How Service Management can Transform Your Enterprise

Service management can transform an enterprise by applying proven IT service management principles and processes across business functions such as HR, finance and facilities to improve performance, service and stakeholder outcomes. John Sansbury argues there is no practical difference between IT and enterprise service management beyond context.

• Value derives from services and can only be judged by the recipient. It combines functionality, the ability to produce a valued outcome, and assurance, the ability to provide it when needed; a cash machine that is always out of service has no value.
• Value is co-created: customers gain from outcomes, while providers gain commercially or through goodwill and reputation.
• Outcomes belong to the customer and outputs to the provider. For payroll, staff being paid is the outcome; a payslip is an output. Measuring only outputs can look busy while delivering little value.
• Services run across the organisation chart, so enterprises focused on capability rather than service are sub-optimised. Enterprise service management optimises the value stream to deliver the best consumer experience.
• Processes need control: a Process Owner, a corporate policy, procedures and work instructions for consistency, optimisation and automation for efficiency, and metrics and feedback loops for effectiveness. Without Process Owners there are only activities without control.