1. Adopt Lean IT to Streamline the Service Desk
Turn your service desk into a Lean, keen, value-creating machine.
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2. ANALYST PERSPECTIVE
Lean’s focus on customer value is a perfect fit with the service desk.
Service desk managers who integrate Lean principles will change the way their service desk operates. Lean’s focus on value delivery to customers has made it a powerful way of thinking.
Originally conceived in the manufacturing industry, the Lean methodology has expanded to a variety of industries and management functions including IT. The focus of Lean is to eliminate wasteful processes, improve the flow of your work, and create freed capacity. The approach positions the service desk as an innovator within IT and the organization as a whole.
Engagement is the key to sustaining the adoption of Lean principles. Each piece of the service desk is vital to creating value for the end user via knowledge- sharing, accountability, and proactive problem-solving. Ultimately, Lean is a cultural shift that will increase the efficiency and innovative capacity of your service desk, positioning it as a model component of your organization.
Sandi Conrad,
Senior Director, Infrastructure Practice Info-Tech Research Group

3. Our understanding of the problem
Plot out how the service desk can provide the most value with a customer journey map.
Streamline service desk processes with value stream mapping.
Eliminate wasteful processes that do not provide value.
Create freed capacity to reduce the instances of skilled technicians getting buried in tickets.
Introduce a new way of thinking that will improve how your team tackles problems.
CIOs who want to improve services and eliminate wasteful processes.
IT leaders who want to deliver efficient, customer-centric value to the business.
Service managers of service desks that want to free up skilled employees to tackle strategic projects without sacrificing service quality.
IT managers who want to increase employee engagement by enhancing learning and development.

4. Executive Summary
The service desk is the public face of IT. Its processes are critical to the effective and timely delivery of IT services.
Yet, even organizations with relatively mature service desk processes can struggle to achieve the high levels of end-user satisfaction and productivity the business expects.
Lean is not a project; it’s a way of thinking Adopting Lean principles will encourage your team to become a proactive, value-generating unit.
Look before you Lean You need to view the service desk from 30,000 feet before you dive into adopting Lean principles.
Harness the value of freed capacity Lean will free up time through the elimination of waste. Use it to your advantage.
Staff at each of the three tiers of the service desk often do not understand how the customer experiences end-user support.
Service desk staff feel overworked and believe the service support organization is understaffed, yet they waste time on unnecessary tasks. They struggle to identify and prioritize activities that create the most customer value.
Adopt Lean principles to streamline service desk processes.
Identify how service desk activities align with the business and how service desk activities create customer value at each tier.
Map out the customer journey for each of the key processes of the service desk to understand how customers experience end-user support.
Use value stream mapping to tailor service desk processes to customer demand, focus on the activities that create the most customer value, and eliminate waste.

5. Monitor, Evaluate, and Assess
Info-Tech draws on the COBIT framework, which focuses on consistent delivery of IT services across the organization
Evaluate, Direct, and Monitor
EDM01
Ensure Governance Framework Setting and Maintenance
EDM02
Ensure Benefits Delivery
EDM03
Ensure Risk Optimization
EDM04
Ensure Resource Optimization
EDM05
Ensure Stakeholder Transparency
Monitor, Evaluate, and Assess
Align, Plan, and Organize
APO01
Manage the IT Framework
APO02
Manage Strategy
APO03
Manage Enterprise Architecture
APO04 Manage Innovation
APO05 Manage Portfolio
APO06 Manage Budget and Costs
APO07
Manage Human Resources
MEA01
Monitor, Evaluate, and Assess the System of Internal Control
APO08
Manage Relationships
APO09
Manage Service Agreements
APO10 Manage Suppliers
APO11 Manage Quality
APO12 Manage Risks
APO13 Manage Security
Build, Acquire, and Implement
BAI01
Manage Programs and Projects
BAI02
Manage Requirements Definition
BAI03
Manage Solutions Identification and Build
BAI04
Manage Availability and Capacity
BAI05
Manage Organizational Change Enablement
BAI06
Manage Changes
BAI07
Manage Change Acceptance and Transitioning
MEA02
BAI08
Manage Knowledge
BAI09
Manage Assets
BAI10
Manage Configuration
Deliver, Service, and Support
DSS01
Manage Operations
DSS02
Manage Service Requests and Incidents
DSS03
Manage Problems
DSS04 Manage Continuity
DSS05 Manage Security Services
DSS06 Manage Business Process Controls
MEA03
Monitor, Evaluate, and Assess Compliance with External Requirements

