are influenced by expectations. Customers do not buy services; they buy the fulfillment of particular needs. What the customer values
is frequently
different
from
what the IT organization believes
it provides.
ITIL, ITIL Foundation Course, ITIL V3, ITIL Course, ITIL - Course, online itil, itil certification, online material for itil course
