The ITIL Service Desk Common Sense Comes To Life Version : 1.4 Date : July 19, 2005 By: : Pink Elephant
Table Of Contents 1 ITIL DEFINED... 3 2 ITIL S BUSINESS BENEFITS... 5 3 BENEFITS OF AN ITIL-BASED SERVICE DESK... 7 4 ABOUT PINK ELEPHANT... 10 5 BIBLIOGRAPHY... 12 Page 2 of 13
1 ITIL DEFINED The OGC (Office of Government Commerce) in the UK developed the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) in the mid 1980s. Put simply, ITIL is a series of books that outline a comprehensive set of best practices for IT Service Management. OGC enlisted industry leading IT professionals and organizations (including Pink Elephant) to document the best way to manage IT services. To date, these books are the only comprehensive, non-proprietary guidance for managing IT services. ITIL promotes a quality approach to achieving IT Service Management results that are aligned with business. It acts as the enabler to cement business effectiveness in the use of information systems. This is important because today s progressive IT organizations recognize that having technical competence is no longer enough. IT managers need to understand how to take a business view of IT. These professionals recognize the importance of working in close partnership with other business units to achieve corporate goals. ITIL s IT Service Management process model enables organizations to link together eleven key disciplines required to support and deliver effective IT services. ITIL describes how these disciplines are related to wider business issues. This approach has allowed thousands of IT organizations to improve their credibility and effectiveness, and reduce costs. Diagram featuring Service Support and Service Delivery processes, as well as the Service Desk function. ITIL is the most widely accepted IT best practice, process management framework in the world. Since the original launch, ITIL has launched an industry of services including: organizations providing education, consulting and outsourcing services, not-for-profit user groups, and examination bodies to regulate the ITIL certification program. Page 3 of 13
The remainder of this paper describes the benefits organizations have achieved by using the framework as well as how ITIL can make an impact at the Service Desk. Page 4 of 13
2 ITIL S BUSINESS BENEFITS As a holistic, business focused and process-based approach to IT management, ITIL enables organizations to deliver quality IT services aligned with business goals. Here are some examples of ITIL in practice: Procter & Gamble Started using ITIL in 1999 and has realized a 6% to 8% cut in operating costs. Another ITIL project has reduced help desk calls by 10%. In four years, the company reported overall savings of about $500 million. i Ontario Justice Enterprise Embraced ITIL in 1999 and created a virtual help/service desk that cut support costs by 40%. ii Caterpillar Embarked on a series of ITIL projects in 2000. After applying ITIL principles, the rate of achieving the target response time for incident management on Web-related services jumped from 60% to more than 90%. iii Zurich Life Since implementing ITIL to maintain service desk consistency in the late 1990 s, the company has reduced the number of contracted IT staff from 30 down to 10. iv Hospital Corporation of America Measured ITIL success and cost savings on the repeatable and consistent delivery of IT services, which directly relates to the infrequency of network/computing outages. v Nationwide Insurance Implementing key ITIL processes in 2001 led to a 40% reduction of its systems outages. The company estimates a $4.3 million ROI over the next three years. vi Ontario Ministry of Transportation Used ITIL to resolve help desk incidents 98% of the time, up from 85%, reducing the unit cost of IT. vii Capital One An ITIL program that began in 2001 resulted in a 30% reduction in systems crashes and software-distribution errors, and a 92% reduction in business-critical incidents by 2003. viii In An Introductory Overview of ITIL ix, published in April 2004, the IT Service Management Forum (itsmf), an non-profit user group focused on IT service management, states that the benefits of ITIL are twofold: It improves IT services while reducing delivery costs. Page 5 of 13
The report goes further to indicate some savings organizations have achieved through the ITIL framework: More than 70 percent reduction in service downtime ROI up by more than 1,000 percent Savings of nearly $200 million annually 50 percent reduction in new product cycles These examples demonstrate some of the benefits organizations can achieve using ITIL best practices. To summarize, organizations are enabled to: Increase alignment between business and IT, as IT focuses on achieving business objectives Eliminate regional and departmental silos by integrating key IT processes throughout the organization Strengthen lines of communication across IT by using the same playbook Improve customer satisfaction rates by setting and achieving service targets Reduce IT costs by improving management processes across the IT department and the rest of the business Many organizations begin applying the service management framework by focusing on key Service Support processes such as Incident, Problem and Change Management. These processes converge at the Service Desk and can provide quick wins to demonstrate return on investment. Page 6 of 13
