A few days ago, the LinkedIn group [ITIL & ITSM tools] showed an interesting post:
“I am looking to replace the existing ITSM tool being used in my organization. Looking forward for some suggestions.”
As can be expected, several group members came up with the usual response. They named their favorite product. Except for two comments, everyone seemed to ‘just answer’ the question – as usual. This is exactly the reason why organizations want to replace their tools again and again. They think about the problem “from the tool” instead of “from the goal”. Even the two commenters that asked for the requirements – instead of just naming a product – were at risk of falling for the same trap. Imho, these answers will not really help the issue of the organization, which (I hope) is “finding a sustainable solution for supporting our daily work in delivering our services”.
It’s not about the tool!
A more sustainable answer might take a different approach because the tool itself is far less important than the management system that it is supposed to support. Without the information about that management system, any answer would simply miss the point.
Navigating blindfolded
Unfortunately, most organizations are rather unaware of this: they do not have an explicit management system at all, so they’re just ‘doing their best’. Most likely, they use guidance from best practices as their main strategy. These organizations are doomed to work ineffectively and inefficiently, never reaching a high level of maturity. It’s like they select their tooling blindfolded.
New spectacles
Organizations that do understand what their management system looks like, can easily find a simple and cheap solution for the initial tooling question. They see clearly what support is needed, and what the product requirements actually are. They can avoid the pitfalls of the usual offering from tool suppliers (i.e. complexity based on a modular offering) and create a simple and cheap solution.
Organizations that are not already fully aware of their management system’s role, may want to use some new spectacles, so they see more clearly and avoid the usual pitfalls. With new spectacles, they can learn that their service management tool should not require more than 2 modules, supporting only 8 standard workflows, to deliver the actual support they need. Seeing through these new spectacles could save them a lot of effort, time, and money, but above all: it could seriously improve employee satisfaction.
New thinking
These new spectacles are based on the new thinking of USM – the Unified Service Management method. USM is complementary to the usual approach of adopting and adapting best practices from popular frameworks. USM is based on principles, offering an organization the opportunity to lay down a solid and sustainable fundament below all the practices they select, adopt, and (hopefully) adapt to fit their management system…
Following that approach is opposite to what happened in the LinkedIn group. With USM, you think first and act later, a strategy that seems to have been lost throughout the tooling industry, or at best – is largely limited to thinking about a set of technical requirements.
New spectacles for a better future
If you want to try and see how these new spectacles also fit your organization, you may start with attending a free online introduction: a 2-hour workshop, demonstrating how the new thinking of USM simplifies your challenges and provides you with a simple but very effective management system. Once you’ve done that, you may find your way into the free resources that the SURVUZ Foundation makes available for user organizations, providers, trainers, and education institutes, and you may see your future much clearer.
