TFT13 - Leading ITSM with Agile


Proposal for TFT13 Presentation (18 June 2013)

Organisations continue to face and generate change at a rapid pace. Consequently, IT departments are being challenged to deliver increasing value by reducing costs and/or being responsive to dynamic customer needs. IT Service Management (ITSM) functions must contribute to organisational outcomes by becoming enablers of change and not blockers, a perception often held by other IT teams due to the ITSM’s need to balance efficient operational support processes while meeting various regulatory & legislative requirements.

This presentation will articulate the challenges faced by Suncorp’s ITSM team from February 2011. The team was experiencing poor customer perception of their services, little perceived value for the business, the absence of a Service Management System or Plan, lack of tactical direction and disjointed service management processes. These challenges existed against the backdrop of significant organisational change, system consolidation projects and cultural drive to deliver value to the customer at a greater rate.

The presentation will present a case study in the adoption of one Agile Methodology - Scrum - to lead Suncorp’s IT Service Improvement Plan, which later resulted in Suncorp winning the ITSMF Australia Innovation of the Year Award in 2012. Agile is a group of software development methodologies based on iterative and incremental development, where requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between self-organising, cross-functional teams. Suncorp Business Services has adopted Agile as its primary approach to service delivery as it offers benefits such as rapid learning and continual service improvement, early return on investment, satisfied stakeholders, increased control and being responsive to change. The presentation will outline the basic implementation activities, benefits realised and lessons learnt. Agile practices such as the Product Backlog, Stand-ups, Social Contract, Big Visual Charts and Retrospectives are presented in such a way that ITSM managers and team leaders can adopt them to successfully pursue their various Service Improvement Plans in a dynamic business environment.

If you're like to see this presentation in TFT13, please vote here.

Ian Jones
IT Service Management team leader
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