3 BENEFITS OF AN ITIL-BASED SERVICE DESK There is a difference between a Help Desk and an ITIL Service Desk. The Help Desk s primary purpose is to manage, coordinate and resolve incidents as quickly as possible. x The Service Desk includes this purpose and also interfaces with all other ITIL processes. It has a broader scope that includes acting as a day-to-day contact for end-users, customers, other resolving groups, third parties and management. Organizations find that the ITIL Service Desk: Enables high levels of customer satisfaction Is a strategic function because it lowers total cost of ownership for support Provides management information thereby enabling informed business decisions Using an ITIL based solution provider, such as Pink Elephant, enables organizations to realize the benefits of a Service Desk in a cost and time effective manner. Benefits include: Increased End-User And Customer Satisfaction When Service Level Management is working efficiently, and in a fully integrated fashion with other processes such as Incident, Problem, Configuration and Change Management, end-user and client satisfaction ratings increase significantly. This occurs because of decreased disruptions to their workflow through the RFC process, recurring incidents decrease through Problem Management and IT customers have a clear understanding of how the Service Desk will meet their needs through Service Level Agreements (SLAs) Reduced Costs Costs decrease over time through the use of integrated ITIL processes such as Incident, Problem, Configuration and Change Management. When these processes are mature, key activities occur that positively impact the bottom line Page 7 of 13
Interdependencies Of Incident, Problem, Configuration & Change Management Processes Incident Incident Incident Incident Incident Management Incident Incident Incident Incident Problem Management Problem Problem Known Known Error Error C.I. At Fault Change Management RFC Change Change When there is not an integrated approach to managing these key processes, recurring incidents go undetected, problems are not identified and changes are not managed efficiently. As a result, there is a high cost to organizations because these situations negatively affect end-user productivity, and problems continue because the root cause is not eliminated Service Level Management ITIL s Service Level Management model (as depicted below) translates into improved service levels and reduced costs as well as a strong service partnership relationship. Page 8 of 13
Service Level Management Process: Define, Execute, Control Review Review UCs UCs And And OLAs OLAs Review UCs And OLAs Define Establish Establish Function Function Planning Planning Planning Implementation Implementation Implementation Periodic Periodic Reviews Reviews Review Review SLM SLM Process Process Review SLM Process Catalogue Catalogue Services Services Catalogue Services Draft Draft Draft Control Implement Implement SLAs SLAs Negotiate Negotiate Negotiate Review Review UCs UCs And And OLAs OLAs Review UCs And OLAs Execute Agree Agree Agree Manage Manage the the ongoing ongoing process process Monitor Monitor Monitor Report Report Report Review Review Review Service Level Management provides a clear definition of required goals and levels of service and expectations. As well, it moves beyond SLAs to include these other value added components: Service Catalogue: A comprehensive document identifying products the Service Desk currently supports and can support in the future, as well as important service information Service Targets: A set of business focused, key performance indicators (KPIs) Service Review Meetings: Regular review meetings between the business and IT to discuss service anomalies and improvement initiatives Operational Level Agreements (OLAs): To manage relationships and embed KPIs for external suppliers on whom other service targets rely Service Review Board: A group of major stakeholders have an opportunity to identify the level of service they wish to receive as well as request improvements to service within this process These benefits illustrate the reasons why an ITIL based Service Desk is a good first step towards implementing a best practice approach to managing IT services. Many organizations choose to partner with an ITIL based solution provider to help realize these benefits sooner. Page 9 of 13
