Can the Service Desk function in ITIL be extended to take care of other activities?
Can we leverage the ITIL based service management tools for business functions?
The ITIL Processes and Functions of Service Request, Incident Management, Problem Management etc. can easily be leveraged for normal business functions like HR, Accounting, Administration, Facilities etc.
Implementing an ITIL based Service Management Tool like BMC Remedy, HP Service Manager or CA Service Desk provides Interaction, Web Portal, Categorization, Service Catalog, Work flow, Approvals, People Information etc. in a consolidated system for use by the enterprise.
The ITIL based service management tools can be extended to provide these capabilities for normal business functions.
Implementation
1. The Service Desk can become a Single Point of Contact for not just IT but for other business functions as well.
2. The ITIL based service management tools can be leveraged to create categories, Types, Items, Work flows, People Data, Approval Hierarchies, Notifications for Business Functions
3. Service Requests for business functions like information on HR, Administration, Facilities, Payroll etc. can all be integrated in the ITIL based Service Management Tool.
As an example the employees can raise requests for information on services like Transport, Air Conditioning, Stationary etc.
4. Approvals: Business functions can leverage the ITIL based Service Management Tools Approval Work flow functionality to automate the notification and work flow for various requests like request for access to office facilities, access to transport facilities, approvals of claims and vouchers etc.
5. Incident Management functionality of the ITIL based Service Management Tools can be leverages in normal business functions. Business Functions can also have Incidents similar to the IT Incidents. Examples of Incidents could be non availability of Air Conditioning, Issues with Transport etc.
6. Problem Management process in ITIL is also applicable in business functions, in case of repeated incidents or unknown root cause of incidents happening in business functions, a problem record could be opened and authorized teams can work on solving the problem using kaizen or other quality methodologies to find root cause and a fix for the problems.
7. Service Level Management: Just as SLAs and OLAs are applicable for IT, Business function SLAs can be defined in the Service Management Tools and support functions performance tracked and computed based on Service Level Agreements.
Benefits
Single Point of Contact: The Service Desk becomes the single point of contact for everything, the employees need to know one number, one mail, one web address for all their information and other needs.It gives a single view to all support functions not just IT.
Consolidated Data: The Employee Data, Hierarchies, Approvals, Assets, Schedules, Notifications are reused across IT and Business Functions.
Speed of Communication: Speed of communication is greatly enhanced using the ITIL service management tools for Business Functions. In Built functionality of notifications, broadcasts etc. helps in improved communications.
Reporting: Reports can be generated for performance, costs, Service Levels, Usage etc. Metrics like response and resolution time, SLAs, and Customer Satisfaction Ratings on tickets are important parameters for judging the performance of Functions.
Work flow: The Centralized repository of Work flows provides a consolidated repository of all business and IT work flows, the core support processes are documented and made functional in the ITIL based Service Management Tool. This helps in controlling work flows and deviations in process.
Encourage Self Service and Reduce Load on Service Desk: Systems implement provide self service capabilities through Frequently Asked Questions, Knowledge base, Tutorials etc.
Leveraging the ITIL based Service Management Systems for other support functions in business has advantages and business benefits. There is a strong business and cost justification of such implementation.
This would result in cost savings, higher employee productivity, process improvement.
The author Navin Sabharwal is an IT Manager with a leading IT Company with more than 10 years of experience in IT in various areas including Software Development,Product Development, ITIL, Quality and Process Improvement, Business Analysis, Reporting and Data Warehousing,Intellectual Property Creation, ITIL based tool implementation in the areas of Monitoring, Management and Automation.
