SERVICE STRATEGY

The Service Strategy publication provides guidance on how to design, develop
and implement Service Management, not only as an organizational capability but
also as a strategic asset. Guidance is provided on the principles underpinning
the practice of Service Management, which are useful for developing Service
Management policies, guidelines and processes across the ITIL Service
Lifecycle. Service Strategy guidance is useful in the context of Service Design,
Service Transition, Service Operation, and Continual Service Improvement.
Topics covered in Service Strategy include the development of markets – internal
and external, service assets, Service Catalogue, and implementation of strategy
through the Service Lifecycle. Financial Management, Service Portfolio
Management, Organizational Development and Strategic Risks are among other
major topics.
Organizations use the guidance to set objectives and expectations of
performance towards serving customers and market spaces, and to identify,
select and prioritize opportunities. Service Strategy is about ensuring that
organizations are in a position to handle the costs and risks associated with their
Service Portfolios, and are set up not just for operational effectiveness but also
for distinctive performance. Decisions made with respect to Service Strategy
have far-reaching consequences, including those with delayed effect.
Organizations already practising ITIL use this volume to guide a strategic review
of their ITIL-based Service Management capabilities and to improve the
alignment between those capabilities and their business strategies. This volume
of ITIL encourages readers to stop and think about why something is to be done
before thinking of how. Answers to the first type of questions are closer to the
customer’s business. Service Strategy expands the scope of the ITIL Framework
beyond the traditional audience of IT Service Management professionals.

To operate and grow successfully in the long-term, service providers must have
the ability to think and act in a strategic manner. The purpose of this publication
is to help organizations develop such abilities. The achievement of strategic
goals or objectives requires the use of strategic assets. The guidance shows how
to transform service management into a strategic asset. Readers benefit from
seeing the relationships between various services, systems or processes they
manage and the business models, strategies or objectives they support. The
guidance answers questions of the following kind:
· What services should we offer and to whom?
· How do we differentiate ourselves from competing alternatives?
· How do we truly create value for our customers?
· How do we capture value for our stakeholders?
· How can we make a case for strategic investments?
· How can Financial Management provide visibility and control over value
creation?
· How should we define service quality?
· How do we choose between different paths for improving service quality?
· How do we efficiently allocate resources across a portfolio of services?
· How do we resolve conflicting demands for shared resources?
A multi-disciplinary approach is required to answer such questions. Technical
knowledge of IT is necessary but not sufficient. The guidance is pollinated with
knowledge from the disciplines such as operations management, marketing,
finance, information systems, organizational development, systems dynamics,
and industrial engineering. The result is a body of knowledge robust enough to
be effective across a wide range of business environments. Some organizations
are putting in place the foundational elements of service management. Others
are further up the adoption curve, ready to tackle challenges and opportunities
with higher levels of complexity and uncertainty.