What is - Customer Portfolio (CP): A starter tool for BRM

ITIL - Service Strategy / Business Relations Management

What is -
Customer Portfolio (CP): A starter tool for BRM

The customer portfolio is a database used to record all customers of the IT service provider.  It is used by many processes but is defined and maintained in the business relation management process.  It provides insight into the customer and is developed from the point of view of the business relationship manger.  It allows the service provider to understand who the customers are and make the distinction between customers and users.  This enables the BRM to be able to define who the customer is and who in that organization has the authority to make decisions about which services are needed and their respective requirements.

Link:
https://buff.ly/2JnURxh

ITIL Implementation Challenges

1. Management Commitment

2. Resistance to ITIL

3. Project Culture

4. ITIL for the sake of ITIL

5. Business Acceptance

6. Big Bang

7. Naive Implementation

8. Tools

9. The Moving Target

Comment: Which one did you encounter in your ITIL implementation?   please share your thoughts & experiences with me!

LINK:
https://arch.simplicable.com/arch/new/10-ITIL-implemenation-challenges

Resources vs Capabilities in ITIL Service Strategy

Resources and Capabilities in ITIL Service Strategy

ITIL classifies Resources as: Financial Capital, Infrastructure, Applications, Information and People while it classifies Capabilities as: Management, Organisation, Process, Knowledge and People. If you’ve noticed, People have been tagged twice, once in Resources and once Capabilities. The headcount of the people working in the organisation is tagged within resources while the combination of the skill sets and the capabilities of the headcount are tagged in capabilities.

https://eqsystems.co.in/resources-and-capabilities-of-itil/

https://itilblues.wordpress.com/2007/11/20/itil-v3-the-use-of-resources-and-capabilities/

ITIL: The Politics of IT Service Valuation

ITIL - Service Strategy: Service Valuation


Points to consider:

Service Value - "the true value of an IT service is only possible to ascertain in the context of the enterprise’s end-customer."

"It makes more sense to value IT services based on the risk the enterprise faces should its products not meet needs of its end-customers. Business risk then, not customer perception, is the right place to start valuing IT services."

"Measure the enterprise value at risk, and you have the basis for actionable and quantifiable decision-making that is inherently self-justifying. Empirically quantified enterprise value at risk may just be the long sought after means to attain the most elusive of IT desires—alignment with the business, control of costs, and quality improvements"

Link:
http://www.itsmwatch.com/itil/article.php/3728496/The-Politics-of-IT-Service-Valuation.htm

NOTE: Value can change with time

ITIL - Service Strategy: What is a Service Model

ITIL - Service Strategy: What is a Service Model

The definition of a service model is ‘a model that shows how service assets interact with customer assets to create value. 

Service models describe the structure of a service (how the configuration items fit together) and the dynamics of the service (activities, flow of resources and interactions). 

A service model can be used as a template or blueprint for multiple services.’

Link:
https://eqsystems.co.in/itil-service-strategy-service-models/

Service Strategy: Risks vs Challenges

Have you ever differentiated between RISKs & CHALLENGEs?
I came across these two terms again in trying to understand ITIL-Service Strategy.

Kevin Archbold explains it well below:

A risk is something that could happen, that you'll look to prevent if possible, or have contingencies in place. 

A challenge is something that is already the case that you'll have to deal with.

Article:
http://sebastianmarshall.com/risks-vs-challenges

Enjoy your day!

SACM: Assets - Resources vs Capabilities

ITIL NOTES:

Resources are assets which an organization owns. The three main types are tangible, intangible and human.

Capabilities are complex patterns of skill in utilizing resources to achieve a desired end result.  Capabilities are learned over time, and are a skill or competence as opposed to a simple tangible resource. Capabilities cannot be immediately acquired, but are developed and honed via experiences and development of skills. A resource can become a capability if it is used for business development


What's a resource vs. a capability?
http://www.heitmanagement.com/blog/2013/04/whats-a-resource-vs-a-capability/
Blog: Resources vs capabilities
http://featherlight.net/laymans-terms/resources-vs-capabilities

ITIL Reactive and Proactive Problem Management

ITIL Reactive and Proactive Problem Management: Two sides of the same coin - from advisera.com

http://advisera.com/20000academy/knowledgebase/itil-reactive-proactive-problem-management-two-sides-coin/

Excerpts:

"The main focus of Problem Management is to increase long-term service stability and, consequently, customer satisfaction."

