Providing value to the ITSM community
Globally the IT Service Management Forum has provided opportunities at conferences, branch meetings and other events for members to share their knowledge about ITSM with the wider community. One of the keys ways this knowledge is shared is through the Special Information Groups (SIGs) that many itSMF Chapters have formed.
The post below, from Steve Morgan, Chair of the itSMF UK SIAM SIG is an example of the value that these groups give to the ITSM community.
Tackling the tough questions
The itSMF’s SIAM Special Interest Group (SIG) was formed in the summer of 2015. It is formed of IT practitioners from a variety of backgrounds; consultants, service providers and public and private sector organisations. This group give up their time voluntarily, to help advance the thinking around SIAM, and to build their own knowledge of its application in the real-world.
Initially, the group tackled the subject of “What is SIAM?”, deliberating over the answer to this question long and hard. Is SIAM a framework, a process model, a governance model, a set of processes?
In essence, it decided that SIAM was the term which describes the operating model which organisations adopt when working in a multi-service provider model. It comprises a number of organisational and governance models, a process model and a wide possibility of options around tooling.
Multiple SIAM working groups
The SIG currently has 4 working groups; Process, Tooling, Business Case and People and Change.
Each working group is addressing its own specific set of SIAM challenges from a different perspective.
The process working group has been developing a process model which will enable organisations and service providers to define their future operational processes, and critically, to decide where ownership, accountability and operational responsibility is likely to sit, in a variety of implementation options available.
The tooling working group is addressing the data model and tooling considerations which come about in a SIAM model. These vary depending upon the SIAM model which is being deployed, and the group have developed a number of scenario based models which reflect an organisation’s challenges, in deploying a SIAM toolset which covers IT Service Management, reporting, governance, contract management, financial management, etc.
The Business Case working group is predicated on the fact that organisations normally arrive at SIAM as a result of a multi-supplier sourcing strategy. It focusses upon the need to design an effective operating model and supporting organisation, and how to cost justify this against quantifiable benefits.
The People & Change group have been addressing the softer side of implementing SIAM, most notably the cultural and behavioural challenges which can occur when attempting to run a single end-to-end service across many different organisations, each with their own ethos and organisational culture.
Get involved
If the information in this post interests you, talk to your local itSMF chapter to see what special interest initiatives they have operating.
