IMPACTS & OPPORTUNITIES COVID-19 HAS BROUGHT FOR ORGANISATIONS

Every Crisis Leads to an Opportunity……….

During the Covid-19 pandemic organizations started to  evaluate their service management operating models, a optimized service management model provides high return for low risk investment

COVID-19 has forced a dramatic acceleration in digital service adoption. Many organisations are working remotely and are heavily dependent on technology services, i.e video conferencing, email access to corporate and commercial applications. This is further coupled with significant reliance on a reliable internet connection thus, the demand for technology has never been greater. The increased use of technology and the use of unfamiliar applications and  devices being used has no doubt increased the  number of IT incidents being reported to an organisations service desk with a high demand from users for quick resolution to their issues as an impact from the isolation of a remote working environment.

During these unprecedented times, new technology needs to be underpinned by an optimised service management operating model so that new ways of working can be effectively be supported by organisations.

Service Management operating models consists of a plethora of considerations and requirements, for example: how do external vendors interact with the operating model; which workflow tooling should an organisation be using; how mature are my ITIL processes to support the service management framework; which parts of the operating model can I automate; what skills are required to operate effective service management processes etc. The absence of a clear strategy for some of these considerations will present an organisation with a number of challenges including providing a reactive service rather than proactive. This will result in the organisation being unable to adapt to market changes and being perceived as a service which is providing a tick box exercise.

Development of service management operating models can be rather daunting for an organisation and the fear of the unknown typically leads to an organisation taking no action which results in service degradation. This presents further consequences as more users are dependent on a robust and effective, service management model to help them work remotely.

An optimised service management operating framework based on the size, strategy, and needs of the business will effectively support the activities, policies, processes and procedures needed to run, maintain and improve service delivery to the client. It also owns its internal users by improving service delivery and provide an enhanced level of end user experience, providing a proactive service to support end users needs. However, when organisations ask whether their service management model is currently fit for purpose their evaluation must include a full holistic approach focusing on people, processes and technology and not just a specific component of the  service management operating model.

Employees and service users demand personal experiences to be adopted within the workplace. An example of this is the `amazon experience, ` whereby users expect a similar experience for example, during the incident logging process or during ordering new services or items from an organisations service catalogue.

The issues described above presents an opportunity for organisations to review their service management operating model to ensure it provides a `fit for purpose` service during the Covid-19 Pandemic, and allows organisations to future proof their current service management operating model.

SSO Partners have been working with organisations in various industries including Manufacturing, Public Sector organisations, Banking, Defence and Security helping clients achieve full optimisation from their current service model offerings.