Internet operations provision, from co-location to full
outsourcing, is an area of IT services that's crying out for
service management standards. By that I mean one against which the
support and delivery of Internet operations can be measured,
managed and judged.
Unfortunately, standards are perceived as a dry area. But their
apparent blandness belies their crucial role at the heart of many
important aspects of our lives.
In all areas, standards are marks of reassurance and confidence
that allow us to compare like with like. Without this certification
a product could be faulty or sub-standard.
It's the same with IT service management standards: failure to
adhere to them could put your business at serious risk. They could
mean the difference between winning and losing customers, between
success and failure, so companies should take them seriously.
The IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is the worldwide de facto
standard for IT service management. It is, in fact, a set of best
practice standards for IT service management, which allow
businesses to deliver a high level of service and proactively
manage the growth of IT systems. Accreditations, such as BS15000,
or those governed by global technology providers, such as Compaq or
Microsoft, act as a basis for assessment of adherence to this
standard - in effect, a set of benchmarks against which service
management can be judged.
Unfortunately this message just doesn't seem to be reaching the
people it should. For example, Internet operations and hosting
providers and their customers are largely apathetic about following
recognised service management standards.
In a survey of 100 senior IT decision-makers from large companies
which purchase these services, 62% said they did adhere to
standards. Yet 20% admitted that they observed only their internal
standards. This must imply huge variations and prevents any form of
industry-wide benchmarking.
There are compelling financial arguments for the adoption of robust
service management standards. Industry estimates put the lifecycle
management costs of a typical IT system at four times the cost of
its development.
These costs will increase if standards are not implemented.
Companies will inevitably have to pay to fix unnecessary problems
that could have been alleviated had standards been adhered to from
the start.
The problem is that service management standards are not well
enough known, particularly amongst smaller enterprises. In fact,
84% of people questioned in the survey didn't know what ITIL
is.
To compound this, compliance is largely seen as a cost rather than
a benefit, and any benefit identified tends to be unquantified and
undervalued. The implementation of ITIL-compliant service
management is often seen as an unnecessarily robust approach.
Adherence to recognised service management standards is not
regarded as a necessity. Users often buy services without checking
that the provider meets such service management standards. But this
is a huge gamble.
Buyers must begin to look for rigorous service management when they
take on an IT operations provider. Companies that maintain these
standards deliver a higher level of application availability and
increased customer satisfaction.
Added to this, standards have the capability to create real
transparency in the marketplace, allowing customers to choose the
service that best suits their needs.
Certified suppliers are seen to be professional companies that
deliver on promises and make service level agreements credible and
realistic instead of marketing messages.
Standards could also facilitate collaborative commerce. Companies
looking to integrate their infrastructure with another organisation
will be more confident working with a partner that adheres to
industry-wide standards.
Linking multiple applications via the Web increases the importance
of high application reliability and implementing an ITIL-based
service management approach will improve your chances of success.
t Simon Hansford is vice-president of product and platform at
Attenda
The survey, which questioned 100 IT managers and directors, was
carried out by ICM Research on behalf of Attenda
Simon Hansford is vice-president of product and platform
at Attenda
The survey, which questioned 1000 IT managers and
directors, was carried out by ICM Research on behalf of Attenda