ITIL 4 Foundation part 4: The four dimensions of service management

Summary

This transcript provides a detailed overview of the four dimensions of service management as outlined in the ITIL 4 framework. These dimensions—organizations and people, information and technology, partners and suppliers, and value streams and processes—are critical to managing service value systems holistically. The module emphasizes the necessity of a holistic perspective when planning and implementing improvements, highlighting the interdependencies between internal components and external factors such as technological changes. It also covers the importance of understanding value streams, mapping processes, and fostering an adaptive management style to effectively design, deliver, and enhance IT services.

Highlights

• Learn about the four critical dimensions of ITIL service management 📚.
• Each dimension is integral to the ITIL service value system’s success 🌟.
• Discover how technological advances influence service expectations 📈.
• Effective organizational culture is vital for maximizing workforce potential ⚙️.
• A focus on collaboration enhances supplier and partner relationships 👫.
• Explore how value streams and processes enable service optimization 🔧.

Key Takeaways

• Understand the four dimensions of ITIL service management for a holistic perspective 🌍.
• Effective service management requires understanding the interdependencies of components 🔗.
• Adapting to external factors, like technology changes, is crucial for service evolution 🚀.
• Managing partnerships and suppliers is key to service co-creation 🤝.
• Mapping value streams and processes helps optimize efficiency and effectiveness 🎯.

Overview

In this module, we dive into the four dimensions of service management that ITIL 4 defines as integral to effective service delivery. We look at how organizations must manage resources within these dimensions to facilitate value creation through products and services, considering both internal components and ever-changing external factors.

The first two dimensions, organizations and people, and information and technology, focus on the internal workings of a company. Ensuring the right people and skills, alongside a comprehensive understanding of technological resources, can make or break an organization's strategy implementation. This includes maintaining a strong organizational culture and aligning technology choices with strategic goals.

Then, we explore partners and suppliers, and value streams and processes, emphasizing the importance of external collaborations and internal process optimization. A strategic approach to partners can leverage external strengths, whereas mapping and refining value streams help streamline service delivery, address inefficiencies, and enhance business agility.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction to the Four Dimensions of Service Management This chapter introduces the concept of the four dimensions of service management, a framework crucial for effective and efficient service management. ITIL identifies these four dimensions to ensure a comprehensive approach to managing services. By the end of this module, learners are expected to understand and describe these dimensions.
• 00:30 - 02:00: The Four Dimensions Explained The chapter 'The Four Dimensions Explained' discusses the facilitation of value for customers and other stakeholders through products and services. It emphasizes the limited resources available to organizations and the importance of utilizing them effectively and efficiently. The chapter introduces the ITIL Service Value System (SVS) as an operating model that explains how different components and activities within an organization collaborate to create and continually develop value.
• 03:00 - 04:30: Dimension 1: Organization and People The chapter discusses the importance of a holistic approach in improving SVS (Service Value System) organizations. It emphasizes the necessity of considering all components, their relationships, and interdependencies. Without integrating these aspects, specifically in planning process improvements, there could be negative outcomes such as disappointment and wasted effort. The text further introduces ITIL's four dimensions, stressing that these are crucial for effective and efficient service management.
• 05:00 - 08:30: Dimension 2: Information and Technology The chapter titled 'Dimension 2: Information and Technology' discusses the role of organizations, people, information, and technology within the Service Value System (SVS). It explains how these dimensions interact with partners, suppliers, value streams, and processes. While each dimension is distinct, there is overlap, and they share components across the entire SVS. These dimensions impact all areas of the SVS, including governance, the service value chain, and practices.
• 09:00 - 12:30: Dimension 3: Partners and Suppliers The chapter 'Dimension 3: Partners and Suppliers' discusses how various external factors, represented by the PESTLE analysis, influence the performance of individuals, groups, and overall Service Value System (SVS). These factors do not have clear-cut boundaries and tend to overlap. Technological advancements are cited as an example of such blurring impacts across different dimensions. The chapter emphasizes the importance of recognizing these influences in managing services and collaborating effectively with partners and suppliers.
• 13:00 - 16:30: Dimension 4: Value Streams and Processes The chapter discusses the impact of recent social changes on service expectations, highlighting that customers now increasingly expect remote service access while on the move. For service providers with the necessary skills and resources, this shift presents an opportunity to enhance and add value to their offerings by leveraging their existing strengths. Conversely, organizations that are less equipped to adapt to these changing external conditions may face threats to their operations and competitiveness.
• 16:30 - 18:00: Conclusion In the conclusion of the text, the emphasis is on the importance of organizations understanding both internal and external factors. Internally, they need to identify their strengths and weaknesses, leveraging the former and addressing the latter. Externally, they should focus on exploiting opportunities and minimizing threats. The 'First Dimension' to consider is 'organization and people,' highlighting the significance of culture, roles and responsibilities, resourcing, and competency requirements in achieving these goals.

