to enable IT service providers to assess their capabilities with respect to the delivery of IT services, and,
to provide IT service providers with directions and steps for further improvement of their service capability.
The IT Service CMM aims to fulfill these goals by measuring the capability of the IT service processes of organizations on a five level ordinal scale. Each level prescribes certain key processes that have to be in place before an organization resides on that level. Key processes implement a set of related activities that, when performed collectively, achieve a set of goals considered important for enhancing service process capability. Hence, organizations can improve their service capability by implementing these key processes.
We measure the service process maturity of organizations on a five level ordinal scale. The first - initial - level has no associated key process areas. This is the level where all IT service organizations reside that have not implemented the level two key process areas. Level two is the repeatable level. Organizations that have reached level two will be able to repeat earlier successes in similar circumstances. Thus the emphasis of level two is on getting the IT services right for one customer. On level three, the defined level, the service organization has defined its processes and is using tailored versions of these standard processes to deliver the services. By using common organization-wide standard processes, the process capability to deliver services consistently is improved. At level four, the managed level, organizations gain quantitative insight into their service processes and service quality. By using measurements and an organization-wide measurement database organizations are able to set and achieve quantitative quality goals. Finally, at level five, the optimizing level, the entire organization is focused on continuous process and service improvement. Using the quantitative measurements the organization prevents problems from recurring by changing the processes. The organization is able to introduce new technologies and services into the organization in an orderly manner.
The table below gives an overview of the key process areas. The key process areas are grouped into three process categories: management, enabling and delivery. The first group is concerned with the management of services. The second category deals with enabling the delivery process by means of support processes and standardization of processes. The third category consists of the processes that result in the consistent, efficient delivery of services according to the appropriate quality levels.
Management
Enabling
Delivery
Optimizing
Technology Change Management
Process Change Management
Problem Prevention
Managed
Quantitative Process Management
Service Quality Management
Financial Service Management
Defined
Integrated Service Management
Organization Process Focus
Service Delivery
Organization Service Definition
Organization Process Definition
Training Program
Intergroup Coordination
Resource Management
Problem Management
Repeatable
Service Commitment Management
Configuration Management
Service Delivery Planning
Service Request and Incident Management
Service Tracking and Oversight
Service Quality Assurance
Subcontract Management
Initial
Ad hoc processes
How can the IT Service CMM be used?
As the IT Service CMM has two main goals, there are two main ways in which the model can be applied: as a guide for the implementation of IT service processes and as a means to assess the current state of the IT service organization. In the latter case, a process assessment is done to investigate the current state of affairs and to generate improvement actions.
Preparation: during the preparation phase a sponsor is appointed, budgets are set, the assessment team is established and the assessment participants are determined.
Execution: during the execution phase the following activities are performed:
kick-off meeting with all employees present
assessment participants fill in questionnaires
questionnaires are analysed by the assessment team
assessment participants are interviewed by the assessment team
based on the questionnaires and interviews, a preliminary list of strong and weak points of the organization is made
during several key process area discussions, the strong and weak points are discussed, (directions for) solutions are determined and action items are defined
this phase is ended with a feedback meeting, again with all employees present, to report on the results of the assessment
This phase takes one to two weeks, depending on the size of the organization.
Aftercare: after the assessment a written report is delivered to the sponsor, and the assessment team is debriefed. The sponsor is responsible for monitoring the implementation of the improvement actions.