Process Ownership and Service Ownership

Transcription

1 Process Ownership and Service Ownership Maximizing the Value of Key Roles A Third Sky White Paper By Lou Hunnebeck, ITIL Expert and Service Design 2011 Author, VP ITSM Vision & Strategy for Third Sky, Inc. Clearly defined and effectively deployed roles and responsibilities are keys to the success of any organization, and there are a few roles that represent the heart of a comprehensive approach to IT Service Management. This white paper discusses two of these critical roles, process owner and service owner, and how they can be used separately and together to both lower cost and improve quality of service. The Role of Roles Why is it so important that the roles of process owner and service owner exist? In fact, what is the big deal about role definition in the first place? After all, Human Resources went through all that trouble to define those job descriptions. What more do we need? ITIL defines a role as a set of responsibilities, activities and authorities assigned to a person or team. It reminds us that a person can be assigned more than one role and experience shows us that most of us actually do fulfill many roles in the course of our day. At one moment you might be participating in the incident management process in the role of resolver, later that same day you might be participating in the change management process in the role of advisor, and later still fill yet another role as part of the functional unit you are part of. A role is not a job title. By clearly defining the roles that need to be filled in each process and/or team, we can ensure that the talents of our staff are used both effectively and efficiently. We don t waste time due to duplicated efforts. We don t endanger quality with gaps and key work left undone. Service Owner & Process Owner In an organization using the principles of IT service management, process owner and service owner are two of the most important roles. Yet many organizations find themselves unclear on the nature of these roles Page 1

2 and how best to deploy them. Furthermore, they struggle to understand the boundaries between them and the ways in which process owners and service owners should collaborate to maximize results. There are two key concepts to remember: 1. The importance of Ownership: Owners, as opposed to responsible parties, are accountable for results. They lead and direct. The degree to which they also do the work themselves will be dependent upon the nature of the organization, but the final outcomes belong to them regardless. Assigning ownership of either a process or a service means that we have real clarity of accountability and someone to ensure that the day-to-day work is properly executed and coordinated towards the desired end result. 2. The difference between Service and Process: We are IT Service Providers. IT Services are what we bring to our customers our products, if you will. It is these services that are used by the business to perform the work of the business. The work of providing the services has to be properly executed or the end results that the customer and business need from these services will not be achieved. As the service provider, we have to have our act together. The primary way we do that is to organize our work through the use of processes. Services represent what we do. Processes define how we do it. Service Ownership Basics The role of service owner in ITIL is defined this way: A role responsible for managing one or more services throughout their entire lifecycle. Service owners are instrumental in the development of service strategy and are responsible for the content of the service portfolio. ITIL 2011 Edition Official Glossary We need to look at IT services from the point of view of the customer. Customers (typically the business) depend upon IT services to do the work of the business. They don t want to have to care about all the bits and pieces that go into providing their IT services; they would rather be focusing on doing their work. They would rather rely upon us to make sure the service works the way it is supposed to, when it is supposed to, at the service levels it is supposed to. Page 2

3 Assigning and enabling a service owner does this. It ensures that each service is managed with a business focus by providing a single point of accountability for the service. Service owners provide the level of attention and focus required for delivering each service in a way that makes the business successful. The service owner is accountable for the delivery of a specific IT service. The service owner is responsible to the customer for the initiation, transition and ongoing maintenance and support of a particular service and accountable to the IT director or service management director for the delivery of the service. The service owner s accountability for a specific service within an organization is independent of where the underpinning technology components, processes or professional capabilities reside. 1 This means that, for each service, there should be one, and only one, service owner. Shared service ownership isn t ownership at all as it allows blame to be passed from one person to another and does not allow for genuine accountability. Service Owners throughout the Lifecycle The service owner has the following responsibilities throughout the service lifecycle: 1 ITIL Service Design, 2011 Edition Page 3

