Our client was faced with four major projects going live at the same time but with no service team in place to run and manage the life cycle of these projects and minimise the impact on service.
Do you have critical projects going live without a full support team?
An IT service management success story
Our Service- IT Service Management
Initially engaged to create a Service Design and Introduction (SD&I) documentation set and associated process, as well as setting up our client’s new permanent team.
Context
Whenever a new service goes live there is likely to be an impact on the service if this is not executed correctly, it is crucial to ensure all potential operational support and security gaps and risks are identified and addressed.
In most companies there is a team in place who will manage the life cycle of a project to ensure it Is fit for purpose, our client did not and so there was no formal documentation to support this. Our clients service managers were helping with elements of this but needed a permanent solution in place.
With four big projects all due to go live in September 2020, this was not a viable option due to potential business disruption. We discussed how to manage this with our client and prioritised what needed to happen and in what order.
For all new projects – whether it be a new service or an enhancement to an existing service – an SD&I team member will act as the gatekeeper of the service to the company to ensure the project is ready to go live, using tools such as Service Impact Assessment (SIA) with a focus on SLAs, challenges and data sources.
Our Approach
Leading Resolutions undertook a high-level and tactical review of the SD&I function (in accordance with the Project Statement) within our client’s Infrastructure & Operations organisation.
We followed a 3-step process, working collaboratively with the internal teams using an adapted version of our standard methodology and structured IP.
Discovery
- Interviewing and meeting with key service managers from the service management team.
- Identification of existing roles and responsibilities.
- High-level view of existing SD&I documentation
Analysis
- Recognise the opportunity to improve the level of alignment between SD&I activities and our client’s project lifecycle.
- Determine benefits of service managers taking ownership for specific SD&I activities.
- Analyse the output from the review process and documented key observations.
Observations and Recommendations
- A review of the roles and responsibilities within the Service Manager team regarding SD&I activities to eliminate any potential conflicts of interest.
- Developing a service transition culture between the business and technical project delivery teams will minimise the risk of disconnect and issues for the Service Ops teams when the services go live.
- There is a definite willingness and desire across teams to improve the Service Design and Transition process which should be harnessed to change the Service Transition culture across the business.
The Solution
Resource management played a critical component for our client ensuring that they had enough headcount, at the right times and in the right place to deliver the project. Our Consultant’s expertise in designing the documentation and embedding a formal structure around the team, ensures that our client will always have clear visibility of new projects coming downstream.
The Real Value Add
Minimised change impact
Understanding the level of resources required to deliver a project up front, helped with identifying costs, overlaps, and dependencies for our client. Additionally, the client was able to re-prioritise to minimise the change impact on the company.
Ensured new processes and staff members were fully embedded into the organisation
Leading Resolutions is providing ongoing support, coaching, and mentoring to our client to ensure that the new processes and new staff members were fully embedded into the organisation.
Minimised risk to the company
Through introducing a service way of thinking into the organisation and a structured approach to Service Design and Introduction, we were able to minimise risk to the company.