The ongoing tension and debate within Celanese regarding the adoption of ITIL and the balance between implementing rigorous IT processes and achieving high-performance IT services.

Cons

Relevant Facts

click to edit

possible solutions

Gradual ITIL Adoption. Instead of attempting a full-scale ITIL implementation, Celanese could gradually adopt ITIL practices and principles. They could prioritize specific areas where process improvement is most needed and gradually introduce ITIL-aligned processes in those areas. This incremental approach allows the organization to assess the impact of each change and make adjustments as necessary, reducing the disruption associated with a large-scale transformation.

Balanced Approach. Celanese could consider implementing a balanced approach that combines elements of ITIL's best practices with a culture that encourages creativity and risk-taking. This approach would involve defining essential IT processes and ensuring they are followed for stability and compliance while allowing room for innovation and flexibility. It will require clear communication and leadership support to strike a balance between process discipline and performance.

cons

pros

Complexity in Coexistence: During the transition, Celanese may need to manage a mix of old and new processes, which can be complex and challenging to coordinate. This coexistence can create confusion and inefficiencies.

Focused Improvement. By prioritizing specific areas for ITIL adoption, Celanese can focus its efforts on the processes that need the most improvement. This targeted approach can lead to quicker wins and measurable improvements in those areas.

Better Adaptation. The organization can adapt to changes more effectively as they are introduced gradually. This approach provides time for employees to understand and get used to new processes, reducing resistance and improving the overall acceptance of it.

Risk of Losing Momentum. If the organization does not maintain momentum and commitment to the gradual adoption plan, there is a risk that initiatives may stall or lose support over time.

The CIO presents a conceptual graph illustrating a trade-off between process improvement and performance. He believes that performance should take precedence over strict process adherence.

It seems that it might take at least two years to generate "hard cost reductions" from ITIL. However, there is an expectation that ITIL will help eliminate rework, streamline processes, and potentially lead to more competitive outsourcing rates.

The CIO expresses skepticism about excessive process focus, emphasizing the importance of having skilled individuals who can make informed decisions and be creative when necessary.

The CIO faces a decision about which of the five ITIL projects to endorse and financially support. This reflects an ongoing organizational dilemma regarding the prioritization of process discipline versus performance improvement.

The ITIL advocates in the Infrastructure group at Celanese were disappointed when the CIO did not provide strong support for the ITIL initiative, which they believed was necessary for process re-engineering.

ITIL was a collection of best practices for managing IT operations. Presented as a series of books to provide a comprehensive set of processes complete with goals, task checklists, and procedures that collectively address the work needed to manage the IT infrastructure.

ITIL version 2 recommended that organizations start with the operations-focused Service Support processes especially Incident and Change Management

click to edit

The ITIL version 3 recommended starting with more strategy focused processes such as Demand and service Level Management. The lifecycle logic was implemented for where to start when tackling IT service improvement.

click to edit

First version of the ITIL was the level of IT service quality from IT vendors was unsatisfactory from the British government. Because of the poor quality of the IT services the OGC was tasked with developing a framework for the efficiency and the financial responsibility of deployment of IT resources in the British and private sectors

click to edit

Second version of ITIL was released with seven books this included Service Support entailed processes that helped provision IT services on a day to day basis. While Service Delivery contained the processes that more looked into the managed services of IT

click to edit

Third version of ITIL was published as a refresh of the second version as an extension of the ITIL framework. It added new processes, developed a more lifecycle approach to IT Service Management and emphasized on the need for IT business integration.

History of ITIL

BY starting with these customer- facing processes this would help business alignment goal would be achieve more effectively.

HP Assessment

click to edit

The assessment consist of a series of questions to which the managers in different areas of IT would respond to as well as a HP-facilitated session in which the responses were discussed with the participating managers and directors

Celanese IT Director commissioned an assessment using HP one of the leading vendor of software and that was embedded in the ITIL best practices at the time, to assess Celanese IT organization this would represent the first exposure to the ITIL.

click to edit

The assessment would also bring light to how little the groups knew about each other's work and how little the awareness was of what it took to deliver unified IT services to thier business customers

click to edit

Cons

The three top recommendations:

Pros

click to edit

The Celanese IT Service Management scored a 46% which is below average. Some of the IT directors were surprised at the below average IT Service Management scored.

click to edit

With regard to the causes of the underlying low maturity level HP was able to Highlight the following problems and give three recommendations

click to edit

The lack of formal service-level management that ensures alignment to business requirements.

click to edit

lack of tools, documentation, integrated processes

click to edit

Inadequate transparency of the production environment that is inadequate collection, reporting and distribution of information

Formalize the service level management process to include a service level agreement

click to edit

move to a single or federated tool solution.

Create a standard documentation process

StakeHolders

ITIL Application Supply Manager

IT leadership and Management

The customers and Clients

Operations Manager

Application Supply Manager

The business Unots and End Users

click to edit

Key Problems

click to edit

The business says that IT is failing to control costs and failing to deliver services and will not take responsibility for the failures in the business.

click to edit

Celanese IT are not a highly discipline organization it will be hard road to improve the internal IT processes. The IT services have an allocation model it is referred to as 'best effort' this represent the lowest cost support. It is 3rd on the priority classifications in the case of the helpdesk meaning the tickets would be responded to the next business day .

The IT's budget was based on an allocation rather than a consumption model this mean IT spent allocations as overhead to the business based on the local usage of networks and helpdesk services, the number of SAP licenses, and the number of PCs in the business. This model represented that the businesses had no control over their IT expenses instead they relied on the IT organization to spend Celanese IT funds

Celanese's IT operations were below average at a rating of 2 out of 5 on HP's process maturity model.

Celanese supports about 7000 PC users worldwide

Groups knew little about each others work because they were isolated from each other.

It was called government IT Infrastructure management when this became popular in the 1980's in the British Government and then went through framework changes in the 90's and then a decade later it was in the U.S.