ITIL Service Strategy: 4Ps, Goals, Process and More

For an organization to achieve its goals, it must have a collection of explicitly expressed overarching objectives as well as a good business plan to go along with those goals. This business strategy shows how the company will attain its ultimate goals over a set period of time. This is supported by a set of customized plans developed for each business unit. Business and IT strategies are inextricably linked. The business strategy defines the IT strategy, and the business strategy is supported and validated by the IT strategy. The ITIL service strategy covers a wide range of topics, including IT Service Strategy and IT Technology Strategy. 

What is ITIL strategy? 

Because of the overlapping of tech and business in today's market, companies have to prioritize IT services to prosper and remain competitive. The process of transferring a company's goals and capabilities to IT can be daunting. This is where IT comes into play. 

ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) is a collection of practices for IT service management that aids in the alignment of IT services with business requirements. ITIL is a method for managing risk, improving customer interactions, boosting productivity, and establishing a solid, expandable IT infrastructure. 

The ITIL service lifecycle is divided into five stages: 

1. Service Strategy
2. Service Design
3. Service Transition
4. Service Operation
5. Continual Service Improvement

The first stage of the ITIL lifecycle, service strategy, will be our emphasis here. 

The backbone of the ITIL service lifecycle is ITIL Service Strategy, which enables an IT organization to think and act strategically. It offers advice on how to turn IT Service Management, which is a competency within a company, into a strategic asset. 

Are you looking forward to learning ITIL from scratch? Check out the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) certification course from KnowledgeHut, and pick the right one that best suits your interest. 

What are the Four Ps in Service Strategy?  

 The ITIL Service Strategy module is incomplete without the four Ps of service strategy. The operations of the service strategy phase cannot be successfully accomplished if any of the four Ps is missing from the system. The genuine importance of the ITIL four Ps in the perspective of ITIL Service Strategy must be emphasized by IT service managers. 

 The four Ps of the ITIL Service Strategy Stage are

 1. Perspective

In the ITIL 4 Ps of Service Strategy, the term "perspective" relates to your direction and goals for the services you deliver. It also explains how you plan to interact with stakeholders to accomplish this. 

 2. Position

The term "position" refers to how your company will set itself out from its competition. Depending on your vision of distinguishing your company from competitors, a precise and well-defined position advises you on both what to do and what not to do. 

 3. Plan

In the four Ps of ITIL Service Strategy, the word "plan" represents the steps you'll take to attain the mission and targets you've set. It primarily refers to financial budgeting, your service portfolio, strategies for new service development or asset acquisition, and improvements to previous plans. 

 4. Pattern  

The "Pattern" defines the organization's fundamental manner of doing things; it shows consistent decisions and activities you want to execute throughout time. A pattern can also be looked at as a sequence of continuous activities and changes that the organization has that allow it to operate smoothly. 

ITIL Service Strategy Goals & Objectives   

The main goal of ITIL Service Strategy is to enable service providers to make decisions strategically in order to operate and expand successfully in the long run. ITIL Service strategy aids in the development of strategic assets that bring value to the business by guiding the whole Service Design, Service Transition, and Service Operation processes in a logical and consistent manner for efficient service operations. A service strategy is more than a plan; it's a framework that allows a company to take a unique approach to delivering more value and understanding business objectives and consumer demands is the first step in creating value. The strategy should be supported by all organizational assets, including employees, procedures, and services. 

The most significant objective of Service Strategy is to identify market competitors and provide a service that is superior to theirs. In order to accomplish so, a company must create a strategic plan to attain its goal. 

Here are a few other objectives: 

• To give a thorough explanation of what strategy is 
• Determine which IT efforts will help you achieve your company objectives 
• Define the process for implementing the strategic plans 
• Transform your IT department into a strategic contributor to your company's success 
• Provide a "service provision model" that identifies the organization's capacity to deliver and finance the service. It specifies who the customer is and how the services are provided. 

If you are interested to know more about the IT Services courses you may check out the IT service management certification courses online. 

Elements of ITIL Service Strategy 

1. Value Creation: Due diligence should be undertaken before commencing on a new product to ensure that it will add value and become profitable to the organization; only then should it be pursued.

2. Service Assets: It is a description of all the assets that the company will require to finish the task.

3. Service Provider Types:  They are of three types

•  A company's internal service provider works to support specific business units 
•  Within a company, shared services is a unit whose services are divided across many sections 
• External service providers can be thought of as consultants hired by a company to help with a project for a limited time until the project is completed. 

4. Service Structure: This encompasses the whole spectrum of how services will be supplied to customers, from the development stage through the execution and final delivery stage.

5. Defining Service Market: This identifies the market that a company is attempting to penetrate. It provides answers to questions such as: Is the company interested in certain locations, corporate clients, or individual clients? How does it intend to accomplish this?

