Many organisations still see IT Service Management as just a 'techi' issue. ITIL helps promote a joined up approach to Service Management that crumbles the silo approach and helps breaks down the barriers.
So, how do we reduce these barriers? Its about education and awareness, that's where we start. Educating yourselves, there's lots of independent research out there including great white papers and independent research. Service management has been around along time, people have been using these techniques for along time. We can learn from the experience of others, the success stories and the failures.
We need to be:- More focused on business needs and not just the technology
- More closely aligned with the business and its processes
- More integrated with other management tools and processes
Start by asking the right questions, you need to know that as an organisation you can be healthy. We want to start small; it's a case of success bringing success. Look at some of the core things such as education and promotion. Based on cultural issues and differences, this is not going to change overnight. Some of the more simple steps help reduce those barriers, so put them into action. In some cases, a cultural problem exists where we see dissociation from the organisation itself, maybe sponsorship wasn't onboard.
It really does start here. It's something that you can do by simply learning from whitepapers, webcasts and subscribing to formal education. By educating ourselves within our own groups, within our own teams, we can be more efficient and effective.
This all spawns off from starting small. Now in the bigger picture, as Service Management takes a strong hold. ITIL is a great differentiator but you've got to walk the walk before you talk the talk. Experience is everything when it comes to making things successful. The talk is usually really easy, because the things you do from being strategic, understating the values, managing finance, manage the demand..you are able to blow these barriers out of the way!