4 Ultimately, the key accountability of the service owner is ensuring that the ongoing service delivery and support meet agreed customer requirements 2. Thinking through what that would entail can help an organization envision what the role could be for them if they commit to deploying it. Process Ownership Basics Delivering IT services that the customer and business need is our primary mission, but we cannot do that well if we aren t properly organized behind the scenes. The only time customers care about our internal departmental work methods is when they don t think they are getting their money s worth in their services. So we organize our work effort through the deployment of well-defined and well-managed processes. In contrast to the service owner, the role of process owner in ITIL is defined this way: The person who is held accountable for ensuring that a process is fit for purpose. The process owner s responsibilities include sponsorship, design, change management and continual improvement of the process and its metrics. ITIL 2011 Edition Official Glossary Think of the process owner as the person who plots the course for a process, while others actually sail the ship. Process Owner vs. Process Manager Before we go any further, it would be a good idea for us to differentiate between the roles of process owner and process manager. For each process there is only one owner one person who holds overall accountability for the process; but in many organizations each process has more than one process managers. Process managers provide day-to-day operational leadership of the process. The process owner sets the process strategy; the process managers make sure the strategy is realized in the execution of the process. The process owner has the final say on what needs to happen in the process; the process managers make sure these things actually happen in the real world. In some organizations, the process owner role is filled by one of the process managers, whereas in other organizations, the process owner role is held by someone somewhat higher in the organizational structure, perhaps at the director or VP level. The only hard and fast rule is that there should be only one owner this is to ensure true accountability. Process Owners through the Life of a Process 2 ITIL Service Design, 2011 Edition Page 4

5 When a new process is being designed and deployed, the process owner is very actively involved in sponsoring, defining process strategy, policies, standards and guidelines and assisting in process design. The process owner will be particularly concerned with ensuring that the right metrics are designed into the process so that the right information will be available for managing the process, as well as with ensuring that the process is properly documented. During the ongoing execution of the process, the process owner will take roadblocks out of the way for the process managers, assist when there are issues with the operation of the process and periodically review the process to ensure that the strategy, policies, standards and guidelines remain relevant over time. They will use data and information provided by the process managers to audit the process for compliance and ensure the appropriate resources and process training are provided. Finally, just as service owners are accountable for continual improvement of their service, so the process owners are accountable for continual improvement of their process. Service Owner and Process Owner Collaboration Service owners have a vested interest in process excellence. When the work of our processes is not executed both effectively and efficiently, the quality of our services is impaired. For example, a poorly managed change process can mean that changes that need to be made to the customer s services take too long and are executed with too much risk. A weak problem management process may mean that systemic issues with services are not identified and eliminated, leading to repetitive incidents that disrupt the work of the business. Process owners should ensure that work on their process is done with full understanding of the impact of that process on the health and success of the services. When choosing between possible process improvements, priority should be given to improvements that will positively impact the health and successful management of the IT services. Efficiently run processes can reduce the overall cost of service provisioning, releasing those funds for other uses. Likewise, service owners should provide input to process owners to help them to understand the value of their service to the business and to help guide their prioritization. Service owners function as the voice of the customer in relation to their service, so they can provide the customer perspective on our processes, without the customer having to be involved at all. Service Owner Contribution to Processes So, since service owners are not in charge of processes, nor do they manage processes, do they participate in processes? Absolutely. Service owners are just as much part of the IT service provider organization as anyone else, and they therefore participate in many different processes in the course of their work as a Page 5

6 service owner. The key to understanding this lies in recognizing that a person can be performing a single action that represents participation in more than one process. Here are some examples of things that a service owner might do that represents participation in one or more of our internal processes: Incident Management: The service owner might play a role in communication or coordination when a major incident is experienced in relation to their service. Service Level Management: The service owner will be a key player in the process of negotiating and agreeing Service Level Agreements (SLAs) in relation to their service and will provide the perspective of their service in the definition of appropriate Operational Level Agreements (OLAs). Information Security Management: The service owner will liaise with all the contributors to this process to make sure that the customer s and business security requirements for their service are defined, agreed, built into the service, validated through testing and that they are consistently delivered in operation. Business Relationship Management: The service owner will work closely with Business Relationship Managers to ensure that the service provides the right value to all the customers and/or business units that use it and that proper customer representation is provided in all service-related interactions. Change Management: The service owner will represent their service in Change Advisory Board meetings and throughout the change process. Financial Management for IT Services: The service owner assists in defining the cost models for their services, as well as understanding the cost of delivering the service compared to the value delivered to the business. This information will influence almost every aspect of managing the service. We could go on. Process owners and the process managers who make it work will need to ensure that service owner participation in their process is clearly thought out and that service owners have the proper knowledge and experience to make their contributions correctly. Keys to Success In order to benefit from these two critical roles, there are a few classic pitfalls to avoid. The first and most frequently experienced error is to create these roles, but to attempt to spread the accountability across multiple persons in other words, assigning more than one owner to each process or service. The result of falling into this trap is that the work is done in a fragmented and uncoordinated way, and blame can be passed from one owner to another, muddying the chain of command. Page 6

