Service Value System(ITIL 4)

Process Reference Framework:

ITIL 4

Service Value System (SVS)

The ITIL SVS describes the inputs to this system (opportunity and demand), the elements of this system (organizational governance, service management, continual improvement, and the organization’s capabilities and resources), and the outputs (achievement of organizational objectives and value for the organization, its customers, and other stakeholders).

The key inputs to the SVS are opportunity and demand. Opportunities represent options or possibilities to add value for stakeholders or otherwise improve the organization. Demand is the need or desire for products and services among internal and external consumers. The outcome of the SVS is value, that is, the perceived benefits, usefulness, and importance of something. The ITIL SVS can enable the creation of many different types of value for a wide group of stakeholders.

The ITIL SVS includes the following components:

• Guiding principles Recommendations that can guide an organization in all circumstances, regardless of changes in its goals, strategies, type of work, or management structure.
• Governance The means by which an organization is directed and controlled.
• Service value chain A set of interconnected activities that an organization performs to deliver a valuable product or service to its consumers and to facilitate value realization.
• Practices Sets of organizational resources designed for performing work or accomplishing an objective.
• Continual improvement A recurring organizational activity performed at all levels to ensure that an organization’s performance continually meets stakeholders’ expectations. ITIL 4 supports continual improvement with the ITIL continual improvement model.

Opportunity, Value and Demand

Opportunity represents options or possibilities to add value for stakeholders or otherwise improve the organization. There may not be demand for these opportunities yet, but they can still trigger work within the system. Organizations should prioritize new or changed services with opportunities for improvement to ensure their resources are correctly allocated.

Demand represents the need or desire for products and services from internal and external customers

Value is the perceived benefits, usefulness, and importance of something. The purpose of an organization is to create value for stakeholders.

ITIL Guiding principles

The guiding principles are:

1. Focus on value
2. Start where you are
3. Progress iteratively with feedback
4. Collaborate and promote visibility
5. Think and work holistically
6. Keep it simple and practical
7. Optimize and automate

Governance:

Every organization is directed by a governing body, i.e. a person or group of people who are accountable at the highest level for the performance and compliance of the organization. All sizes and types of organization perform governance activities; the governing body may be a board of directors or executive managers who take on a separate governance role when they are performing governance activities. The governing body is accountable for the organization’s compliance with policies and any external regulations.

Organizational governance is a system by which an organization is directed and controlled. Governance is realized through the following activities:

• Evaluate The evaluation of the organization, its strategy, portfolios, and relationships with other parties. The governing body evaluates the organization on a regular basis as stakeholders’ needs and external circumstances evolve.
• Direct The governing body assigns responsibility for, and directs the preparation and implementation of, organizational strategy and policies. Strategies set the direction and prioritization for organizational activity, future investment, etc. Policies establish the requirements for behaviour across the organization and, where relevant, suppliers, partners, and other stakeholders.
• Monitor The governing body monitors the performance of the organization and its practices, products, and services. The purpose of this is to ensure that performance is in accordance with policies and direction.

The role and position of governance in the ITIL SVS depends on how the SVS is applied in an organization. The SVS is a universal model that can be applied to an organization as a whole, or to one or more of its units or products. In the latter case, some organizations delegate authority to perform governance activities at different levels. The governing body of the organization should retain oversight of this to ensure alignment with the objectives and priorities of the organization.

In ITIL 4, the guiding principles and continual improvement apply to all components of the SVS, including governance. In an organization, the governing body can adopt the ITIL guiding principles and adapt them, or define its own specific set of principles and communicate them across the organization. The governing body should also have visibility of the outcomes of continual improvement activities and the measurement of value for the organization and its stakeholders.

Service Value Chain:

The central element of the SVS is the service value chain, an operating model which outlines the key activities required to respond to demand and facilitate value realization through the creation and management of products and services.

The six value chain activities are:

• plan
• improve
• engage
• design and transition
• obtain/build
• deliver and support.

These activities represent the steps an organization takes in the creation of value. Each activity transforms inputs into outputs. These inputs can be demand from outside the value chain or outputs of other activities. All the activities are interconnected, with each activity receiving and providing triggers for further action.

Regardless of which practices are deployed, there are some common rules when using the service value chain:

• All incoming and outgoing interactions with parties external to the value chain are performed via engage
• All new resources are obtained through obtain/build
• Planning at all levels is performed via plan
• Improvements at all levels are initiated and managed via improve.

To carry out a certain task or respond to a particular situation, organizations create service value streams. These are specific combinations of activities and practices, and each one is designed for a particular scenario. Once designed, value streams should be subject to continual improvement.

Plan  activity:

The purpose of the plan value chain activity is to ensure a shared understanding of the vision, current status, and improvement direction for all four dimensions and all products and services across the organization.

The key inputs to this activity are:

• policies, requirements, and constraints provided by the organization’s governing body
• consolidated demands and opportunities provided by engage
• value chain performance information, improvement status reports, and improvement initiatives from improve
• knowledge and information about new and changed products and services from design and transition, and obtain/build
• knowledge and information about third-party service components from engage.

The key outputs of this activity are:

• strategic, tactical, and operational plans
• portfolio decisions for design and transition
• architectures and policies for design and transition
• improvement opportunities for improve
• a product and service portfolio for engage
• contract and agreement requirements for engage.

