The renewal of the SIAM Body of Knowledge

The renewal of the SIAM Body of Knowledge

The second edition has been published: what's new, what have we contributed to it?

An eventful year is coming to an end. Reason enough to look back on some of its positive highlights. For us, this includes the publication of the second edition of the SIAM Body of Knowledge. Markus Müller, co-author of the SIAM Body of Knowledge & Blueponte co-founder, gives valuable insights into the SIAM world and how it has evolved in 2020.

The SIAM development in numbers

A lot has happened since the Foundation Body of Knowledge was first published in January 2017. Here is a quick look at the numbers: there are now more than 10,000 downloads, successful certifications in more than 36 countries and the annual market analysis for SIAM shows that it is now a global and relevant method. The understanding of SIAM has evolved and the application of SIAM knowledge, i.e., what is possible, how the concepts can be implemented across industries, has increased significantly. The market itself has also changed. A good example is the much-wanted inclusion of agile methods for the provision of services. Most frameworks have been adapted accordingly. Hence it was time to adapt the concepts, contents and theory to reflect the latest developments.

Bringing trust to sourcing

The team of authors worked hard to determine which chapters should be renewed and which should be added. True to the Blueponte claim of “Bringing Trust To IT Sourcing” the focus was put on describing the practices and procedures of a trust-based approach to managing multiple suppliers. For example, we investigated which factors determine the building of trust and how the supposed contradiction between pure contract-based multi-supplier management and the trust-based interactions of all actors can be resolved in the direction of increased productivity.

Right from the start, it was clear that it will be revision and not a redefinition of the SIAM basics. We integrated new fields of knowledge based on the existing principles, made additional support tools available and improved the consistency of concepts and the use of the technical language.

In a project of this kind, where the overall success depends on the collaboration of individual authors the revised edition is a fantastic learning opportunity and offers a broad terrain for applying what we, as authors have learned as SIAM practitioners. It’s also about the way we ensured quality and consistency, which was unique and just as educational as the content itself, which we developed together from our different backgrounds and experiences. In doing so, we, the entire Blueponte team, made use of our shared experience. As a result, the contributions to the SIAM Body of Knowledge were enriched with our experiences, ideas and opinions.

So not everything that brought us in 2020 was negative. We look forward to the next year to continue what we have created this year. Follow us on LinkedIn for regular updates.

Service Nerds SIAM Q&A

Service Nerds SIAM Q&A

What you need to know about Service Integration and Management.

A few days ago Robert Sieber from the Service Nerds interviewed Markus Müller, co-founder of Blueponte, on the topic of SIAM. You can listen to the interview here, or read on to find out more.

Which problem does SIAM solve?

SIAM lets you combine the advantages of multi-sourcing, i.e. best of breed from every vendor, with the simplicity of single-sourcing. The service provision should look simple for customers. Even if a complex network of service providers has to be controlled, the complexity should be unnoticeable for the customer. The aim is to align the entire value chain with the customer in mind.

This is what an external service integrator is used for. The service integrator must act independently of individual providers. If a company acts as an integrator and is also a service provider, it can lead to a conflict of objectives. If you want to know more about the role of a Service Integrator, read here.

How does SIAM solve the problems of Multi-Sourcing?

There are a variety of contractual and informal relationships in a SIAM ecosystem. SIAM steps right into the agreements and interaction in the relationship triangle between customer, integrator and service provider. It also takes the interactions between the individual service providers into account. The ultimate measurement is how satisfied the customer organization is with the overall service performance. However, the issue of billing services is also of great importance. In many technically savvy organizations, the competencies for billing are missing. These are skills that define a good service integrator. The presence of the service integrator is a prerequisite for SIAM.

The reasons why what has been agreed is often not achieved can often be attributed to a lack of role clarity. The service integrator has a moderating role here. In particular, any form of finger-pointing has to be addressed and avoided.

What is the role of the service integrator?

A key goal of the service integrator is to reduce the complexity of the value chain and to offer enough information for effective decision-making. This can be done at the operational or the tactical level. Incident management could serve as an example for a distributed WAN service that is provided for different components and with different partners for each country. The application of SIAM practices makes a significant contribution to reducing complexity and ensuring the continuity of service provision.

Another essential point that SIAM addresses is a dynamic that has accompanied outsourcing from the start. Most of the time, a customer organization begins to substitute services provided by the service provider that are not in accordance with the contract, regardless of whether this is done consciously or unconsciously. Service providers are starting to rely on it because they know from experience that there is still an authority to step in anyway. This can occur, for example, when service levels expire. One solution is to work consistently on the process and service level and not on the level of operational tasks and backlogs. However, it requires a different mindset and different skills. In the short term, substitution can help to counter customer pressure. In the long term, however, it often turns out to be a trap, because the exception becomes the rule. As simple as this sounds in theory, the decisions are difficult to make in practice because they also risk escalation through business areas.

