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Service Centric IT
As an industry analyst, I am constantly asked if there is a future in IT operations. The concern is that outsourcing will ultimately move IT operations out of the enterprise and that, in any case, virtualization will make support a task that can only be done by experts.
While certainly there are tasks that can be outsourced, it is also true that support functions are, in many case, tied intimately to critical business processes. Problems ensue when management doesn't understand these critical connections.
The key to managing the awareness of corporate decision makers is to ensure that these decision makers are engaged as customers of an internally provided service offering. This is not simply the notion of a service level agreement that is merely adhered to, it is an active service engagement where the customer is provided value added services and where there is a constant attempt to "up sell" the client on additional services.
This active service dynamic is pretty much a foreign notion to much of IT. IT understands service levels, but generally only actively engages corporate decision makers at the end of the year when budgets are being drawn up.
As a service provider, IT should use every customer contact as an opportunity to either assess the value perception of the user or to enlist that user as an agent for increased service offerings and an increased budget to support them.
Instead of a service desk call where the customer's complaint is noted and a time for resolution is given, there ought to be an active engagment that seeks to more than satisfy the client and attempts to add features to the service offering.
Of course, this means that the operation group should have more than one level of service and should tie that service level the level of funding coming from the client's organization. And, of course, IT funding needs to be line driven rather than corporate overhead driven.
If, however, IT does move to a service centric approach, it will not only have an incentive to get really good at service delivery and definition, it will also have a means to increase operations budgets and avoid outsourcing critical business support functions.
Posted at 09:26AM Nov 13, 2007 by mikejude in General |