Since we ourselves have embraced a state-of-the-art Microsoft ITSM call system and supplemented it with our XLA/Regie proposition, we naturally look at other systems and solutions even more than before. We believe that an ITSM call system should be at the heart of your I&A department and that an XLA/Regie approach is the only right way to make digital innovation successful. Because we dare say that there are distressingly few complete solutions, we want to use this blog to first clearly explain why it's logical that ICT and ITSM suppliers can't meet your XLA and directional needs, but above all: what's the next step? In our view it's not all that difficult: first of all, stop looking for help from the wrong parties.
Let me start by promising that this blog is not a negative story about reputable ICT and ITSM suppliers. After all, for years they have been offering excellent partial solutions for traditional solutions to your needs. But that's precisely the big problem:
The XLA approach is not about separate parts, but about the sum total of all parts, which together form the services that the ICT user wants to recognise: 'as a service'.
The idea of 'as a service' alone is difficult enough, of course, but it is even more difficult to think in terms of the end user's wishes. We often refer to a familiar example: how do you think when you are the end user yourself, for example when you go out for a nice dinner with your family?
If the evening was perfect, then at least two essential components were met:
- The service in the restaurant was excellent;
- The food was delicious.
A good restaurant owner will always ask you this at the end of your evening. If there is something that could be better, it will contribute to a structural improvement. But: that will depend on the details. A great restaurant has a good grip on the whole:
The chef is usually also the owner of the restaurant, and at the end of the evening he or she often comes to ask how the experience was and what is important:
Whether the improvements that come out of it have to do with the service, the food or both: as the owner, the chef is in charge of improving it.
Isn't it logical? I think everyone understands this example. But what happens if we extend this comparison to your I&A department? After all, there is also a service (food) and a support (service), right? But then the picture suddenly looks very different in practice:
- The perception of a service and/or the support for the service is not systematically asked/measured;
- If people ask/measure something at all, it is often about sub-areas of the service (was it easy to book, was the steak good, etc.), not about the whole 'as a service';
- A CIO often (unfortunately) does not feel like a chef or owner: any improvements are then picked up by those with partial responsibility, but not together and in cooperation with end-users as those with total responsibility and under the leadership of the CIO;
- And finally, the most common thing: the responsibility for improvement too often lies with the kitchen and not with the restaurant itself, while it really all happens in the restaurant, after all, isn't that why we do it?
In short: ICT suppliers and managers often lead the way in improvements and think they know exactly what the end user will appreciate. And that is precisely the essence of the problem:
We simply place the responsibility to improve on the wrong parties, despite the best of intentions.
How can a party that has always been responsible for fulfilling only one part of the service suddenly take control and/or fulfil the XLA idea about the total 'service as a service'? That's not possible, you really need to organise that yourself (just like the chef). ICT and ITSM suppliers literally shout from the rooftops that they will help you with governance and XLAs. In practice, however, that's not really the case, and once again: that's logical and you certainly can't blame these parties. Suppliers do this because you yourself have not done anything else up to now:
- It is time to start giving shape to your own governance of services: with temporary help and appropriate solutions, of course, but always from within your own final governance of services that your end users will recognise;
- This will only succeed if the experience of your end users is central and permanently measurable;
- And finally: this will not happen by itself; all dependencies to make services and processes better and better will have to 'participate' in this ambition.
That may sound like an enormously complex and unfeasible task for your specific situation, we hear you think. Well, it's certainly not easy, but in that case, just think of the starred chef who gets it right:
The chef did not start out as the owner of a complete service either: this started out small from an ambition to 'serve' the end user better and better. Step by step, ownership was taken and the quality of the service and the experience became more and more central by constantly measuring this. And finally: by improving every dependency on the service bit by bit over the years, the ambition was converted into reality.
You can do this yourself. I am 100% sure of that. TransitieProfs is happy to assist you with the right experience, people who really understand the XLA philosophy and solutions (such as our ITSM call system) to really measure/innovate your services and processes from the perspective of your end users.
Dennis Daalhuizen
Owner TransitieProfs
