CROC: IT without management system – as a car with the mechanical transmission

Georgy Ovanesyan, head "Management of IT Processes and Infrastructure" of CROC company

TAdviser: Georgy, what, in your opinion, a role of ITSM in the companies? What gives use of such systems to business?

Georgy Ovanesyan: For a start, it is important to understand that such ITSM. These are certain recommendations, rules, methodology of creation of management systems of IT in the company. The business using ITSM can predict more likely behavior of IT systems, their reaction to some external influences, deviations, etc. Thus, first of all, risk minimization in the field of IT infrastructure is provided.

In general it is possible to live without ITSM. However it is relevant only if you have a sensible manager to whom you trust and who well understands IT. As a rule, in the company of such managers catastrophically it is not enough, and they cost much. Usually they are aimed to be used on some revenue-generating business processes which IT often does not treat.

And it will even be simpler to such manager to use any semiautomatic system which will facilitate to him life. Life without single system of management can be compared to driving: it is possible to manage completely it manually with the mechanical transmission, most to monitor all indicators, to be engaged in service, and it is possible to entrust this question partially - the professional, partially – automatic equipment. And your life will become much easier.

TAdviser: How, on your observations, the situation with use of ITSM in the Russian companies is now? And how it at the same time differs in the large companies and SMB?

Georgy Ovanesyan: With systems and practicians of management of IT in the Russian companies, in my opinion, the situation is quite badly. So far there are only rare examples when company management and the IT, in particular, passes in a mature key. And even in these cases, as a rule, it was not without use of the western experience.

How does the situation differ in the large companies and SMB? I would tell that to SMB management of IT goes on 100% manually. In any case, I did not happen to see so far small or medium-sized company which would manage IT using some special methodologies and systems. But, upon, they not so also need it: in the small company management is manually possible.

In medium-sized companies the situation is heavier: their structure and IT infrastructure are more complex therefore ITSM already, it seems, and is necessary, but the companies did not grow on a maturity yet to serious management systems therefore they do not use them. Besides, in process of growth often there is a habit to manage the company with the state in thousands of people as though in it still small state. People always want to trust other people instead of trusting in a certain system. Moreover, a system is quite often perceived as a certain additional bureaucracy.

TAdviser: From ten large Russian companies how many, in your opinion, on average use ITSM?

Georgy Ovanesyan: If to understand implementation of one-two processes and automation of service as ITSM service-desk, then it is almost everywhere. However it does not mean that we manage IT using the recommendation of ITIL, it only means that the main painful points covered with formalization and automation. It is good too, it is that minimum which should be everywhere.

With a point of sight of other processes, more mature, I think, on one hundred companies will be one-three which fully use ITSM as the working tool. Only units of the companies are realized that ITSM is really necessary to them and use it for obtaining benefit, but not as the evidence of following to the international practicians.

TAdviser: How did demand for ITSM systems in Russia in recent years change? How demand in this area is affected by crisis?

Georgy Ovanesyan: Any time ago from abundance of money many companies did not even try to notice losses from unripe management of IT. The crisis factor increases demand for management systems because the company begins to consider costs more actively. The first requests in crisis are anyway coherent with a question – "as to us to cut down expenses?". ITSM helps, of course, not first of all here, but in the second precisely - as a certain auxiliary effect. Therefore during the crisis periods demand for ITSM grows.

In 2009, for example, we observed growth of the ITSM direction. Then it declined because people calmed down and decided that everything is good. In 2014 we did not manage to estimate growth yet, people did not experience crisis yet, but now the amount of requests grows again. And requests not on Service Desk implementation as services of automation, and on consulting on the correct building of IT processes grow that in one or two months to begin to save, achieve optimum level of risk or just it is better to live.

In general, demand for express services against the background of crisis very strongly grew. Many customers need now fast result which would manage cheap. We even created the special directory where also services in upgrade and implementation of ITSM entered.

TAdviser: How in CROC practice of ITSM is arranged? How many people in the company work in this direction?

Georgy Ovanesyan: Practice of ITSM exists in our company since 2003. It began with the fact that we built a support service of internal users and external customers. Since 2005 we work at foreign market. In more than 10 years more than one hundred ITSM projects of different scale and level of complexity were implemented already.

Now in CROC there is the whole department of ITSM specialists, managers, consultants, analysts and engineers enter it. Total number of a command – about 25 people. It is nearly the biggest command in the Russian market. Certification of specialists is supported at the high level thanks to permanent training and studying of the best world practices.

TAdviser: And what products and services you offer in the ITSM direction?

Georgy Ovanesyan: Our main service is a full stroke of implementation and automation of IT processes. We book audit of the current maturity of processes, we render consulting on their building. Then we start design of future solution. If the customer mature also wants more complex system, then at first the concept of the project then processes are projected separately is written. Our analysts are engaged in it. After that the terms of reference on automation are written, and our engineers realize it. Further – training of employees of the customer, support of the solution.

It is important to note that we have a principle – to offer consulting on ITSM only together with services in automation. We do not believe that creation of process on paper will bring real benefit.

The nomenclature of products which we use in projects, at us one of the widest in the market. It and western products, for example,BMC Remedy and HP Service Manager as world leaders. Our own technical support also works at the last, by the way. Generally speaking,the HP company has quite big product line of the class ITSM, they can be used as separately, and to implement a complex. These systems are unrolled in CROC, in HP Solution Center – the Russia's first center of solutions implemented together with HP.

There are also niche products, such as OmniTracker and Axios Assyst. Recently we began to pay more actively attention and to the Russian software. Now just we look narrowly at Naumen and Terrasoft, we test them.

TAdviser: Tell, please, what approaches you use at implementation of ITSM?

