But how?
Explains Ken Turbitt:
"...there is a guidance to help you, something that has been around for over 20 years and been proven in the early '90s downturn. Yes, it's ITIL. ITIL is there to help you address all of the above. The central core, the driver of this is Business Service Management (BSM). BSM seeks to define IT resources in terms that not only make functional sense to the business, but which relate directly to business metrics and concepts. BSM needs to become the core of your business to enable that clear visibility into business performance and add competitive edge. Now more than at any time in the last 20years is the critical period to review your processes in line with ITIL to improve and automate, understand where you can remove costs without impacting your customers, and keep your business running. To succeed and survive you need to be flexible and respond quickly to the changing requirements and demands being made, and do this whilst protecting and enhancing the business, your products and services and your business processes."Read the rest of Turbitt's article: Where can I turn to in a Recession?
One of the biggest challenges I see in clients today realizing any value from BSM (whether they have bought in or are thinking about it) is that they're swimming in a sea of complexity and overhead with all of their existing IT management and monitoring tools.
The "do more with less" mantra is great, but only when the administrative burden and overhead is significantly reduced in the IT infrastructure, management and monitoring applications they currently have. Only then will the necessary efforts and investments in the foundations of BSM be possible.
If this hasn't been addressed, simplified and automated, most BSM strategies will fail to deliver expected value because those responsible for that same BSM strategy will be constantly distracted with the day to day noise of that complex IT environment.
If your environment is 20% automated, you'll have a 80% chance of failure/little value from your BSM initiative. If your environment is 80% automated, you'll have a 20% chance of failing to realize value from your BSM initiative. YMMV.
That $100 dollars remaining in your IT budget should be invested wisely in areas that can give you a different ROI than you may be thinking about! The ROI you seek is the capacity to do more with what you've got!
Doug
BSM/ITSM Blog: http://dougmcclure.net