6. Developing Service Offering: This is the stage where the organization must plan all the details and determine how it intends to attain the final product.

7. Financial Management: This relates to the funds that the firm will require to deliver the tasks, as well as the task's budget, how much will be allotted, and how much revenue the company expects to generate from the sale of the product.

8. Service Portfolio: This is the phase where the company ensures that all its services are attuned to the bigger picture organizational objectives.

A service portfolio is made up of 

• Service catalog 
• Service pipeline 
• Retired services catalog 

9. Demand Management: This section is a list of all the goods that the firm intends to develop. All its items are included in its portfolio.

10. Return on Investment: It assesses whether or not the project will be lucrative. Only if the project is profitable is it worthwhile to invest time and money in it.

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5 ITIL Strategy Processes

Within the service strategy lifecycle stage, there are five processes: 

1. Strategy management for IT services

The first step in the ITIL service strategy is strategy management for IT services. The purpose of strategy management is to ensure that IT services and their management are in sync with the rest of the company. Individuals will assess, define, and execute plans for the service offerings throughout this stage. 

2. IT Financial Management

IT Financial Management (also known as IT Financial Management) is concerned with evaluating IT services. Accounting, budgeting, and charging services are all part of this process, ensuring that the organization covers expenditures and makes a profit on those services. 

3. Service portfolio management

Service portfolio management (SPM) keeps track of your services in the workflow from beginning to end. SPM's purpose is to ensure that each service is in line with the service management strategy and corporate goals. Companies can more successfully explain service needs based on genuine business value if they analyze their services end-to-end. 

4. Demand management

Businesses can use demand management to better understand, forecast, and shape customer demand for IT services. Assessing and reacting to service demand accurately ensures that firms avoid having insufficient or excessive service capacity, both of which have a negative influence on costs and customer experience.  Analyzing , Anticipating and Influencing are the three main activities included in demand management. 

 5. Business relationship management

The goal of business relationship management (BRM) is to build strong relationships with customers. To maintain constant satisfaction and loyalty, relationship managers optimize the value of service delivery for the client. 

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Strategy management for IT services  

As mentioned above, strategy management for IT services is the first step in the ITIL service strategy. Its primary goal is to evaluate the service provider's offers, capabilities, rivals, and current and new market areas in order to design a customer-serving strategy. Strategy Management for IT Services is also in charge of ensuring that the strategy is implemented once it has been created.  To be effective, each service provider must have a comprehensive awareness of the market environment in which they operate. They must understand their own strong and weak points as a provider, as well as the opportunities open to them. Three main activities are usually included in demand management: 

Analyzing: Track service desk statistics  as well as network consumption and availability to analyze current customer use of services. 

Anticipating: Communicate with your clients about their anticipated needs, keep track of trends, and use data analysis to generate accurate forecasts of future service demands. 

Influencing :To reduce risks and costs, businesses might have to regulate customer service consumption. 

Scope of ITIL Service Strategy 

Both internal and external service providers can benefit from the ITIL service strategy. The scope of the service plan comprises the following: 

• Developing a strategy for a service provider to supply services that meet the customer's business objectives 
• Developing a strong service management strategy 

Also, check out the article on what is ITIL? 

ITIL Service Strategy Roles and Responsibilities  

Based on the many processes in the ITIL Service Strategy, there are several roles and responsibilities. 

• A Service Strategy Manager collaborates with ISG to develop and maintain a strategy for a service provider. They are in charge of conveying and putting the service strategy into action. 
• In collaboration with ISG, a Service Portfolio Manager agrees on a strategy for serving consumers. They enhance the service provider's skills and offerings. 
• The IT Steering Group (ISG) is in charge of determining the direction and strategy for IT services. It examines the business and IT strategies to ensure that they are in sync. It establishes service development program objectives. 
• Accounting, budgeting, and pricing regulations are the responsibilities of the Financial Manager. 
• Demand managers are in charge of analyzing, forecasting, and influencing customer demand for services. They collaborate with capacity managers to guarantee that the service provider has the capacity to satisfy the demand. 
• Business Relationship Managers maintain positive client relationships by identifying consumer demands and ensuring that service providers meet those needs. They also collaborate with the Service Level Manager. 

Conclusion   

The IT Service Strategy explains how IT Services will be used to help the IT department meet its goals. It demonstrates how IT services support overall company strategy, making it a critical component of today's IT service operations. With Knowledgehut Information Technology Infrastructure library ITIL Certification, you can excel as an ITSM professional in industry 4.0 by equipping yourself with the abilities to deal with the latest innovations in service management. ITIL® 4 Foundation is the first step on the ITIL certification path, and it will help demonstrate the ability to use ITIL tools and practices to improve business value.