What Makes for Successful ITIL Implementation?
Lessons from Real Life Case Studies
In just 20 years ITIL has come to guide the IT service management practices which underpin the performance of successful organisations worldwide. The popularity of ITIL as a framework has much to do with the fact that it is not based on academic dogma – but is a distillation of what has been proven to work effectively. Not surprisingly those organisations which have not adopted ITIL are looking to do so – and those that have are looking to extend or enhance their ITIL processes. This article looks at what determines whether an ITIL project succeeds or fails.
There is a wealth of support available including official ITIL manuals, certified ITIL training, numerous books, software tools, user groups and consultants. I will try to avoid simple repetition of received wisdom and instead draw on the recent and real experiences of organisations which have undertaken an “ITIL journey”.
The experiences of more than 10 organisations were presented at the 2008 itSMF Conference in Birmingham. The projects ranged from application of specific ITIL tools such as Service Catalogue through to trans European ITIL adoption by a major financial institution with the goal of achieving ISO/IEC 20000.
The next section of this report summarises the main findings for ITIL implementation, and the second part of this article notes specific points arising from the projects reviewed.
Lessons for Your Next ITIL Programme
1. Start Right
First and foremost understand where you are now and develop a vision of where you want to be. Use customer surveys and ITIL maturity assessments to objectively define gaps. Develop a vision which is meaningful for your organisation and which can be clearly articulated and communicated.
Amongst ITIL practitioners there is considerable debate as where to break in to the “Lifecycle”. Some will say Service Desk because it is frontline and visible. Some will say Service Design – and particularly Service Catalogue. The most thoughtful approach is “Continual Service Improvement”. This is precisely where the alignment of IT Services and Business Needs should take place.
2. Organisational Change
Recognise that adopting ITIL is as much about organisational change as it is about processes and technology. This is not surprising; IT services are increasingly at the heart of how organisations deliver to their external customers – and are also central to how organisations themselves operate. In several of the real life examples below ITIL adoption was used as a means to harmonise business processes across many sites or divisions.
ITIL projects which are simply based on mechanistic adoption of new processes or software systems will have limited impact. Real success comes when ITIL touches hearts and minds – both within and beyond the IT community.
3. Engagement
Organisational change demands engagement. You have to look beyond the ITIL core reference manuals for creative ways to win support and commitment. The ITIL processes may be central to your plans but, interestingly, several of the organisations below deliberately played down the use of the “ITIL” name. They branded their projects in ways which emphasised that it was their own – and they used every marketing tool to promote the cause. Effective communication is essential.
Engagement also applies to external providers. To varying degrees, every organisation relies on external suppliers in the provision of IT services. When analysing, communicating and driving change make sure that third party providers and advisors are also involved.
4. Share
A theme of successful ITIL adoption is an increased willingness to share. A structured approach to IT services means less duplication of services and roles. It means use of a common language. It means working to meet wider organisational goals.
This shift in culture can be a particular issue for many organisations where IT personnel in particular have worked independently or in narrow silos. It will be a gradual process and one where leadership and openness of information is vital.
5. Right People
Your project will fail if you do not have the right skills and right experience in the right place.
All of the projects below involved redeployment and training of those involved. One pushed IT personnel out amongst the operational teams to break down barriers and improve response. Most involved the appointment of owners for all key ITIL processes affected. All used ITIL training to ensure a common language and understanding of best practice.
6. Momentum
This seems vague but was mentioned by at least half of the project leaders below. Two highlighted loss of momentum as the biggest threat to achievement. ISO/IEC 20000 was in part targeted by some in order to provide an inescapable external benchmark and key motivator.
There is a natural cycle to most initiatives where early enthusiasm fades once the easier wins have been banked, more intractable tasks loom, and other competing projects appear. There is no easy answer. Do publicise successes unashamedly. Do ensure there is a senior management champion who can maintain project profile. Try to avoid breaks in the implementation programme.
7. Project Management
Project Management goes hand in hand with most of the rest of these tips and failure to take a structured approach to ITIL implementation is inexcusable.
The approach you adopt may be PRINCE2 or your own equivalent. The key point is that there is a clear definition of business case, responsibilities, resourcing, work plans, stage reviews, risk, and escalation procedures.
8. Business Relevant Results
The case studies below used a wide spread of measurement approaches – from worryingly little to, perhaps, slightly obsessive.
Some put a strong reliance on ITIL maturity assessments. These can undoubtedly be helpful but only in conjunction with before and after measurement of criteria which have real impact on the business. These will include activity specific measures such as Service Desk rate of first time fix, and customer rating of satisfaction with IT.
