Standardization of service management processes in the public sector

In order to standardize the historically developed IT organizational structures in a ministry and its affiliated authorities, a program was created whose aim is to introduce an IT framework and thus to standardize and optimize service management processes. The state IT service provider for federal authorities is responsible for planning and implementing the program and its subordinate projects.

exccon AG was commissioned to support program management with strategic, tactical and operational issues. Among other things, exccon AG set up and managed the program office and successfully supervised several sub-projects.

Since this was a public sector project, there was a tender which exccon won. In addition to the scope of the tender, the contract was extended twice as the customer was very satisfied with the work of exccon AG.

The required consulting services in program management included setting up and managing the program office, stakeholder management including staff councils, employees, managers at various locations and external technical service providers, as well as mediation between client and technical service provider. In addition, exccon supported a migration project to replace one service management tool with another (nkl. migration of all data to the new tool) and the piloting & rollout of two service management processes (Incident Management and Request Fulfillment) in two authorities. Many employees received tailor-made ITIL from exccon^® Training courses in which the specific government situation was addressed.

For the successful and, in particular, timely implementation of the program, it was essential to understand the departmental and authority-specific features of IT organization and technology with their high degree of interdependence and complexity. In addition to very different names in various authorities and departments, there were numerous special IT technical features. In individual authorities, completely new service management processes were to be introduced in established structures, which was a challenge.

One of exccon's main tasks was to set up and manage the program office and to support/advise the program management in all areas. Using the Agile Scrum methodology, the office was organized according to agile values. These included, for example, frequent and early communication, the preference for simple solutions and commitment. In addition to organizing appointments and managing documents, a lot of stakeholder communication was carried out in the area of change management. The aim was to optimally prepare the organization for the changes and to communicate all necessary information to the right people at the right time.

In addition, exccon was commissioned to mediate between client (program management) and contractor (an external implementation service provider) and to moderate problems. Exccon was also responsible for quality assurance. Previous problems in cooperation between client and contractor were resolved through measures taken by exccon. In a hitherto rather unagile working environment, agile structures were built using the Agile Scrum methodology, the frequency of communication increased and development cycles shortened.

In piloting authorities, the exccon Service Matrix was introduced to support the cross-agency processing of faults and inquiries. This resulted in an improvement of the structure in the service organization. Services were now uniformly named and structured across authorities. As a result, it is now possible to route tickets across authorities.

In addition, exccon supported a migration project in which one service management tool was replaced by another. With the help of PRINCE2 methodology, the project was planned/designed and carried out. By using risk management, many stumbling blocks could be identified early on before they became a problem. As a result, resources were saved in the migration process.

Part of the assignment was the creation and implementation of tailor-made training courses to implement ITIL know-how in the organization, to create a clear understanding of the terms used and the theoretical basis, to show the benefits and purpose of the planned changes and thus to increase acceptance of the changes. The training content included both theory (ITIL) and the practical use of the new tool (cross-agency ticket routing).

Accompanying the piloting & roll-out of Incident Management and Request Fulfillment in two authorities was also part of the contract. Based on the specified standard, requirements were derived, test management process revised, requirements management process defined and introduced, and roll-out concepts were written.

Overall, thanks to exccon's support, cooperation with all stakeholders involved was significantly improved. This was visible both in communication and in the quality of work results. A positive working environment and results-oriented cooperation have established themselves, and acceptance of the changes has increased. Previous problems in cooperation between client and contractor were resolved through measures taken by exccon.

A central office has been implemented in the piloting authorities, which users can contact (service desk). Internal processes are now clearly defined and transparent, and the service organization is better structured. This saves a lot of double work. Simple reporting at the push of a button is now possible. Malfunctions are now recorded uniformly and across authorities, and the service matrix implemented by exccon helps with this. This centralization saves resources and time.

ITIL know-how was implemented in the organization, which led to a clear understanding of the terms used and the theoretical basis of service management among all employees. As a result, acceptance of the changes increased.