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IT service management is based on

three pillars: processes, technology and

people. Reorganizing service manage-ment processes can increase efciency,

while technological improvements

can help to process calls more quickly,

thereby reducing the costs. Experience

shows, however, that these ‘hard’ fac-

tors have less effect on the nal result

of the implementation than so-called

‘soft’ factors. Whether the service desk

employees have insight into the proces-

ses within your organization proves to

be more important than how extensi-

vely your workow has been described.The human factor determines the suc-

cess of an implementation. Processes

can be reorganized, advanced applicati-

ons can be installed, but in the end it is

the people who provide the service. The

rest is simply support.

SupportAn important condition for a successful

TEXT: NIEK STEENHUIS

It takes more than software

to set up a service desk

Research from PricewaterhouseCoopers shows that 75%

of all IT projects in the UK fail. The main reason for this

appears not so much to be a failure of the technology or

the inefciency of work processes, but because of insuf-

cient attention for the people within an organization. Due

to tight deadlines, the implementation process is dealt with

as quickly as possible, and there is not always time to trainthe service desk employees properly. More often than not,

the employees are not even involved in the implementa-

tion.

implementation is gaining the support

of the people involved. A lack of support

is the main reason that certain projectsfail, says Ivo Kristelijn, Managing

Director of TOPdesk Consultancy: “An

organization has its own goals, values

and ideas, but those of the people

within the organization are too often

overlooked. They have their own

interests, opinions and motivations,

and these should not be ignored. When

the ideas of the organization do not

correspond to the personal interests of 

the employees, they will be met with

resistance. In reaction, the employeesare sometimes put under more pres-

sure, which in turn gives rise to more

resistance. Systems can be congured,

models can de adjusted, but the human

factor is more complex.”

ObstacleOne of the dangers of change proces-

ses within an organization is regarding

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provided to the customer – is fore-

most. The interests of the people

who provide the service are madesubordinate. This is less than ideal,

because in optimal service delivery,

not only is the customer satised,

but also the service desk employee.

Investments 

Investments in employees are

therefore necessary, and should

balance the investments in new

technology and extensive process

reorganization. When a service

management application is pur-

chased, service desk employees

need to be trained in operating

it; when company processes are

reorganized, it is useful when

everyone knows which procedures

now apply. Investing in people is

the only way to ensure that the

changes that have been implemen-

ted within an organization will be

successful and sustainable.

In practice however, these invest-

ments are hardly ever made. That

is remarkable, especially when you

take into account that an organi-

zation’s staff represents its mostsubstantial overhead cost and

therefore requires large invest-

ments. So why is it more attractive

to invest in technology rather than

in people?

Measurable 

The problem with investing in

people is that it is hard to measure

the results it yields. When an

organization for example decides

to train its employees, a problemarises. How much knowledge do

the service desk employees need to

have in order to function properly

in the new organizational struc-

ture? How much time and money

has to be spent on training them?

In other instances, such a question

can be answered by a cost-benet

analysis; as long as the benets

exceed the costs, investments

are justied. But how does one

measure whether the services have

improved? There is no objective

way to measure the quality of such

services, which makes it hard to

account for such investments.

Investing in knowledge 

In determining to what extent

training service desk employees is

of additional value for your services,

hard gures do not sufce. But in

order to make such a decision, you

do not need hard gures, argues

Kristelijn: “The decision whether

to hire external expertise, for

example, does not have to be based

on an extensive Excel spreadsheet

of costs and benets. Some roughestimation works ne – just make

some notes on a napkin. In most

cases that will be enough. Beware

of going to extremes though;

organizations often call in either

not enough external expertise (the

service desk employees study the

theory themselves), or too much

external expertise (they follow an

“In optimal service delivery, not only is

the customer satisfed, but also the 

service desk employee.”

the people as an obstacle that

should be overcome. One example

of such a negative approach isgiven by Brian Johnson, one of the

original authors of the rst ITIL

books. In a column on the service

management website SearchCIO.

com, Johnson states that people,

as well as processes and tech-

nology, are an important factor

in ITIL. If an employee has had a

negative past experience with an

ITIL implementation, it is likely that

he or she will be sceptical towards

another implementation. That is

why, Johnson argues, the employ-

ees need to understand the use of 

ITIL. However, the way that Johnson

approaches the people within

an organization could be ques-

tioned. He regards the service desk

employees as passive factors that

need to be convinced of the need

for a new process model – and if 

they will not accept it, they must be

forced to do so: “Ultimately, each

team member has three choices:

lead, follow, or get out of the way.”

