How to improve your IT. Part 4 - Four things that contribute to most IT problems
IT Problems
A series of posts on how to improve the performance of your IT
There are four problem areas common to virtually every IT department that contribute to most IT problems, the areas are:
1. Workload Management.
2. The Service Desk.
3. Process and Intranet.
4. Managed Services.
Performance Housekeeping (see previous post) identifies and addresses the underlying issues in each of these areas improving performance across all IT teams. This post is a summary of the four areas, the usual issues they each suffer from and the usual outcomes when the issues are resolved. Future posts will address each of the four areas and provide a detailed Assessment sheet that you can use to identify if you have any of the usual problems along with a sample Actions list on how to resolve them.
1. Workload Management
Workload Management is the process that controls the management of IT work (excluding projects) across all IT teams. It is managed using the Service Desk application and consists of Gating, Work Management, Work Classifications and Management Reporting. A good Workload Management process makes all work visible, accounted for, prioritised, costed and reported on. Two of its key outcomes are that it stops work coming in through back door networks and it provides the Resource Management function with a sound and complete information base making it more accurate. (This really helps given Resource Management is at best – difficult.)
Control of a work approval gate, work classifications, allocation of work requests to Level 2 support work queues, work tracking, IT Team performance monitoring and performance reporting are all the responsibility of the Service Desk. IT teams should receive incoming work only via the Service Desk work queues to which they then apply their own Work Management procedures. All other work falls under projects and is handled separately.
Usual problems
Lack of an end-to-end Workload Management process.
Incorrect cost centre allocation.
Increased costs.
Poor inter-team integration.
A build-up of Installation, Production Support and Maintenance backlogs. (Desktop, Server, Network).
Service Delivery times are adversely affected.
Customer satisfaction and staff morale are lower.
Usual outcomes
End-to-end Workload Management process.
Reduced costs.
Reduced Installation, Production Support and Maintenance backlogs.
Faster Service Delivery and Technical Support turnaround times.
Higher customer and staff satisfaction levels.
Better inter-team integration.
All work is visible and accounted for.
Gating
Gating is the process of registering and accepting work into IT. An essential element of the Gating process is the mandatory rule that ‘all work is registered (with the Service Desk) before work can commence. The benefits of this are it stops work coming in through the back door network, it stops the business bypassing priority setting rules, all work is made visible and is accounted for, work is not lost, all work is trackable, and all work is charged to the correct cost centres. Gating supports good Resource Management and helps to identify resource savings; it also facilitates accurate management reporting. Gating also improves staff morale by helping to bring order to areas that are often chaotic, have high rates of rework and are subject to backlogs.
Usual problems
Gating rule is unenforced.
All work is not visible or accounted for.
Incorrect cost centre allocation.
Use of redundant and overlapping Work Classifications.
Poor Resource Management
Usual outcomes
All work is registered.
Essential information like cost centre, work classification and priority are captured.
Standardised work classifications are in use.
Overlapping work classifications are removed.
Accurate performance reporting.
Work Management
Work Management is the process of efficiently assigning work to resources, completing and tracking the work through to completion and advising the Service Desk when work is complete. The Work Management objectives are to ensure there are no work request backlogs, that work turnaround times are being met (e.g., OLAs and SLAs) and that customer satisfaction levels are not compromised. Having enough skilled resources available helps achieve work completion times. Resource shortfalls cause work queues to become backed up with old, dead and outstanding work requests that then result in poor service delivery and lower customer satisfaction levels. Priority 1 and 2 work requests tend to get resolved, but priority 3’s do not, they become buried in backlogs. Priority 3 work requests by their nature often contain issues to do with business functionality, more so than systems issues. This in turn affects the businesses’ ability to be efficient and provide their own high levels of customer service.
Usual problems
Priority 3 work request queues often contain hundreds or even thousands of requests (the largest I have seen is 8000) which are impossible to manage and are demoralising for the staff. Failing to address priority 3 work requests has a flow-on effect on Maintenance and Production Support where increased resource usage occurs to band-aide problems and fix recurring problems. Work Management is also concerned with the identification and resolution of recurring problems which on their own can account for up to 30% of total resource usage and major irritation to customers.
Incorrect Work Management procedures are leading to high levels of Desktop, Server and Network installation failures and the need for rework.
Usual outcomes
Reduction of backlogs, resolution of Priority 3’s.
Resolution of recurring problems.
OLAs, SLAs and other metrics are met.
Reduced incidence of technical rework.
Lower technical support costs.
Technical teams are more proactive than reactive.
Fewer unplanned outage windows.
Work Classifications
Work Classifications are used by the Service Desk to classify and prioritise all work as it is registered. They are then used by the different IT teams to manage incoming work according to its work queue and priority. Common work classifications across all IT teams are the preferred standard, however, given that the resolution times for Infrastructure and Applications Development work requests can vary significantly, different classifications may exist in this regard, otherwise, one scheme should apply to everyone.
Usual problems
Work Classifications are not standardized.
Overlapping and redundant Work Classifications in use.
Too many work queues.
Usual outcomes
One Work Classification scheme.
