Best Practice
that really is...
Start with the Key Facts Summary.
The gap filled
ITIL is global best practice for IT Service Management (ITSM) with a ticket-focused approach to support. Tickets are not what is important though - not what teams must do. Support activity is.
It's a pivotal fact: Support has always been focused on the wrong thing.
ITIL covers just two types of support activity. Ten others form the ITIL gap​, harbouring many operational issues that cannot be eased without Flow Management to overcome them.
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The gap is prevalent in most environments - hardware break-fix less-so.
The gap exists because for decades, ITIL processes have been the basis of all ITSM tools, firmly embedding ITIL's way of working in the status quo and consolidating the framework's global stature with such strength that it remained unquestioned.
How does support compare to other ITSM processes?
All ITIL processes are minimum operational requirements typical of a broad framework. Most can be built-upon through ITSM tool configuration to be made fit for purpose, assisted by good governance and management where necessary.
IT support Incident and Request Management is the only exception. Due to the ITIL gap, no matter how well the two processes are configured and assisted, support's primary purpose of always timely, attentive service provision cannot be met.
With Incident and Request Management the main use for an ITSM tool, and because the gap can be filled, ITSM tools were never fit for purpose.
Missing processes widen the gap
The ITIL gap is widened by several supporting processes also being absent from the ITIL framework. Absence in ITIL means absence in tools, further reducing fitness for purpose. Worldwide, ITSM maturity is minimised. Misfocus, and consequent weak outcomes, is maximised.
The importance of audit
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Exposed by Experience Management (XM) and the Focus Framework, the reality of IT support was previously hidden by support's ticket-focused approach that is too broad and sweeping to be in-touch with real service outcomes and what needs to happen for support to be effective.
To complement managed survey feedback of the XM approach, operational failings and associated issues that are removed by Flow Management to reduce lost work time should be identified through detailed analysis of aged tickets. Without a "forensic audit" in context of a better approach, the reality of IT support remains hidden.
A Focus Framework aligned audit exposes the true nature of ticket backlog - the 25% - where service experience falls down to form the 7% where experience is bad.
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Legacy issues
The Focus Framework raises awareness of support's historic operational issues that are the legacy of ITIL reliance. The issues shed light on why it is imperative to advance beyond ITIL by adopting Flow Management:
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​Issue #1. Teams generally approach new tickets first and foremost.
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Issue #2. Activity for the progression of older tickets isn't just secondary, it is completely unguided.
Inappropriate delay and inertia is normal. Of particular harm, support conversations do not flow:​​​
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Questions emailed to support customers are service tool (system) notifications, prone to not being read. Unanswered questions must be followed-up promptly and with success, but with no process, they are not.
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Replies must receive focused attention similar to a ticket's first response, but even when quickly seen, onward activity is easily unprioritised and skipped, leading to inappropriate delay still.
All types of ticket update are affected, either unseen or ignored, including sensitive comments - those that are time-critical, or a chase on progress.
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Prone to failure at both ends, communication barriers are a primary cause of lost work time and needs failing to be met. Resulting frustration is where perception of service is at its weakest.
In total, 21 "mid-lifecycle" support situations arise in all IT organisations, completely unguided: unidentified, unprioritised and unmanaged, all contributing to delay, inertia, and consequent weak support experiences.
Issue #3. Ticket progression relies on the ticket owner alone. Being a "single point of failure" devoid of any cross-queue-cover, ownership silos substantially worsen untimeliness and unreliability in IT support.
Issue #4. Support's primary ticket-based measure of performance, the ticket SLA, is highly inaccurate, lacks detail, and provides the false impression of acceptable service quality. With little actionable scope, it lacks purpose and so is not widely used. When used, the real performance of IT support is never known.​​
Flow Management removes a further 15 operational issues inherent of the ITIL approach.
IT support is the ITIL exception: For success, the process must be improved
Where governance and close management was needed the most, adding Flow Management means it is not needed at all.
Teams unify with a systematic focus primarily on high priority activity. Managers intervene simply by exception when monitors show that help is needed recovering back to the expected service experience. Team size can be adjusted with confidence.
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Business lost work time is minimised, absolutely.
More on the ITIL status quo...
To understand ITIL shortcomings and the status quo in more detail, please request our white paper on the subject: "The ITSM breakthrough was always just two small steps away". Included is the top nine unmanaged support situations and detail in where IT Experience Management is positioned - overly challenged - without Flow Management.
Realising that status utilisation can improve the ITIL way of working, some ITSM tool software has advanced status-based functionality added. Not to the point of AP breakthrough though.
The breakthrough: Success for 12 ITIL practices
Realising that something was acutely wrong and with a "digital transformation" lens to the problem, Opimise was formed in 2019 to modernise and advance IT support, to establish true best practice dedicated solely to it.
Following years of in-practice research and development, the result is the Support Ops Focus Framework (SOFF). SOFF has two practices: Support Lifecycle Management (aka Flow Management based on AP), and its entirely complementary Team Performance Management centred on Contribution Recognition.
All twelve SOFF capabilities across both practices are more than ITIL-aligned. They bring twelve ITIL practices to life. An optimal methodology and standard for up-most service quality against which IT organisations can be accredited.
12 ITIL processes / practices improved by Flow Management
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Service Desk - All operational needs are met | Enablement of the Digital Channel Service Desk.
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Incident | Request - With AP, focus switches to what matters - timely activity for attentive service.
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Workforce & Talent - Fully supported teams who benefit from accurate achievement knowledge.
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SLM | Measurement & Reporting - Flow Metrics gauge support's primary experience factor - attentiveness.
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Continual Improvement - Every procedural shortcoming is identified, coordinated to develop lean service.
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Knowledge Management - Form Knowledge Centred Service | Swarm to avoid escalation and delay.
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Supplier Management (SIAM) - proactively manage supplier provision, ticket-by-ticket and at a service level.
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Problem Management - identify "Problem" Incidents much earlier, and more of them.
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Relationship Management - expose where business conversations are needed.
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IT Asset Management - maintain CMDB accuracy.
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Flow Management is complete enablement for teams, leading the evolution of people-provided support.
But what is it exactly, and why is it essential?
This Key Article is the third lesson in the SOFF Foundation course.