How can you incorporate IT operations stakeholder feedback and suggestions effectively?

The alignment of contractual deliverables with SLAs remains consistent; however, the feedback from ITOM can differ depending on the situation. Accordingly, incorporating perception-based feedback, which is established through mutually agreed parameters among stakeholders, is crucial. This procedural approach facilitates a comprehensive understanding of both parties' perspectives.

In my experience I have approached it from “business first” perspective.. On a high level my check list goes like this. 1) Identify the business owner of the product/application for which the infrastructure has been created. 2) Understand the SLA and other requirements of business. 3) Once the SLA is clear it serves as a base for cost allocation/negotiation, Putting required controls, enabling monitoring investments, resources investments etc. 4) Identify the gaps from expectations on SLA and actual capabilities on infrastructure . Filling this gap becomes a continuous process because of the continuous changing needs of businesses. I think the better we are at business first perspective the better we get with our quality of ITOM.

In my experience in incorporating IT operations stakeholder feedback is to first 1.Identify the stakeholders of the IT operations that directly or indirectly affect IT operations. 2.Acknowledge and recognize stakeholders who provide valuable feedback and suggestions. Consider implementing reward or recognition programs to encourage participation. 3.Maintain a knowledge base or repository of feedback and suggestions, including the solutions implemented. 4.Conduct periodic reviews of the feedback process to ensure that it remains effective and aligned with changing organizational needs. 5.Treat the feedback process as a continuous improvement cycle. Learn from each round of feedback and make adjustments to the process as necessary.

Incorporating IT operations stakeholder feedback and suggestions effectively is crucial for improving IT service delivery, addressing issues, and aligning IT operations with business goals. Here are steps to ensure the effective incorporation of feedback: Establish a Feedback Collection Mechanism: Create a formal process for collecting feedback. This can include surveys, feedback forms, emails, and meetings with stakeholders. Ensure that the feedback mechanism is user-friendly, easily accessible, and well-promoted to stakeholders.Categorize and Prioritize Feedback,Dedicated Feedback Handling Team,Regular Review Meetings,Engage Stakeholders in the Improvement Process,

In order to incorporate IT Operations stakeholders feedback and suggestion effectively - we first need to prepare Stakeholder "Heatmap"! Heatmap would help us know different persona better, so that their needs and expectations can be documented and defined in terms of SLAs / OLAs / NPS & If IT Operations are mature then consider Business Outcomes = "Measure what matters to Business"! Define 'Customer Experience' levers to collect feedback & suggestions from IT Operations Stakeholders & provide these inputs to "CSI - Continuous Service Improvement Process". Here you can define Quarterly, Semi-Annual/Annual targets and execute activities, monitor, report & celebrate achievements!

Start simple when collecting feedback from your stakeholders and keep your questions short. If people have a dim view of your current ITOM offering then engaging them will already be difficult. Respect their time, and thank them for it. Build up the relationship between ITOM and the business by identifying quick wins and communicate those back to your business. Short, sharp improvements in minor pieces of your service allow you to show the potential impact you can have further down the line, on larger-scale ITOM changes. Back up the voice of your stakeholders with internal data, does it match? Are your SD stats reflective of what your stakeholders are telling you?

Before you go down the survey, focus group, feedback form route. STOP. If you are in IT Ops, then wildly asking questions will, if you aren't careful, simply expose gaps between 'the business' and 'IT'. Why? because frankly, we speak different languages. Before you do this, understand what the purpose of the business system is. Understand the problem it exists to fix. Start to measure and baseline the BUSINESS METRICS that the system produces. It doesn't produce any metrics? Then how do you know it's doing its job? Model the business system. Identify the technical components that interrelate to deliver the "service". Understand the impact of each component on the overall service delivery. Don't fix a database if the problem is with WiFi!

Collecting feedback and suggestions is a crucial part of improving any product, service, or organization. 1) Define Your Goals 2) Choose Feedback Channels 3)Develop Clear and Concise Questions 4) Offer Incentives 5) Maintain Anonymity 6) Analyze Feedback 7) Categorize and Prioritize

Designate influencers and ambassadors who have close relationships with the people that the solutions are created for. Getting the pulse on the actual reality, not the supposed reality portrayed in process descriptions. These influencers should have a natural and informal relationship with various stakeholders, and being able to consolidate the consensus without direct involvement of management or feedback forms. Align the influencers with feedback loops in ongoing projects. Don't kill the messenger. :-)

Stakeholder engagement should be strong right from the initial stages of product or service deployment. - Let the stakeholders define what is required for their department or business. - Make them accountable and own the requirements and expectations. - Identify partners or products which cater to it. Let the stakeholders and their team perform thorough testing. Let the stakeholders decide on the product. - Update the governance committee (typically executive leadership team), procure funding and implement it in line with expectations. - Hire a strong PMO and Project management team with right technical skillset or upscale existing team to deploy and effectively support the product or service. - Set the right expectations and SLA. TBC ..

Analyzing feedback and suggestions is a critical process for improvement, whether it's related to a product, service, or personal development. Collect--> Categorize-->Prioritize--> Analyze-->Evaluate--> Implement--? Measure--> Iterate the whole process

This is a step many people skip; after collecting the feedback, you need a robust process to analyze the feedback and classify it into actionable items. Some methods to help with this: *Use ML and GenAI for advanced data analysis. *Align feedback with business goals via a prioritization matrix. *Apply Six Sigma for root cause analysis. *Consider SWOT or PESTLE for a broader context. *Publish findings in a report or infographic and share with the decision makers.

This isn't a bad set of suggestions actually. But as I said previously, understanding the services you are responsible for delivering to the business and how they are used is a prerequisite.

