Service Catalogues

[BorisBear]

[Mark-OLoughlin]

[Diarmid]

[BorisBear]

Thanks guys....textbook replies but probably not what I was after....my fault.

I guess I'm more interested in hearing experiences of how people have gotten the business view of service and used it to shape/reshape their Service catalogues.

[Mark-OLoughlin]

Hi,

"how people have gotten the business view of service " - talk to the business and understand the business services from their view. This can be tough as they may not even see what they use as services.

If you have a grasp of the technology layer you should be able to ask the question - what does this technology provide to the business.

There are other methods that can be used ... is this scratching the surface?

[BorisBear]

Hi,

"how people have gotten the business view of service " - talk to the business and understand the business services from their view. This can be tough as they may not even see what they use as services.

If you have a grasp of the technology layer you should be able to ask the question - what does this technology provide to the business.

There are other methods that can be used ... is this scratching the surface?

Hi Mark - sounds like common sense but I'm interested in hearing the experiences of contributors to the forum.

[UKVIKING]

My 11 & 2/3 pence (inflation you know)

What is the objective of the Service Catelogue
Who is its audience
How will it be used

The second question is the main point

If the audience for the SC is the non technical customer (user community), then the level is detail is different that if the SC is to be used by the IT Department heads to determine resources, etc and OLA and how well or badly each department is or is not supporting the IT departments goals

[Diarmid]

sounds like common sense but I'm interested in hearing the experiences of contributors to the forum.

Boris,

you seem to display a fairly deep understanding of the subject. I can't see how accounts of other peoples experiences will help you further unless we go to the seminar level with case studies and discussion to follow.

My own experience was of an organization who hadn't a clue what a service catalogue was for and chucked it full of detailed claptrap that did not map any practical correlation between what the computers did and what services the customers received and the users experienced or how they were delivered, or how they were costed or charged for. but it ticked a box for someone.

I have a lost of "how not to" and "what not to"s as long as your arm, but not much else outside the realm of theory and good thinking.

However, if someone will help me find a job, I will be happy to relay any new and more positive experience I obtain.

[BorisBear]

sounds like common sense but I'm interested in hearing the experiences of contributors to the forum.

Boris,

you seem to display a fairly deep understanding of the subject. I can't see how accounts of other peoples experiences will help you further unless we go to the seminar level with case studies and discussion to follow.

My own experience was of an organization who hadn't a clue what a service catalogue was for and chucked it full of detailed claptrap that did not map any practical correlation between what the computers did and what services the customers received and the users experienced or how they were delivered, or how they were costed or charged for. but it ticked a box for someone.

I have a lost of "how not to" and "what not to"s as long as your arm, but not much else outside the realm of theory and good thinking.

However, if someone will help me find a job, I will be happy to relay any new and more positive experience I obtain.

Diarmid.....I guess I need some sparks to get the creative juices flowing.

I have been with my new company for 3 months now and met one of our Vice Presidents to get his feedback on service. His feedback was along the lines of "I work 24/7 for this company travelling to all corners of the earth and the IT department won't let me have iTunes or Skype on my laptop so I have to carry 2 laptops around with me - furthermore your service seems to be geared up to the large parts of the company that are mad up of call centre agents and any innovations seem to be there".

So while we hit our Incident Management and Availability Targets the things that are really important to him are not on our radar (for one reason and another). Now this is probably a really bad example but you get my drift....it wasn't about iTunes or Skype but more about the fact that we gear service towards call centre seats and have no offerings for peripatetic workers. Getting time with VPs and indeed with people who traverse the globe is difficult so how do we make sure that our idea of the value and shape of service is the same as our customers........I have my thoughts but I would be really interested to know the experiences that others have gone through.

BTW - if you're interested in working outside the metropolis that is Stoke On Trent I have a vacancy that I'm advertising for a Service Manager (permanent) in Cambridgeshire.......let me know if you are interested.

[BorisBear]

My 11 & 2/3 pence (inflation you know)

What is the objective of the Service Catelogue
Who is its audience
How will it be used

The second question is the main point

If the audience for the SC is the non technical customer (user community), then the level is detail is different that if the SC is to be used by the IT Department heads to determine resources, etc and OLA and how well or badly each department is or is not supporting the IT departments goals

John - thanks for your input........I guess I'm less interested in the structure, scope and pitch of the service catalogue and more interested in hearing how people on the forum have alligned their understanding of service (and the value placed on service) with their customers.

[Doober]

Question: Is this service catalog a document/contract or is it an interactive component of your ITSM tool?

[Ed]

Hi Doober

The hint is in the name - In simple terms a Service Catalog is essentially a list of all the Services that the IT department are prepared to 'sell' to it's customers, complete with detailed descriptions of said Services - Just like a mail order catalog