Introduction
As IT contract disaggregation becomes more prevalent, organisations are turning to frameworks such as Service Integration & Management (SIAM) as the bedrock of their IT operating models.
At the centre of a SIAM operating model is the role of the Service Integrator. This role can be performed by in-house resources or sourced from a specialist supplier.
This multitude of IT contracts for both traditional IT “towers” as well as the Service Integrator role presents a number of challenges, most notably related to setting a clear scope, encouraging collaboration and building a fair and consistent approach to measuring supplier performance.
Commercial and contract teams need to consider whether their traditional contracting approaches will be adequate to support this new breed of IT service contracts. Our view is that commercial teams need to consider not only refreshing the contract content and tone, but also the measurement and reward framework.
Setting this sound commercial footing will:
- Set the tone for the longer-term relationship
- Instil supplier confidence
- Reduce the risk of misunderstanding
- Aid mutual understanding of working practices and the underlying organisational culture
- Enable effective collaboration
- Establish key principles and behaviours
Build a target operating model
A Target Operating Model (TOM) for IT describes the flow of work through the organisation. It’s critical in the event of a SIAM operating model, as it will describe the processes, governance, tooling, organisation, skills, data and suppliers involved at each step of the service lifecycle.
Our SIAM Implementation blog provides more information on the importance of the TOM.
Once written the TOM acts as the blueprint used by all parties, including IT and Commercial teams, as well as prospective suppliers, to test principles and understanding of how things will work in the future. This ensures that scope and ways of working are fully understood by all parties.
Agree the capabilities within scope of the Integrator
There is no one-size-fits-all solution for establishing the scope of the Service Integrator. Organisations should consider their existing capabilities throughout the whole service lifecycle, including demand, portfolio, solution design, transition and operations, rather than constrain their thinking to just the traditional IT Service Management (ITSM) capabilities.
The scope for the integrator should reflect the organisation’s appetite to either maintain some level of operational control or act solely as a point of escalation on an exception basis.
Organisations should also consider their current sourcing landscape, their sourcing strategy and the overall scope of other IT sourcing contracts which may also be being procured.
The aim here should be for consistency and avoiding potential overlap or confusion over who is doing what. A holistic approach which encompasses all their capabilities within the IT operating model is vital to giving prospective IT suppliers a clear view of who is doing what.
Potential use of RACI / graphic equaliser model
In order to achieve this clarity, IT and commercial teams should work in concert to consider IT contract scope, focussing on the delineation of responsibilities between the customer’s own IT team, the Service Integrator and the IT service providers.
We have previously written about a couple of popular methods achieving this clarity, using either the SIAM “graphic equaliser” or a RACI model.
Measurement Challenges
Another big challenge in relation to the introduction of a SIAM operating model, is measurement of the services being received, particular an externally sourced service integrator.
Traditional measures, such as response time or availability are inappropriate measures for a service integrator, as they do not get involved in the investigation, diagnosis, and resolution of Incidents, problems, requests, and changes.
In the case of a service integrator, it is necessary to think creatively about how they will be measured, considering the key activities that they perform and which of these you want to be measured.
You should consider measures such as continual improvement, collaboration, aged ticket reduction and identification of new trends requiring proactive problem management, as opposed to more traditional response and availability related targets.
Conclusion
As we said at the outset, there is no one size-fits-all solution. However, there are a number of critical success factors outlined in this document which should improve the chances of creating a workable SIAM contract.
In summary, these are:
- The importance of a SIAM Strategy, which describes the approach to sourcing a Service Integrator
- The target operating model (TOM) which describes the future ways of working
- The scope of the Service Integrator, the Suppliers and the retained customer organisation
- The importance of developing an appropriate set of measures
Don’t forget to take a look at our other SIAM articles.
