Service Catalog - The tip of the iceberg
Some years back, when I was just getting introduced to ITIL (in its version 2 then), I read about the Service Catalog in the Chapter Service Level Management Process. The concept intrigued me - that just as any organization offering products would publish a catalog of its products, IT organizations should publish their catalog of their services to business.
Who are our customers?
Why do we need to publish our services?
What do we publish in our service catalogue?
Who should publish the catalog?
Who will read this catalogue?
….and many more
In my blog, I am going to share my views on all these questions and I invite readers to share their views as well.
In the last few years, I have come across Service Catalogs that were very well structured and meaningful to the organizations offering the services. I have myself assisted and guided IT organizations implement Service Catalogs. During the course of which I have discovered that Service Catalogs are like icebergs – only the catalog is the cynosure, while a whole gamut of questions lie (unanswered, many times) underneath:
What are our services?
Who are our customers?
Why do we need to publish our services?
What do we publish in our service catalogue?
Who should publish the catalog?
Who will read this catalogue?
….and many more
While these seem simple enough, one would be surprised at the variety of answers that a single IT organization can come up with, which often mirrors the complexities and confusion prevailing in IT services.
In my blog, I am going to share my views on all these questions and I invite readers to share their views as well.