7 Another error is failing to empower the individuals assigned to these roles. Sometimes the persons assigned to these roles are either too far down the chain of command to be taken as the leaders they are supposed to be, or they are not given the authority they need to direct actions, even outside their direct chain of command. To be held accountable for something over which you have no authority is the ultimate frustration. If these individuals are the accountable party then they need the power to do what needs to be done. If service owners and process owners have the authority they need, they also need the right training, time, tools and resources. To be asked to move the dial without the knowledge, time and tools to do so only sets service owners and process owners up for failure. Providing a group training event for service owners and doing the same for process owners creates a shared culture and mission, making it easier for owners to support each other. Providing them with the time and tools they need to fill the role they ve been trained for allows owners to apply what they have learned. Service owners and process owners are the authority for their own service or process, but they must not work in a vacuum. It is important to their success that service owners are given proper opportunities to work with each other and that the same opportunities are afforded to process owners. This will facilitate a consistent approach to these roles and to better coordination and collaboration across the IT service provider. To be successful in the deployment of the role of service owner, one additional element is needed you have to know what your services are. At least a preliminary definition of services is required in order to assign owners. If at all possible, start with the services that are directly used by the business to do the work of the business. Service ownership is most powerful when focused on direct value to the business. Conclusion In the end, perhaps it is easiest to understand the importance of the service owner and process owner roles by considering what we will experience without them. Without true service ownership we risk a fragmented, overly technical approach to service provisioning that does not accurately reflect the needs of the business. Without true process ownership we risk a patchwork of legacy practices that never improve, fail to integrate with each other properly and cause excessive neglect, overwork, rework and underperformance. In both cases we will see repeating the same mistakes over and over again due to the lack of focused oversight. How much better to take the time and make the effort to define, deploy and empower both service owners and process owners to take your IT service provider organization and the company you serve to the next level. Page 7

8 How Third Sky can Help Third Sky, Inc. The importance of these roles is underscored by Third Sky s training offerings, Service Owner Training and Process Owner Training. We also offer mentoring for both service owners and process owners and managers, providing them with support and guidance as they mature into their roles. Other relevant services include Service Catalog/Service Portfolio consulting and process definition workshops. About the Author Lou Hunnebeck is an ITIL Expert with over 20 years of experience in service industries and is currently Third Sky Inc.'s VP of ITSM Vision & Strategy. Her passion for improving the way things are done has led Ms. Hunnebeck to ITSM from a background of process consulting, training and Service Management systems consulting. Ms. Hunnebeck has led global teams in best practice and methodology design and her theatre background makes her a dynamic speaker and instructor. Devoted to advancing the art and practice of IT Service Management, Ms. Hunnebeck served as the author of the ITIL Service Design publication, 2011 Edition, is on the ITIL Senior Examination Panel, and speaks regularly at industry meetings to spread the message of ITSM. About Third Sky, Inc. Third Sky is a full service IT Service Management consulting, education and technology provider headquartered in San Francisco with offices across the US. Their approach to Business-Driven IT leverages frameworks such as ITIL, CobiT, PMBOK and ISO/IEC20000 as part of a hands-on, real-world approach to ITSM that has helped hundreds of companies transform their IT organizations into strategic, businessaligned service providers delivering the highest levels of service and support, all while lowering costs. Business-Driven IT For information please call: 1-, visit or us at sales@thirdsky.com Page 8