Comments on Gathering Requirements for ITIL

Scott posts a very thought provoking article today about ITIL requirements gathering.  It references a Harvard Business Online publication which details the need for a “persuasion campaign”.  In past MOF implementations I have been involved in, this has been called an “awareness campaign”.  I tend to think “awareness” denotes a more positive approach than “persuasion” but this would depend on the business environment. 

At any rate, the purpose of an awareness campaign should be to ensure clear focus on the objectives and goals of all the process improvement efforts undertaken.  Through various presentations, intranet portal information / announcements, lunch n learns, etc, to educate as well as gain buy-in from the various areas affected by these changes, improvement efforts can go more smoothly.  At a level above this, IMHO, is executive sponsorship.  Having CxO level support, very active support, will make or break the project.  The awareness campaign should reflect the level of commitment from executive sponsorship to ensure that the goals of the improvements are well understood, share a common vision, and take in valuable feedback from the organization.

Any service management improvement project will meet resistance and changes will be received differently by various org levels.  The preconceived notion about “another” change in processes will prevail unless visibility is given, from a high level, to the benefits that will be realized by individuals at those various levels.