ITIL 4 – Value Streams: doing the right things for customers

Now, to explain how value streams work I’d like to invite you for coffee:

Going to a coffee shop, you want to get a great coffee. This is the overall value you want. So what are the subcomponents? You want service with a smile, to have a comfortable seat and a clean table. Each is a value stream and without doubt contributes to the overall value of having a coffee, but they have their own specifics. For example, you get the coffee on the counter from one person, but another person is responsible for cleaning up the tables. Focusing on each individual topic can increase the overall value.

ITIL 4’s definition of value stream is “a series of steps an organization undertakes to create and deliver products and services to consumers”, all working across the ITIL 4 service value chain (SVC).

This concept clearly evolves the previous ITIL focus on processes and process outputs by helping people to easily understand how a stream connects processes to services and how operations support business strategy.

As value streams allow greater focus on particular elements of value created, IT practitioners can be more specific about which ITIL practices and activities to involve.

For example, incident management: taking this as a value stream, it means thinking about the journey, the skills, tools and combination of practices in the SVC to co-create value and solve issues.

This value stream will definitely include the SVC activity “Engage”. Why? The service desk makes the first, important impression on the customer. Therefore, the engage activity and service desk practice form a key part of this value stream.

Returning to our coffee example, if we see the whole thing as only a process, we will define the steps, the roles and responsibilities, create procedures and work instructions. In an ITIL 4 world we think more about the value of the different interactions with the customer and focus on topics which we would never put in process documentation.

Value streams are a practical approach and offer clarity about what value is. Today, with technology becoming more commoditized, it’s more about how you structure your interaction with customers than the technology itself.

One of the four dimensions of service management is value streams and processes which “defines activities, workflows, controls and procedures needed to achieve the agreed objective”.

However, despite having value streams and processes in one dimension they are still interconnected with the rest of the service value system – both in general and relating to specific products and services.

For example, to outsource part or all of your value stream you need to decide how important the value stream is for overall value co-creation. Also, you need to consider the other service management dimensions to clearly define the value stream.

Let’s say a customer wants to have a service in multiple languages. Do you build this service stream internally or use partners? Will your technology allow you to do that? You need to think about these things when defining a value stream.

Value streams support the customer journey and the customer will notice that their provider has an eye for detail. Having a focus on each value stream that affects the customer means you can define the activities to optimize where necessary and ensure the customer experiences this.

ITIL 4 value streams are the vessel and toolset for this journey: moving from a process-driven approach to enabling you to deliver what the customer expects and wants. This perspective is more about service value management and asks the questions: are we delivering value? Can we optimize? Can the customer be happier?

It’s less about doing things right but doing the right things for the customer

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