Service Desk Maturity Models & Frameworks

Robert S. Last, M.A., S.C.A., S.C.M.

February 14, 2008

Agenda• What’s a model & what’s a framework?

• The most common models and frameworks

• Choosing a model or framework

• How they work--in brief

• Lessons learned

• Resources

• Questions

2

What’s a Model & Framework?

• Model-A standard or example for

imitation or comparison.

• Framework-Guidance that is not

prescriptive in nature. A framework

tells you who, what, where and when

to do something, but not how to do it.

3

The Most Common Models & Frameworks

4

Capability Maturity Model (34 of them)

Capability Maturity Model-Integrated

IT Service Capability Maturity Model

We Also Have…• HDI Support Center Maturity Model

• ISO/IEC 20000-Standard (model) from our

British cousins & ISO

• ITIL-Framework from our British cousins

• CoBIT-Model for control of the IT environment5

How They Work—In Brief…• The good news first-the maturity models all

work essentially the same way

• The frameworks and standards all have assessment tools of different types

• The documentation on all of these frameworks, models, standards, etc. is voluminous

6

How They Work…• The bad news is that they have these

characteristics:

– A lot of reading, study and paperwork have to be expended to understand them;

– The writing for these programs is DRY—Sinai Desert dry;

– Most support center managers have a tendency to pick and choose what parts they use

7

CMM• CMM began in 1987; created by the Software

Engineering Institute (SEI) at Carnegie-Mellon University; began from a charter issued by the DOD; released in 1990.

8

CMM--I.D.E.A.L.

9

I.D.E.A.L.• I-Initiating: Laying the groundwork for a

successful improvement effort.

• D-Diagnosing: Determining where you are relative to where you want to be.

• E-Establishing: Planning the specifics of how you will reach your destination.

• A-Acting: Doing the work according to the plan.

• L-Learning: Learning from the experience & improving your ability.

10

The Maturity Levels

11

What is a Maturity Model?• Organizational maturity refers to an

organizations’ ability to perform.

• A maturity model is a descriptive model that defines five stages of evolutionary growth.

• At each maturity level organizational competence increases.

12

Advantages to Maturity Model• Practices are identified & can be repeated.

• Best practices can be rapidly transferred across groups.

• Variations in performing best practices are reduced.

• Practices are continuously improved to enhance capability (optimizing).

• Provides a common framework & language.

13

Advantages of a Model & Framework

• Allows you to concentrate on improving more than creating.

• Generally is supported by training, consulting & ancillary literature.

• Repeatable practices become the norm– U.S Navy goes nuclear-safely & the airline pilots

checklist– Apollo 13—the movie

• Fewer and fewer “individual acts of heroism.”14

CMMI• Capability Maturity Model Integration(CMMI)

was released in 2002 and combined disparate models of CMM into a single integrated model.

• CMMI describes the

characteristics of

effective processes.

• CMMI is a framework for business process improvement.

15

IT Service CMM• IT Service CMM® is a maturity model aimed at

enabling IT service providers to assess their capabilities with respect to the delivery of IT services.

16

Maturity Model Assessments-I• Maturity model assessments measure the degree to

which an organization uses its people, processes, tools, products, and management.

• Assessments show how the organization compares to other organizations.

• Assessments show opportunities to improve, identify required standards, processes, procedures and facilitate continuous improvements.

17

Choosing a Model or Framework• Process Maturity Framework (PMF) or

Governance Maturity Model (GMM)?

• Are you subject to IT governance audits? Can anyone say CoBIT & SOX? HIPPA?

18

HDI Support Center Maturity Model

• Developed in 2003, updated in 2007.

• Based on input from the HDI Strategic Advisory Board.

• Reflects changes in business needs, advances in technology & growth in process maturity models.

19

HDI Support Center Maturity Model

20

Definitions

Operational Procedures are developed for measurement

Tactical Actions are developed to implement a strategy to achieve a

specific objective

Strategic Long-term plan of action is designed to achieve a particular

goal21

Maturity Level Characteristics

Vision People Process Technology

•Reacts to incoming volume•Can be chaotic• Limited interaction

with other IT groups• Lacks mission/vision• Service level targets

not defined•Has basic

operational plan; lacks long-term planning

• Phone contact• Business hours

(8 AM - 5 PM)•Multiple points of

contact•Dispatch-focused•Generalists• Staffing is labor-

driven• Limited training

•Undocumented processes• Inconsistent process

adoption• Basic incident

tracking/handling•Reacts to changes• Little measurement

• Simple telephony• Simple tracking tools• FAQs• Tools not integrated• Limited process

automation

Bold = Characteristics from 2003 Maturity Model 22

Maturity Level Characteristics

Vision People Process Technology• Focus on support center

productivity• Interacts with escalation

partners• Focus on support center

teamwork• Markets services provided• Has mission; lacks long-

term vision• Has operational and

business plans

• Phone, email, voicemail, fax contact• Extended hours; on-call

service• Single point of contact• Escalation paths defined• Specialists• Focus on first-contact

resolution• Staffing based on service

level targets• Training provided• Monitors performance• People satisfaction surveys• Recognizes individual

contributions

• Key processes documented• Processes influenced by

best practices• Consistent process adoption

by support center• Tracks incidents and

service requests• IT-based service level

targets• IT-based quality standards• Basic change, problem and

knowledge management within support center• Hardware asset inventory• Measures support center

performance• Event-based customer

surveys

• ACD system• Customized announcement• Skills-based routing• Service management tool• Workforce scheduling tool• Self-service ticket entry,

history, status• Internal knowledge

database• Basic reporting tools• Some tools integrated• Tools enable common task

automation

Bold = Characteristics from 2003 Maturity Model

23

Maturity Level Characteristics

Vision People Process Technology• Focus on customer

productivity• Partners with IT groups,

customers and vendors• Markets value to customer• Vision/mission aligned with IT• Operational and business

plans are aligned• Accounting-based costs

(chargeback)

