All too often we see organizations where countless IT reports are generated each week, month etc.. Often such reports are based on Andy’s clever Crystal Report or some other SQL query, the data is then exported to MS Excel  where it is massaged so that pretty charts can be exported to MS PowerPoint. Although these reports take a huge chunk of time consuming manual labor, it is important to question how good these reports really are. Ask yourself the following questions for each of the reports:

-          Is there a clearly defined and communicated goal and purpose for the report?

-          Who is the audience for the report? Who is receiving the report? Why?

-          Do you know who actually looks at the reports?

-          Are there any formal communications conducted that use the reports as their basis and do the reports ever lead to concrete follow up actions?

-          Is there a feedback loop in place to validate the purpose and contents of the reports?

-          Are you able to respond and keep reports current and valid in the goals they are trying to meet?

It takes a considerable effort to be in a situation where the above questions can be answered in a positive and mature manner. However with the right reporting solution and the correct approach it is possible starting tomorrow.

So what’s it going to be? Are you going to continue ‘banging glasses in flashy suits’ or are you going to make some music?

David dSA

Chances are that your organization yearns for dazzling ITSM dashboards with sparkling graphics. Of course you would, who wouldn’t? Truth is however that if your organization does not have a solid foundation of operational ITSM reporting that strategic level dashboarding and scorecards are really nothing more than pie in the sky graphics.

To be fair, operational ITSM reports can be about as interesting as watching a plank warp. Apologies to the wood aficionados. But operational ITSM reports do provide something of great value; they are the foundation upon which to build the management and communication of your ITSM efforts.

Over the years I’ve seen my fair share of ITSM reporting environments and the disparity in quality and maturity is stunning.

On a positive note, quite a few companies have embraced the discipline of managing by fact. These companies are using ITSM reporting as a vital communication tool and a key part in their continuous ITSM process improvement. Interestingly enough, when asked about the state of ITSM reporting these companies will be the first to explain that ITSM reporting is an ongoing initiative and that there is much work ahead.

There are however many a company out there where, let me put this nicely, reporting is not a mature discipline. Typically such companies are running ITSM reports on the basis of “we run these reports as these are the reports that have always been run”. No business validation, no defined audience and often not even an understanding as to what the purpose of the reports is. Suggesting that it would be useful to sit down with the customer community to define customer reporting needs, will likely lead to a rapid exit from the room and a bee-line back to the ivory tower of IT. “There is no way we can provide the customer with the info they would ask for, therefore we won’t ask them”. A clear lose-lose situation that does nothing to improve the standing of IT department and its desire to better serve the business customer. When asked about the state of ITSM reporting, these companies will likely respond defensively “yes, we have ITSM reporting”.

There are very few shortcuts in life. Attempting strategic level ITSM dashboarding or scorecards without proper supporting operational ITSM reporting is like trying to run before you can walk.

David

Common themes that accompany the (planning of the) implementation of HP Service Manager include the sensible improvement goals around:

• Business and IT alignment
• Quality of IT services
• Transparency of IT services to IT customers

Given the above themes it is therefore surprising to see that getting the right information out of your HP Service Manager implementation is often an afterthought. Or as one seasoned ITSM consultant put it, ITSM reporting is often dealt with as the ‘red-headed step child’ of any ITSM implementation. “We’ll deal with that when we get to it” however by the time you ‘get to it’ you’ve got your hands too full to properly address the issue.

At Westbury we are constantly running into customer scenarios where all the focus is aimed at getting HP Service Manager up and running and yet reporting often seems to be an afterthought. Interestingly enough, that same ‘red headed step child’ suddenly becomes of utmost importance the moment HP Service Manager’s live date approaches . The reasons are obvious:

• At a minimum IT wants to provide at least the same reports as existed before the move to Service Manager
• Additionally IT managers & supervisors need insight to better oversee, drive and improve the performance of the various support teams and services they provide
• Going forward the IT department would like to prove its value by objectively demonstrating improvement in the delivery of IT services
• Customers  of IT will demand insight into the delivery of IT services and will require increasingly more in-depth reporting from IT

We in roles of ITSM are being asked to do more with less and to improve the delivery of IT services to our customers. This means we have to be smarter as to how we go about this. Let’s all agree that it is not about what we put into the ITSM processes and tools, rather it is about what we can get out of it.

Be smart, look at the overall picture.

David