Service and Support
as Production
On-demand Value in Corporate I.T.
The Scenario
Corporate I.T. is expected to know what business needs from technologies, but in particular
to have industrial-strength capabilities of its own for handling certain classes of
requirements.
In covering those classes, less mature I.T. organizations may be managed more as
clearinghouses or hybrids, without a set of services and support sufficiently distinguished
to be recognizable by the business.
The penalty for failing to address the distinctions is an inability to consistently anticipate
and respond to the four most prevalent business issues in practical IT utilization:
objectives; transformation; innovation; and economy.
Conversely, being able to address the distinctions properly gives the organization a more
reasonable expectation of handling those issues successfully as they are shaping demand.
Production of Practical I.T.
Corporate I.T. is expected to have industrial-strength capabilities for producing
practical business utilization of IT.
The intent of a technology user “makes sense” in accordance with the user’s circumstances, but the
intent is viable only as a combination of things that make pursuing it supportable.
With I.T., the supportability of user intent comes from translating the attributes of the technologies
into the capability of the user. That translation produces many intermittent forms of engagement
along the way. Those forms of engagement , or modalities*, become areas of management
responsibility driving progress on demand and towards the demand.
Key value for
Demand
Technology
content
Technology
usability
Reliability of
usage
Intent of the
customer
presence systems process implementation business event
capability functionality platform projects requirements
relevance quality resource education options / permissions
practicality availability knowledge access fulfillments
Producing user capability * Modality: a particular mode in which something exists or is
experienced or expressed. – from Google “define modality”
Progressive Enablement
©2015MalcolmRyder/ArchestraResearch
Business-facing IT Roles
When we start with the “demand” perspective of the user of a service, we readily accept
that a customer wants technology not because of what the technology can do but instead
because of what the user can do with it.
That makes it easier to appreciate the difference between the “technical” arena and the
“user” (or customer) arena – and also between service and support. The service must
support the user; but something must support the service.
Yet in management, it is still unlikely to see departmental functions segmented as
“customer support” and “service support”.
Instead, a typical segmentation of IT’s business role is any of these four groupings:
technical support, user support, technology services (aka technical services), and customer
services (aka customer service).
Accountabilities and Responsibilities
Those areas differ for a reason, mainly reflecting a company’s idea of what kind of accountability is
required to establish and justify plans.
But what always distinguishes each area is its primary responsibility for certain minimum necessities
to assure the on-demand production of the customer’s intended usage.
• Support for users puts users as close as they will be allowed to directly deciding how IT will be
used and why.
• Support for technology determines what kind of technology will be available and from where.
• Technology services make technology usable as designed.
• Customer services make usage appropriate to the demand.
Each area must address its distinctive issues strongly enough to assure that expected final value is
generated in the customer’s utilization.
Defects, omissions or errors in these areas create discontinuities that prevent technology from
reliably enabling the customer on demand.
The potential overlap of the areas means that they may collaborate or compete in their
management and accountability. For that reason, is important to have a clear view of their
respective required influences. They should be related (intersecting) without being confused.
Support
Services
INTERSECTIONS
Services
Support
©2015 Malcolm Ryder / Archestra Research
Production Organization & Scope
Corporate I.T. must make choices about what must be under its direct authority and
why. It needs to declare and justify its domain in both support and services.
User Support
Technical Support
Customer ServicesTechnology Services
Business Event:
Requirements
Options/Permissions
Fulfillments
Implementation:
Projects
Education
Access
Process:
Platform
Resource
Knowledge
Systems:
Functionality
Quality
Availability
(Catalog)(Service Lifecycle)
(Provision)(Configuration)
• Support for users puts users as
close as they will be allowed to
directly deciding how IT will be
used and why.
• Support for technology
determines what kind of
technology will be available and
from where.
• Technology services make
technology usable as designed.
• Customer services make usage
appropriate to the demand.
Support
Services
Minimum viable coverage, by area
©2015 Malcolm Ryder / Archestra Research
Sourcing
Strategy
Engineering
Operation
CORRESPONDING
MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTABILITY
CUSTOMERTECHNOLOGY
FOCUS OF
PRODUCTION DESIGN
PLANNING
Support
Services
USER
TECHNICAL
USER
TECHNICAL
CUSTOMERTECHNOLOGY
ProcessSystems
Business EventImplementation
©2015 Malcolm Ryder / Archestra Research
CORRESPONDING ALIGNMENT
TO BUSINESS DEMAND
ProcessSystems
Business EventImplementationUSER
TECHNICAL
CORRESPONDING ALIGNMENT
OF THROUGPUT
ALIGNMENT
Support
Services
CUSTOMERTECHNOLOGY
ProvisionConfiguration
CatalogService LifecycleUSER
TECHNICAL
CUSTOMERTECHNOLOGY
©2015 Malcolm Ryder / Archestra Research
Solving The Right Problem
Corporate I.T. must continually adopt and leverage important technologies and
methods internally, while navigating continual changes in and changes to its
business environment.
