Better Together: ITIL and the HDI Support Center Standard

Presented byPaul M. Dooley

Optimal Connections, LLCHDI Faculty Instructor and Auditor

www.optimalconnections.com

June 8, 2016

Agenda

• Disruptive Challenges facing service providers• Implications for customer and end-user support• The Case for ITIL® and the HDI Support Center Standard• Complementing ITIL through the life-cycle• Providing additional support center specific guidance• Conclusion: “Better Together!”

Disruptive challenges before us …

• Globalization and an increasing competition• Trend to cloud based services• Shift to mobile platforms from desktop• From applications to mobile “apps”• Trend to rapid and continuous

deployment of functional changes• Increasing emphasis on customer service, and

especially the delivery of service quality to the “users”

New Challenges are Upon Us that Require a Higher Level of Support!• Quality “first line” support has become increasingly crucial • Service providers must optimize “first line” support to meet

challenges, and remain competitive• First step: adopt ITIL as a best-practice

– ITIL is a must, as a “framework” for how to plan, design, transition, deliver, maintain and improve services.

• Next, ITIL ought to be complemented with a set of well-adopted, proven guidelines that can provide “support center specific” guidance.

HDI Standard Provides the Needed Support Center Specific Guidance

• The HDI Support Center Standard fulfills this need to provide “support center specific” guidance. The HDI Standard is:– Fully compatible with ITIL, including many processes

through the life-cycle– Describes how the ITIL processes can effectively be

carried out in an optimized way by a support center– Provides additional specific guidance for the service

desk (aka “support center), enabling the transition to a high performance “support center”

ITIL – the ITSM Framework, Needs No Introduction

• ITIL is the most widely adopted framework for realizing “IT service management”, bar none

• Demonstrated in thousands of organizations worldwide, ITIL helps…– Lower costs, maximize service quality, and – Enables IT service providers to maximize value delivery to

customers and users• AXELOS provides a wealth of information about the ITIL

framework. For more, visit www.axelos.com.

Why HDI? The HDI Support Center Standard – A Quick Overview

• A global standard for “support centers” since 2000, adopted world-wide as a best-practices forhelp/service desks, and support centers

• Compatible with ITIL and other industrystandards and frameworks

• Eight Categories: Five Enabling, Three Results Factors

• Seventy-nine Activities, each with four Levels of Maturity

The HDI Support Center Standard – A Quick Overview

• Designed to align with internationally recognized quality models, standards, and frameworks– Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL®)– EFQM Model (European Foundation for Quality Management)– Baldrige Criteria for Performance

Excellence– Capability Maturity Model Integration

(CMMI®)– Knowledge Centered Support (KCS®)

Why HDI? The HDI Support Center Standard – A Quick Overview

• Assessment and audit services are available from HDI• Many companies and organizations have achieved HDI

Support Center Certification. A few examples …

• More information is available at www.thinkhdi.com

Three Key Reasons Why ITIL and HDI are Better Together

1. The two sets of guidance are naturally complementary2. The HDI Support Center Standard also complements

ITIL in processes, adding “support center specific guidance” in a number of areasacross the life-cycle

3. The HDI Support Center Standard providesextended guidance for a Support Center across the five stages of the service life-cycle as follows…

ThinkHDI.com

In Service Strategy

• To support strategy management for IT, the support center should have an aligned vision, mission and goals

• Requires the support center to have its own financial management policy, procedures, and processes

• Recommends that the support center be integrated into the BRM account management process and regular “service reviews”

In Service Design

• Includes requirements for support services in service catalog management

• That a SLM process is in place, with – Service level targets for response and

resolution times– That the support center be included in “service reviews”

• Requires sufficient availability and capacity be afforded to the support center, and that “forward looking” plans are in place for these processes

In Service Design

• Requires that a service continuity management plan is in place for the support center (given that it is a critical capability for the IT service provider)

• Information security policies, procedures and controls should be in place to protect support center… – Facilities– Information and support systems

(ticketing, monitoring and reporting systems)

In Service Transition

• The support center is included in change management, with visibility to changes, and rights to veto changes if adverse impact is anticipated

• SACM should provide support with access to the CMS to facilitate incident management, and accuracy of the CMS

• The support center should play an active role in providing feedback to change evaluation, should that process have been activated.