ITIL 4 Foundation part 4: The four dimensions of service management Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 welcome to the four dimensions of service management module by the end of this module you'll be able to describe the four dimensions of service management the four dimensions of service management to support a holistic approach to service management ITIL defines four dimensions that collectively are critical to the effective and efficient
• 00:30 - 01:00 facilitation of value for customers and other stakeholders in the form of products and services organizations have only a finite amount of resources available to them in the pursuit of value and they seek to ensure that they make the most effective and efficient use of these resources the ITIL SVS is an operating model that describes the ways in which the various components and activities of an organization work together to create value in the development and continual
• 01:00 - 01:30 Improvement of an SVS organizations must think holistically considering all components and the relationships and interdependencies that exist between them for example planning process improvements without considering the impact on People Partners and supporting technology is only likely to lead to disappointment and wasted effort to support a holistic approach to service management ITIL defines four dimensions that collectively are critical to the effective and efficient
• 01:30 - 02:00 operation of the SVS these are organizations and people information and Technology partners and suppliers value streams and processes these Dimensions do not have sharp boundaries and there may be overlap but all of the components of the SVS are shared among these four dimensions these four dimensions apply to all aspects of the SVS including governance service value chain and practices as
• 02:00 - 02:30 well as to all services being managed students familiar with pestle analysis might recognize the list of factors that encircle the four dimensions these are external factors which can impact positively or negatively on the performance of an individual or group of components on a dimension or on the SVS as a whole as with the four dimensions the edges between these different factors are not sharp and often blur for example technological advances in
• 02:30 - 03:00 recent years have had a social impact to the extent that customers more and more expect to be able to access Services remotely while on the move for some service providers for example those who already have the skills and resources to offer these types of services this will be an opportunity to capitalize on their existing strengths to add more value to their services for other organizations less able to respond to these changing external factors there may be a threat of being
• 03:00 - 03:30 left behind whereas organizations will seek to understand internal components in order to build on their strengths and address their weaknesses they should also seek to understand external factors in order to exploit opportunities and minimize threats as they arise the First Dimension to consider is organization and people this Dimension ensures that the culture roles and responsibilities resourcing and competency requirements formal
• 03:30 - 04:00 organizational structures and systems of authority support the organization's strategy and operating model maximizing the potential of the workforce is one of the biggest challenges facing an organization it is partly about having the right people with the right skills in the right place doing the right things so an organization must ensure that the way it is structured and managed as well as its roles responsibilities and systems of authority and communication is well
• 04:00 - 04:30 defined and supports its overall strategy and operating model every person in the organization needs the specific skills and competencies required to fulfill their responsibilities but also should have a clear understanding of how they contribute to the creation of value for the organization its customers and other stakeholders additionally they should have a broader awareness and appreciation of the roles and contributions of other individuals and groups within the organization this
• 04:30 - 05:00 encourages the proper levels of collaboration and coordination maximizing Workforce potential is also about creating an environment and a culture that encourages the desired behaviors and inspires and motivates people day after day to bring their best efforts to work the leaders of the organization need to develop appropriate management and Leadership skills and styles and should model the attitudes and behaviors the organization Desires in the workforce
• 05:00 - 05:30 a culture of trust and transparency communication and collaboration and a focus on value and continual Improvement will help any organization which strives to achieve and maintain high performance while responding to ever-changing internal and external drivers adopting the ITIL guiding principles is a good starting point for establishing a healthy organizational culture the second dimension of service management is information and Technology
• 05:30 - 06:00 as with the other three dimensions information and Technology applies both to service management and to the services being managed there is a need to identify and manage each of the individual technical components as well as to be able to visualize and understand the infrastructure as a complex whole with its Myriad of connections and dependencies inputs and outputs examples of information and Technologies which support service management include
• 06:00 - 06:30 workflow management systems these are tools which can streamline and automate common business processes such as Incident Management or change management inventory systems tools that allow an organization to track and manage physical components such as hardware and software knowledge bases tools that support the capture storage and sharing of valuable information and knowledge such as a known error database
• 06:30 - 07:00 examples of information and Technologies which support the services themselves include it architecture the many layers of hardware and software that create the infrastructure across which the service is delivered applications the program or group of programs that provide the functionality required by the user to achieve their outcomes databases the repositories where data is held in a secure organized and usable
• 07:00 - 07:30 way in the context of an I.T service the information created and used in the course of service consumption is the primary means of value enablement for each service the service provider should consider both the information requirements of the service for example confidentiality retention and Disposal and the information and knowledge needed to be able to manage and deliver the service information often flows through an
• 07:30 - 08:00 organization passing from one service to another service providers need to understand the information architecture and data flows of the various services from this broader perspective in order to continually optimize it on top of all this organizations need to consider the requirements to comply with any internal policies or external standards or regulations such as the European Union's general data protection regulations gdpr
