Service Management: How process can rise above complexity

In a world where the performance and specification of many technologies is similar, the one differentiating factor is how that performance is managed and enhanced by the service provider. With many companies expanding outside of their IT and communications comfort zone, sourcing a service management provider is becoming a key strategic consideration.

Service management - or the art of successfully meeting business objectives by optimizing the IT and communications network - is often seen as a complex "black art." In some respects, it deserves this label: many firms can find it challenging to understand how the performance of their infrastructures and services can be maximized to improve profitability, customer care goals or security requirements, for example.
 
But as organizations diversify, add new locations or products, or look to become leaner, service management comes into the spotlight.

Most MNCs that look to outsource their service management discipline do so because, quite simply, IT and communications is not their core competency. That's not to say that they lack the skills or competency to successfully manage their services or the evolving lifecycle of IT equipment and facilities, given enough resources and time. The global IT market is so complex, and the pressures of business so fast moving, that managing multiple technologies, locations and customer requirements means the IT department is too stretched.

"Although there's often an overriding requirement to reduce operational overhead or to address new offerings, MNCs will generally invest in outsourcing their service management to handle a number of 'change'situations in their markets," says Lee Cardona,Solution Director of Consulting and Solutions Integration at Orange Business Services.

Outsourcing service management: the four drivers

These change situations come under a number of guises, but most commonly fall into four categories. Firstly, there can be a need to address the convergence of technologies, such as IP voice and data. Secondly, there can be merger and acquisition activity, where there are typically at least two discrete sets of IT service management practices that need integrating. Then, there can be the need to grow organically and extend systems and processes to new operations. Finally, there can be organizational changes in response to the macro business climate.
 
Whatever the situation, service management acts as a framework that makes the enterprise IT infrastructure and process flexible to adapt to change and deliver measurable improvements in corporate operational performance.

All kinds of businesses - most prominently in the service industries, manufacturing, petro-chemical and some parts of healthcare - are adopting an outsourced approach to service management. These sectors typically leverage their resources heavily towards their core business and excel in producing an end product, and direct less energy to managing their IT infrastructure. "For Orange, this is our business, and so we apply a business rigor to service management," says Cardona.
 
The Orange approach to service management

Orange begins any service management engagement with a consultation phase that discovers what the business priorities are and where the IT infrastructure can accordingly be optimized. "Our consultative approach is packaged into modular blocks, and we consult on which blocks are needed and how to navigate through the service management process - effectively personalizing how the service management blocks are used," explains Cardona.
 
As an overriding framework to the way service management is delivered at Orange, the IT Infrastructure Library® (ITIL) provides internationally recognized and respected best practice guidelines. ITIL provides a detailed description of IT best practices, including detailed checklists and processes that organizations can adopt when establishing, growing or maintaining an IT infrastructure. Importantly, ITIL ensures that services are provided and managed in accordance with the way that they are consumed by the MNC. Keeping IT and business aligned and in lock-step this way maximizes IT performance towards specific business goals.
 
Orange has worked recently with Sorin Group, a global leader in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Sorin looked to Orange to enable a global remote diagnostic network but,  moreover, for Orange to offer the business-level guidance needed to innovate, compete and define the next phase of Sorin's development. Orange has also been engaged by Schering-Plough, the global healthcare company, when it acquired a pharmaceutical firm in the Netherlands. Orange helped Schering-Plough rationalize its approach to IT management as the two businesses merged, taking the use of WAN and LAN devices from 930 at 200 sites to 1,500 at nearly 230 sites.
 
Orange uses ITIL as the key communication vehicle with its customers so that, as Cardona describes, "we call everything by the same name." This provides a common language to describe IT technologies, processes and metrics that becomes the framework that underpins any service management engagement. Orange also utilizes the Six Sigma business management strategy to remove errors in IT processes that adversely affect results.
"ITIL is the process framework, and Six Sigma is the fine-tuning methodology," says Lee Cardona. "Applied together, they are a very powerful winning strategy."


Four reasons why MNCs would benefit from service management by Orange:

Experience: Orange customer service experts have in-depth knowledge of the ICT needs of multinationals.
 
Specialized expertise: Orange is a recognized leader in providing the latest communications technologies as well as the current best practices in management and support. Continuous professional training and certification ensures the knowledge and capabilities of Orange are unsurpassed.

State-of-the-art technology: Orange has invested in the most advanced monitoring and reporting technologies to ensure it can quickly address any deterioration in service before it impacts businesses.

Insight: Orange Service Managers bring unique insight to the operational issues that impact multinational companies. Orange applies its vast experience to create communications solutions that meet each client's strategic goals.

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Service Management