Process and the Service Desk:
Driving Consistency and Quality through Process Management
Peter Baskette
(baskette@fas.harvard.edu)
&
Bill Cunningham
bill@wcunning.com
http://www.wcunning.com
Twitter: wlcunning
Agenda
• Introduction
– IT Service Management
– Generic Process Model
• ITIL Framework & Service Desk
• The Service Desk – A Process Based Model
• Questions
4
Process and the Service Desk:
Driving Consistency and Quality through Process Management
Process and the
Service Desk:
Driving Consistency and Quality through Process Management
Process and the Service Desk:
Driving Consistency and Quality through Process Management
Help Desk
Service
Desk
Help Desk
Service
Desk
IT Service Management
IT Service Management (ITSM)
• Systems Management
– Traditional IT management focus (well, not just IT)
– Leads to ‘silos’ as IT organizes around technical
specialties
• Service Management
– Clients and Customers do not consume the
‘systems’ IT Manages
– They use IT Services
9
Definition of Service
• “a
service is a means of
delivering value to customers
by facilitating outcomes
customers want to achieve
without the ownership of
specific costs and risks.”
- ITIL v3 Service Strategy
10
Definition of Service Management
• Service Management is a set of specialized organizational
capabilities for providing value to customers in the form
of services.
• Service Management takes the form of a set of Functions
and Processes for managing Services over their Lifecycle.
• Service Management is also a professional practice
supported by an extensive body of knowledge, experience
and skills.
-ITIL v3 Service Strategy
11
IT Services – IT Processes
End –Users
Clients
People
Infrastructure
Information
Applications
IT Services
IT Processes
12
ITSM, Frameworks and the Primary IT Value Chain
Build
Plan
Demand/Relationship Mgt.
Solutions Development
ITIL Service Design
ITIL Service Strategy
-Service Portfolio
T
Theory of
Conscious Alignment
Run
ITIL Service Transtion
-Service Catalog
-- SLM
--Avail & Capacity
-Transitions Planning/Suppt.
--Change Management
--- SACM (Configuration)
-- Release and Deployment
---- Svc. Testing and Validation
PMBOK
Prince2
Agile
SCRUM
Critical Chain
ISE
Operations/Support
SWEBOK
ITIL v2 Service Support
ITIL Service Operation
-- Incident
-- Problem
CMM
ITIL CSI
BPM
Theory of Constraints
Derived from Charles T. Betz, Architecture
and Patterns for IT Service Management,
Resource Planning and Governance
ITIL v3 Service LifeCycle
14
P-D-C-A
“If you cannot define
what you are doing
as a process, you do
not understand what
you are doing.”
-W. Edwards Deming
Generic Process Model
Roles & Resp.
(ARCI)
Resources
The Process
Inputs
Process Owner
Goals (Policies)
Activities (Procedures)
Key Terms
KPIs & CSFs (Metrics)
Outputs
Reports
Feedback
16
If You Can’t Measure - You Can’t Manage
Principle of a Management Process:
1. You cannot manage what you cannot
measure.
2. You cannot measure what you cannot
define.
3. You cannot define what you do not
understand.
- W. Edwards Deming (1988)
18
ITIL V2 - Service Management Responsibility
Pyramid
Service
Continuity
Configuration
Change
Release
Incident
Service
Desk
Problem
Availability
Financial
Service
Delivery
Capacity
Service
Level
Service
Support
19
Service Management Responsibility Pyramid:
Problem and Incident (Support and Restore)
Incident
Service
Desk
Problem
Service
Support
20
ITSM, Frameworks and the Primary IT Value Chain
Build
Solutions Development
ITIL Service Design
ITIL Service Strategy
-Service Portfolio
T
Theory of
Conscious Alignment
Operations/Support
ITIL Service Transition
-Service Catalog
-- SLM
--Avail & Capacity
-Transitions Planning/Suppt.
--Change Management
--- SACM (Configuration)
-- Release and Deployment
---- Svc. Testing and Validation
PMBOK
Prince2
Agile
SCRUM
Critical Chain
ISE
SWEBOK
Problem
ITIL v2 Service Support
ITIL Service Operation
-- Incident
-- Problem
Service Desk
Demand/Relationship Mgt.
Run
Incident
Plan
CMM
ITIL CSI
BPM
Theory of Constraints
Derived from Charles T. Betz, Architecture
and Patterns for IT Service Management,
Resource Planning and Governance
A Service Desk Management Model
Knowledge
Calls
Email
Voice mail
Chat
Walk-ins
Incident
Interaction
End –Users
Self-Service
Problem
Service
Desk
Service
Requests
Request
Fulfillment
RFIs
22
The Desk Itself
Service
Desk
23
Service Desk
Definition
•
The Single Point of Contact between the
Service Provider and the Users.
•
Manages Incidents and Service Requests.
•
Handles communication with users.
•
The Service Desk performs the first line
support for IT Services.
24
Service Desk
Tasks
• Act as a single point of contact for users
• “Own” inquiry from start (recording, status reports)
to finish (close-out, monitoring satisfaction)
• Monitor adherence to the service level agreements
and take appropriate measures if there is a danger
of failure to meet an agreement
• Coordinate second level support and third-party
support units
• Provide management information to improve the
service quality
25
Calls
Email
Voice mail
Chat
Walk-ins
Interaction
End –Users
Interaction Management
Service
Desk
Self-Service
26
Interaction Management - Benefits
• Dedicated Service Desk Process
• Pre-assignment of tickets
– Standardizes greeting
– Establishes initial questions, assessment, scripts.
