The Elusive Case ?? of Leadership Buy-In ??
Lisa Schwartz ??
Celebrating 20 years of educating & inspiring IT Service Management professionals! CXO, Founder ITSM Academy ?? #ILoveMyTeam
For over 20 years, one question keeps resurfacing: How do we secure buy-in from senior management for our ITSM initiatives? It’s a challenge that never seems to fade. Like any good mystery, just when you think you have it solved, a new player enters the scene and changes the game.
In February 2024, we were delighted to have David Cannon and Ken Jarvis present our monthly webinar, on the topic?Getting and Keeping Executive Buy-in for your ITSM Program.?
I personally find it difficult to revisit all the audio content on my wishlist, so I appreciate it when I can read a concise summary - like CliffsNotes for Webinar. Or in this case, LisaNotes ??, as I am building on some of the ideas presented.?
In prepping for the webinar, Donna Knapp?postulated, "Are we even asking the right question? Should we be asking instead, What will make executives care about ITSM?"??
As Dr. Lanning says in the movie I, Robot, "That, detective, is the right question".?
The Top Challenge: Leadership Support As discussed in the webinar, research consistently shows that a lack of senior leadership support is the top challenge for ITSM programs, year after year. In fact, a 2022 Axelos survey confirmed that lack of management buy-in remains a primary obstacle.? The Axelos research also highlights which ITSM processes organizations were actively working on: service desk, incident management, service request management, change enablement, and problem management. While important, these are operational concerns that may not always capture executive attention. Most executives, especially CIOs, are focused on strategic initiatives—often far removed from day-to-day IT operations. So, how do we bridge the gap? How do we convince executives that ITSM is relevant to their goals? What Do Executives Care About? For our webinar, David pulled together research by looking at reports from Gartner, Forrester, and CIO Magazine. He presents that the top challenges CIOs face today can be grouped into two categories: strategy/business alignment and technology. (Download slide deck) On the strategic side, CIOs are concerned with:
On the technology side, their challenges include:
It’s clear from this list that ITSM or ITIL doesn’t feature explicitly in their thinking. CIOs aren’t asking, "How can ITIL solve my problems today?" They’re focused on high-level initiatives that drive the organization forward. For ITSM professionals, this presents a challenge - one that requires positioning ITSM as a solution to the problems that matter most to executives. Understanding What Executives Care About?
The key to securing buy-in from anyone, for anything, is understanding "What’s in it for them?"
While ITSM may be a priority for us, executives often see it as a background operation—something that should "just work." They may not grasp the full importance of ITSM, especially if they come from a business background. This disconnect can lead to resistance, or at least, indifference when it comes to allocating resources.
To bridge this gap, we need to frame ITSM as a tool that supports the broader goals executives care about, like digital transformation or innovation. Mapping ITSM metrics to those goals is crucial. For instance, if an executive is focused on improving customer experience, you could demonstrate how an efficient incident management process reduces downtime and improves service quality. Here are a few other scenarios:?
Innovation?- Streamlined change management, supported by ITSM, reduces risk in deploying new services or technologies. Period. Full Stop. But sometimes it's good to remind the higher-ups of that. Metrics like "change lead time", "change success rate" or "percentage of failed changes" showcase how controlled processes enable faster, safer innovations, helping the business bring new products or features to market quickly.
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Agility?-?For executives focused on business agility, ITSM’s role in automation and workflow orchestration can be linked to faster response times. Metrics such as "mean time to restore (MTTR)" or "incident response time" can show ITSM’s role in automation and workflow orchestration can be linked to both greater system stability and faster response times when things do go wrong.
Compliance and Risk Management - If the executive is concerned with governance or regulatory compliance, you can emphasize how ITSM ensures compliance through well-defined processes in incident, change, and problem management. Metrics like "audit compliance rate" or "percentage of changes compliant with policy" demonstrate how ITSM mitigates risk and maintains operational integrity.?
By aligning ITSM outcomes with these strategic goals, it’s clear that ITSM delivers more than technical support—it becomes a critical enabler of business success.
Want to brainstorm and come up with more ideas? Chat?with an ITSM Academy Subject Matter Expert. No sales talk, just advice. ?
Keeping Executives Engaged Over Time
Even after securing initial buy-in, the challenge is to keep executives engaged throughout the lifecycle of the ITSM program. This is especially true for long-term initiatives like Enterprise Service Management (ESM) or ITSM, which can span years. To keep them engaged, you need to regularly review the ITSM metrics presented. Are you aligning them with strategic goals? Is it clear that the data on their dashboards is aligned? Can they see, at a glance, how it’s impacting the organization? Metrics such as service reliability, time to resolution, and customer satisfaction are valuable, but they should always be framed in the context of broader business objectives like efficiency, innovation, or customer experience.
Grassroots Efforts and Selling ITSM Differently "But I'm just a Change Manager, a cog in a wheel, how am I supposed to know what's a priority for my leadership?" you may ask.
Talk to E V E R Y O N E?- As an ITSM professional, you are likely in a unique position to interact with multiple teams across the organization. Take advantage of these touchpoints to ask questions about broader business initiatives. Attend meetings, read leadership communications, or reach out to key stakeholders to better understand what leadership cares about. Even casual conversations can provide valuable insights.
Research the strategic documentation available to you - You don’t have to guess. Organizations often have strategic plans, quarterly goals, or executive dashboards. Familiarize yourself with these documents—they often outline leadership’s priorities in terms of growth, innovation, or efficiency.
Like any great mystery novel, the case for executive buy-in to ITSM isn’t solved in a single chapter. Instead, it unfolds bit by bit, requiring patience, strategy, and sometimes, a fresh approach to clue in the decision-makers. As ITSM professionals, we find ourselves playing detective, collecting insights, and mapping each discovery back to what matters most to the leadership team.
In this ongoing story, our objective is to reveal how ITSM isn’t merely a side story; it’s an essential plot line driving the organization toward its larger ambitions. The tools for solving this case lie in linking ITSM metrics to strategic goals, building relationships with key stakeholders, and uncovering what truly resonates with executive priorities.
The best mysteries keep readers hooked by answering some questions while leaving others just out of reach, drawing them deeper into the story. In the same way, keeping executives engaged in ITSM is an evolving process, one that requires staying alert to changes in their goals and challenges, and adjusting our approach as new 'chapters' unfold.
So, if you’re ready to crack the case on leadership buy-in, remember this: the ITSM Academy team is here to help you uncover the clues, connect the dots, and solve the mystery—page by page, chapter by chapter.
Workflow Automation Strategist | MBA Candidate
1 周Thanks, Lisa for sharing this.
ITIL4 Leader: Digital & IT Strategy | ITIL4 Managing Professional | Humanising IT Professional | Author of 'The Service Desk Handbook'
3 周Sometimes, its more easier to secure buy-in than it is to sustain leadership interest. The level of maturity doesn't go up after the initial excitement and enthusiasm. ITSM becomes a ticketing tool.
Senior IT Consultant - ITSM Solution SME
1 个月--- This is an interesting post, Lisa Schwartz. One question, in your AI generated image, was the "Executive But-in" poster intentional...that is, instead of it saying Buy-in?