Managing Services introduction

Purpose: meeting business need through effective management of demand and supply.

As a result of managing services, you should have:

• a service or services that meets business objectives
• ongoing evaluation of benefits accruing to the business
• service delivery effectively assured through business continuity management.

Key products:

• Service Level Agreement (SLA)
• Formal mechanisms to address change
• Framework for managing relationships
• Updated business case reflecting changing business need (ongoing)

Principal skills required for managing services:

• Management of services and relationships
• Technology understanding and awareness
• User support and development
• Implementation and operations
• Service management and delivery
• User support

 

What you have to do

You will be managing the delivery of business services (such as services direct to the citizen or to improve staff productivity), and delivery of technical services (such as support of IT infrastructure). You have to achieve common understanding between the customer and provider through managing service level expectations and service level delivery, and delivering and supporting desired results. Business services may be delivered direct to the customer or - in the case of e-government - to the general public on behalf of the customer. Service management also looks at the dependence that businesses and organisations have on IS/IT services to acquire and process the elements which make up many of their services. Service quality monitoring demonstrates ongoing value for money and service improvement. You will also need to make arrangements for the management of infrastructure, which may be carried out on your behalf by service providers. You must have processes in place for business continuity, to ensure that the business can continue to deliver its objectives in the event of things going wrong. In addition, there must be support for the end-users in the form of training, help desk facilities and everything they need to make good use of the services.

The interaction between customer (that is, the business, its partners and end-users such as the citizen) and provider in managing services is managed by the 'informed partner' role, providing the interface to achieve the following goals:

• gain a common understanding between customer and service provider(s) of service expectations and possible achievement
• use service quality monitors as a basis for demonstrating on-going value for money and service improvements
• manage ongoing change and the effect on relationships with partners and providers
• assure consistency in the use of IT and conformance with standards and procedures, making the user community aware of how to exploit the facilities to best effect
• preserve suitable flexibility in service arrangements, including contracts in order to proactively deal with unexpected changes and demands
• establish suitable base-lines on which to track performance relating to service delivery and service improvement
• understand and influence the factors which preserve and enhance relationships to achieve maximum business benefit
• ensure that the benefits approach appraises the full investment in business change and not just individual components such as IT
• ensure that Business Continuity plans are kept up-to-date to reflect changes and new service provision.

Key factors for success:

• proactive management of services to anticipate and respond to future business need
• responsibility for services is taken by sponsors for change
• clear understanding of the rights and obligations of all parties involved in service delivery
• firm foundations of service management - that is, defined services, appropriate sourcing decisions, an appropriate regime for service and contract management, suitable monitors and the flexibility to make service modifications, when necessary
• good communications established in managing a relationship and understanding of the factors that influence achieving the right benefits from the relationship
• service performance metrics and detailed operational criteria derived from high-level business objectives
• flexibility on both sides (or all sides, in a multiple partnership) in managing the contract and willingness to adapt in response to change
• good understanding of your infrastructure and the implications of managing capacity, availability, cost, service levels, configuration, business continuity and relationships.

 

Roles and process capability for managing services

To achieve better quality services, it is essential to define services and agree the expected service quality levels that are necessary to meet business needs. Fundamental to this process, is gaining a common understanding between the customer and service provider(s) of the customer's service expectations and the providers' capability.

There are a number of basic team roles encompassing service delivery and support activities. For example, at the operational level, making end-users aware of the facilities available and how to exploit them to best effect is one of the responsibilities of the 'user support' role. At a more tactical level, the 'service level management' role ensures that service quality monitors, based on SLAs, are used as a basis for process/service improvements. The role of 'requirements/change management' is responsible for monitoring the changing requirements of the business and ensuring that they are incorporated in the ongoing development and delivery of services and systems.

Higher level competencies required for 'managing services' build upon the operational and tactical capabilities described above. For example, the 'service management' role builds upon the service quality monitors established by 'service level management' and uses them to demonstrate ongoing value for money and service improvements. They are also responsible for establishing suitable baselines on which to track performance relating to service delivery and service improvement. The 'relationship management' team role is primarily responsible for removing barriers and opening gateways or communication channels between the customer and service providers. The role is one of listening to the various parties and understanding both service expectations, positions and achievements. The role plays a key part in managing the ongoing change and effect on relationships between partners and providers. A key outcome is to understand and influence the factors which preserve and enhance relationships to achieve maximum business benefit.

The highest level designated in the team model for 'managing services' is represented by the 'business continuity' role. The role is primarily responsible for ensuring that Business Continuity Plans are kept up-to-date to reflect the criticality of operational services to the business and to reflect changes and new service provision.

Figure 0:4 Team model for Managing services

The team model includes:

Service level management: using SLAs as a basis for process/service improvement

User support: making end-users aware of the facilities available and able to exploit them to best effect in support of their needs

Requirements/change management: monitoring the requirements of end-users and taking them into account during the ongoing development and delivery of services and systems.

Relationship management: managing relationships with providers at all levels including: strategic, service delivery and contractual levels

Service management: establishing suitable baselines on which to track performance relating to service delivery and capability improvement.

Business continuity: establishing an ongoing appraisal of risk and assuring that the necessary service components are recognised within business continuity plans; ensuring that business continuity measures are adequately tested.

The Contract Management Workbook provides related material in a stage based (easy to follow) format.