• Multi-channel support• Extended hours to meet

customer needs(24x7 – follow the sun)• Single point of contact;

team collaboration• Tiered support• Staffing based on work

volume and service level targets (workload planning)• Focus on first-contact

resolution• Training and career

development• Monitors performance• People satisfaction surveys• Competitive compensation• Recognizes team and

individual contributions

• Documented processes based on best practices• Consistent process adoption

at most levels• Incident and service request

management• Customer-based service

level agreements• Included in change

management• Knowledge management

culturally accepted• Problem elimination• Hardware/software inventory• Customer-based quality

standards• Service catalog• Measures support center

performance to targets• Periodic customer satisfaction

surveys

• Computer telephony integration• Service management tool• Workforce management tool• Self-service integrated with

knowledge• Reporting tools enable trend

analysis• Most tool are integrated• Tools enable process

automation

Bold = Characteristics from 2003 Maturity Model 24

Maturity Level Characteristics

Vision People Process Technology• Focus on business

productivity• Support center is integral to IT• Markets value (integration) to

business• Vision/mission are aligned

with business• Operational, business and

strategic plan alignment• Budget supports business

requirements• Business value-based costs

• Integrated multi-channel contact• Extended hours to meet

business requirements• Single point of contact; shared

ownership• Workforce planning and

resource allocation supports business success• Training, career and personal

development• Balanced scorecard

performance monitoring• People satisfaction results

used for positive change• Regular compensation review• Formal recognition programs

• Documented processes based on management framework• Consistent process adoption

at all levels• Business-aligned service level

management• Support center on change

advisory board• Knowledge management is

integral to support• Problem elimination• Configuration management• Business-aligned quality

standards• Service catalog• Performance results

measured to KPIs• Multiple customer satisfaction

survey methods

• Computer telephony integration with customer relationship management• Service management suite• Self-service with knowledge

and self-help/self-healing capabilities• Reporting tools enable

business analytics• Tools enable full process

automation (fully automated)

Bold = Characteristics from 2003 Maturity Model25

Model Evaluation Categories

2003 2007Alignment to

HDI Support Center Certification

Labor Intensity PeoplePeople Management

ResourcesPeople Satisfaction

Process Complexity Process Process & Procedure

Tools Implementation Technology Resources

Scope of Vision VisionLeadership

Strategy & PolicyCustomer SatisfactionPerformance Results26

What do I do with this?

• The HDI Support Center Assessment Program:

(Working on the tool now)

http://www.thinkhdi.com/......

27

ITIL Process Maturity Assessment

28

“ITIL Process Maturity Assessment” Levels

• Uses the following maturity levels:– Level 0-Absence-There is absolutely no evidence of

any activities supporting the process– Level 1-Initiation-There are ad hoc activities

present but we are not aware of how they relate to each other within a single process

– Level 2-Awareness-We are aware of the process but some activities are still incomplete or inconsistent; there is no overall measuring or control

29

ITIL Process Maturity Assessment-Levels-continued

– Level 3-Control-The process is well defined, understood and implemented

– Level 4-Integration-Inputs from this process come other well controlled processes; outputs from this process go to other well controlled processes

30

ITIL Process Maturity Assessment-LevelsLevel 5-Optimization-This processes drives

quality improvements & new business opportunities beyond the process itself.

31

Tools for You…IT Service Capability Maturity Model:

http://www.itgovernance.co.uk/files/IT%20Service%20CMM.pdf

http://www.itservicecmm.org/

http://www.itservicecmm.org/doc/quest-0.1.pdf

http://www.serc.nl/people/niessink/publications/TR99.Niessink.pdf

(This is one of the best explanations available-All 78 pages)

32

ISO/IEC 20000»Has a great Self-assessment Book

» It describes an integrated set of management processes that are aligned & complementary to the process approach defined within ITIL.

» The individual ITIL books offer expanded information & guidance on the subjects addressed in ISO/IEC 20000.

33

ISO 20000 Service Mgmt.

34

Does ITIL Have Assessments?Oh Yeah! They’re very good too!

• IT Service Management: Service Support Self-assessment Questionnaire

http://www.contentedits.com/img.asp?id=4183

http://www.itsm.info/downloads.htm

www.itsm.info/Service_Desk service_support_assessment.xls

• IT Service Management: Service Delivery Self-assessment Questionnaire

http://www.itsm.info/downloads.htm

http://www.itsm.info/

35

CoBIT• CoBIT is a model for control of the IT

environment.

• Where ITIL is a Process maturity Framework (PMF)…

• CoBIT is a Governance Maturity Model (GMM)

36

CoBIT Cube CoBIT Resources

37

Lessons from Veteran Users1. Do your homework first

2. Identify what could go wrong, not what might go wrong. Never Assume—remember FEMA?

2. Do not “implement by incantation”

3. Remember, “Murphy’s Law-Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong, at the worst possible time-” was optimistic

38

Measuring & Defining Success• Measuring:

– Identify what’s important for implementation– Identify what’s important for daily management– Identify what’s important for strategic management

• Define Success:

You should do this in the beginning of the project, during the planning stage

39

Resources-Check the bookstore!

40

Ask a question—I Dare You!

41

Any Questions?

RLast@thinkhdi.com42

Thank you for attending this session.Please fill out an evaluation form.

43