9. Best is the Enemy of Better
Most of the project leaders below took a fairly pragmatic approach.
For those new to ITIL there is a temptation to want to adopt every process in the book. In the real world, resources are limited and there will be a better return in some areas than in others. Those nearer the start of an ITIL journey are typically starting with Service Desk and processes such as Incident, Problem and Change Management. Also increasing in popularity is creation of a Service Catalogue as part of the task of “understanding what we’ve got”.
10. Business As Usual
Look beyond the project. In several of the case studies below care was given early in the project as to how improved service provision would be carried forward into BAU.
This is an unglamorous part of the work and one which is often ignored. Improved service levels and efficiencies start to decay once the energy associated with the project is withdrawn. Approaches adopted in our case studies included the addition of new activities and performance measures into balanced score cards; retention of process ownership roles longer term; and the introduction of regular internal auditing. The latter of course is a pre-requisite for ISO/IEC 20000 accreditation.
Real Life Experiences
The following are salient points drawn from projects undertaken by the organisations named. I would like to express thanks to those involved for sharing their experiences – and apologies for not having space to say more about their impressive commitment to IT service management.
Allied Irish Bank Derek McCullagh
Allied Irish Bank's Olympus Programme was all about operational excellence through IT Service Management. ITIL was an important tool and ISO/IEC 20000 a significant milestone but fundamentally this was a change management programme - which will be continuing. One significant measure of success has been a 50% reduction in Service Outages between 2005 and 2008.
Salient Points:
• “Buy in” from senior management came easily. “Buy in” from the staff required a major communications initiative.
• Use of the Olympus name (rather than just ITIL) helped avoid the “not invented here” mentality.
• ITIL can seem a bit all embracing and nebulous. ISO/IEC 20000 gave a focus.
• The programme was “all about change – not technology.”
AXA UK Lynsey Bridgewater
A major initiative to harmonise and improve IT services over 52 UK sites was launched in 2007. The prime objectives were to improve customer satisfaction with IT – and secondly to improve ITIL maturity scores. Objective surveys have been regularly undertaken showing, for instance:
Service Desk Satisfaction – Up from 4.6 to 6.8 (out of 10)
Overall Satisfaction with IT – Up from 5.2 to 6.6
Availability of Critical Systems – Up from 99.1% to 99.4%
Salient Points:
• The initiative was structured as a major programme with 4 workstreams.
• Technical support personnel were “taken out” of IT and deployed close to users. These “CATS” had an immediate impact on many low level frustrations.
• Priority given to key customer issues: Service Desk came next then enhancement of Problem & Change Management. Capacity and Availability followed.
• Regular user surveys to track progress against key deliverables.
• “Customer First” attitudinal change seen as the central result.
European Central Bank Jean-Luc Gérardy
Though a major institution, the ECB is in fact a young and fast changing organisation. In terms of IT there had been rather more emphasis on design than operations. A decision was taken in 2005 to professionalise IT operations by internal improvement rather than outsourcing. The culmination of this project was achievement of ISO20000.
Salient Points:
• The project was structured into a series of stages: new service desk; base lining; self assessment; ISO20000.
• Whilst initial focus was on a subset of key services, it was decided to tackle all ITIL processes.
• ISO20000 was vital both to evidence to senior management that best practice was being achieved – and as a motivator for all involved.
• The most difficult phases were when initial enthusiasm waned and project momentum was lost.
Eversheds LLP Connor O'Brien & Cheryl Meek
Eversheds is a large full service law firm with 32 offices in major cities across the UK, Europe and Asia. Initially only Incident and Change Processes were in operation. A decision was taken in late 2005 to work towards ISO/IEC 20000. The Service Improvement Project (SIP) involved adoption of 21 rigorous processes leading to ISO Certification in May 2008.
Salient Points:
• Careful Gap Analysis to define areas requiring attention.
• IT Service Quality, Customer Satisfaction and Cost of IT Provision all included within objectives.
• Owners assigned to each process – each with clear KPIs and accountability.
• Quarterly audits and detailed performance measurement.
Hampshire County Council (HCC) Adam Poppleton & Ian Barnett
The IT Services group within HCC has 350 employees and serves 20,000 users. The decision was taken in Summer 2006 to align IT services with ITIL and seek ISO/IEC 20000. This Certification was achieved in March 2008.
Salient Points:
• The project aims were defined in terms of Capability Maturity Model and ISO Certification.
• It was run as a PRINCE2 project, owners were defined for all processes and there was strong senior management commitment.
• Communication was found to be one of the most challenging aspects, and momentum was lost after completion of Phase 1 (CMM Level 3 Achievement).
