Best practices are for keeps

Andrew Murray, Chief Information Officer of EOH, says IT is becoming an increasingly critical link in the business value chain and as such, a highly effective IT service management (ITSM) implementation is essential. Based on the comprehensive set of management best practices spelled out in ITIL, ITSM can be instrumental in optimising service quality, improving service levels, reducing service delivery costs and maximising the business value of IT.

The necessity of IT today is to deliver excellent application service levels in order to support mission-critical business activities. At the same time, IT companies are looking for ways to manage the operating costs of the underlying infrastructure. How to reduce infrastructure costs without compromising application service is the challenge they`re faced with. To develop an informed response to this challenge, IT managers need to follow best practices aimed at reducing the risk of change.

Murray says IT departments are progressively turning to ITIL best practices and also evaluating the ISO/IEC 20000 ITSM standard. This standard, aligned with ITIL best practices, specifies the minimum requirements for an IT organisation to deliver high-quality service to their business.

"In addition to setting clear quality levels, ISO/IEC 20000 also discredits the common assumption that ITIL processes can be implemented once and then be finished," says Murray. "Rather, ISO/IEC 20000 states that organisations must continually improve the services they provide and publish a policy on service improvement, using a formal process to identify, assess and manage improvements on an ongoing basis."

ITIL has a particularly vital role to play in the operational arena, which encompasses all the activities involved in IT service delivery and service quality monitoring, management and measurement. The key to successful ITSM is addressing the issue of how to administer and adjust service management practices for ongoing day-to-day IT operations. The real business value of service management improvement projects can only be revealed through a continuous process of audit and review, Murray says.

"As business and technology are changing all the time, there is a need for regular re-evaluation, adaptation and changes to everyday management activities. Essentially, IT organisations also require a day-to-day operational approach to ITSM in order to stay on track and meet their goals. They can no longer afford to focus on technology and their internal organisation; they now have to consider the quality of the services they provide and focus on the relationship with customers."

Murray says the chief benefit of adopting IT best practices is to work smarter and more efficiently. Since ITSM aligns IT processes to overall business goals, companies gain higher productivity from both business and IT staff. Also, a significant advantage of an ITSM approach is that it allows IT staff to be more innovative in their work because it reduces the amount of unplanned, reactionary problem solving. Streamlined operations resulting from ITIL-prescribed processes improve customer satisfaction and lead to the tighter management of IT assets.

IT best practices can enhance an organisation`s effectiveness, but the critical aspect of any ITSM effort is to ensure that services, processes, organisation and tools are all aligned, says Murray. He also stresses that ITIL is not an end game; it`s a journey for the rest of the business`s life. "It`s not a single project but a series of projects spread over time and is part of a culture change that aligns IT with business direction - a change that can significantly enhance IT`s value to the company as a whole."