The Unified Service Model Summary

The reality is different sub-organizations do need different types of information in order to address their respective requirements. These organizations also require the ability to roll up and summarize information differently. What’s truly required is a model that enables the organization to possess a single information framework that provides sufficient flexibility for each sub-organization to manage, use, and augment the information to meet individual needs without impacting others.

To help accomplish this, Northramp has created a unified model for IT that establishes a single, consistent, and flexible information framework for IT organizations.  The Unified Service Model™ (USM) acts as a mechanism for helping an organization:

• Create a single definition and inventory of key information elements within their environment (investments, systems, services, projects, etc.)

• Establish consistent relationships between elements (investments are comprised of one or more systems/services, strategies are comprise of one or more activities linked to specific systems/services, etc.)

At the heart of the USM is the creation of a  definitive list of ‘services’ delivered by the organization, whether the service is delivered by individuals or by a system that supports a programmatic or administrative requirement.

By leveraging the USM to establish a single consistent information model, organizations are able to establish true line of sight between their plans and real activities, improve portfolio visibility, and drive greater value from enterprise architecture by linking it directly to the operating environment.

The USM is comprised of core objects representing the primary business concepts used in effective IT planning and operational management. In addition to the core objects, a number of supporting or cross-cutting objects exist in the model and are linked to one or multiple core objects. All objects within the model are expected to possess one or more attributes or information fields that comprise the object.

Different Information Models

One major inhibitor in transforming the clouds into gears is the differing, competing, and sometimes conflicting frameworks and nomenclature used across IT sub-organizations. Different lists and definitions of systems, projects, technologies, and investments lead to silos of information built specifically to meet one group’s needs. Often times the nomenclature itself is muddled; systems are called investments by some and projects by others. ‘What do you mean by…’ is frequently heard as one group attempts to answer the needs or data calls of another.

Even when each functional and information model is well understood across various IT organizations, the translation between them is often very difficult or even impossible. For example, project budgets may add up to the investment management group’s ‘DME’ totals but each is comprised of a completely different breakdown of activities. Individual mapping between the two requires manual effort and judgment and therefore getting a definitive, consistent, and accurate answer to ‘what’s going on’ is also impossible.

The end result is little transparency around IT related activities and virtually no line of sight across the organization. In many organizations for example, it is all but impossible to link strategic plans and strategies to what is actually occurring at the system and project level, roll up spending into consistent investment segments, or align activities with mission capabilities.

Summary

In many ways, the USM simply represents a uniform information model for IT planning, project, and operations management. This concept alone can provide enormous value; enabling an organization to connect and organize disparate repositories as well as build substantially better reporting for internal and external stakeholders.

However, just the general concept of leveraging and enforcing a unified approach within an IT organization can provide significant value. The USM can, in essence, help develop and communicate a technical business model for effectively managing the people, money, and other resources the organization uses to accomplish its mission. It can not only drive a common language for IT, but communicate the relationships between key business concepts. The USM can serve a range of uses to an IT organization, including:

• As a tool for better integrating disparate IT functions…
  By associating specific model elements with various IT sub-organizations or functions, the USM acts as a tool that helps organizations better understand their process integration points, information hand-offs, and other natural linkages between various IT sub-organizations.

• As a blueprint for change…
  The USM can act as a ‘to-be’ model for organizations, representing a framework for analyzing the current state roles, processes, and supporting technologies; identifying and pin-pointing gaps; and helping define the required changes to establish better management, decision-making, or service delivery.

• As a communications and/or training tool…
  The USM can also be leveraged to help communicate or educate a range of stakeholders, from organizational leadership and branch management to IT staff about how IT functions and disciplines work together to delivery IT services.

• As a model for organizing and managing IT planning, project, and operational data…
  An obvious use of the USM is to instantiate the model in software to enable full management of IT data and maintain the relationships between data for full planning, operational, and portfolio reporting.

Simply put, the USM represents not only an information architecture, but a tool for helping individuals consider or examine a wide range of IT organizational and operational concepts, including its roles, processes, and systems as well as its information.