Increase the value of your ITSM training investments
ITIL: “ A service is a means of delivering value to customers by facilitating outcomes customers want to achieve without the ownership of specific costs and risks”.
As more and more people are adopting ITIL * ITSM training NOW is the time to use the ITIL concept of a service to ensure you get VALUE from your ITSM training and avoid COSTS & RISKS of failing to successfully adopt & deploy ITSM best practice frameworks, or for that matter any best practice framework.
‘Failure is not an option’
IT organizations are increasingly adopting frameworks such as ITIL to enable them to deliver quality services, however ITIL does not always deliver the ‘hoped’ for benefits.
- A Forrester investigation revealed that of those that fail 52% do so because of ‘resistance’ to change.
- The results of an ABC (Attitude, Behavior, Culture) survey reveal that the top 3 ‘worst practices’ impacting IT organizations, many having adopted ITIL, are ‘No understanding of business impact and priority’, ‘Not my responsibility’ and ‘IT is too internally focused’. This resistance, and these worst practices cause unacceptable costs and risks to the business and are a barrier to realizing value.
- Gartner findings on CIO.com also revealed ‘…20% are doing a reasonable job of it (ITIL), the rest haven’t really understood the nature of the transformation ….and aren’t getting the value they thought they would.’
In today’s business environment we can no longer afford to fail to successfully adopt and deploy ITIL. In the terms of Gene Kranz Flight Director of the NASA Apollo 13 mission ‘failure is not an option!’.
Investing in ITSM Training
IT organizations invest in ITIL training to develop ITSM capabilities. To them this is a ‘service’ with which they expect ‘to realize outcomes they want to achieve without specific costs and risks’.
Value of training investment
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Outcomes they want to achieve |
One outcome is a ‘certificate’ which is a demonstration of proof of understanding of theory. Another is a ‘common terminology’. However are these the outcomes the business expects from such an investment?A more valuable outcome would be the ability to translate ITIL theory or knowledge into practice, such that costs and risks can be managed and value goals realized. |
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Without specific costs |
A ‘certificate’ does not enable students to ‘manage change’, create buy-in, and overcome resistance. Having a ‘certificate without the understanding and ability to practically apply the theory increases the time, effort, energy and costs in adopting and deploying ITIL.In today’s economic climate organizations cannot afford to waste costs and valuable resources. |
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Without specific risks |
The inability to ‘manage change’ and successfully translate theory into practice in a live organization may create unacceptable risks to your business. |
Translating theory into practice and Knowledge into results!
Using a business simulation such as ‘Apollo 13 – An ITSM case experience’ or a practical workshop using the ABC of ICT cards delivers increased value on your training investment and helps reduce the costs and risks associated with adopting and deploying ITSM best practice frameworks.
Value of training investment
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Outcomes they want to achieve |
Delegates learn to apply the theory in a simulated environment.They are able to translate ITSM/ITIL theory or knowledge into practice, such that costs and risks can be managed.Delegates see, feel and experience how ITSM best practices can be used to realize ‘measurable’ value.Delegates learn to apply Continual Service Improvement methods to identify ‘fail factors’ and agree and apply improvements.Delegates capture improvement suggestions as input into their own Continual Service Improvement initiative.Delegates recognize ‘fail factors’ and more importantly ‘success factors’ in how to apply ITSM best practices to deliver value and minimize costs and risks. |
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Without specific costs |
Delegates experience resistance and ‘fail factors’ in applying ITSM best practices in a safe, simulated environment in 1 day, avoiding experiencing these in a live environment.This reduces the time, effort and energy in learning to apply best practices and in creating buy-in and commitment, thereby reducing deployment costs. |
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Without specific risks |
Experiencing resistance and ‘fail factors’ in a safe environment avoids the risks of failing in a live environment.By learning how to apply ‘success factors’ in a simulated environment delegates are better able to ‘manage change’ in their own live environment. |
Simulation overview description
There are many simulations in the market that can be used to realize the added practical value. In this article we are describing the ‘Apollo 13 – An ITSM case experience’ simulation.
In the simulation participants will work in a team consisting of 8 to 13 Mission Control Center members. Within the simulation the team must translate the NASA strategy and ‘Value’ demands into Service designs. The team must transition the Apollo 13 launch vehicle and supporting facilities into live Service operation. During the live mission operation the team will be confronted with events, incidents and requests from the crew.
In each round, the team undergoes the following steps:
- designing or improving their processes (using the ITIL theory learnt);
- running the simulation (Testing and using ITIL in a real environment);
- reflecting (Is ITIL delivering value with acceptable costs and risks);
- and reporting (enabling Continual Service Improvement decision making).
Avoiding ‘Worst practices’
In the simulation the facilitator plays the role of the Mission Director(Customer) and the Crew(Users), forcing the team to enter into a dialogue to better ‘understand business impact and priority’ and break out of the ‘Internal focus’ that many IT organizations have. In the simulation the teams are confronted with the need for clearly defined and embedded ‘responsibilities’, overcoming the top 3 ABC worst practices.
Creating buy-in and overcoming resistance
At the end of the simulation the team can see the Value they have delivered to the business and the benefits to their own work through successfully applying ITIL. This helps create buy-in and overcome resistance.
A First step in Continual Service Improvement
At the end of the simulation participants will reflect on their learning experiences, identifying what went well and what went wrong throughout the lifecycle of the mission. They will analyze and discuss whether their IT Service management capabilities were a strategic asset enabling NASA to achieve its business goals and manage business risks. They will be able to relate what they have seen, felt, experienced and learnt to their own working environment and identify and capture Service improvement opportunities for their own organization. This is taking their first step in Continual Service Improvement.
Value of a Simulation
Forrester
“Considering the enormity of change that an ITIL project may entail, spending the day that such simulators require should pay back many times over with the creation of a cohesive team with a greater understanding of the components, interrelationships, and vision that are required to successfully transform an IT organization.”Value of experiential learning
“I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand” – Confucious
The effectiveness of different types of learning: NTL institute for Applied Behavioral Science.
A Scientific report shows that 75% of knowledge and skills are retained when ‘learning-by-doing’.