No overlapping and redundant Work Classifications in use.
A minimal number of work queues in use.
Management Reporting (metrics)
Performance Management reports that focus on Work Management efficiency. Predefined performance metrics use work queue data to track team efficiencies. Metrics include such things as Completion Times (Actual), Turnaround times (Duration), Queue sizes (Backlogs) and Inter- team transfers (Hold-ups).
Usual problems
No performance reporting.
Meaningless metrics.
Reporting is not used as a management tool.
Usual outcomes
Meaningful metrics.
Reporting used as a management tool.
2. Service Desk
Service Desk maxim: You can’t manage what you can’t measure.
The Service Desk is probably the most important of all IT functions the value of which is often not understood, it has the capability to see every activity right across IT (excluding projects.) When properly established, it becomes the IT departments Workload Management monitor and the IT Management Teams personal CIA. A poorly managed and/or established Service Desk leads to all manner of customer service problems. It must be remembered that for 90% of customers there contact point with IT is the Service Desk, its efficiency is how they rate IT. For IT, it is the window into the customers IT experience in terms of the number and nature of problems being reported. A well-managed Service Desk should be able to tell you at any time what the top 10 problems are and what the top 10 recurring problems are, yet 90% of Service Desks fail this test which is an indicator that the Service Desk is being administrated as against managed. I only ever gave my Service Desk managers one KPI, which was to work towards making the Service Desk redundant. A good Service Desk manager can identify where each IT team is failing to meet performance objectives and where problems are coming from, the Service Desk Manager can then work with the IT teams to improve their quality and efficiency.
Usual problems
Lack of an end-to-end Workload Management process.
Cannot see a view of all work
Workload not subject to performance metrics.
Unenforced Gating rule.
Work request backlogs.
Too many work queues.
Poor work completion follow-up.
Not managing top 10 problem types and top 10 recurring problems.
Poor database design.
Usual outcomes
End-to-end Workload Management process in place.
Gating is enforced.
Macro view of all work with performance metrics in place.
Accurate job cost allocation.
Better customer service and satisfaction levels.
Better staff job satisfaction levels.
3. Process and Intranet
Process maxim: If it’s not written down, it doesn’t exist.
Intranet maxim: The single source of truth.
Process
IT lends itself perfectly to the high use of process due to the repetitive nature of IT work. Process brings consistency, increased quality, cost-effectiveness, reduced task and project timeframes and fewer errors. It also locks down the operational environment and reduces the number of operational resources required (by reducing the incidence of rework). It provides repeatable consistent outcomes, reduces the incidence of failures and need for rework which reduces costs. Process is necessary because it describes how things are done and then provides the focus for making them better. Process (and other working documents) need to be based on a common template to aid learning and usability.
Usual problems
Multiple templates in use.
Broken or incomplete processes in use.
Poor staff training.
No Document Management System.
Work standards and compliance requirements not being met.
Increased risk.
Low staff satisfaction levels.
Inconsistent work quality.
Decreased productivity.
Usual outcomes
Introduction of due process.
Reduced costs resulting from reduced failures and incidence of rework.
All work is process-driven.
Higher levels of staff satisfaction.
Consistent work quality.
Process training for staff.
Intranet
It is not possible to have a high-performing IT department without a fully functioning and managed Intranet. As with process, it is an essential requirement that acts as the IT single source of truth. Most Intranets fall into disrepair, they become full of outdated processes and other working documents and often have an unfriendly user interface. For example, for process to work well it must be quick and easy to find, be based on a common template, be baselined and be the only version available.
Usual problems
Multiple sources of documentation.
Multiple versions of documentation.
Lack of a full-time Intranet appointed owner.
Lack of a Document Management System.
Redundant process, how-to guidelines and other documentation in use.
Usual outcomes
Single source of all documentation.
Process and how-to guidelines are single versions baselined.
An Intranet owner.
Introduction of a Document Management System.
4. Managed Services
Outsourcer maxim: We do your mess for less.
Managed Services providers unless carefully managed will take the upper hand largely ignoring the Contract Schedules and managing the contract exclusively for their own benefit. The correct approach is for the client (who is paying for the service) to manage according to the Contract Schedules and to their benefit. This requires a strong contract manager and contract management practices.
Usual problems
Poor contract management.
Both parties not having sufficient working knowledge of the contract.
Contract management meetings not being held regularly.
No contract diary.
Supplier not meetings SLAs and other contract obligations.
Financial disputes.
Business projects not being delivered.
Issues and disputes are not handled in accordance with contract terms.
Lack of accurate client management reporting
Usual outcomes
A full-time client contract management role to maintain constant vigilance over service delivery, contract obligations and financials.
A contract diary that shows important events and obligations.
The provider’s contract manager is held accountable for contract performance.
Both parties to have knowledge of each other’s practices and procedures.
Weekly contract review meetings.
Active management of SLAs and other schedule-based obligations.
Upcoming posts
Upcoming posts will address each of the four areas and provide a detailed Assessment sheet that you can use to identify if you have any of the usual problems along with a sample Actions list on how to resolve them.