This is almost diametrically opposed to the perception of some people that ITIL introduces a major amount of bureaucracy in the form of procedures, work instructions, logs, forms and other paperwork. And whilst this it true to some degree, there is a very good reason for this, and this reason is what I call my first mantra of ITIL (or perhaps the first commandment to stick with the religion analogy):
YOU CANNOT MANAGE WHAT YOU CANNOT MEASURE!
Not being able to measure is basically what ‘best
effort’ is. Individuals doing their best, in whatever way they individually
think it should be done. The end result is, for instance, 3 people on the
service desk who each use their own way to answer the phone, ask questions,
record details, hand these to 2nd level support, follow-up and
report to management (i.e. incident management). The result is that even though
each of the 3 individuals may do a good job (best effort), the overall result
is a bit up-and-down and inconsistent. The introduction of ‘best practice’
(like ITIL) makes all 3 individuals act the same, by following a predefined,
accepted way of doing things; and to manage this we need measurements (to
compare against baselines, service levels, KPIs, performance targets etc.).
The clincher is though that ITIL never dictates how
big or how formal your procedures need to be or even whether you need to
document any of this (for instance for those 3 service desk operators). This is
where I normally borrow from PRINCE2 which describes the need for tailoring
(note not choice, but need!) and this tailoring is based on the size, risk and
complexity of the project\organisation. The bigger the organisation, the more
complex the organisation (various suppliers, geographical locations, …) and\or
the more risky the activity (support for the intensive care in a hospital,
nuclear power plant, …); the more, formal documentation you will need.
Thus it is your job (having been converted to ITIL,
and understanding both the WHAT and the WHY) to determine HOW much
documentation you need in order for you to deliver the best services to your
customer (I may get back on the repeatability of ITIL process at some stage).
This of course may lead to bureaucracy, but a necessary one.
Imagine this: you’re in an airplane and on the
speaker comes the captain saying that they have started the descent into the
airport of your destination. He\she continues to says that it a special day as
it is his\her 1000th landing here and that to celebrate he\she has a
really cool, new way of landing the plane! Probably not something you want to
hear as a user\customer in row 23C. You want to hear the pilot say that he\she
has a procedure that he\she has followed 999 times before and can do
blindfolded, backwards, with one hand tied behind their back, in Russian. But
the pilot promises to do this procedure step-be-step and then the co-pilot will
check (i.e. audit) that every step has been completed, as that provides the
best, repeatable, guaranteed, measured value to you (as the customer in 23C).
And this is the role of IT in the business these
days, we can no longer ... (wait for it …) wing it anymore (pause for canned
laughter) but have to provide repeatable, guaranteed services and the use of
best practice\procedures, if necessary through the use of documentation. And
ITIL is that best practice and thus requires a certain, adequate amount of
documentation, without becoming bureaucracy.
I’ll leave with one more analogy: if ITIL is
perceived as bureaucracy and bureaucracy is meant to slow you down (a often
heard complaint), it can therefor be compared to the brake in a car (which
slows you down). But would you drive a 100kmph+ on a freeway without a break …
and how would you change direction?
The role of ITIL (and its documentation) is to control
your speed and to allow the organisation to change direction in a managed,
controlled way.
the ITIL Zealot
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