6. Methodology aligns with the ITIL framework.
Info-Tech Research Group’s approach to service desk optimization focuses on building essential best practices
Extend
Facilitate the extension of service management best practices to other business functions to improve productivity and position IT as a strategic partner.
Improve
Build a continual improvement plan for the service desk to review and evaluate key processes and services, and manage the progress of improvement initiatives.
Info-Tech’s
Service Desk
Methodology aligns with the ITIL framework.
Standardize
Build essential incident, service request, and knowledge management processes to create a sustainable service desk that meets business needs.
Adopt Lean
Build essential incident, service request, and knowledge management processes to create a sustainable service desk that boosts business value.
Our Approach to the Service Desk
Service desk optimization goes beyond the blind adoption of best practices.
Info-Tech’s approach focuses on controlling support costs and making the most of IT’s service management expertise to improve productivity.
Complete the projects sequentially
or in any order.
Select and Implement
Review mid-market and enterprise service desk tools, select an ITSM solution, and build an implementation plan to ensure your investment meets your needs.
Consolidate
Build a strategic roadmap to consolidate service desks to reduce end-user support costs and sustain end-user satisfaction.

7. A Lean service desk is an innovative service desk
Innovation in IT is strongly related to end-user satisfaction.
IT innovation leadership explains 75% of variation in satisfaction with IT. Organizations without high satisfaction with IT innovation leadership are only 20% likely to be highly satisfied with IT.
By following our process to adopt Lean principles, you can position your service desk as a lead candidate for innovation within IT, greatly increasing the reputation of the service desk within the business.

8. A Lean service desk can improve the speed and quality of service outcomes
Improved business satisfaction:
Improve key service desk metrics, including time to resolve, time to respond, and end-user satisfaction.
Channel tickets through a single point of contact.
Escalate incidents quickly and accurately to the right business function.
42.1%
On average, end users who were satisfied with service desk effectiveness rated all other IT services 42.1% higher than dissatisfied end users.
Fewer recurring issues:
Reduce percentage of tickets re-opened. Ensure tickets are created and categorized correctly.
Reports can be used for root cause analysis.
38.0%
On average, end users who were satisfied with service desk timeliness rated all other IT services 38.0% higher than dissatisfied end users.
Increased efficiency / lower cost to serve:
Use FAQs to enable end users to self-solve.
Use a knowledgebase to troubleshoot once, and solve many times.
Cross-train to improve service consistency.
Project Benefits
Empower other business functions to provide effective, timely services that meet business needs at a lower cost.
Follow the steps in this project blueprint to guide non-IT partners through the process.
Enhanced demand planning:
Trend analysis and reporting improve service providers beyond IT through the ability to forecast and address the demands of the business.
Source: Info-Tech Research Group, 2015; N=19,349

9. Why should you adopt Lean IT to streamline the service desk?
Implement a continual improvement plan to improve the performance of the service desk and consolidate your gains
Sort
Set in Order
Shine
Standardize
Sustain
Financial Goals
Customer Goals
Process Goals
Learning Goals 1 2 3 4
Why should you adopt Lean IT to streamline the service desk?
Identification of previously unknown wasteful practices or processes
Allows the service desk to respond to changes proactively
Increased efficiency of your service desk
Improve IT’s reputation within the business through improved end-user understanding
Focuses the service desk on providing value to its end users
Creates freed capacity to allow your highly skilled technicians to focus on project work

10. Differentiate between Lean and Continual Service Improvement
The drivers are similar, but the components of the two processes are quite different.
Lean and Continual Service Improvement are often confused with one another.
While the two are both forms of operations improvement initiatives, they achieve their goals through different methods. The two can be used in conjunction as a powerful improvement project.
You can even Lean your Lean processes or apply continual improvement practices to them.
Lean
Improvement achieved primarily through eliminating waste.
Primary improvement target is the service desk value stream.
Improvement often (but not always) results in decreased process time as a result of core metrics.
Continual Service Improvement
Improvement comes from a variety of triggers and is achieved through a variety of targets.
Primary improvement target can be any component of the service desk.
Improvement results in a variety of outcomes due to the flexibility and diversity of the process.
Lean isn’t just about speed.
When implementing Lean, a common mistake is to focus solely on end-to-end velocity. Lean is about improving efficiency AND service quality. It would be like judging a pitcher only on the speed of their fastball without evaluating their command, endurance, or pitch selection.

11. Project structure – adopt Lean IT to streamline the service desk
Key Project Deliverables
A balanced scorecard (Word document) to quantify and track objectives from four different categories.
A future state value stream map (Visio Document) for service desks to visualize and streamline their key workflows.
A value stream roadmap (Excel document) to keep track of all Lean initiatives, prioritize opportunities, break down selected projects into steps, and track your progress.

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Manage business expectations
Justify IT spending and prove the value of IT
Train IT staff and effectively manage an IT department
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