So now the proverbial “rubber hits the road”.  You’ve purchased a service desk tool, and you want it to support your ITIL process initiative.  So how do you get there?

This is part 3 of a three part series (Part 1, Part 2) discussing how to “Bridge the Gap” between Service Desks, IT Processes, and Workflow.  Part 3 offers some practical advice on how to get from what the ITIL Processes describe, and really getting the benefit through automation tools.

In the two parts that preceded this article, I discussed the value of ITIL Processes and Workflow.  ITIL Process provides value in the Governance of IT, in their ability to Measure, Control and Enable the IT Service Organization.  Workflow brings business context to the activities associated with completing the process.

So how do we build the bridge between Process and Workflow?  The answer lies in the example described in Part 2, you need to understand the overlap between the activities from multiple processes that may need to be integrated into a homogeneous workflow.

To illustrate this, I’ll take the example of Request Fulfillment, and the Access Management Processes.  The objectives of the two processes are (from, “Service Operations”, 2007):

Request Fulfillment – to provide a channel for users to request and receive standard services; to provide information to users and customers about the availability of services and the procedure for obtaining them; to source and deliver the components of standard services; and to assist with general information, complaints or comments

Access Management – to provide the right for users to be able to use a service or group of services; executes policies and actions defined in Information Security Management and Availability Management

Both these services are clearly separate with differentiated goals and objectives.  The activities for each process have separate roles assigned in a RACI matrix.  However, in practical application, how do our end users typically access both Request Fulfillment Processes, and Access Management Processes?  The answer is, they both are Requests from the customer point of view, and for our business are typically managed in a combined workflow.   The activities encompassed within the work instructions that underlie that workflow will clearly be different; however, the workflow will typically hold many of the same elements.

The next question is how do we define the correct workflow?  Unfortunately, this one comes in part to the standard consultant’s answer of “it depends”.    However, this isn’t as bad as it seems.  It depends on the CMS (Configuration Management System) Tool or Tool-Set you are using.    CMS Tools which encompass workflow management (usually in the form of “Ticketing”), come in two basic flavors:

Status Based – These tools govern the workflow through the agent changing the status of tickets, and having the ability to transfer tickets to other groups or agents.  They have the advantage of flexibility, as the workflow is usually based on some simple statuses.  However, these tools can be difficult to measure, and rely heavily on each individual agent doing things according to policy/procedure/work-instructions exactly the right way, every time, manually to ensure accurate measurements on the performance of that workflow.

Action Based – These tools do not allow the agent to manipulate statuses directly.  Instead, they require agents to take actions, which are made available based on the status of the tickets.  This allows the process owner(s) to essentially encode the process steps, much more thoroughly into the workflow, and provides better governance of the workflow steps for the organization.  Modern service desk systems are moving toward action based models.  They are differentiated by the level of work required to model workflow.  The better systems are entirely driven by configuration data, and require a minimum of programming/scripting of the workflow.

So the implementation of the workflow becomes highly dependent on the tools you choose to make up your CMS.   Choosing an Action Based system will maximize your ability to control the workflow, and accurately measure the effectiveness of your workflow process.     In its simplest form, an action based system will flow much the same way as a status based system.   However, the action based system has much more capability to provide both control of the workflow, in the form of work-rules based on status, and measurement of the specific steps in the workflow.

Returning to our example, modeling the activities to perform the Access Management and Request Fulfillment processes, it is likely that a unified workflow will be developed.  The start of the workflow will be the common request mechanism for the service desk.  From there, based on the request being made, it will branch into workflow that captures the activities of either Access Management or Request Fulfillment.  Furthermore, a frequently implemented request model is for new employees, which will encompass workflow elements from both workflows to fulfill the same root request.

So… to bridge the divide between Process, Workflow, and Tools, one must understand the definition of each.  Once we understand that Workflow reflects our business requirements in how to approach the Activities defined in the ITIL Processes (watch all those key words, its important), we discover that workflow design is the bridge between good Process and the Tools we need to automate them.  The tools will act to define the constraints of our workflow, and our workflow requirements may in turn help define our requirements for tools.

In summary, focus on designing your workflow to suit the tools appropriate to your organization.  Every organization does not need an “enterprise” service desk, but all organizations looking to automate their workflow need to consider designing their workflow to meet their real business needs.  Keep it simple when you start, and allow yourself room for Continual Improvement.  Most of all, focus on good design; the CMS is the ERP system for IT, and as such it is the tool to manage IT’s business, and look for tools that will enable your organizations ability to manage workflow, don’t let your tool manage you!

Guest blogger, Vernon Palango is the Principle Consultant for InteQ Corporation’s Service Management Consulting and Training organization.  In addition, he acts as the primary advisor for implementation of ITIL Best Practices within InfraDesk™, InteQ’s On-Demand Service Desk product.  www.inteqnet.com