In Service Transition

• Release and deployment management should include the support center in release planning and deployment activities to provide early visibility to first line support, and to facilitate rollout

• Two activities for effective knowledge management: a process, and a supporting system (the SKMS)– These are of vital importance to the support center– Facilitating continuous knowledge transfer from technical

and application groups to first line support

In Service Operation

• Includes activities to optimize Incident Management, including logging, categorizing, prioritizing, status reporting, resolving, and proper closure.

• Request Fulfillment should label requests separately and handle them efficiently

• Problem Management also expected, with roles defined for support staff. – Timely access to problem information, including

descriptions, workarounds, and solution information

In Service Operation

• An Event Management process should also be in place for proactive remediation, early detection of incidents

• The role of the support center with IT operations in this process should be clarified

• The support center should be apprised of any critical incidents detected so that users can be properly informed of status.

Continual Service Improvement

• The HDI Support Center Standard requires that core support center processes – Incident Management, Request Fulfillment, etc., include regular improvement activities

• A continual improvement process should be in place for the support center itself

• Requires that a support center have multipleforms of feedback from stakeholders to assess satisfaction levels, and identify improvement opportunities.

Continual Service Improvement

• Three forms of regular feedback:– An on-going event-based survey (users)– Periodic customer satisfaction survey – Feedback through other channels (emails, phone, etc.)

• The HDI Support Center Standard Standard also stresses the importance of a good measurements and reporting framework. – A comprehensive set of support center metrics are

recommended, and that each metric include a “SMART” target, with regular reporting to stakeholders

Additional Guidance that Enables a High Performance Support Center

• The HDI Support Center Standard includes additional guidance that enables support center high performance:– Effective communication to ensure

coordination of multiple support teams– An effective reporting system to deliver

performance results to stakeholders in real-time and periodically.

– To clarify roles and responsibilities, quality job descriptions for support staff positions are expected

Additional Guidance that Enables a High Performance Support Center

– Training plans for effective skills – orientation, and on-going training plans for positions

– A workforce management system for optimized staffing and scheduling

– Support staff survey to assure staff are satisfied and can perform optimally

– A reward and recognition program to acknowledge contributions of staff and to motivate employees

Additional Guidance that Enables a High Performance Support Center

– Guidance for facilities and ergonomics, foroptimized performance of staff

– Requirements for multi-channel distributionof contacts, to assure optimized handling

– Adequate investigation and diagnosis tools,including remote access and control

– A service management system to log and track all incident and requests to conclusion, as well as integrate with other support systems and tools

Conclusion: ITIL and the HDI Standard – Better Together!

• Together, ITIL, complemented with the HDI Standard, can provide a combined set of guidance - equipping an IT service provider to transform their service desk into a “high performance support center”

• Enabling the service provider to effectively meet these disruptive challenges already upon us:– To effectively support our increasingly mobile workforce– Provide true multi-channel support, empowering a

community of users

Conclusion: ITIL and the HDI Standard – Better Together!

– More effectively support continuous deployment of new/changed releases

– The need for strong communication, trouble-shooting and relationship management skills

– The need to maximize staff, customer and user satisfaction

• ITIL and the HDI Standard – Better together! Both can help your organization effectively meet and overcome the challenges before us!

Thank You! And now, for questions?

Paul M. DooleyHDI Faculty Instructor and AuditorCertified ITIL Instructor, ITIL ExpertOptimal Connections, LLCWeb: www.optimalconnections.comEmail: pmdooley@optimalconnections.com Visit me also on LinkedIn

How to get the free HDI Support Center Self-Assessment Tool

1. Go to: http://www.thinkhdi.com/services/self-assessment.aspx 2. Click to buy the self-assessment3. Enter the promo code ITILSCC 4. Your cost will be $0 on checkout