The difficulties of justifying the value that Service Management provides
Today, Service Management has become a crucial component for the sustainable success of any organisation. But despite its importance, we often find it difficult to justify the value of implementing a Service Management approach in your day-to-day business.
The biggest difficulties we have personally encountered are:
Resistence to change
One of the main barriers to the adoption of Service Management is resistance to change. Organisations have often clung to their way of working over time and even have their own way of working in each team even if they have applications that interact with each other, and are reluctant to implement new approaches. Convincing them of the need for change can be a challenge, as it may require changing existing work processes and structures.
To overcome this resistance, it is crucial to present cases where it is possible to demonstrate how the implementation of Service Management can improve operational efficiency, customer satisfaction and reduce costs in the long run. At the same time, it should be avoided to implement processes without considering whether they are necessary and will help to achieve the objective we want to achieve by implementing these processes.
It is crucial to present success stories of Service Management implementation
Lack of understanding of added value on service management
In companies that have been in the industry for so long, there can be a lack of understanding of how Service Management can add value to the organisation. Often, leaders focus on short-term goals and may not appreciate how a focus on service quality can have a significant impact on brand perception and customer retention.
It is essential to educate managers and executives about the benefits of Service Management. One of the clearest examples that helps to reinforce this point is the importance of two of the most important factors offered by Service Management: Incident and change management. The coordination of the resolution teams when there is an incident impacting production or when a change in an application, however small, can indirectly affect other applications that interact with it is a clear example where the value of Service Management can be shown, as it can be the difference between having to stop your services or not.
Rigid organisational culture
Some large companies have rigid, hierarchical organisational cultures, which can make it difficult to adopt Service Management practices that emphasise collaboration and flexibility in decision-making. Established procedures and bureaucracy can make it difficult to implement significant changes.
Fostering a culture that promotes innovation, collaboration and agility is essential to facilitate the adoption of Service Management. Involving employees in the change process and encouraging open and transparent communication can help overcome this barrier.
Fostering a culture that promotes innovation, collaboration and agility is essential
Lack of resources and time
Successful implementation of Service Management requires an investment in resources, time, and expertise. Therefore, it can be difficult to allocate these resources due to the point made above: the lack of recognition of long-term value and focus on short-term profitability.
It is essential to present a detailed implementation plan that identifies the resources required and the expected long-term benefits. Aligning Service Management strategy with overall business objectives and demonstrating how it can improve efficiency and reduce costs can help justify resource allocation and tip the balance in your favour.
Lack of metrics and data
In some organisations, adequate data collection to measure and evaluate the effectiveness of services may be lacking. Without clear metrics, it is difficult to justify the value of Service Management and demonstrate its impact on overall business performance, especially when working with other service providers.
Implementing adequate monitoring systems and metrics (SLA Management) is essential to evaluate the success of Service Management. Defining Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and using data to demonstrate improvements in efficiency, customer satisfaction and reduced downtime is another key point that reinforces the need for a strong Service Management team.
Service Management as a challenge
In short, justifying the value of Service Management can be challenging, but it is not impossible. By presenting strong arguments, demonstrating success stories and fostering a culture open to change, organisations can overcome these difficulties and and reap the benefits of effective Service Management to achieve long-term business success.
At Izertis, we take care of defining and implementing Service Management Offices that will guarantee efficient and optimised production and delivery of your services.