Georgy Ovanesyan: We use author's approaches. Now the most known and popular approach in the market which is used, perhaps, by all except us is implementation of certain standard processes. If the customer is ready, exaggerating, to suffer from pain and sufferings within 1-1.5 years, then as a result receives the excellent solution - ideal processes which work worldwide equally.

We implement not the boxed systems, and customized under the specific organization and its business processes. As a result the customer does not lose own practices, approaches and specifics of creation of processes, and prefers to develop further the IT processes with us.

TAdviser: As far as practice of implementation of ITSM by own forces, without integrators is extended in the Russian companies?

Georgy Ovanesyan: Of course, any company wants to do by all the forces if only not to spend excess means. But, frankly speaking, it is impossible to implement ITSM independently almost at anybody. And even if the company employs to itself in staff of the experienced consultant for this practice, from within to be engaged in consulting very difficult. To implement the project by own forces, very strong support of company management is necessary.

When the external contractor comes, the customer, of course, can doubt him, nobody understands his business better, than he. However to the external consultant in the company listen anyway more and more willingly, than to regular. It works already at the level of psychology. Besides after IT process is built by own forces, as a rule, it is all the same necessary to employ a command of avtomatizator that, in general, financially already not too effectively. Therefore as practice shows, sooner or later customers all the same come to the external companies.

TAdviser: Could you give examples of the largest and interesting projects which you implemented?

Georgy Ovanesyan: We have a number of sign projects in power industry, banks, the oil and gas industry. It is possible to give the multi-stage project in one telecom operator as an example. The project is interesting that the customer based on HP Service Manager built the system of technical support of both internal users, and external subscribers. It is quite exceptional case: most often, these services separate. At the same time the project can be considered demonstrative as the customer did not aim to implement a lot of standard processes at once, and preferred to work consistently.

From interesting projects on the same HP Service Manager it is possible to give the situational center of the Central passenger suburban company. In selection process of solutions it turned out that the system of the class Service Desk can quite act as a core of such center. It provides both process automation, and integration with the different systems. The ITSM tool is used not absolutely traditionally here - it processes signals from different sources, correlates them among themselves and issues on screens of the situational center as certain summary incidents. For example, if the ticket printing machine broke, and queue in cash desk at the same time was built, then these are the connected events. The customer for reaction of rather uniform incident - needs or to put the receiving teller, or to urgently eliminate breakdown.

TAdviser: May you cite as an example the effects of implementation of ITSM expressed in numerical indicators?

Georgy Ovanesyan: There is an example when our customer after implementation of ITSM dismissed more than 10 people. In their case the automation purpose initially was optimization of the state. It is easy to calculate financial effect of it.

In general, implementation of ITSM systems is often monetized indirectly. For example, in Tekhsnabeksport a system was planned including as the tool for stricter control of the contractor. The company is included into large branched structure Rosatom. Maintenance of IT processes is made by industry service provider, with own automation system of the class Service Desk. To send service request, the staff of the company "manually" filled out forms, approved them in an electronic document management system then they unloaded and directed to registration in a centralized system of the outsourcer.SLA formally were, but it was difficult to check their executability and realness.

Now users are in real time informed on accomplishment of requests and results of approval which began to be made quicker. A new system was intended, first of all, for convenience of users who address in a support service, but allowed also the customer to store at itself the local copy of all requests and incidents and to compare them to SLA.

TAdviser: What can you tell about the main difficulties in implementation of ITSM projects?

Georgy Ovanesyan: Examples of misunderstanding of that, why a similar system it is necessary, now meet more and more seldom. As a rule, ITSM is perceived as a certain basic function. However quite often the task of increase in efficiency of IT service is set only on paper to report to the management that formally such processes are built and such system is implemented. We most often refuse similar projects.

The second complexity is that the organization seldom is going to change. However planning the project on ITSM, it should be ready to changes. Our approach about which I spoke earlier allows to make it in a smooth form. We do not suggest to break everything, to forget, to refuse, but some organizational and structural and process changes are necessary always, otherwise ITSM not to implement. However in thoughts of the Russian customers, probably, everything will begin to work beautifully in itself, some magic image. This difference in expectations and low readiness for changes for us is, perhaps, the main complexity.

TAdviser: What place in ITSM projects is taken by cloud computing?

Georgy Ovanesyan: The cloud is an ideal for ITSM. It is just that mechanism which allows you to spend always exactly so much how many it is necessary, despite seasonality and peaks of requests. If necessary you easily receive additional capacities of a cloud of CROC or Amazon, or buy in addition licenses according to the scheme SaaS now, and then also easily refuse them. Flexibility which clouds give is what was described about 10-20 years ago in books on ITIL as the ideal picture which should be reached by some managerial methods.

Besides, now most large vendors has cloud products, in particular, of Service Desk. The western vendors offer it from the western DPCs so far that loses relevance in a type of changes in the law on personal data, but we actively work on doing it of Russia. In particular, we already have an ITSM service from a cloud.

TAdviser: To whom, first of all, such service is interesting?

Georgy Ovanesyan: There is a lot of interested, but are interested so far, from my point of view, in more konyyukturny image. Many customers are in shaky balance now. On the one hand, all shout about import substitution, and with another – there are no accurate, specific instructions concerning it yet. Therefore all are interested just in case that, just in case, it was possible to consume foreign software from the Russian DPCs or to implement Russian software and also solutions based on Open Source. But pass still few to real actions, it is not forbidden to use import yet, and it is simpler to live as earlier.

To the customers we suggest to spend some forces and funds for express services in preparation of the plan of import substitution which they would have on an emergency case. At the same time we explain to them what products they will be able to substitute and what are not present because there are no Russian analogs. This service is in much bigger demand now, than real import substitution.