Let’s be honest, the concept of having a “Lite” version of anything is not really new and we’re not trying to claim "ITSM Lite' as a “super new” approach to the delivery of ITSM services.
But taking a bite-sized approach that suits the explicit needs of our customers works exceptionally well for many, as being pragmatic and structured directly to match their unique requirements.
We also know the ITSM has become quite the beast these days.. taking ITIL4 as an example, 34 far-reaching practices feels like a mammoth task for any organisation to attempt to master.
The important thing to always remember of course is ITIL, along with other frameworks, are just that - frameworks i.e. a set of guidelines for you to adopt (and adapt) as needed.
So regardless of the current levels of ITSM maturity, good or bad, we often find that customers make significant progressive steps improving their Service Management, Service Delivery and the customer or user experience, by adopting a phased (or bite-sized 'Lite') approach, to improvement of specific practices across a broad spectrum of possibilities.
For instance, a recent customer wanted help during an organisational de-merger and re- acquisition period. IT Services that had been predominantly managed and delivered by the former parent company were to be managed and delivered by a combination of the new parent company, the organisation themselves, and a raft of global suppliers supporting multiple thousands of employees spanning 10’s of countries and organisational divisions.
For a plethora of reasons, we always knew that pragmatism was required and we were already looking at a short list of priorities. On paper the reduced requirement sounded straight-forward, but as with all things, the “devil is in the detail” - As was the appetite to embed and run 'fandangled' new ITIL / ITSM processes at an exceptionally busy time, as everyone is too busy with other separation stuff.
But with an approach of 'ITSM Lite', i.e. only taking the really important parts of each practice, the team were able to focus on the creation and improvements of specific practices that were highlighted as priority for the critical deadline and go-live. Now, some hardcore practitioners out there may disagree here, and in fact one of our own team said "it cant work" and "we're breaking the processes as they are all so aligned with each other" ...
However pragmatism prevailed.. and we found a way to break things out, and soon enough, the complexity started to become easier again and critically, was easier to swallow for all involved to bring 'ITSM Lite' to life.
Practices such as Service Catalogue, Service Desk, Major Incident Management and Change Management were just some of those highlighted as critical for the deadline and go-live. So working closely with the ITSM platform vendor, we followed best practice, but keeping one eye on 'just enough essential process'.
So having taken an 'ITSM Lite' approach, the next phase will be CSI (Continual Service Improvement). It is a safe to assume that CSI should form part of the initial prioritised list of practices, as it is CSI that continues the thrust to not only improve the practices and processes already in place, but CSI also helps determine the priority of additional practice creation.
And let's not forget one of the really important guiding principles from ITIL4 - 'Start where you are' .. which is exactly what we needed to do here.
So whether your organisation has a mature ITSM suite of practices or just starting out, taking an 'ITSM Lite' approach and just taking those practices, or only parts of practices that are critical for you right now, can yield superb results directly aligned to your unique needs (and deadlines!).
So dont be scared by the monster that is ITIL or ITSM. Whatever you take from it, even if only in bite sized chunks, it can be extremely valuable.
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