Introduction to YaSM Service Management (Video)

Hi there, I'm Stefan Kempter and today I'd like to introduce YaSM®, our process model for service management.

YaSM stands for "Yet another Service Management Model", and it's kind of a "translation" of the guidance in the popular service management frameworks and methods into a clear-cut, streamlined collection of processes.

What we provide is not wordy, difficult-to-read documentation, but ready-to-use templates for your processes and documents.

We'll take a look at these templates in a second, but first I'd like to explain why we've created the YaSM model and what's in it for you.

The point is, most service providers these days use not one but several methods and concepts - whatever suits their needs. ITIL® has often been the framework of choice in the past, but many others have emerged over the years, such as COBIT®, CMMI-SVC®, USMBOK™, FitSM, SIAM™ and, more recently, VeriSM™.

Service providers have also discovered that they can greatly benefit from other concepts such as Agile, Lean, DevOps, Kanban, etc.

There are no limits really, organizations should use any methods and advice that offer benefits. So there is a huge variety of methods, each with its own focus and strengths. Some, like ITIL®, are very detailed but also complex and somewhat difficult to read, while others explain the underlying principles and concepts. And some are philosophies rather than actionable guidance.

Now, the question is: How to get started with these concepts in your organization and bring them to life?

The answer is that, ultimately, you'll need to translate the general advice contained in the frameworks and concepts into specific guidance for your organization - which typically means defining and documenting tailor-made processes.

A streamlined process model for service management

This is where the YaSM model comes into play:

It provides ready-to-use templates for your service management processes, and also for the documents and records created in these processes, such as agreements and reports. With these templates you don't have to start from nothing. When defining the processes of your organization, you can simply adapt existing diagrams and documents to your needs.

Now, of course it's not possible to create a process model that covers every detail of all of these frameworks but they all have common roots and, to some extent, share the same underlying principles.

So we used these common principles, and also a couple of fresh ideas, to create YaSM as a streamlined process model with a clear and pragmatic structure.

Fully compatible with ISO 20000

What's more, we used ISO 20000 as a benchmark and checklist, to ensure the YaSM model is complete and covers all key aspects of service management. YaSM is thus 100% aligned with ISO 20000, the international standard for service management.

And now, after these introductory words, let's take a look at the YaSM model:

YaSM's service lifecycle and supporting service management processes

YaSM offers a new, pragmatic approach with a simple and clear process structure that includes a number of service lifecycle processes:

• For establishing a service strategy,
• for designing,
• building and
• operating services,
• and for continual service improvement.

Below the service lifecycle we have a range of supporting processes, for example

• for assessing and coordinating changes
• or for managing projects.

These processes will certainly look familiar to you if you have some experience with service management frameworks such as ITIL®.

And of course, there is no question of implementing every YaSM process. You are free to pick and choose the processes that offer the most benefits for your organization, and to adapt the processes to your needs.

YaSM process templates: The YaSM® Process Map

For organizations that need to define and document their service management processes, we offer a product called the YaSM® Process Map - a set of ready-to-use process diagrams and document templates.

The process map is, for now, available in English and German for two different platforms: Visio® and ARIS™.

Examples from the YaSM Process Map for Visio

Since Visio is a very popular application, we're now going to take a quick look at the YaSM® Process Map for Visio.

The first diagram I want to show you in Visio is the top-level diagram with the high-level overview of the YaSM processes.

• In the upper part we have the YaSM service lifecycle processes,
• and below you can see the supporting service management processes.

One of the nice features of the YaSM Process Map is that you can navigate with links.

So if you want to know, say, what needs to be done to design a service, you can simply click on a link to open a diagram with more details about service design. Now, if we zoom in a little you can see that designing a service in YaSM is quite straightforward:

• It involves defining the required service properties,
• designing the required infrastructure,
• outlining the implementation approach
• and preparing the service implementation.

To give you a better idea of how service design works, we also show information flows in these diagrams. Here's a typical example:

From the definition of the required service properties we get a draft service definition as an output, which is an important input for the next step: Designing the required infrastructure.

For such documents, the YaSM Process Map contains templates in Word™ format. This one, for instance, describes the typical contents of a service definition, and you can use it as a starting point when you need to create your first service definitions.

If we close the template and go back to Visio again, we can now go down further to the sub-process level where we describe in detail the activities to be performed.

So, for instance, the recommended steps for designing the required infrastructure for a service include

• identifying the required infrastructure and other capabilities,
• specifying the required modifications to the technical infrastructure,
• and to the external supporting services,
• ... and so on,
• until, at the end of the process, a draft service implementation blueprint has been created.

In this way, the YaSM Process Map explains how service management works and I hope you will agree that the YaSM processes are not too difficult to understand.

Free service management resources: The YaSM Service Management Wiki

Apart from our detailed YaSM process models, we also offer a wealth of free information in the YaSM Service Management Wiki. The wiki is ideal if you would like to read more about the ideas behind our streamlined process model for service management.

From the main page of the YaSM Service Management Wiki you can easily access the different sections, which contain, for example,

• In-depth information about the YaSM model
• Details on how YaSM relates to other service management frameworks and practices,
• and videos explaining what YaSM is about and how it can be used.

The process section provides an overview of the service management processes,

• with the five service lifecycle processes
• and the supporting service management processes.

If we move down a bit we find short descriptions of each YaSM main process, and for each such process there is a specific page with more details, such as

• An overview diagram, showing how the process is connected with the other YaSM processes,
• a list of its sub-processes, with brief descriptions,
• a complete account of the outputs with their definitions,
• and a RACI matrix.

So, as you can see, the YaSM Wiki contains everything you need to familiarize yourself with YaSM and service management best practice.

To explore the wiki, watch more videos and learn more about YaSM and the YaSM Process Map, please visit yasm.com. There you will also find our complete contact details if you want to get in touch with us.

And, as always, if you have any questions we are happy to answer them!

Thanks for watching, and take care!