Co-creating value in organisations with ITIL 4: A guide for consultants, executives and managers

By David Barrow

It aims to help business leaders continually evaluate challenges and provides solutions to improve efficiencies across the service streams

• Language: English
• Publisher: TSO
• Release date: Sep 29, 2022
• ISBN: 9780113318445

David Barrow

David’s career has spanned a variety of businesses, including IBM, where he authored enterprise service management processes in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It was here that he discovered IT as a service and set upon a path to deliver IT services that were as valuable as they were functional. From a certification standpoint, David was introduced to ITIL as part of his work at IBM. He has taken a journey that follows ITIL from v2 up to the present day, achieving certification as an ITIL 4 Strategic Leader and working as a VeriSM™ contributor. After working for IBM, Fidelity International, and Cap Gemini, David became an independent IT service management consultant covering digital transformations and service management process re-engineering projects in several sectors for various global clients. During 2020–2021 he has been acting as a subject matter expert, presenting to C-level executives and consultants on the YouTube video, ‘10 Steps towards Successful Digital Transformation’, and is a guest blogger for AXELOS, writing about ITIL 4 and its day-to-day use. David has also been a panellist on the ‘ITSM Crowd’ YouTube channel and the Service Management Social podcast, discussing digital service management and its value to enterprise.

Book preview

Co-creating Value in Organizations with ITIL 4

A guide for consultants, executives, and managers

David Barrow

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Contents

List of figures and tables

About the author

Foreword 1

Foreword 2

Preface

Acknowledgements

1Where to start

1.1 The ITIL guiding principles

1.2 Continual improvement

1.3 Disruption and innovation – learn, unlearn, and relearn

1.4 Continual improvement as a practice

1.5 Organizational change management in action

1.6 In summary

2ITIL – it’s not just about IT

2.1 The changing role of IT

2.2 Why ITIL isn’t just IT

2.3 ITIL and the enterprise

2.4 The ITIL service value system

2.5 The four dimensions

2.6 In summary

3Defining values

3.1 Personal values

3.2 Organizational values

3.3 In summary

4Balancing organizational perspectives

4.1 Organizational governance

4.2 Ethics

4.3 Agility

4.4 Leadership

4.5 Culture

4.6 In summary

5Balancing supplier perspectives

5.1 Engagement

5.2 Collaboration

5.3 Supplier governance

5.4 In summary

6Co-creating value with customers

6.1 The evolution of ITIL

6.2 Innovation

6.3 Viability

6.4 ITIL 4 and the customer journey

6.5 Outcomes

6.6 In summary

7Creating value through knowledge

7.1 Knowledge management

7.2 Defining the value of knowledge

7.3 Using knowledge to achieve a balance

7.4 Knowledge and the value of tools

7.5 In summary

8The value of reporting

8.1 Representative reporting

8.2 Operational reporting

8.3 The watermelon effect

8.4 Balancing quality with quantity

8.5 C-level information

8.6 Affecting value through commentary

8.7 In summary

9Practice makes perfect

9.1 The real world

9.2 Thinking outside the trenches

9.3 Practices – a case study

9.4 Proof-of-concept services

9.5 Value-based decisions

9.6 In summary

10 The value of peeking under the cover

10.1 Measuring success

10.2 Fragile services

10.3 Balancing dependencies

10.4 A fragile case study (personal story)

10.5 In summary

11 One language

12 The end – or just the beginning?

Glossary

Further research

List of figures and tables

Figure 0.1 Our journey together

Figure 1.1 Continual improvement and the guiding principles

Figure 1.2 The initial approach – engaging hearts and minds

Figure 1.3 Delivering a message globally

Figure 1.4 Always learning

Figure 2.1 Business, digital, and IT strategy

Figure 2.2 The ITIL service value system

Figure 2.3 The customer journey

Figure 4.1 The COBIT goals cascade

Figure 6.1 The customer journey

Figure 6.2 The service relationship model

Figure 9.1 A service quality community charter

Figure 9.2 The four dimensions of service management

Figure 10.1 The ITIL service value chain

Table 1.1 The ITIL guiding principles

Table 2.1 The four dimensions of ITIL

Table 2.2 Key guiding principles within this chapter

Table 3.1 Key guiding principle within this chapter

Table 4.1 The four dimensions of ITIL

Table 4.2 Key guiding principles within this chapter