• Jumping off point to multiple Processes:
– Incident, Service Request, Request for
Information, Change, Others
• Drives consistency for Incident and Request
– Filters ‘Request for information’ type calls
27
Interaction Management - Goals
• Effective routing and processing of inbound
and outbound communications
• Provision of interaction information to all
persons working with a contact to ensure
service consistency.
28
29
Interaction – Initiating Process Flow
- Created with MetaStorm ProVision
30
Request For Information
• Request for information
– What’s someone’s phone number
– Account storage quota
• Do you track them?
– Generally yes.
• Separately?
– Better to do so.
• Why?
– Compromises metrics for other Processes.
31
An ACD Digression
GetHuman.com
• Website for by-passing phone trees.
• Four Suggestions:
– Always be able to ‘0’ out to get a human.
– System should estimate wait times every 60
seconds.
– Be concise: Avoid verbose prompts
– When no one is available, option to leave a message
32
The Support and Restore Processes
(troubleshooting)
Calls
Email
Voice mail
Chat
Walk-ins
Knowledge
RFI
s
Interaction
End –Users
Self-Service
Problem
Incident
Service
Desk
33
Incident Management
• An Incident:
– Unplanned interruption to an IT Service or a
reduction in the quality of Service.
– In essence, Break/Fixes or Service Degradation
– Examples:
• Computer won’t boot today
• Network is slow
• Incident Management Goal:
– Restore normal service as quickly as possible
34
35
Incident Mgt. Controls & Measures
(sample)
Control
Incidents classified according to SLAs- SD to monitor
all Incidents until closure
SD procedures include escalation criteria and
communication procedures if SLAs in danger of
breech and/or workarounds not available
SD procedures for timely monitoring and clearance
of customer queries include resolution/closure and
confirmation steps to ensure action taken has been
agreed by customer
Produce reports for the measurement of service
performance including response times and trends.
IM able to leverage past incidents and knowledge
base to improve speed and quality of response
Measure
•% Incidents closed within SLA
•% Incidents requiring escalation
•% Incidents without workarounds
•Distribution of Incidents by severity
•% unresolved Incidents required to be forwarded to
Problem Management
•% calls a bandoned
•Distribution of call answer times
•% calls cleared/closed during initial contact
•% customers satisfied (relative to SLA)
•Average MTTR relative to service targets
•% Incident records successfully matched to IM, PM,
and/or KB records.
36
Incident Mgt. – High Level Model
Created with MetaStorm ProVision
37
Incident Classification and Initial Support
Created with MetaStorm ProVision
38
Service Management Responsibility Pyramid:
Problem and Incident (Support and Restore)
KB
Incident
Service
Desk
Problem
Service
Support
39
ITIL v2 Support and Restore Triad
40
41
Problem Management Process Flow
42
A Case for Knowledge Management
600
500
Ticket Count
1st Quarter
By Category
400
300
200
100
0
1
6
11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46 51 56 61 66 71 76 81 86 91 96 101 106 111 116 121 126 131 136 141 146 151 156
44
Service Requests
• A Service Requests is:
– Request to do something for a user
– A request from a User for information, or advice, or
for a Standard Change or for Access to an IT
Service.
– Examples:
• Install an application on my computer
• Upgrade memory
• Password reset
• NOT a break/fix -- often less urgent
45
Request Fulfillment
• Request Fulfillment:
– Process responsible for setting up access to the
organization’s computer systems. Examples:
• userids and passwords
• authentication and authorization
• Can be embedded in Service Requests
• But helps if separate, dedicated process:
– Streamlines procedures for account creation and
levels of access or authority.
– Establishes distinct on-boarding process
46
47
A Service Desk Model - Redux
Knowledge
Calls
Email
Voice mail
Chat
Walk-ins
Incident
RFIs
Interaction
End –Users
Self-Service
Problem
Service
Desk
Service
Requests
Request
Fulfillment
RFCs
(Change Mgt)
48
Interaction – Initiating Process Flow
49
50
Change Mgt – High Level Process
51
What’s the Process point?
Why create distinct Processes?
• One Answer: Management Metrics
• Leads to informed decisions:
– Organizational Structure
– Investment Decisions
– Procedures & Work Flow
• Or, more fundamentally…
52
Deming’s Process Mandate
85% of a worker's effectiveness is
determined by the system he works
within, only 15% by his own skill.
-W. Edwards Deming
Reflective Questions
• Do you distinguish between incidents and
requests? Handle them differently?
• Do you collect metrics? Do they drive your
decisions? Your Vision?
• Do RFIs compromise your data?
• Do you have consistent Interaction
Management? Scripts? Standard
greetings?
54
Another question
How to get there?
• If you choose to pursue formal Processes:
• Implement as a project
• Organizational Change
– Recognize this is Cultural Change
– Use an Organizational Change Model
55
Questions
bill@wcunning.com
http://www.wcunning.com
56
57
A Service Desk Model – Support and Restore
Knowledge
Calls
Email
Voice mail
Chat
Walk-ins
Incident
Interaction
End –Users
Self-Service
Problem
Service
Desk
58
Implementing Process: Managing Change
Eight Stages of Leading Change, John Kotter
1. Create Sense of Urgency
2. Create Guiding Coalition
3. Develop a Change Vision & Strategy
4. Communicate the Change Vision
59
Still Managing Change
Kotter’s 8-Stage Process continued:
5. Empower Broad-based Action
6. Generate Short-term Wins
7. Consolidate Gains and Product more Wins
8. Anchor New Approaches in the Culture
60
Thrasher’s Value Chain
Cut
Potatoes
Fry
Slices
Fries in
Containers
Take
Orders
• Hand
Container
• Take Money
63
OK, So What’s the Point?