ITIL V3 – Service Strategy - Página: 17 de 372
Imagine you have been given responsibility for an IT organization. How would
you decide on a strategy to serve your customers? Perhaps you would examine
requirements in detail and plan appropriately. You might track ongoing demand
and adjust accordingly, while maintaining operational efficiency. Surely an
attentive service provider with low costs must inevitably succeed. Unfortunately,
while these are all necessary factors, things are rarely so straightforward.
First, issues surrounding services are complex. Not only in their individual details
but also in the dynamic complexity that comes with many moving and interrelated
parts. Long-term behaviour is often different from short-term behaviour. There
are many tools for dealing with details but few offer insight into how the problems
we have today have developed over time. What are needed are methods to help
organizations understand the likely consequences of decisions and actions.
Second, customer specifications are not always clear, certain or even correct.
Much is lost in the translation from requirements document to service fulfilment.
The most subtle aspect of strategic thinking lies in knowing what needs to
happen. Customer outcomes, rather than specifications, are the genesis of
services. Strategic plans, while critical for enacting change, are not enough.
A strategic perspective begins with the understanding of competition. Sooner or
later, every organization faces competition. Even IT organizations with a
relatively captive internal market of owner-customers are not entitled to a
perpetual monopoly. The recent trends in outsourcing of business functions and
operations have made that clear. A change in prevailing business conditions or a
new business strategy pursued by the customer can suddenly expose the IT
organization to competition. Even government and non-profit IT organizations
have shown themselves to be subject to competitive forces. It is important for IT
organizations to review their positions and know for sure how they provide
differentiated value to their customers.
Customers perceive value in economic terms or in terms of social welfare, as is
the case with pure public services offered by government agencies, or both. The
differentiation can be in traditional terms such the organization’s knowledge and
experience with the customer’s business, excellence in service quality,
capabilities to reduce cost, or innovation.
The idea of strategic assets is important in the context of good practice in service
management. It encourages IT organizations to think of investments in service
management in the same way businesses think of investing in production
systems, distribution networks, R&D laboratories, and various forms of
intellectual property such as brands and patents. Assets such as people,
processes, knowledge and infrastructure are by themselves valuable for the
benefits they generate for their owners. Strategic assets are those that provide
the basis for core competence, distinctive performance, durable advantage, and
qualifications to participate in business opportunities. IT organizations can use