Table 5.1 Key guiding principles within this chapter

Table 6.1 Sample service experience NPS measures

Table 6.2 Key guiding principles within this chapter

Table 7.1 Key guiding principles within this chapter

Table 8.1 Key guiding principles within this chapter

Table 9.1 The four dimensions of ITIL

Table 9.2 Adding value to services using the guiding principles

Table 10.1 Sample fragile service health check scoring and RAG status

Table 10.2 Sample fragile service health questions

Table 10.3 Sample fragile service improvements

Table 11.1 ITIL’s guiding principles relevant to ‘one language’

About the author

As a child, David spent many of his formative years moving from home to home while his father served in HM Royal Air Force. This lifestyle required David to adopt and adapt from an early age – an adaptability that has come in very handy during his working life.

David’s career has spanned a variety of businesses, including IBM, where he authored enterprise service management processes in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It was here that he discovered IT as a service and set upon a path to deliver IT services that were as valuable as they were functional.

From a certification standpoint, David was introduced to ITIL as part of his work at IBM. He has taken a journey that follows ITIL from v2 up to the present day, achieving certification as an ITIL 4 Strategic Leader and working as a VeriSM™ contributor.

After working for IBM, Fidelity International, and Cap Gemini, David became an independent IT service management consultant covering digital transformations and service management process re-engineering projects in several sectors for various global clients. During 2020–2021 he acted as a subject matter expert, presenting to C-level executives and consultants on the YouTube video, ‘10 Steps towards Successful Digital Transformation’, and is a guest blogger for AXELOS, writing about ITIL 4 and its day-to-day use. David has also been a panellist on the ‘ITSM Crowd’ YouTube channel and the Service Management Social podcast, discussing digital service management and its value to enterprise.

Foreword 1

Organizations are groups of people who do things with and for other people. This is the fundamental principle of value, and it is the principle on which this publication is built. No matter what activities the people in an organization perform, no matter which technology they use, no matter how well managed they are – there is no value if the things they do for others are irrelevant or unnecessary.

Value is not created by one group and delivered to another. For value to exist, both groups must benefit from the interaction. For an organization to survive and grow, every stakeholder that supplies it and every stakeholder it serves must benefit from the association, whether it is a single transaction or a strategic relationship.

Further, value cannot be created between two departments in an organization without the results of their interaction reaching an external stakeholder. Models that focus only on services between an IT department and another business unit do not go far enough.

Co-creating Value in Organizations with ITIL 4 expands on the principle of value co-creation described in ITIL 4. It provides detailed and practical guidance on how service management can be used across all units of an organization to co-create value with stakeholders in the supply chain, both up- and downstream. It is an essential read for every executive who is concerned about the long-term viability and value of their organization.

David Cannon

Nfiniti 3

Foreword 2

In some circles, ITIL has a perception challenge: some think of it as all process and governance, and nothing more than incident, problem, and change. Others who embrace DevOps and Agile think that ITIL is no longer relevant. Yet ITIL 4 as a body of work is adaptive and written for a digital and agile age. It is about creating value. The ITIL 4 publications provide a huge body of valuable knowledge, but this in itself can be a barrier to exploring and understanding the value of ITIL 4.

The simplicity of the structure and easy-reading language of this publication bring to life the key concepts of ITIL 4. This makes it ideal as a stand-alone publication for those who need to understand the basics of ITIL 4, or it can act as a preface and accompaniment to further detailed ITIL 4 studies. Whether you are an experienced ITSM professional, a seasoned CIO, or someone just starting their IT career, you will learn something new from David’s perspective and real-world stories.

