IT Operating Model
DEVELOP BUSINESS AND PROCESSES WITH IT
Demand
Demand Service Integration
Budgets
Policies
Structures
Targets
KPIs
Concept development
Process development
Master data management
Release management
Solution management
Key user support
Program Management
Infrastructure Management
Portfolio management
Project and solution planning
Solution development
Roll-out and value realization
Service Development
Business engagement
Sourcing & vendor portfolio
Continuity management
Service harmonization
Platform management
Capacity management
Workplace management
Lifecycle management
Service Support
SPOC / Service Desk
On-site support
Training & informing
Self-help / automation
Supply Service Integration
Catalog
Service portal
Services
Roadmaps
Governance
Architecture
Application Management
Development
Strategy
Capability Development
Service requests
Workstation + apps
Access rights
Guidelines
SLA
Supply
DELIVER RELIABLE AND COST EFFICIENT IT SERVICES
usiness is constantly developing and
restructuring its operations in order to
ensure and maintain profitability and to
gain a competitive edge. To adequately
respond to the needs of the business, in a timely
manner, IT operations need to be aligned with the
business and feature great operational agility.
Therefore, a well-defined and easy-to-understand IT
Operating Model is of the essence.
Demand-Supply Principle
IT operations strive towards a single goal: to fulfill
business needs by delivering reliable and cost
efficient IT services. The fundamentals of the IT
Operating Model support this goal:
-
Manage demand to guide the IT operations
on the basis of business requirements
(Governance)
Develop
business-aligned
solutions
according to the governance model (Development)
Provide the developed solutions to the
business as fully functional services that are
continuously improved (Services).
The principle is clear enough but to deploy it in
practice may present challenges:
Absence of shared areas of interest as
various businesses have conflicting or very
business-specific needs
Long lead times from business needs to
new solutions and services due to
organizational inertia and churn, legacy
systems, rigid structures, and outstanding
commitments
Missing synergies and responsibilities
due to too many counterparts.
The IT Operating Model introduced in this document
was developed to mitigate the impact of and to
overcome these challenges.
IT Operating Model with Four Domains
The IT Operating Model is divided into four domains,
each individually targeting excellence in the
performance area indicated:
-
Governance provides the guidance (run by
CIO Office).
Solution Development creates the
solutions for the business (run by Project
Management Office/PMO or Development
Management Office/DMO).
Service Delivery manages, provides and
runs services for businesses and their users.
(run by Service Management Office/SMO)
Service Integration manages and executes
demand and supply integration and, also,
aligns the service providers service-related
KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) with the
needs of the business (run by Service
Management Office/SMO). In a contemporary IT operating model, service
integration may be purchased from a
separate service integrator, who is held
accountable for materializing business KPIs
and for the fine-tuning of the services
ecosystem.
indirect additional costs to the business in a matter
of just days, even hours. Therefore, service
continuity and quality of operations rank highest on
the list of important topics within IT. Opportunity
for cost advantage and risk mitigation drive towards
consolidating services to a few key service providers
only. Sourcing should be based on long-term
agreements, as transitions to a new service provider
are very costly and projected cost reductions over
time only require continuity.
Service Integration (I, color: orange)
The characteristics of Governance, Solution
Development, and Service Delivery (S) vary from
one another. Governance (G) initiates long-term
development projects and short-term requests for
services. Solution Development (D) focuses on
solutions aligned with both the present and the
future, and Service Delivery (S) concentrates on full
24/7 operational availability with short response
times. Service Integration (I) encircles the other
domains. It ensures that the demands and priorities
coming from both the Governance and the business,
are accurately interpreted into fully functional
services.
Picture 1. Four Domains of IT Operating Model
Speed and Agility with Service Integration
Governance (G, color: purple)
Governance aligns IT with the business and is
managed by the CIO Office and/or Solutions Unit in
the IT organization. Regardless of a companys IT
operating model, outsourced or not, IT governance
is the core - it stays with the company. Adequate IT
governance practices are defined in the guidebook
ICT Standard for Management. Governance
provides the guidelines for all the other domains.
Solution Development (D, color: green)
Service Integration determines how the various
functions in the IT Operating Model operate and
communicate with each other. While it does not
participate in the actual execution of the operations,
this function coordinates the related activities and
ensures full end-to-end visibility. Thus, Service
Integration is an integral part of the IT demandsupply principle. With this wider definition, Service
Integration provides a better opportunity for service
consolidation, automation, and harmonization. This,
in turn, results in dramatically increased service
quality and in substantially lower costs.
Supply Service Integration
Sourcing and
Service Relationship
Management
ITSM System
Service Catalogue
Solution Development is focused on delivering
competitive advantage to the business. Developing
cutting-edge concepts, processes, and
Demand Service Integration
solutions calls for competence and will
power. Today, such development
requires both internal and external
resources. Sourcing, therefore, needs to
be demand-driven and is preferably
based on a best-of-breed strategy.
Service Delivery (S, color: blue)
Service Delivery consumes 60-80% of the
IT budget. Not working properly, Service
Delivery may cause millions of Euros in
Business
Capability
Development
Tier 1
Tier 2
Service
Delivery
Management
Service
Development
Service Integration
Management
Picture 2. Scope of Service Integration
