Launching Service Management

[Ladywolf]

First, I cannot express how relieved I was to find these boards. Thank you for being here!

Now, down to business. Our company purchased a Service Management solution last year, and we're now ready to start focusing heavily on all aspects of service management. I have inherited Incident and Problem management, which I am very comfortable with. However, I am literally drowning in information on how to start, and rather than reinvent the wheel, was hoping that someone could provide some pointers on the best possible approach to putting my arms around this beast. I'm facing significant roadblocks with regard to culture and mindset, and the more weapons I have in my arsenol, so to speak, the better I can present my case.

If anyone has any suggestions at all, I would be eternally grateful. My timeline is fairly tight - they'd like for me to have my process defined and in place by the first of the year. Thank you in advance for any feedback you can provide.

[mcardinal]

Ladywolf,

You have got a significant challenge in front of you. Putting the process in place should not be too tough. I would suggest using the basic framework provided by ITIL (or your solution vendor) for Incident and Problem and make slight modifications for your environment. Start with your pain points and begin collecting metrics as soon as possible to get the process improvements flowing. Example: collect incident metrics for a couple of weeks, chart the results, open problem records for the peaks and get fixes in place as soon as possible. That will bring you quick wins.

As far as culture and mindset, that is more significant. You need to get an Organizational Change program in place and start an Awareness campaign as soon as possible. One technique is to seek out your biggest resistors and mentor them one-on-one by answering there questions using ITIL as the solution. Often your biggest resitors can become your best supporters. They can then help you with those people who are sitting on the fence.

Hope this helps!

Michael


[Editors Note: URL link deleted]

[Ladywolf]

Thank you, Michael. That definitely does help.

I've gone through a similar process with selling Knowledge management, but that pales in comparison with what I'm working on now. I'm pulling data from everywhere I can, and trying to prep for the first meeting with the managers.

Good thing I love a challenge!