This guide is a must-read for any IT professional. Even if you are not a proponent of ITIL, you will almost certainly come across ITIL at some point in your career. There are many different guides, frameworks, methodologies, and best practices in technology; a well-rounded IT professional will know that creating and delivering value is the ultimate goal for any IT and digital product or service.

Co-creating Value in Organizations with ITIL 4 is a great place to start or indeed expand your understanding of the value of ITIL.

Marc Biebuyck, MBA

Consultant and Founding Director, syneXeos

Preface

I’ll begin by outlining our journey within the infographic shown in Figure 0.1.

I will use this journey to share my view of enterprise service management and to demonstrate techniques that balance the need for ITIL with the values that influence its implementation in the real world. I will also focus on common organizational challenges, illustrating how we can co-create value and change positively using ITIL 4.

I have based this publication on ITIL 4 and my personal experience; I aim to show how value can be co-created between organizations and customers, while also balancing the need to maintain and continually improve digital services. I use examples and methods based on the scenarios I have encountered in various industries, and although I am not writing a step-by-step guide to ITIL 4, I will cover learning from across the ITIL spectrum that I have tailored for a day-to-day approach.

ITIL’s value-based and outcome-focused approach has provided me with skills that are transferable across time, technologies, and organizations. I write about these in an era when change is happening at speed in volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) situations that lack predictability and clarity, and are shifting the way we operate.

My intention is to illustrate my experiences and demonstrate practical methods in the form of personal stories that provide a more pragmatic insight. Running throughout this guide is the ITIL guiding principle of ‘focus on value’, which will allow you to continually assess whether your actions are beneficial to:

■yourself

■your teams

■your organization as a whole

■your customers

■your potential customers.

Your success, and that of your organization and your customers, may depend on just how beneficial your actions are, and whether they continue to add value in an ever-changing environment.

Enjoy the journey!

Figure 0.1 Our journey together

Acknowledgements

Reviewers

TSO would like to give special thanks to all those who spent time reviewing the manuscript and providing valuable feedback.

Ryan Fraser

From service desk analyst to SaaS workflow executive, Ryan Fraser is a service management expert and workflow innovator who leads global teams of experience-driven professionals, whose mission is to co-create digital transformation and business model innovation with their customers.

Adam Griffith

Adam is an IT best-practice consultant at Axelos. Before 2021, he worked as a global technical trainer at New Horizons, specializing in all things ITIL and helping professionals to embrace best practice. He is a master trainer for ITIL 4, a keen proponent of the ITIL guiding principles in all aspects of life, and a frequent contributor to digital publications on the Axelos site.

Graham Heard

Graham is an IT service management practitioner and ITIL Expert with over 30 years’ experience. His background ranges from IT operations and pre-sales to ITIL training and service design. He understands the challenges IT professionals face on a day-to-day basis and applies both ITSM best practice and operational experience to meet customer and strategic requirements in the real world.

Grant Kersey

With 25 years’ experience, Grant is an accomplished senior IT professional specializing in global transformation. He has a track record of achieving strategic business outcomes predominantly in banking, but he has also worked in other industries. Grant has first-hand knowledge of co-creating value and believes this publication will be of great value to those who read it.

Paula Määttänen

Paula is an experienced consultant with strong IT service management skills, working in ITSM processes, tools, development, and operations. She is highly customer-service-oriented, and keeps the customer experience at the forefront of her mind. Since 1997, Paula has had various roles in the ITSM field (e.g. service desk, IT support manager and leader of the service desk, process consultant, ITSM tool solution/lead architect, and project manager).

Doug Oram

Doug is an IT service management consultant with more than 30 years’ experience. His career in IT has included a number of international roles across IT operations, service delivery management, and service introduction, involving