When an organization wishes to

foster support for a new initiative,such an imperative approach may

not be the best way to accomplish

this. Providing insight into the

processes (within the organiza-

tion) can indeed help employees

to warm towards the model that is

to be introduced, but in Johnson’s

case the goal of the organization

– improving the services that are

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extensive training programme).

Both approaches are inefcient

in the end; the rst approach canlead to incapable employees, the

latter to unnecessary expenses.

The solution lies somewhere in

between. Try to organize the trai-

ning programme on a step by step

basis. The service desk employees

study some theory, follow a course

for a few days, and then evalu-

ate whether they have sufcient

knowledge to get started with the

new tasks. If not, they participate

in a few more training days. It is

important to deal with the need

for training in a pragmatic manner.

This way you invest in knowledge

more conscientiously.”

Pragmatic 

Although the quality of a service is

hard to measure, an organization

still has to nd a way to ensure the

quality of the service. Don’t they

have anything to go by, then? They

do. When hard gures and tightly

dened targets no longer sufce,a pragmatic approach might bring

relief. Peter Wheatcroft, author

of World Class IT Service Delivery,

suggests that organizations should

focus more on guidelines, instead

of gures. As a benchmark for

good service delivery, Wheatcroft

mentions the IT Supplier Code of 

Best Practice. This is a document

containing practical guidelines that

has been composed by Intellect,

the trade organization for, amongstothers, IT organizations in the UK.

The aim of this document is to rea-

lize a more successful and mature

service delivery. It deals with the

soft factors of service delivery; an

open and forthright relationship

with the customers, understanding

their wishes, a transparent process

and constructive contribution to

the process are all factors that they

feel contribute to an improved

service.

Transparency 

Transparency in all activities can

not only ensure a better relation-

ship with the customer, but can

also help to improve a change pro-

cess within an organization. When

service desk employees are actively

involved in a change process, the

feeling that they are forced into

something is taken away. When a

tool is purchased, argues Adrian

Palmer-Geaves, have the service

desk employees try out the applica-

tion rst, before it is implemented.

This way they experience what the

new system can and cannot do,

which might take away any con-

cerns that they may have.

Kristelijn also thinks that transpa-

rency can generate more support

within an organization: “Both

management and the employees

benet from transparency in com-munication. It is important that

both the goals of the organization

and of the individual employees are

made known. In a change process,

these goals can be attuned to each

other. An example: the system

manager opposes the service

management application that is

being introduced, because he does

not see the use of registration. He

or she can then be retrained to

learn something he does not like todo, but it is also possible to adjust

his job responsibilities so that he

can spend less time on registration.

Such a solution can only come

about when the goals of both the

system manager and management

are made known.”

People 

As the eld of service management

grows more complex, a pragmaticapproach seems to offer an ideal

outcome. Extensively described

processes and advanced software

can certainly help to improve the

service delivery, as long as these

serve to support the people that

have to use them. The more the

service desk employees are involved

in the introduction of a new appli-

cation or process organization, the

more likely it is that the implemen-

tation will be a success. After all, as

Wheatcroft states, these are only a

“prerequisite for building a service

proposition but they do not of 

themselves deliver the goods – this

is what we employ people for.”

SOURCES• BRIAN JOHNSON, “ITIL PROCESS SUCCESS:

GET PEOPLE ON YOUR SIDE”, SEARCHCIO.

COM, APRIL 2007 

• PETER WHEATCROFT, “GOOD SERVICE

REQUIRES MORE THAN ITIL VERSION 3”, BSC

AUGUST 2007

• “PERSONAL FOCUS”, SERVICETALK, JULY 200