4 ABOUT PINK ELEPHANT Pink Elephant () is the world leader in IT management best practices, offering conference, education and consulting services to public and private businesses globally, and many listed in the Fortune 500. The company specializes in improving the quality of IT services through the application of recognized best practice frameworks, including the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL ). Service Lines Pink Elephant s service lines each provide different, but complementary business solutions: Business Process Consulting: Using the ITIL best practices approach to IT service management as a springboard, Pink Elephant provides end-to-end solutions from assessments, to strategic planning to implementation, continuous improvement and beyond. Experienced consultants work hand-in-hand with customers every step of the way Conferences & Special Events: Pink Elephant is the world s largest producer of IT service management conferences and delivers several major events per year Education: Pink Elephant is the most prolific creator and widespread distributor of ITIL training, delivering three levels of certification Foundation, Practitioner and Management. Pink Elephant is accredited by The Examination Institute for Information Science (EXIN) and The Information System Examination Board (ISEB) ATLAS : ATLAS is a secure, web-enabled knowledge management system containing much of Pink s highly valued intellectual property ready and waiting for users to access, copy, customize and re-use ITIL Leadership Pink Elephant has grown to become recognized globally as The ITIL Experts and is very proud of its commitment to the ITIL best practice framework. In fact, Pink Elephant has been involved in the ITIL project since its inception in 1987, and was recently selected by the UK s Office of Government Commerce (OGC) to help author ITIL s next version. Furthermore, Pink Elephant: Supported the development of ITIL s core books: o Service Support (English and French editions) o Service Delivery Launched PinkVerify, the only independent certification program worldwide that recognizes software that supports specific IT management processes Created the International IT Service Management Conference & Exhibition, one of the largest events worldwide solely dedicated to ITIL Facilitated plans for EXIN s North American examination centre (Loyalist College in Belleville, Ontario, Canada), enabling a faster and easier ITIL certification process (Cont d ) Page 10 of 13
Introduced ITIL internationally to companies across a wide variety of industries, sizes, technical platforms and corporate cultures First offered the Foundation, Practitioner and Management ITIL certification levels publicly in North America Was a founding member of the IT Service Management Forum (now itsmf) the worldwide networking group for IT service management professionals Awards Pink Elephant is recognized as a progressive and successful company and is the recipient of the following awards that reflect its corporate leadership excellence and business results: Ontario Global Traders Award 2005: Awarded by the Ontario Government for achievements in innovation, leadership, product excellence and expansion into new markets Top 100 Woman Entrepreneurs 2001 2005: Awarded to Pink Elephant CEO, Fatima Cabral, by PROFIT magazine Business Excellence Award Awarded by the Federation of Portuguese-Canadian Business and Professionals to Pink Elephant CEO, Fatima Cabral Top 100 Fastest Growing Companies in Canada Awarded annually by PROFIT Magazine. Pink Elephant was recognized as one of Canada s fastest-growing companies (based on a comparison of revenue growth for five consecutive years) Top 100 Canadian IT Professional Services Organizations Awarded by Branham300 EXIN Award: Given to the organization with outstanding achievements in promoting the IT Service Management framework outlined in the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) the world s most popular set of IT management best practices For more information about Pink Elephant: Call 1-888-273-PINK Visit E-mail us at info@pinkelephant.com
5 BIBLIOGRAPHY Service Support. Norwich: The Stationery Office, 2000. Service Delivery. Norwich: The Stationery Office, 2001. Understanding And Improving: The Business Perspective On Your IT Infrastructure. Norwich: The Stationery Office, 1996. Page 12 of 13
6 END NOTES i www.networkworld.com/news/2002/0930itil.html ii www.networkworld.com/news/2002/0930itil.html iii www.nextslm.org/itilintro.html iv www.networkworld.com/news/2004/083004itil.html v www.networkworld.com/news/2004/083004itil.html vi www.cmp.com/press vii www.public-cio.com/story.php?id=2005.01.31-92923 viii www.computerworld.com/managementtopics/management/story/0,10801,90797,00.html ix www.itsmf.com x Service Support. Norwich: The Stationery Office, 2000. Page 13 of 13