I just returned from an extended trip to Australia and Asia. I had the privilege of meeting with a number of customers, thanks to our local account teams. It was almost the corporate equivalent of speed dating, but you could say that we’re already “engaged” with these customers, ha-ha.
Service Catalog was a hot topic. The majority of customers were planning rollouts over the next 12 to 18 months. Almost all had plans to go far beyond a traditional IT-centric catalog, and also include other services such as facilities, HR, legal and accounting functions. And that’s how it should be. For catalogs to be adopted, they truly need to be a one stop shop. IT is just one group that supports line-of-business people. In fact, the average employee probably only submits 4 or 5 IT requests a year. But if you consider the number of requests they make to other supporting functions, then we’re talking some real numbers – scores, if not hundreds. Now that’s some volume that can really drive adoption. On average, only 40% of incidents and service requests come through a catalog or self-service portal. To get better numbers, consider expanding the types of services you offer to go beyond IT.
Talk of Service Catalog then leads us into the broader topic of Demand Management. More on that later. In the meantime, if you’re going to Fusion 12 in Dallas later this month, come see my presentation on Demand Management. The title is “IT Economics: Mastering Business Demand” and it’s scheduled for Tuesday, October 30, 11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
