What is a 'Service' in ITIL?

I have spent over a decade in this industry, and I still remember feeling lost on my first day as a Business IT Service Analyst. That role was my first flavor of Service Management, and few weeks into the job, I was asked to attend an ITIL Foundation v3 with my colleagues. Back then, like most companies, our employer-provided classroom training, and I had the pleasure of attending this class with my fellow colleagues. During the class, I remember getting confused with, service and service management. Those words seemed like jargon, I will never be familiar with? Good old days…. feels forever ago!

Fast forward ten years…. I have lived and breathed Service Management, aka ITIL. I have had the pleasure of teaching and sharing my knowledge with IT Professionals. Almost, everyone who gets introduced to ITIL, has one question, ‘What is a Service? ITIL does a fine job of providing a definition, which I simply translate into my favorite coffee shop (Starbucks) example. As you grab your morning coffee (or any time of the day, no rules apply when it comes to grabbing a coffee in NYC), walk into the store, join the line (there is always a line, and you are lucky if there isn’t one), place an order, make a payment, collect your drink, you may sit or walk out of the shop. In an exchange of your cash, Starbuck just fulfilled one of your needs, by providing you with your favorite beverage.  If you match this example, with ITIL definition, which is,

A service is a means of enabling value co-creation by facilitating outcomes that customers want to achieve, without the customer having to manage specific costs and risks.

The important point to emphasize is, as a customer you are not responsible or expected to manage the specific costs and risks associated with this service. Some people have said, but I am paying….the cost for you to purchase the coffee, is minute compared to running a Starbuck shop or hiring your own barista, who can produce Starbuck quality coffee for you. Also remember, if your local Starbuck store lost power, and is not able to serve coffee, who is responsible for fixing the power, Starbuck or their contracted electrician, you as a customer will take your business elsewhere so you can get the service you need.

Over the years, I have seen and experienced people using ‘Service’ interchangeably with customer service, service experience, financial services etc…what I like most about the ITIL Service definition is the simplicity to differentiate between what is your and service provider’s roles are, in Service. Over the next few months, as I prepare my final thesis for ITIL Master, you will have the pleasure to read various ITSM related articles.

PS: I would love to know your thoughts on my simple analogy for a service, and what examples did you use, to simplify this definition?