International Process and Performance Institute

* The CEMM approach is used as part of ITSM On-Ramp Services to establish a Business Lane for ITSM Road Maps. Watch for the second edition of Establishing a Business Lane for your ITIL® Road Map - A Pocket Guide to CEMM for ITIL®

Having recently taught a Certified Process Professional (CPP) class based on IPAPI's Customer Expectation Management Methodology (CEMM) I wanted to log some thoughts on the experience. Since I also teach ITIL® V3 Foundation and Intermediate classes, there were some observations I thought I'd share.

Day 1 Process Optimization

Any class that discusses 'process' is likely to mention people like Deming,  Juran, and Normann and this class was no different in that respect. The ITIL® publications also mention these process legends, including Deming's 'white space', Juran's work on 'fit for use' and Normann's 'value creation'. However I don't recall hearing DaVinci and Einstein mentioned in ITIL®:

"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication" - Leonardo DaVinci
"Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler" - Albert Einstein

In an world of never-ending complexity, this should appeal to IT.

(Note to self:  remember to talk more about CEMM's use of pattern recognition in the next class. When I first heard this I admit I kind of rolled my eyes, but the methodology's use of these techniques is much more apparent to me now. It is very easy for processes to get so complex they become a blur; the new templates really helped to visualize the patterns of diagnostics in the process landscape. It's easy for those new to the methodology to miss this.)

In an increasingly complex IT world, simplicity should be a welcome improvement and I will point this out more in future classes.

The second thing that struck a chord was the focus on eliminating the causes of work and/or customer dissatisfaction rather than the effects. Having background in root-cause technologies this naturally appealed to me. Think about it --- does fixing the effects really simplify things?

The last thing about the introduction that was very welcome --- and in fact was specifically requested as an objective for the class by the attendees --- was the prescriptive nature of CEMM. It is a methodology; ITIL® is not prescriptive and is simply 'guidance'. Another welcome improvement!

During the review and case studies for Optimization, there were several observations and comments.

Understanding what we mean by a Moment of Truth is critically important, and reading Jan Carlson's book is highly recommended. It's actually a simple, short read, would help students be prepared, and I was able to get it from my library (no cost).

The last observation I had was the use of Process Actors as an aid in mapping IT systems to business processes. This is not only useful for linking technical and business service catalogs, but the optimization method seeks to simplify and remove unnecessary 'touch points' that only complicate an already complicated IT service infrastructure.

Day 2 Process Alignment

When people involved in ITSM/ITIL® projects hear words like 'alignment' and 'customer' they are often thinking of aligning IT with their (internal) business customers. While the techniques used in CEMM apply to both internal and external processes, its real power comes from 'outside-in' thinking; its focus on the external customer.

Not surprisingly, there an abundance of common ground here with ITIL®, particularly the new Version 3 guidance. Take the Service Strategy publication as an example:

"Customer outcomes, rather than specifications, are the genesis of services." page 4

"Value is defined not only strictly in terms of the customer's business outcomes; it is also highly dependent on customer's perceptions. ... Perceptions of value are influenced by expectations. ... What the customer values is frequently different from what the IT organization (or business) believes it provides. Mind the gap." page 31

Most, if not all, ITSM/ITIL® adoption programs I've seen are IT driven initiatives. Drawing the business' attention inward to 'the system' or 'the process' can increase the natural tendency to have an inward view.

The use of Moments of Truth and Successful Customer Outcomes is fundamental to the CEMM approach. The use of simple formulas to weight these customer 'touch points' is easy to understand and keeps things centered on the customer. This drives "outside-in" thinking throughout any element of the methodology.

This can be used by IT to get focused on their internal (business) customers, but doing so before the business has engaged the methodology to ensure they are focused on external customers simply does not make sense to me.

The Business Lane must start at Level 1 (top-down) business processes and drive optimization, alignment and innovation activities from that point. The CEMM approach is ideally suited for this. It gets the business involved at a strategic planning level and leaves the details to the appropriate IT and business staff.

Using Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for Successful Customer Outcomes is also an important element of the method, and is consistent with other alignment techniques, such as Cobit and ITIL®. In fact, use of CEMM can help ensure that controls are 'customer aligned' and not inadvertently creating more work or risk to the customer.

At this point we also introduced Process Activity List Modeling, which is pleasantly different than establishing a detailed "As-Is" process model. A great way to keep it simple and get consensus on 'the process' so we can move on to optimization, alignment or innovation as required.

Identification of process risk was also simple and centered on the external customer, quickly identifying potential areas that may warrant further controls or inspection.

 
Day 3 Process Innovation

The last day went by quickly. The way we stated our Moments of Truth suddenly became very apparent. It is likely (and recommended) that an initial optimization and alignment 'pass' be taken prior to an innovation workshop; this enables greater understanding of the process landscape and should bring greater clarity on SCO statements and Moments of Truth.

However, it's easy to see that once an organization has committed to CEMM that an innovation workshop could be conducted anytime. This can help facilitate strategic planning and Service Portfolio Management.

Conclusions

The use of simple worksheets and action plans was extremely effective, and provides simple tools that can be used to facilitate the methodology. The action plans provide a basis for developing a very well targeted business case for improvement, quickly and with laser focus on the external customer.

CEMM is extremely well suited as a simple, effective planning tool for optimizing, aligning and innovating business processes. It could easily be used for internal processes as well, however it seems to me that the business should align with the external customer before too much internal process improvement begins. Otherwise you risk staying mired in an 'inside-out' paradigm.

Services must be defined from the top down. This demands that there be a Business Lane for your ITSM/ITIL® Road Map. For me, the CPP classes and the CEMM approach is that road.

A 'second edition' of the Establishing a Business Lane for your ITIL® Road Map pocket guide is already in the works, and another NY training class is planned for later this year.

I the meantime, any questions or comments about CEMM as it relates to ITSM and ITIL® are more than welcome.