Throughput On-demand
When an I.T. Organization produces on demand for the business customer, it approaches
the challenge with some combination of a “solution” and method that guides its activity.
The combination makes the solution effective, but it must be aimed at the right kind of
problem.
The successful solution is usually not monolithic. Taking an automated single-minded
approach risks driving too much attention and activity towards a defined problem that may
not be the right problem to solve.
Normally, multiple perspectives must be applied and reconciled. Synchronizing many
variables, they collectively determine the right way to do the right thing for the given
situation. The synchronization is likely to be an ongoing effort.
OBJECTIVESTRANSFORMATION
ECONOMYINNOVATION
CORRESPONDING ENVIRONMENTAL
INFLUENCES TO ACCOMODATE
SOURCING
STRATEGY
ENGINEERING
OPERATIONCORRESPONDING CAPABILITY
OF MANAGEMENT
CATALOGSERVICE LIFECYCLEFOCUS ON
PRODUCTION PROVISIONCONFIGURATION
As a reconciliation of the
perspectives, they can be
modeled hierarchically,
bottom up, as throughput:
production that underlies a
sustained capability to take
on various and variable
influences of the business
environment. The key factors
map to services and support.
KEY SOLUTION FACTORSMAJOR PERSPECTIVES
©2015 Malcolm Ryder / Archestra Research
OBJECTIVESTRANSFORMATION
ECONOMYINNOVATION
Brokering
Strategy
Engineering
Operation
CORRESPONDING ENVIRONMENTAL
INFLUENCES TO ACCOMODATE
CatalogService Lifecycle
SOURCING
STRATEGY
ENGINEERING
OPERATION
CORRESPONDING CAPABILITY
OF MANAGEMENT
ProcessSystems
Business EventImplementation
CATALOGSERVICE LIFECYCLE
ProvisionConfiguration
FOCUS ON
PRODUCTION
PROVISIONCONFIGURATION
Throughput to current target Business State
©2015 Malcolm Ryder / Archestra Research
Production Capability
Corporate I.T. must map its decided and evolving capabilities into the appropriate
areas of support and service, while remaining focused on actual demand.
ProcessSystems
Business EventImplementation
CATALOGSVC LIFECYCLE
FOCUS ON DECIDED
BUSINESS ENABLEMENT
PROVISIONCONFIGURATION
CATALOGSVC LIFECYCLE
CORRESPONDING FOCUS ON
MANAGEMENT CAPABILITY
PROVISIONCONFIGURATION
DevOps
Design
Thinking
Sourcing
Strategy
Engineering
Operation
Service
Integration
EXAMPLE EVOLUTIONS
OF SOLUTION METHODOLOGY
Open Source
USER
TECHNICAL
CUSTOMERTECHNOLOGY
©2015 Malcolm Ryder / Archestra Research
AUTOMATION PRACTICE MODELS SOCIAL/MOBILE
governancedata
securitydevelopment
portfolios learning
integration orchestration
marketing
evaluationlean
procurement
KEY INDEPENDENT INFLUENCERS & INFLUENCES ON CAPABILITY
SOURCING
STRATEGY
ENGINEERING
OPERATION
SOURCING
STRATEGY
ENGINEERING
OPERATION
SOURCING
STRATEGY
ENGINEERING
OPERATION
(technologies) (management) (users)
©2015 Malcolm Ryder / Archestra Research
Producing I.T. Value
Corporate I.T. production, through support and service, gains and keeps its value
through its relationship to current demand.
presence
capability
relevance
practicality
Organizing IT
Corporate IT enables users to achieve their intent by systematically
generating availability, visibility and usability of technology in practical forms
for engagement.
Corporate IT production should be able to identify and fulfill demand that is
constantly being reshaped by independent influences outside of corporate IT,
including objectives, transformation, innovation and economy.
The IT organization itself must continually evolve by adopting tools,
practices, and user cooperation that allow its production to have agility and
resiliency in the face of constant change.
Organizing IT’s production
Business recognizes, assists, and underwrites the capabilities of
corporate IT through recognizable services and support.
Corporate IT uses services and support to synchronize its internal
evolution with the evolution of the external environment of the
business.
