Welcome back to module 5, the service value chain. We will cover the six activities included in the service value chain. The learning objectives in module 5 include reviewing all six value chain activities, reviewing the plan activity, the improve activity, the engage activity, design and transition, the obtain and build activity and explain the deliver and support activity. The surface value chain abbreviated SVC is the central element of the SVS, the service value system. The chain outlines six activities that work together to respond to demand and to create value. The operating model is actually for the creation, delivery, and continual improvement of products and services. Though in this graph, in this diagram, it shows products and services being within the chain. That is actually the output of the six activities. It is not actually an activity. Products and services are the result of the service value chain. The six activities are intended to help the creation of products and services and focus on value. It's actually a lifecycle model. The service value chain being a lifecycle model of activities for the delivery of products and services, identifies six activities that look like they take place in a sequential order, but they can actually overlap and take place at various times within the lifespan of a product or a service. Actually, the improve activity is to be carried out everywhere. The planning activity is to help with a shared understanding of what the goals and directions are of the IT solution that you're going to be working on. Improving is about generating feedback. It's an iterative process. The engage activity is about relationships with stakeholders and understanding their needs. The design and transition activity is about understanding cost and time and expectations and quality standards and requirements that we have to work towards. The obtain and build activity, it's about making sure solutions are made available when needed. The deliver and support activity is about making sure our IT solutions deliver specifications as agreed to. What are the main activities in the service value chain? Is the plan activity. Really, you must start any type of IT, project or initiative with getting a good understanding of where we are with the current status on the direction that we plan to go, meeting with our stakeholders, identifying a shared vision, identifying buy-in from all of the stakeholders that's going to be working on the IT initiative and making sure that everyone has that shared understanding across the entire organization. It's about knowing what we want to do when we're going to carry out our efforts, how long it's going to take and really to make sure that everybody is on board and we're all working in the same direction. We also use the four-dimensions in this activity to make sure that the four-dimensions are considered here as well. Just as with implementing and deploying IT solutions, the plan activity is equally important. We need to stretch out the period it takes to plan what we're going to do in addition to executing our IT initiatives. We need plans on operational, tactical, and strategic level of the organization so that our shared vision and understanding runs across the entire organization. We also need plans on how we're going to make improvements. It starts with understanding the current status of the organization, almost like doing an as is or to be analysis. All activities need to really kick off with a good plan or a brown bag meeting or some type of project kick-off meeting where everybody knows where we are now and what we plan to complete, how long it's going to take us and which stakeholders are going to be involved. Some of the tools supporting the plan activity include contracts and service level agreements. That's where we document what we plan to do, how long it's going to take us, how much it's going to cost and the customer's acceptance of the outcome as well. The second service value chain activity is the improve activity. Well, of course we've discussed previously how important improving is across the entire company. Everybody has a responsibility to contribute towards improving our products and services that we are delivering. It would be beneficial if we had a dedicated team to making sure that our improvements get executed as planned. But each value stream activity is combined by using various practices, incident management, problem management, configuration management, security management. Those are different types of practices that can be used to support the six value chain activities. Improvement is everywhere. We're basically taking inputs and turning them into improvement initiatives. We're increasing surface performance here. We're making sure that we capture feedback and knowledge and sometimes in surveys and making improvements across the board and responding to users and customers needs, expectations and desires. Recommendations for improvements can come from anywhere within or external to the organization. They can come from users, they can come from managers, customers, clients, and even third-party suppliers. Every stakeholder has the opportunity to provide a recommendation or a suggestion that the service provider can make. It is our job as the service provider to document what those improvements should be. Improvements can take place continuously.
