The four dimensions of ITIL 4® are ingredients needed to create high quality products and services which deliver value to customers:
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- Organizations and people
- Value streams and processes
- Information and technology
- Partner and suppliers
The delivery and support of different services and products requires a different mix of ingredients. No ingredient can deliver value on its own, so a holistic perspective is required: consider all dimensions when designing and changing products and services.
The four dimensions model is a tool to ensure people consider all the ingredients and are never too focused on one area.
Today we’re looking at the Information & technology dimension.
Information and Technology
In the Information Age, information (and technologies which store and process of information) are critical enablers of value delivery. Indeed, in many cases—like Google’s search engine—information is the value. When thinking about information and technology, we must consider two angles: How they support individual service value streams and how they support the broader service management capabilities which help you manage your service portfolio:
What information do you need to create, reference, or change to deliver value? What are the inputs/outputs of each step in the value stream? What information outputs does the customer want?
Which technology component make up the service? What processing, storage, network and digital interface components do you need to create and transfer value?
What information do you need to support service management capabilities? What do you need to know about volumes of demand, capacity, infrastructure & operations, customer satisfaction, costs, and other aspects of service management to run an efficient service portfolio?
What technology do you need to support service management? Successful service management at enterprise scale is always underpinned by service management technology. What tools do you need to run an efficient and effective service portfolio? For example, CMDB, process automation, a knowledge database, service catalog, queue management, monitoring, reporting and analytics.
Other aspects you need to consider are skills and security. Do you have the right people to build, maintain, secure and support the technology you are bringing in? For example, organizations launching new information services based on big data architectures are finding it difficult to find people with the right skills.
Cybersecurity headlines continue to highlight the potential damage to brand reputation. Security should be “baked in” to a service at design stage—not simply applied as an afterthought.
Balancing the four dimensions
Singular focus on any one dimension causes issues across other dimensions. The key to balancing the four dimensions is to consider all factors when designing services; not as an afterthought. When a service value stream changes, all four dimensions should be re-considered. If not, the value chain may become unstable. Considering all the factors when applying change will help you to maintain an equilibrium throughout the lifetime of a service.
READ NEXT:
ITIL 4:
- ITIL 4 Guide
- What is the ITIL 4 Service Value System?
- Confused about the ITIL 4 Service Value Chain?
GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF ITIL 4:
- 7 Guiding Principles of ITIL 4: Focus on Value
- 7 Guiding Principles of ITIL 4: Start Where You Are
- 7 Guiding Principles of ITIL 4: Progress Iteratively With Feedback
- 7 Guiding Principles of ITIL 4: Collaborate & Promote Visibility
- 7 Guiding Principles of ITIL 4: Think & Work Holistically
- 7 Guiding Principles of ITIL 4: Keep it Simple & Practical
4 DIMENSIONS OF ITIL 4:
- The 4 Dimensions of ITIL 4: Organisations & People
- The 4 Dimensions of ITIL 4: Information & Technology
- The 4 Dimensions of ITIL 4: Value Streams & Processes
- The 4 Dimensions of ITIL 4: Partners & Suppliers
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