This is a typical Enterprise Architects view of how IT creates value for a customerThe job of IT is to create applications that support business processes. A single business process may be supported by more than one application, and these applications are hosted on infrastructure (servers, networks, storage etc.)The infrastructure may be hosted in a datacenter, or may be provided as a service from the cloud (and in fact the applications could be provided as a service from the cloud too).
As a service management person I think of a layer between the business service and the technology, that I call service management. This includes many things that you need to have in place to help you ensure that the technology actually delivers value to your customer.Starting at the top on the left you can seeProcessesThis is what people usually think of when they think about service management You need to manage the incidents, problems, changes etc. If you don’t have these processes in place then it is very unlikely that the technology will reliably deliver the value that your customers expect.KnowledgeIf people don’t have the right knowledge, at the time it is needed, then you will not be able to deliver the high quality services that your customers deserve. You need knowledge of how the technology is configured, how the customers business process works to create value, how to resolve incidents and problems, and much more. Knowledge is not just about creating and managing documents, it can only create value when it is in someone’s head. How we transfer knowledge to the right people can be a big challenge. Contracts and AgreementsThese are essential to make sure that everyone knows what is expected of them. Without these people may work very hard at doing the wrong things, that aren’t what the customers wanted in the first place. Even an IT department that does everything themselves will be dependent on some third parties, to provide power, physical security, wide area networking etc. and you need to make sure that contracts for these are aligned with agreements that say what you will deliver to your customers.MetricsMetrics and measurements enable you to manage and improve your services, and they provide the data and information needed to create reports for your customers.Moving over to the right side of the diagram you can see the softer things that are also essential.You need to have the right numbers of people with the right competence to deliver your services. You must have an organization structure that supports the governance, attitudes, behaviour and culture that let your people work effectively and efficiently.You can only create value from the technology if you get ALL of these things right. When you deliver a service you have to include not only the processes (that people often think of as ITIL or ITSM) but also all these other aspects.