ITSM - Shift Left & Shift Left-Left
Paul Wilkinson
Helping CIOs & IT Leaders transform Service Delivery through modern & proven approaches | 30+ LinkedIn recommendations
ITSM continues to change
Service Management (ITSM) is going through a major shift in how it is approached. Something you will have most likely heard of is the term Shift Left. What you may not have come across, is the term Shift Left-Left.
Shift Left is about moving certain tasks and responsibilities closer to the beginning of the ITSM process, while Shift Left-Left takes this concept even further. Today’s article talks about what these approaches entail and are all about.
Shift Left
First, let’s talk about Shift Left. This involves pushing tasks, such as incident resolution and support, closer to the end-user or front-line IT staff. This can provide several benefits by significantly reducing resolution times as issues are addressed more quickly. This approach also encourages self-service and empowers end-users to troubleshoot and resolve common problems on their own, reducing the burden and workload on IT support teams.
Shift Left-Left
Shift Left-Left goes beyond Shift Left by involving end-users not only in issue resolution but also in service design and proactive problem-solving. In Shift Left-Left, end-users become active participants in shaping IT services and solutions. This approach requires higher levels of customer and user engagement, but can lead to even faster issue resolution, increased user satisfaction, and the co-creation of IT services that align closely with business needs.
领英推荐
Challenges from an ITSM perspective
Although Shift Left offers many advantages, it also presents certain challenges. One of the primary challenges is ensuring that end-users have the necessary knowledge and resources to handle self-service effectively. IT departments must provide robust knowledge bases and support tools. Additionally, IT staff may need to adapt to a shift in their roles, focusing more on empowering end-users rather than directly resolving issues.
As mentioned earlier, Shift Left-Left takes the concept further by involving end-users in service design and decision-making. This approach may face resistance from IT staff and require a cultural shift within the organisation. IT teams must also develop effective mechanisms for collecting and incorporating end-user feedback into service improvements, ensuring that end-users have the necessary skills and motivation to participate actively. This in itself provides challenges but is increasingly the way the industry is heading.
In Summary
Both Shift Left and Shift Left-Left are transformative approaches that can improve efficiency, end-user satisfaction, and the alignment of IT services with business needs. However, they come with their unique challenges that must be addressed to successfully adopt these approaches and harness their full potential. Don’t let these challenges put you off aspiring to anything mentioned in this article, but make sure you have all the information you need to make the right decisions.
If you are looking to make improvements and innovations to your organisation’s ITSM capabilities, then why not get in touch?
????
Empowering end-users through self-service and fostering collaboration in service design are key to achieving a more efficient and user-centric IT experience. While the challenges mentioned are valid, they can be overcome with proper planning and implementation.?? - Focus on user experience (UX) design: Invest in creating user-friendly knowledge bases and intuitive self-service tools. - Ensure proper Change management: Clearly communicate the benefits of these approaches to both IT staff and end-users. Training programs for end-users on self-service will be crucial. - Embrace an iterative approach: Start small and pilot these approaches in specific areas. Gather feedback and continuously improve based on user experience.
ITSM & IT Security Expert | Optimizing Service Management & Security for Fintech, Telecom & Managed Services | Host of The ITSM Practice Podcast
1 年The concept of adopting a "shift left" strategy, as I see it, embodies a highly rational and cooperative approach to work. By involving customers right from the beginning and maintaining their engagement throughout the process, the likelihood of them discovering flaws or voicing criticisms about the final outcome diminishes significantly. Any thoughts on that? ---------- ?? Follow me for daily insights on ITSM and IT Security. ?? Check out "The ITSM Practice Podcast" on Spotify: https://lnkd.in/dJh7UnzC
Andrew Wallace
Peoplecert ITIL? Ambassador | ITIL?4 Master | Head of Service Management | Leadership | Project Management | Service Design & Transition | Operational Support | Leadership | Process Optimisation | Strategy
1 年The amount of repetition in my comment is going to send the grammar editor insane LOL. I have always considered the phrase shift left to mean the activity that you designate as shift left left. I fully understand why you have made the distinction between the two as many people do, but I’ve always considered shift left to be simple common sense and a standard practice and so have never really called it out separately. I would always, as a tech user myself and therefore at the mercy of support organisations around the world, look to empower the end uses through their involvement in design, development, testing, implementation and self support. This shift left left approach, or shift left approach in my head is a very sensible collaborative way to work. Also, from a slightly less benevolent perspective it allows a certain amount of shielding from customer dissatisfaction since if they were involved from the outset and throughout the process, they are far less likely to find fault with or criticise the end result.
IT Leader | Service Delivery & Vendor Management | Driving Digital Transformation & Operational Excellence
1 年I've never heard of shift left left before but it's an interesting line of thought...also incredibly challenging for most I would say. On the one hand we have the IT department who take an IT-centric approach to building and measuring services and on the other hand we have users/customers who may be more used to taking a product-centric approach to building requirements. In a previous role I've attempted shift-left-left by making Customer Advisory Boards (CABs, just to confuse the ITIL aficionados) a key component of the service. We asked customers not just to pay for the service but to attend CABs and help to shape the service. IT would present options for service roadmaps and garner feedback from customers as to which met their needs the most. Not perfect by any means and a learning curve for all involved, but the intent was there.