• 08:00 - 08:30 various factors May influence an organization's choices in the Technologies it uses for example some organizations May seek advantages in being at The Cutting Edge of technological advances other organizations may be constrained by the requirements of clients or regulators other considerations include questions such as does this technology align with the strategy of the organization is it compatible with the current architecture of the organization and its
• 08:30 - 09:00 customers will it continue to be viable for the foreseeable future does the organization have the skills to support the technology does the technology introduce new risks or constraints to the organization the third dimension of service management is partners and suppliers this Dimension encompasses an organization's relationships with other organizations that are involved in the design development deployment delivery
• 09:00 - 09:30 support and or continual Improvement of services in business today it would be rare indeed to find an organization that doesn't depend to some extent on product or Services provided by other organizations this Dimension is concerned with partners and suppliers who are involved in the activities of the service value system as discussed earlier in the course a single organization may be involved in many different relationships both as a
• 09:30 - 10:00 supplier and a consumer these relationships can vary hugely in terms of their formality and the degree of integration required of the two organizations the table shown on screen offers three examples but these are intended only to serve as an illustration of what is really a wide spectrum of possibilities in the example of good Supply relationship there is little flexibility or close working required the supplier delivers product under contract that the supplier uses for its
• 10:00 - 10:30 own purposes typically at this level of cooperation the service provider seeks value by supplying the same product to multiple consumers the consumer in this relationship typically sees value in a reliable timely and cost-effective supply relationships at the other end of the spectrum require both parties to be much more flexible and responsive in their approach and work together in a more close and integrated way in order to identify and co-create value
• 10:30 - 11:00 one of the challenges an organization faces when it uses multiple suppliers is establishing a proper Spirit of collaboration and cooperation many organizations are starting to favor a service integration and management approach this involves creating a service integrator role which sits above all suppliers and ensures that service relationships are properly coordinated the service integrator role itself can be internally or externally sourced but
• 11:00 - 11:30 proper controls need to be put in place to ensure it operates with fairness impartiality and integrity an organization's strategy for how it chooses to work with partners and suppliers will be affected by many factors including strategic Focus corporate culture resource scarcity cost concerns subject matter expertise external constraints and demand patterns
• 11:30 - 12:00 the fourth dimension value streams and processes is concerned with how the various parts of the organization work in an integrated and coordinated way to enable value creation through products and services a value stream is a series of steps that an organization uses to create and deliver products and services to a service consumer it is a combination of the organization's value chain
• 12:00 - 12:30 activities earlier in the course when considering the components of the service value system we saw that the central component was called the service value chain this is where all of the Key activities required to manage products and services actually happen we will come back to look at this in more detail later in the course but you can see it consists of a number of major activity areas such as engage plan and obtain or build depending on the nature of the demand
• 12:30 - 13:00 entering the service value chain these activities will be triggered in different sequences and not all activities will be required in all situations for example the demand could be a user requesting support because they're unable to connect to a service this might be completed in three steps step one the call is logged as an incident by the service desk this is an engage activity Step 2 the incident passes to a second line engineer who resolves the issue
• 13:00 - 13:30 this is an activity of deliver or support step 3 the desk confirms with the user that he is now able to access the service this is an engage activity these three steps comprise the value stream the pattern for how this type of demand is fulfilled at The Other Extreme a customer requirement for the creation of a major new service will trigger a much more complicated sequence of steps each
• 13:30 - 14:00 activity in the service value chain will be triggered at some point during this value stream sometimes more than once and in some cases in parallel with other activities the picture on the slide is a somewhat simplified representation of what this stream will actually look like in practice it is likely to be far more complex and involve many more steps this in fact is one of the strongest reasons for mapping value streams
• 14:00 - 14:30 it provides Clarity enabling the organization to apply techniques such as lean and agile to improve its efficiency and Effectiveness for example removing or improving steps that don't add value or identifying steps in the value stream where rationalization or the use of automation could improve the flow of work an organization should aspire to map all of its value streams however the more complex or high value streams are likely to offer the most significant
• 14:30 - 15:00 opportunities for improvement so this might be a good place to start a process is described as a set of interrelated or interacting activities that takes one or more inputs and transforms them into one or more outputs they Define the sequence of actions necessary to accomplish an objective for example an incident management process describes the steps involved in restoring normal service following an outage or degradation the input which
• 15:00 - 15:30 triggers this process will be a description of the symptoms usually provided by a user speaking to a service desk agent the activities of the process include the logging investigation analysis and restoration of service and the outputs are a service restored to normal operation and a completed incident record detailed instructions and guidance for each step is normally documented in supporting procedures and work instructions
• 15:30 - 16:00 in many respects value streams and processes are similar but they should not be confused they provide different perspectives and accomplish different things the value stream is the entire path through the service value chain to deliver product or service to the customer at each step of the value stream one or more processes may be executed so to use the simple example shown earlier although Incident Management is involved in each step of this particular value stream the stream gives Clarity that
• 16:00 - 16:30 other processes are also being executed for example when resolving the incident at step two of the value stream the engineer may need to access and update information held in a configuration management database well done you've completed this module now try the following exercises to check your