Service Management Best Practices

Overview

In most organizations, the word “service” is used to mean many different things simultaneously. A help desk ticket is a service. A software application is a service. A business process is a service. A team’s general availability to answer questions is described as a service. When everything is a service, nothing is a service in a meaningful, manageable sense. This definitional ambiguity is one of the most common root causes of poor service governance, inconsistent service delivery, and failed Service Catalog implementations.

Best Practice

Establish and publish a clear, organization-wide definition of what a service is, what it is not, and what distinguishes it from related concepts. A service is a defined capability or offering that an organization provides to a defined customer to help them accomplish a specific goal or outcome. A service has boundaries — it is not unlimited. It has a customer — it is not for everyone. It has an owner — it is not ownerless. It has a value proposition — it delivers something specific. If something does not meet all of these criteria, it is not a service in the governed sense and should not be listed in the Service Catalog.

Benefit(s)

A clear definition of service creates a foundation for everything else in Service Management. Governance becomes possible because there is a shared understanding of what is being governed. Ownership becomes meaningful because there is a shared understanding of what is being owned. The Service Catalog becomes trustworthy because only things that genuinely meet the definition of a service are listed in it. Definitional clarity is one of the highest-leverage investments an organization can make in its Service Management capability.