2.2.2 Service consumers
When receiving services, an organization takes on the generic role of the service consumer. Service consumers collaborate with service providers in the co-creation of value.
For the generic role of service consumer, ITIL 4 makes a distinction between three separate roles: customer, user and sponsor.
Customer: A role that defines the requirements for a service and takes responsibility for the outcomes of service consumption.
User: A role that uses services.
Sponsor: A role that authorizes budget for service consumption.
These roles can be used in any combination. In any service relationship it is important that these roles are fully identified, as this will assist with communications and the management of stakeholders. Each role could have different expectations of the services and the expected value from them.
2.2.3 Other stakeholders
There can be many other stakeholders that play a role in value creation:
■ Shareholders are interested in the success of the organization, often in terms of financial benefits.
■ Employees of the service provider may be interested in other value, including professional growth, financial compensation and sense of purpose.
■ The community may have relations with the services. This may cover charity, environmental factors, employment, social impact, etc.
■ 2.3 PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
Service: A means of enabling value co-creation by facilitating outcomes that customers want to achieve, without the customer having to manage specific costs and risks.
Services are based on one or more products.
Product: A configuration of an organization’s resources designed to offer value for a consumer.
The organization’s resources include the four dimensions of service management: organizations and people, information and technology, partners and suppliers, value streams and processes. The service provider enables access to these resources, to be used by the consumer in such a way that these resources are valuable to the consumer. Goods may be transferred to the consumer as part of the service.
Products may not be exclusive to consumer groups: they can be used for different purposes and for different consumer groups.
Products are usually only partially visible to the consumer.
E.g., a network provision can be part of the offered product, but consumers will not be able to see the network itself, they will only be able to use it for their own purposes.
2.3.1 Service offerings
A service provider and a consumer can agree on services that are offered by the service provider.
Service offering: A formal description of one or more services, designed to address the needs of a target consumer group.
A service offering may include:
■ a wide variety of goods (e.g. a laptop), to be supplied to a consumer
■ access to resources (e.g. a network or storage, possibly through a laptop), granted or licensed to a consumer under agreed terms and conditions
■ service actions (e.g. user support), performed to address a consumer’s needs
The service offering is often demonstrated to consumers in the format of a service catalogue.
Services are offered to target consumer groups, internal or external to the service provider organization. The service provider is responsible for the resources made available to the consumer, goods to be supplied, and service actions to be performed.
■ 2.4 SERVICE RELATIONSHIPS
Any and all organizations are both service provider and service consumer. An organization will assume the role of provider or consumer within the context of a given relationship with another organization.
When provisioning services, an organization takes on the role of the service provider. The provider can be external to the consumer’s organization, or they can both be part of the same organization.
Service provision: Activities performed by an organization to provide services.
The service provider:
■ manages the resources that are configured to deliver the service
■ provides access to these resources for users
■ fulfils the agreed service actions (support)
Service provision may also include the supplying of goods.
The service provider will also have to manage the service performance (service level management), and to continually improve the services provided, to maintain the relationship and the value (co-)created.
The consumer consumes the services provided by the service provider.
Service consumption: Activities performed by an organization to consume services.
The consumer:
■ manages its own resources that are needed to use the service
■ performs service actions, including utilizing the provider’s resources, and requesting service actions to be fulfilled
The consumer may also receive (acquire) goods, delivered by the provider as parts of the service.
Service providers and service consumers have a relationship, based on the services provided by the provider to the consumer. This leads to a service relationship between providers and consumers.
Service relationship: A cooperation between a service provider and service consumer, including service provision, service consumption, and service relationship management.
This relationship needs to be managed.
Service relationship management: Joint activities performed by a service provider and a service consumer to ensure continual value co-creation based on agreed and available service offerings.
These activities include regular meetings over the delivered services, discussing