"This is where confusion may arise regarding the difference between Incident Management and Problem Management .... What we need is clear and well-defined hand-over procedure, with agreed time frames within which Incident Management stops, and Problem Management starts."


"But, Problem Management can hardly be of any use if there is no Change Management, Asset Management, Configuration Management, Event Management, Availability Management, Capacity Management, Knowledge Management and many more components in place. Problem Management heavily relies on data stored throughout the Service Lifecycle in order to be effective."

Change Management vs Release Deployment Management

I came across these articles when preparing to explain this ITIL processes to my senior management.  

Below are some interesting insights to RDM as compared to ChM.

The link between Change Management and Release Management - Dalibor Siroky
http://www.plutora.com/insights/2012/the-link-between-change-management-and-release-management/


Blog: The Difference between Change and Release Management - Professor P. Ross S. Wise
http://www.itsmprofessor.net/2014/03/the-difference-between-change-and.html

Process Improvement: What's the difference between change management and release control? - www.projectmanagement.com
http://www.projectmanagement.com/discussion-topic/9745/Whats-the-difference-between-change-management-and-release-control--

RACI Matrix - Responsible vs Accountable

ITIL: RACI Matrix

R(esponsible) – Who is responsible for actually doing it?
A(ccountable) – Who has authority to approve or disapprove it?
C(onsulted) – Who has needed input about the task?
I(Informed, kept) – Who needs to be kept informed about the task?

Reference:
The RACI Matrix – Who’s Responsible, Accountable, Consulted… and kept Informed

Purpose vs Goals vs Objectives

ITIL : Purpose vs Goals vs Objectives

Purpose = Why implement the process

Goal = What we want to achieve

Objective = How we want to achieve


~.~   ~.~   ~.~

Purpose, Goal and objective

A Purpose is a desired end result;  The reason why the (process, project, role or whatever the purpose is being written for) exists

Purpose is usually single, goals usually single or two. Objectives can be multiple statements – basically representing actions that will lead to achievement of the specified goal.

~.~ ~.~ ~.~

Goals are broad objectives are narrow.

Goals are general intentions; objectives are precise.

Goals are intangible; objectives are tangible.

Goals are abstract; objectives are concrete.


Goals can’t be validated as is; objectives can be validated.





Reference:

ITIL : Purpose vs Goals vs Objectives

Purpose, Goal and objective!

ITSM viewpoint: The Real Value of ITIL Incident Management

Incident Management is to rapidly restore service to the customer - true, and a good start.

Real value of Incident Management is to improve the business value of IT services.  

How?   read on ... 

Reference:
The Real Value of ITIL Incident Management

Standard Change vs Normal Change

Standard Change vs Normal Change -

Standard Change = low risk, relatively common and follows a procedure or work instruction - for example, a password reset or provision of standard equipment to a new employee = logged and tracked using a service request

Normal Change = not an emergency change or a standard change = follow the defined steps of the change management process

Reference:
Confused between a normal change and a standard change

Automate the ITIL Service Management

Why we need automation in ITIL service management?

Monitoring and measuring 
Generating automated alerts 
Maintain an up-to-date Configuration Management System
Sophisticated modeling and simulation 
Artificial intelligence - root cause analysis, through sophisticated alarm and control systems, to complex scheduling and resource management. 
Workflow management 
Integrate across different Service Management Processes and Functions

link:
How do you automate the ITIL service management process

Functions vs Process

Function = group of people and related resources for carrying out a set of activities = uses it's skills to carry out activities
Process = set of activities which achieve a particular business goal

Service Catalog vs Service Portfolio

Service Catalog = all services that are currently available to end users.
Service Portfolio = Service Catalog plus services that are presently in the planning and development phases, or have since been retired.

Reference:
Understanding ITIL Service Portfolio Management and the Service Catalog

OLA vs SLA

Operational Level Agreement VS Service Level Agreement

OLA = contract between the internal support groups = maintenance and other services
SLA = contract between the service providers with the customers = service uptime and performance

Reference:
Difference Between OLA and SLA

Service request vs Change request

As I was studying for ITIL foundation v2011 exam, I came upon interesting review questions which needs more clarification.  These are those that I researched & clarified along this journey:

Service request vs Change request
service request =  request by standard users via service desk and is usually a fulfilled through Request fulfillment
Change requests = requests for modifications required in any part of the Services (Service management systems or underlying systems and components)

more about this:

Service Requests vs. Changes