If you use a managed services company to look after your IT environment and support structure, than you have probably heard of the Continual Service improvement (CSI) process. CSI, an ITIL best practice process, allows for a company and their IT service delivery provider to review, evaluate, and enhance their current and future service delivery model. To facilitate this process, IT Weapons organizes a monthly CSI meeting with each of our clients. Here is how the process works for us:
How has everything been going?
In our CSI meetings, our Managed Services Leadership team reviews any open support tickets, projects, or issues that occurred in the last month. Among the most important elements of the CSI process are the identification, tracking, and analysis of trends. Thorough analysis performed by our senior consultants and service experts allows our clients to make informed, long-term decisions about their infrastructure and the surrounding support systems.
No, but really, how is everything going?
Let’s face it, people are busy. People need information simplified and delivered effectively. Since not every IT executive may be able to attend every meeting, IT Weapons sends out a colour-coded dashboard summaries after each CSI meeting; allowing executives to review—at a glance—any serious issue which needs immediate attention (which are marked in red). For example, if the client’s file servers are running an outdated operating system, this item will be marked in red. Looking at a dashboard of items, colour coded by severity and priority, it’s easy to prioritize; focusing on what requires immediate attention or improvement, and parking those longer-term, less critical issues for another day.
Where would you like to go with your business?
It’s not just about how the systems are performing right now or last month. Today’s IT leaders need to be looking out 6, 12, and 18 months. Since technology is always changing, the way you discuss it should change too. CSI meetings help foster innovation in an organization; such as planning to launch a new collaboration platform, looking at hybrid and public cloud options, or making sure a server upgrade project is still on track.
Conclusion
Think about the basic reasons for an organization to partner with an IT service provider in the first place. To free their time, to lean on expertise without having to staff it themselves. Companies today utilize IT service providers so they can focus on improving their business. Adopting a CSI framework is a crucial step to ensuring your IT leadership can stay focused on internal innovation and prevent IT strategy from staying static.
Interested in a Continual Service Improvement framework for your business? Download our checklist, What to Expect When Working With IT Weapons.
