New Outside-In Service Management Program Ensures Service Management Initiatives are Customer Releva

Jan. 25, 2010 - PRLog -- Stateline Nevada (January 17th, 2010) – Service Management 101 today announced the immediate availability of a comprehensive set of consulting and education services, including a public schedule of classes, designed to ensure the customer relevance and beneficial velocity of IT Service Management (ITSM) initiatives.

“The economic climate is exposing the ‘inside-out’ thinking of many IT Service Management (ITSM) projects. Traditionally they focus on process, technology, capability, or best practice, with the unfortunate result of a failure to think customer, and to associate their efforts with customer results and satisfaction levels. Those that do not recognize this and adjust in the short-term face the prospect of abandonment, and likely undermine support for future initiatives”, says Kenneth Gonzalez, Principal Consultant at Engaged Consulting.

“Outside-In thinking ensures the interest of the customer take precedent and the basis for all decision-making. It guarantees the service encounter, touch points, interactions and overall customer experience with products and services are respected and managed to properly produce successful customer outcomes. Outside-In thinking is a must do for any service management initiative”, Steve Towers, Process Evangelist, Business Coach and BPM Author, Tower Associates.

“ITSM initiatives require a considerable and visible up front, sustained investment.  They typically have an inherent internal bias, promising benefit in the form of improved internal practices, and assuming customers will understand the value of the planned improvements. The startling and inconvenient truth about many ITSM projects is - they fail the customer”, says Ian Clayton, Principal Service Management 101.

“The Outside-In Service Management™ program is designed to help by embedding customer first thinking within the service management system and service provider organization operations”.  Clayton concluded.

Why Outside-In Service Management?
The Outside-In Service Management™ (OI-SM) program insulates ITSM projects from the failings of ‘inside-out’ thinking by ensuring processes are improved, and best practices are ‘best’, because they deliver real and specific benefits directly to the customers of services.

The Outside-In Service Management™ program leverages the Universal Service Management Body of Knowledge (USMBOK) to introduce into traditional service management strategies many of the customer relevant concepts, artifacts, and methods missing from other commonly used frameworks and best practice references, including: service encounters, moments of truth, customer and service request pathways, customer advocacy, service customer management, vision and scope document, requirements catalog, service portals, service request catalogs, and service catalogs.

# # #

About Service Management 101
Service Management 101 provides consulting, education and web-based subscription services designed to assist service management professionals in the application of outside-in and lean thinking to design and operate an efficient, customer relevant service management system and service provider organization.