In other words, too strong a technical orientation is rather a hindrance for a service integrator. The recruiting for employees of the service integrator must pay attention to this and look for a service integrator-specific skill profile.

What is the added value of a service integrator?

There is agreement on the question of where the value contribution of the service integrator lies. It is not incident handling but ensuring communication between the actors.

The aim of SIAM is to coordinate different types of service providers with different degrees of maturity in such a way that the services can be complemented and merged into a business service.

The provocative thesis in the interview, according to which very few providers can actually deliver services, can hardly be contradicted from the customer’s point of view. In our experience, however, the change in perspective shows that the provision of services is blocked by the dependencies on the customer and the lack of transparency. This is exactly where the service integrator is required as a neutral mediator. However, SIAM requires an established service management. SIAM is based on service management and is taking the next step: away from individual service providers, towards a network of providers. SIAM can also be used as a specific further development of service management for cloud computing.

Can the large cloud providers be controlled by a comparatively small company? Maybe not. SIAM adopts a different attitude towards the cloud provider. The distinction between whether the partner is seen as a ‘High Trust’ or a ‘Low Trust’ partner is crucial when it comes to how it is integrated into the SIAM ecosystem. A large cloud provider will probably be classified as a ‘high trust’ partner and we trust that they will have their processes under control. On the other hand, classic outsourcing partners with different shoring types are more likely to be classified as low trust.

In the interview, the thesis was initially put forward that SIAM might become obsolete in a distant future in which only cloud services exist. However, in the course of the discussion, this was seen as an extreme and rather theoretical scenario, as IT will always be dealing with a hybrid form for an indefinite period of time. Many of the fundamentals of SIAM are not new and are known and proven knowledge and best practices.

Good service integrators know that it is not about a purely technical integration, but about the process of bringing the service providers closer together. At the beginning there is always uncertainty and it is about establishing trust in order to create the feeling of unity. At its core it’s all about trust, because that’s the glue that holds every organization and society together.

This is why we at Blueponte bring trust to IT-Sourcing.

How SIAM supports the digital transformation?

How SIAM supports the digital transformation?

Terms such as digitization, IoT, cloud, bimodale IT, agile and DevOPs are with us all the time.

The increasing speed of change in our daily life, especially in the area of ​​digitization, has made many technologies and concepts obsolete.

Digitization, IoT, Cloud, Bimodal IT, Agile and DevOps are terms that are with us all the time. Although many can no longer hear them and are sometimes skeptical about the practicality of some concepts, from my point of view the value that these concepts bring are worth taking a closer look. 

What does digitale transformation mean?

Digital transformation is the embedding and use of digital technologies and services in many areas of a company. This leads to changes in the way companies work and how they add value for their customers.

The trend towards “Everything as a Service” and the selection of the most suitable provider (Best of Breed) is leading to an increase in the number of different service providers and suppliers in the IT supply chain, which must be managed efficiently. Even as a small company, it is not unusual to have a dozen different providers quite quickly. This is where a management model like SIAM comes in. It makes the complexity in a multi-sourcing environment more transparent and enables efficient control of the provision of services.

For those readers who believe SIAM is a cat, or a Far Eastern travel destination, I would like to briefly explain what it is actually about. For this I would like to use the original text from the official publication (SIAM Foundation Body of Knowledge): 

“Service Integration and Management (SIAM) is a management method that can be used in an environment that procures services from different service providers. SIAM has a different focus than traditional multi-sourced ecosystems with one customer and multiple suppliers. It offers governance, management, integration, security and coordination to ensure that customer organizations get maximum benefit from their service providers. “

Find the full publication here: Link to Scopism Body of Knowledge

Why consider SIAM for an organization on the digital journey?

IT departments are faced with the great challenge of enabling the digitization projects of the business units and advising and accompanying them during implementation. As a result, the capacities required for stable operation and control of the providers are aligned to the new challenges and must manage the balancing act between innovation and service stability. Often it is the same people who are responsible for the configuration and maintenance of technical systems who work on digitization projects, who then also have to take the lead in controlling suppliers. There is a “skill gap” between the management of tickets and the management of supplier contracts. This is not only inefficient, but also puts the responsible people and the respective organization under a lot of pressure.

The use of SIAM and the establishment of a central function, the service integrator, allows an organization to focus on the management of internal and external service providers and the provision of a smooth end-to-end service for customers. This frees up capacities within the company, which can be used in a targeted manner in other digitalization and innovation projects.

Another opportunity that SIAM offers is the ability to quickly and efficiently integrate new suppliers or service providers into an existing supply chain in an organizational, procedural and technical manner. With an ever-increasing number of different suppliers and the shorter contract cycles it has become essential to create more efficient structures. From drafting contracts, provider onboarding, creation of standardized governance structures, comprehensive performance management to supplier offboarding. SIAM creates the structures that enable sustainable multi-provider management in a digital world.

If you have already had experience or if you would like to exchange ideas with us, we would be very happy to hear from you.