KEY ACTIVITIES Service catalogue design
KEY ACTIVITIES Service catalogue design
The service catalogue, a key part of the service portfolio, is a central source of information about the services delivered or about to be delivered by the IT service provider.
The service catalogue is a subset of the service portfolio, the contents of which are described in Chapter 10. However, because it is customer facing, the service catalogue must include information that is important and of direct interest to the customer. This will include information such as:
• details of service and product offerings; • availability;
IT SERVICE MANAGEMENT
• support services; • support arrangements; • key policies; • terms and conditions; • service level agreements; • charges and prices; • ordering and cancellation; • key future plans (e.g. where there are existing plans to phase out, replace or
change a service). The service catalogue as a whole serves two purposes. First, it provides informa-
tion on services to the customers of the IT service provider in a way that enables the customer to understand and make decisions about the services it uses or might wish to use. Second, it is a primary source of information for the IT service provider on the services it offers to its customers.
In many organisations, this dual purpose is reflected in the structure of the service catalogue, which is divided into two main parts: a business service catalogue, which describes services in terms that are helpful and useful to the busi- ness, and a technical service catalogue, which describes services in terms that are useful and helpful to the IT side.
Leading practice is for the source information about customer services, support- ing services and the relationships to business processes and IT components to
be held in a single location as part of the configuration management system. The service catalogue can then be presented to readers in one of a number of ‘views’ according to their perspective. Two such views are usually referred to as the ‘business’ or ‘customer’ service catalogue view and the ‘technical’ or ‘support- ing’ service catalogue view. For the remainder of this chapter, these two views will be referred to as the ‘business service catalogue’ and the ‘technical service catalogue’.
The business service catalogue As a primary vehicle for communications between the IT service provider and its customers, the business service catalogue should be as easy to use as any good mail order catalogue. The business service catalogue will serve its purpose best if it meets its users’ requirements, and this means engaging with the user community in requirement gathering and design. If the business service catalogue does meet the customers’ needs, they will be unlikely to use it. Among other things, it is important that there is a common understanding of what the word ‘service’ means.
What is often a source of confusion is that what the customer sees as a single ser- vice is most likely to be seen by the IT service provider as a mix of services, with a core service underpinned by supporting services (see Figure 12.1).
SERVICE CATALOGUE MANAGEMENT
Figure 12.1 The difference between core and enhancing or supporting services (Source: The Cabinet Office ITIL Service Design ISBN 978-0-113313-05-1)
Business process 1
Business process 3 Customer i
Business process 2
Customer iv The service catalogue
Customer ii
Customer iii
Service D (core service)
Service A
Service B
Service C
(core service) Customer-
(enhancing service)
(core service)
facing services
Service d Service e Supporting services
Service a
Service b
Service c