Corporate IT maintains its ongoing importance to the business users by
applying newer and better abilities – of technology, management and
users – within support and services.
©2015 Malcolm Ryder / Archestra Research
www.archestra.com
mryder@archestra.com

Service and Support as Production in I.T.

  • 1.
    Service and Support asProduction On-demand Value in Corporate I.T.
  • 2.
    The Scenario Corporate I.T.is expected to know what business needs from technologies, but in particular to have industrial-strength capabilities of its own for handling certain classes of requirements. In covering those classes, less mature I.T. organizations may be managed more as clearinghouses or hybrids, without a set of services and support sufficiently distinguished to be recognizable by the business. The penalty for failing to address the distinctions is an inability to consistently anticipate and respond to the four most prevalent business issues in practical IT utilization: objectives; transformation; innovation; and economy. Conversely, being able to address the distinctions properly gives the organization a more reasonable expectation of handling those issues successfully as they are shaping demand.
  • 3.
    Production of PracticalI.T. Corporate I.T. is expected to have industrial-strength capabilities for producing practical business utilization of IT.
  • 4.
    The intent ofa technology user “makes sense” in accordance with the user’s circumstances, but the intent is viable only as a combination of things that make pursuing it supportable. With I.T., the supportability of user intent comes from translating the attributes of the technologies into the capability of the user. That translation produces many intermittent forms of engagement along the way. Those forms of engagement , or modalities*, become areas of management responsibility driving progress on demand and towards the demand. Key value for Demand Technology content Technology usability Reliability of usage Intent of the customer presence systems process implementation business event capability functionality platform projects requirements relevance quality resource education options / permissions practicality availability knowledge access fulfillments Producing user capability * Modality: a particular mode in which something exists or is experienced or expressed. – from Google “define modality” Progressive Enablement ©2015MalcolmRyder/ArchestraResearch
  • 5.
    Business-facing IT Roles Whenwe start with the “demand” perspective of the user of a service, we readily accept that a customer wants technology not because of what the technology can do but instead because of what the user can do with it. That makes it easier to appreciate the difference between the “technical” arena and the “user” (or customer) arena – and also between service and support. The service must support the user; but something must support the service. Yet in management, it is still unlikely to see departmental functions segmented as “customer support” and “service support”. Instead, a typical segmentation of IT’s business role is any of these four groupings: technical support, user support, technology services (aka technical services), and customer services (aka customer service).
  • 6.
    Accountabilities and Responsibilities Thoseareas differ for a reason, mainly reflecting a company’s idea of what kind of accountability is required to establish and justify plans. But what always distinguishes each area is its primary responsibility for certain minimum necessities to assure the on-demand production of the customer’s intended usage. • Support for users puts users as close as they will be allowed to directly deciding how IT will be used and why. • Support for technology determines what kind of technology will be available and from where. • Technology services make technology usable as designed. • Customer services make usage appropriate to the demand. Each area must address its distinctive issues strongly enough to assure that expected final value is generated in the customer’s utilization. Defects, omissions or errors in these areas create discontinuities that prevent technology from reliably enabling the customer on demand. The potential overlap of the areas means that they may collaborate or compete in their management and accountability. For that reason, is important to have a clear view of their respective required influences. They should be related (intersecting) without being confused.
  • 7.
  • 8.
    Production Organization &Scope Corporate I.T. must make choices about what must be under its direct authority and why. It needs to declare and justify its domain in both support and services.
  • 9.
    User Support Technical Support CustomerServicesTechnology Services Business Event: Requirements Options/Permissions Fulfillments Implementation: Projects Education Access Process: Platform Resource Knowledge Systems: Functionality Quality Availability (Catalog)(Service Lifecycle) (Provision)(Configuration) • Support for users puts users as close as they will be allowed to directly deciding how IT will be used and why. • Support for technology determines what kind of technology will be available and from where. • Technology services make technology usable as designed. • Customer services make usage appropriate to the demand. Support Services Minimum viable coverage, by area ©2015 Malcolm Ryder / Archestra Research
  • 10.
    Sourcing Strategy Engineering Operation CORRESPONDING MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTABILITY CUSTOMERTECHNOLOGY FOCUS OF PRODUCTIONDESIGN PLANNING Support Services USER TECHNICAL USER TECHNICAL CUSTOMERTECHNOLOGY ProcessSystems Business EventImplementation ©2015 Malcolm Ryder / Archestra Research
  • 11.
