You Can’t Do this Alone: The Need to Involve Your Customers in … Author_Ivor... · 2016-12-19 · it SMF Annual Conference 2013 You Can’t Do this Alone: The Need to Involve

itSMF Annual Conference 2013

You Can’t Do this Alone: The Need to Involve Your Customers in Service ManagementCustomers in Service Management

Mr. Ivor Macfarlane

ITIL Author

Don’t you know any better yet?

• Effort is needed on both sides

© 2013, IBM Corporation2

The vet’s dilemma

• Vets’ patients can’t say where it hurts• Vets’ patients can’t say where it hurts

• Communication withcustomers shouldmake the whole jobso much easier


Who is your customer – and are they all that matters?

• Other stakeholders do matter but …

• Customer = loudest stakeholder syndrome

• Too busy, too scared or just hiding• Too busy, too scared or just hiding

• Has finance ever distracted a companyfrom their real job?


Perspectives – and bridging them

• Encrypt/decrypt requirement • Encrypt/decrypt requirement

• Not just jargon

• Mind-set difference

� Why are you in IT?

� Why are they not?

� Isn’t coincidence


� Isn’t coincidence

� Wouldn’t homogeneitybe boring

Some customer do invest resources in their services

• Temptation is to feel outsourced = solved

• Why keep a dog and bark yourself?

• But needs collaboration – it can be ruined by either side

• One quick example where the investment is:

� Long term – 10 years

� Considered worthwhile

� Not going away


Major insurance company – outsourced IT services

IT delivery liaison structure

Customer liaisonstructure

Account Executive

Service management lead

Line of Business SM lead #1



IT services manager

Service management liaison











In our specific example

• Process in place for 10 years

• All the people have changed – but relationship continues– but relationship continues

• Works because of trust at beginning� New participants expect that

trust and are trained/learn to use it

� The working relationship works

• Provides (relatively) painless route for:� Feedback


� Getting across message of what was paid for (expectation management)

� Reduces ‘IT has to tell users what the customer bought them’

Do you want what I want?

• Well, yes and no


• So we need to see both perspectives …

… and accept they may be different things

Partnership usually means compromise

Shared benefits and risks� Who pays for each role?

� Where do the benefitscome?

� Collaboration andcommunicationessential

� TCO and CCO

• User role can be keyto supplier value


to supplier value

• Other stakeholders

Reassurance is an important need and outcome

• People rather than technology focus• People rather than technology focus

• Runs both ways

• A factor in meetings, roles and even in shift patterns


Measurement

• Helping with the journey from business knowledge to • Helping with the journey from business knowledge to collectable data – and back

• Who says what matters?

• Customers and users (pets and owners)

• Being honest


Customer involvement driving real change

“IT became major recognized risk to the organization.”Was this a Problem Statement? - No a success statement!

Total Incidents Reported

Sig

nif

ican

t b

usin

ess d

am

ag

e

Nu

mb

er

of

Incid

en

ts R

ep

ort

ed

© 2013, IBM Corporation13 © Joel Splan, North West Memorial Hospital, 2009

Significant business impact

Sig

nif

ican

t b

usin

ess d

am

ag

e

Nu

mb

er

of

Incid

en

ts R

ep

ort

ed

Jan

Feb

Mar May

Apr Jun Aug

Jul SepOct Dec

Nov Jan

Feb

Mar May

Apr Jun Aug

Jul Sep

But more than simple incident prioritisation

• Prioritisation as a dynamic entity

� What the influences are

� How to read and react � How to read and react

• Role of the service pipeline

� Why do development if it isn’t important?

� (but the standard contingency solution)

� Leapfrogging and ongoing justification

� Conflicts – who referees?

• IT’s yesterday is the business's today


• IT’s yesterday is the business's today

• Best-before and use-by dates

Customers across the Service Lifecycle

• Customers have key roles at every stage• Customers have key roles at every stage

� Strategy – well obviously

� Design – who are you designing it for, what not how

� Transition – acceptance, priority

� Operation – delivering requirements, so someone has to say what they are

� CSI (not lifecycle but) – define ‘improvement’


Mixing wishes and practicalities

• Knowing what is wanted• Knowing what is wanted

• Saying what is possible

• How can we mix these?

� Team work

� Workshops

� Planning


� Planning

� Partnership

� Common goals

What can we do – real speak?

• Know who the customer is

• Make sure they know they are the customer

• Do we have conflicts• Do we have conflicts

• Agree common goals – in common language

• Set up, maintain and deliver communication (it is much more coffee than conference call)


Thank you

• Questions or complaints

� Now or later

� lunch or dinner?� lunch or dinner?

� [email protected]

� Twitter: @ivormacf


Blog: www.servicemanagement360.com

Documents

You Can’t Do this Alone: The Need to Involve Your Customers in … Author_Ivor... · 2016-12-19 · it SMF Annual Conference 2013 You Can’t Do this Alone: The Need to Involve