When diving into the sea of stakeholder feedback, think of it as a treasure huntX marks the spot where improvements await! Grab your virtual snorkel and explore the depths, looking for pearls of wisdom.

If you have defined your provisioned operational tasks into services, you may gain benefit from using the Continual Service Improvement framework. This framework also considers feed-back from stakeholders in terms of surveys and complaints and appraisals. All feedback is presented to the service owners who are eligible to make actual changes to the provisioning of the services in question. As meetings regarding the state of the services are continuously, you will over time be able to track improvements of your services, based on stakeholder feedback.

Again, some useful suggestions here. I don't agree with all of them because I don't want to spend my time boiling the ocean. Simple Kanban boards are great for communicating to a wide audience what is going on within IT Ops. Publish and be damned. Don't forget too that development teams have a massive influence. Even today, after almost 40 years in IT roles, I still find that a wall exists between Dev and Ops. The developers create code of beauty that makes stakeholders happy (provided they have identified the right stakeholders - see earlier) and they present Ops with a bundle of code wrapped up in shiny paper and tied with a pretty bow. Ops for their part then have to make sure the code is monitored. There is an opportunity here surely?

This is somewhat off the mark, although PM tools are great to use, they do not offer a cohesive framework for the visual aids you're using to create actionable efforts. I'd suggest after properly analyzing the feedback, integrate those insights into your communication plan using PM tools. I also suggest using DevOps for continuous implementation and Agile or Kanban for task tracking.

Ask the right questions, questions that matter, whose answers will make a difference or else any and all feedback is weightless.

Voice of the Customer is what matters! No matter what IT dashboards and reports show, if there is no alignment with the VoC, all is in vain. Challenge is how actively one listens and how well the customer needs are understood.

Kanban board does this well enough. If you're a typical enterprise, then constant non-technical communication is key. Take a look at continuous service improvement methods but please don't get bogged down in too much process or you'll strangle IT and your stakeholders will accuse you of hiding behind process. What is often referred to as "Computer says no" syndrome.

I found success in setting up a dedicated feedback portal like Yammer or TEAM groups. Sometimes the weekly progress report followed up with an emailed PPT is just not enough to keep everyone properly engaged.

Everything is a PR campaign! I learned a while ago that if you treat crowd-based communication like a PR campaign, you will have a higher likelihood of getting your message understood and acknowledged. So what would that look like? In this scenario, maybe it's a small prize for a random lucky winner who submitted a feedback form, or perhaps a publicized change that incorporates a popular input.

Time to share those stakeholder suggestions with the flair of a stand-up comedian. Imagine your communication as a tech-themed stand-up special – laughter is the best code medicine, after all... Craft messages that are as clear as a GPS, but with enough humor to make a robot chuckle. Grab your virtual mic, step into the spotlight, and deliver those suggestions with a punchline.

As part of our Digital Transformation goals, we currently have surveys attached to IT and Operations tickets and are moving towards dashboards with real-time monitoring of operational metrics, visible to all stakeholders. To enhance engagement and maintain transparent communication we hold regular meetings where all staff are welcome, allowing IT & Ops to discuss how stakeholder feedback is being implemented. Ideally, I would like to utilize tools like Tableau, Splunk, and LogStash to analyze feedback combined with system logs to help allocate resources based on impact and feasibility -- this would complete the stakeholder feedback loop, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

To do this, you can start by actively seeking feedback from your stakeholders and encouraging them to share their suggestions and concerns. Once you receive their feedback, take the time to carefully review their suggestions and consider how they can be incorporated into your IT operations. It is also essential to communicate with your stakeholders throughout the implementation process, keeping them informed of any updates or changes. This will help build trust and confidence in your ability to manage the project effectively. Finally, make sure to follow up with your stakeholders after the project is completed to gather their feedback on how it went and to identify areas for improvement.

Being IT Operations, the technical aspects, the order, precision, and tight processes can appear to be the complete picture. However, we often overlook the humanization of IT Operations, the various customer paths & and journeys, as well as their perspectives on engagement and usability. Not just your external customers, but your internal ones too as just as important.

Example case study: Enhancing IT Operations with Stakeholder Feedback. Challenge: A global tech firm faced IT issues impacting productivity and customer satisfaction, requiring proactive solutions. Approach: Feedback Portal: Launched a dedicated portal for issue reporting and suggestions. Data Analysis: Identified common problems—slow response times and software glitches. Cross-Functional Teams: Collaboration between IT, support, and development. Prioritization: Addressed 'critical' issues first. Collaborative Solutions: Engaged end-users in refining solutions. Results: 40% Faster Issue Resolution 60% Reduction in Software Glitches 20% Increase in Employee Satisfaction 30% Decrease in Customer Complaints

Communication between parties is a key. Just keep in mind, no one loves "black boxes" if they (other users) can't understand what you are doing and what you are providing to them - they consider you as a "black box" and will not trust you, will blame you for whatever reason. Once you implement a "transparency" approach, when everyone in the company knows what you are delivering for them, when it will be delivered or fixed, and you are communicating each and every step - they will praise you for such openness and transparency. The same applies to your internal team members and teams. If you need to apply a new business process for them, think from the perspective - "What they will get? How it will affect them? What is the point for them?".

We always talk about the disconnection between IT and the business, and that's very evident in IT Operations in general due to its very technical and operational nature. If you have to collect feedback from time to time, you're already missing it. Bring IT Operations as close as possible to the business by fostering an advanced DevSecOps culture that will allow feedback to move between developers and operations teams. Operations will only be able to innovate in a way that helps the business if they are close to the systems and applications that the business users rely on. But a word of caution when dealing with third parties: some times it's better to let them do what they do best, and have a liaison in your team to make the connection.