    CORRESPONDING ALIGNMENT TO BUSINESSDEMAND ProcessSystems Business EventImplementationUSER TECHNICAL CORRESPONDING ALIGNMENT OF THROUGPUT ALIGNMENT Support Services CUSTOMERTECHNOLOGY ProvisionConfiguration CatalogService LifecycleUSER TECHNICAL CUSTOMERTECHNOLOGY ©2015 Malcolm Ryder / Archestra Research
  • 12.
    Solving The RightProblem Corporate I.T. must continually adopt and leverage important technologies and methods internally, while navigating continual changes in and changes to its business environment.
  • 13.
    Throughput On-demand When anI.T. Organization produces on demand for the business customer, it approaches the challenge with some combination of a “solution” and method that guides its activity. The combination makes the solution effective, but it must be aimed at the right kind of problem. The successful solution is usually not monolithic. Taking an automated single-minded approach risks driving too much attention and activity towards a defined problem that may not be the right problem to solve. Normally, multiple perspectives must be applied and reconciled. Synchronizing many variables, they collectively determine the right way to do the right thing for the given situation. The synchronization is likely to be an ongoing effort.
  • 14.
    OBJECTIVESTRANSFORMATION ECONOMYINNOVATION CORRESPONDING ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES TOACCOMODATE SOURCING STRATEGY ENGINEERING OPERATIONCORRESPONDING CAPABILITY OF MANAGEMENT CATALOGSERVICE LIFECYCLEFOCUS ON PRODUCTION PROVISIONCONFIGURATION As a reconciliation of the perspectives, they can be modeled hierarchically, bottom up, as throughput: production that underlies a sustained capability to take on various and variable influences of the business environment. The key factors map to services and support. KEY SOLUTION FACTORSMAJOR PERSPECTIVES ©2015 Malcolm Ryder / Archestra Research
  • 15.
    OBJECTIVESTRANSFORMATION ECONOMYINNOVATION Brokering Strategy Engineering Operation CORRESPONDING ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES TOACCOMODATE CatalogService Lifecycle SOURCING STRATEGY ENGINEERING OPERATION CORRESPONDING CAPABILITY OF MANAGEMENT ProcessSystems Business EventImplementation CATALOGSERVICE LIFECYCLE ProvisionConfiguration FOCUS ON PRODUCTION PROVISIONCONFIGURATION Throughput to current target Business State ©2015 Malcolm Ryder / Archestra Research
  • 16.
    Production Capability Corporate I.T.must map its decided and evolving capabilities into the appropriate areas of support and service, while remaining focused on actual demand.
  • 17.
    ProcessSystems Business EventImplementation CATALOGSVC LIFECYCLE FOCUSON DECIDED BUSINESS ENABLEMENT PROVISIONCONFIGURATION CATALOGSVC LIFECYCLE CORRESPONDING FOCUS ON MANAGEMENT CAPABILITY PROVISIONCONFIGURATION DevOps Design Thinking Sourcing Strategy Engineering Operation Service Integration EXAMPLE EVOLUTIONS OF SOLUTION METHODOLOGY Open Source USER TECHNICAL CUSTOMERTECHNOLOGY ©2015 Malcolm Ryder / Archestra Research
  • 18.
    AUTOMATION PRACTICE MODELSSOCIAL/MOBILE governancedata securitydevelopment portfolios learning integration orchestration marketing evaluationlean procurement KEY INDEPENDENT INFLUENCERS & INFLUENCES ON CAPABILITY SOURCING STRATEGY ENGINEERING OPERATION SOURCING STRATEGY ENGINEERING OPERATION SOURCING STRATEGY ENGINEERING OPERATION (technologies) (management) (users) ©2015 Malcolm Ryder / Archestra Research
  • 19.
    Producing I.T. Value CorporateI.T. production, through support and service, gains and keeps its value through its relationship to current demand. presence capability relevance practicality
  • 20.
    Organizing IT Corporate ITenables users to achieve their intent by systematically generating availability, visibility and usability of technology in practical forms for engagement. Corporate IT production should be able to identify and fulfill demand that is constantly being reshaped by independent influences outside of corporate IT, including objectives, transformation, innovation and economy. The IT organization itself must continually evolve by adopting tools, practices, and user cooperation that allow its production to have agility and resiliency in the face of constant change.
  • 21.
    Organizing IT’s production Businessrecognizes, assists, and underwrites the capabilities of corporate IT through recognizable services and support. Corporate IT uses services and support to synchronize its internal evolution with the evolution of the external environment of the business. Corporate IT maintains its ongoing importance to the business users by applying newer and better abilities – of technology, management and users – within support and services.
  • 22.
    ©2015 Malcolm Ryder/ Archestra Research www.archestra.com [email protected]