• Lessons learned included the need to adapt processes to suit the organisation, and the need to consider from an early stage how activities are transitioned to Business As Usual (BAU).
ITRI, Taiwan Peter Wang
The Industrial Technology Research Institute in Taiwan is the primary industrial R&D centre in the country. ITRI started its journey early in 2005 - adopting ITIL on the way to achieving ISO/IEC 20000 in May 2008. The project has transformed IT service quality from "fire fighting" to a situation where there are very few major incidents.
Salient Points:
• The project clearly acknowledged the interaction of “culture change”, “tools” and “processes”.
• Measurement against tightly defined service level agreements was central.
• There is a high level of transparency – with for instance key performance measures readily accessible via PDAs.
Lloyds TSB Simon Adams
Lloyds TSB undertook a project called "Leap into Lean". Building on an already structured service management environment, the campaign aimed to develop a culture of continuous improvement. It was all about doing the small things a little bit better. Savings of over £1m have been banked and in 2009 the project is concentrating on the more challenging (but bigger) wins.
Salient Points:
• The emphasis is on a culture of continuous improvement where people are empowered.
• Rather than use third party terminology, the project was strongly “own branded” and promoted creatively across the organisation; this simplifies the transition to BAU.
• Early wins were articulated in compelling “case study sheets” using the company’s marketing expertise.
• Activities and Goals were cascaded through the organisation and firmly embedded into the Balanced Scorecard system.
London Ambulance Service (LAS) Hitesh Patel
LAS is one of the largest in the world receiving 1.2m calls each year. There are 80 sites and 4,500 staff supported by an IT team of over 100. What started as an unfunded vision 3 years ago has resulted in a transformation of the way IT services are operated.
Salient Points:
• Low cost (or no cost) wins such as a basic service desk function helped justify the subsequent more rigorous adoption of ITIL processes.
• The ITIL project was included as a strategic initiative underpinning the service improvement goals of the organisation. Effective governance was helped by PRINCE2 training of key players.
• ITIL training was made more effective by the parallel introduction of performance management.
• Strong emphasis on sharing knowledge and resources.
NHS Connecting for Health Kevin Holland
Not a specific case study but based on practical experience Kevin presented ideas on how to integrate IT Service Management tools to achieve more than the sum of the parts. Loss of individual functionality is often more common than loss of full service; dealing with this in complex end to end infrastructures requires creative use of ITIL approaches.
Salient Points:
• Component Failure Impact Analysis relevant at low level; Fault Tree Analysis relevant to technical aspects of networks; Business Impact Analysis relevant to major business impacts. Failure Mode Effect Analysis helps identify remedial actions in advance.
• Combine these tools and you have a “joined up” and more effective tool set.
• Apply the “How long can you do without it?” question to test severity of an incident.
Nottinghamshire County Council Keith Spiers
The recent work at Notts CC has been to transform an IT operation which already claimed to use ITIL into one where ITIL is deeply embedded to drive continuous improvement in IT services. The programme was triggered by a new CEO and a need to embrace a “Transformational Government” perspective.
Salient Points:
• Previous ITIL Foundation training had enthused staff who subsequently became disheartened when they could not implement improvements. A 150 page consultancy report gathered dust.
• This has been overcome through appropriate attention to vision, culture, communication and the building of individuals’ confidence.
• Mapping of ITIL Lifecycle stages against IT Service management roles has helped identify interactions across the team – and reduce duplication.
• The goal is for customers to see IT as an “Enabler” rather than a “Resource”.
Skipton Building Society Ged Donovan
Skipton is a UK Building Society with 79 branches and assets of over £10 billion. Confronted by feedback that IT services were not meeting customer expectations a project was initiated in 2007 to adopt ITIL as a solution. Though Service Delivery aspects remain, a dramatic reduction in Priority A major incidents has been documented.
Salient Points:
• Following an initial maturity assessment the project gave priority to Service Catalogue, Incident, Problem and Change Processes.
• Challenges included “Cultural Change” though the IT staff were in fact very receptive to ITIL.
• There was tension between project requirements and “the day job” and a breathing space was included between project phases. In retrospect Ged would not recommend this since some momentum was lost.
About:
Focus on Training specialises in provision of Best Practice training within the Project Management and IT Service Management sectors. A comprehensive range of ITIL, ISO/IEC20000 and related courses from leading accredited training organisations can be booked at:
www.focusprojects.co.uk/itsm
Rex Gibson leads the IT Service Management team at Focus. He has successfully executed major business change and IT projects, and has managed international engineering companies with significant IT dependency.
rex@focus-on-training.co.uk
