#Entry 11 - Service Introduction

Today I was attending a knowledge session organised by our team on Service Introduction, a term I am sure a lot of people might not have heard about. So, I decided to write about this topic which is quite close to my heart- IT Service Introduction or Transition to Service. Broadly speaking, if I want to look for its place in the ITIL domain, this would be placed in Service Transition phase (ITIL V3) while if you are looking in ITIL4, you can refer to the Service Value chain, where the purpose?of this value chain activity is to ensure that applications and services continually?meet stakeholder expectations for quality, costs, and time to market.

When I was first introduced to the world of ITIL, organisations were hardly implementing Service Introduction. However, I have noticed in the last decade or so, a lot of organisations who have a mature ITSM landscape, have understood the importance of Service Introduction as an 'effective tool' to introduce a new application/service into an established IT system. I have personally observed and been part of teams across a few major IT, Manufacturing and FMCG companies.

A Service Introduction (SI) Consultant can either work individually or as part of an extended Service Management Office (like how you might have heard of a PMO for a Program/ Project) would report in to Service Delivery Managers/ Service Owners and would typically work back with the below stakeholders:

-?????????Application Development Team (functional/technical team) including the Lead Project Manager

-?????????Sales/Client facing group

-?????????Client Subject Matter Experts

-?????????Project Managers - Third party tools/systems (if applicable)

-?????????Application Maintenance- Service provider

-?????????End users

Service Design phase would ensure that an effective Service Introduction process/ playbook would be defined which would include a basic set of documentation including but not limited to:

-?????????Master Service Acceptance Criteria (also referred to as the Operational Acceptance) checklist

-?????????Service Model template

-?????????Post Go Live Support (also referred to as Hypercare) entry/ exit criteria

-?????????RACI matrix

In most organizations that I am aware of where Service Introduction is there, it all starts with a simple kickoff call followed by a period of Service Acceptance Criteria (SAC) Baselining. The SAC provides a rigorous framework for evaluating the readiness and risk assessment of an IT Service. The Service Model is like a one-stop document for everything related to an IT service and is co-authored by the Project Manager and SI consultant and usually reviewed by the Service Owner. When a new team member joins a support group for a service, this should be one of the first documents that they go through. This document will capture key information like the important stakeholders including escalation contacts, end to end process workflow, support structure, to name a few. And what about the Post Go Live Support (also referred to as Hypercare) entry/ exit criteria? Well, this involves evaluation of Service Health, highlighting risks, issues, and gaps before it is transitioned into Maintenance/ Support/ Ops phase.

Successful 'Service Introduction' into support functions isn't that easy as it appears, simply because of involvement of

-?????????Multiple stakeholders

-?????????Different vendors

-?????????Customer specific requirements

-?????????Organizational change management aspects

-?????????Budget and time constraints

-?????????IT related technical aspects

I would like to list out some of the key benefits of Service Introduction as below:

-?????????The business is supported in the use of its new service from day one

-?????????The support team is equipped to handle the new/ updated service

-?????????Lower impact on existing services and the pre-existing IT infrastructure

-?????????Developers/ Project Manager clearly understand their accountabilities for ensuring the delivery of a supportable service

-?????????Decreased costs of service transition

-?????????Less re-work – one process for the introduction of any new service

-?????????Enhanced reputation of IT with the business when new services are transitioned successfully

Each organization can have its own approach towards 'Service Introduction' but prime focus on some of the key activities like thorough understanding of priorities of multiple stakeholders/vendors, defining the SI responsibilities of each team, effective monitoring and review mechanism and quantifiable SI deliverables are important for success.

Needless to say, right people in right places can only enhance the overall IT system.