Improve activity:

The purpose of the improve value chain activity is to ensure continual improvement of products, services, and practices across all value chain activities and the four dimensions of service management.

The key inputs to this value chain activity are:

• product and service performance information provided by deliver and support
• stakeholders’ feedback provided by engage
• performance information and improvement opportunities provided by all value chain activities
• knowledge and information about new and changed products and services from design and transition, and obtain/build
• knowledge and information about third-party service components from engage.

The key outputs of this value chain activity are:

• improvement initiatives for all value chain activities
• value chain performance information for plan and the governing body
• improvement status reports for all value chain activities
• contract and agreement requirements for engage
• service performance information for design and transition.

Engage activity:

The purpose of the engage value chain activity is to provide a good understanding of stakeholder needs, transparency, and continual engagement and good relationships with all stakeholders.

The key inputs to this value chain activity are:

• a product and service portfolio provided by plan
• high-level demand for services and products provided by internal and external customers
• detailed requirements for services and products provided by customers
• requests and feedback from customers
• incidents, service requests, and feedback from users
• information on the completion of user support tasks from deliver and support
• marketing opportunities from current and potential customers and users
• cooperation opportunities and feedback provided by partners and suppliers
• contract and agreement requirements from all value chain activities
• knowledge and information about new and changed products and services from design and transition, and obtain/build
• knowledge and information about third-party service components from suppliers and partners
• product and service performance information from deliver and support
• improvement initiatives from improve
• improvement status reports from improve.

The key outputs of this value chain activity are:

• consolidated demands and opportunities for plan
• product and service requirements for design and transition
• user support tasks for deliver and support
• improvement opportunities and stakeholders’ feedback for improve
• change or project initiation requests for obtain/build
• contracts and agreements with external and internal suppliers and partners for design and transition, and obtain/build
• knowledge and information about third-party service components for all value chain activities
• service performance reports for customers

Design and Transition activity

The purpose of the design and transition value chain activity is to ensure that products and services continually meet stakeholder expectations for quality, costs, and time to market.

The key inputs to this activity are:

• portfolio decisions provided by plan
• architectures and policies provided by plan
• product and service requirements provided by engage
• improvement initiatives provided by improve
• improvement status reports from improve
• service performance information provided by deliver and support, and improve
• service components from obtain/build
• knowledge and information about third-party service components from engage
• knowledge and information about new and changed products and services from obtain/build
• contracts and agreements with external and internal suppliers and partners provided by engage.

The key outputs of this activity are:

• requirements and specifications for obtain/build
• contract and agreement requirements for engage
• new and changed products and services for deliver and support
• knowledge and information about new and changed products and services to all value chain activities
• performance information and improvement opportunities for improve.

Obtain/build activity

The key inputs to this activity are:

• architectures and policies provided by plan
• contracts and agreements with external and internal suppliers and partners provided by engage
• goods and services provided by external and internal suppliers and partners
• requirements and specifications provided by design and transition
• improvement initiatives provided by improve
• improvement status reports from improve
• change or project initiation requests provided by engage
• change requests provided by deliver and support
• knowledge and information about new and changed products and services from design and transition
• knowledge and information about third-party service components from engage.

The key outputs of this activity are:

• service components for deliver and support
• service components for design and transition
• knowledge and information about new and changed service components to all value chain activities
• contract and agreement requirements for engage
• performance information and improvement opportunities for improve.

Deliver and support activity

The key inputs to this activity are:

• new and changed products and services provided by design and transition
• service components provided by obtain/build
• improvement initiatives provided by improve
• improvement status reports from improve
• user support tasks provided by engage
• knowledge and information about new and changed service components and services from design and transition, and obtain/build
• knowledge and information about third-party service components from engage.

The key outputs of this activity are:

• services delivered to customers and users
• information on the completion of user support tasks for engage
• product and service performance information for engage and improve
• improvement opportunities for improve
• contract and agreement requirements for engage
• change requests for obtain/build
• service performance information for design and transition.

Further details on the service value chain activities can be found in other ITIL 4 publications and supplementary materials.

Continual Improvement

Continual improvement takes place in all areas of the organization and at all levels, from strategic to operational. To maximize the effectiveness of services, each person who contributes to the provision of a service should keep continual improvement in mind, and should always be looking for opportunities to improve.

The continual improvement model applies to the SVS in its entirety, as well as to all of the organization’s products, services, service components, and relationships. To support continual improvement at all levels, the ITIL SVS includes:

• the ITIL continual improvement model, which provides organizations with a structured approach to implementing improvements
• the improve service value chain activity, which embeds continual improvement into the value chain
• the continual improvement practice, supporting organizations in their day-to-day improvement efforts.

The ITIL continual improvement model can be used as a high-level guide to support improvement initiatives. Use of the model increases the likelihood that ITSM initiatives will be successful, puts a strong focus on customer value, and ensures that improvement efforts can be linked back to the organization’s vision. The model supports an iterative approach to improvement, dividing work into manageable pieces with separate goals that can be achieved incrementally.

The improvement model has the following steps:

• What is the vision?
• Where are we now?
• Where do we want to be?
• How do we get there?
• Take action
• Did we get there?
• How do we keep the momentum going?