accountable for the outcomes of its multi-sourced environment. This includes establishing effective governance and commercial practices that reinforce the Customer Organisation as a key decision-maker and point of escalation when required.
The challenge, however, is to find a balance between becoming too involved in daily operations and running a risk of hampering the Service Integrator’s role, or conversely, being too far removed from the operational environment and therefore unable to provide timely and effective controls. This is the ‘challenge of control’ – not too much, not too little … just right!
The ever-changing SIAM environment is built for flexibility and agility. It’s important that any change is captured and reflected in the SIAM model, including its artefacts such as process models, contracts, agreements and reporting structures.
Therefore, the Customer Organisation plays a critical role in ensuring there is a clear and understood connection between the SIAM model and the future direction of the wider business.
A successful and high performing SIAM ecosystem is fuelled by collaboration, cooperation and coordination, and is underpinned by trust, mutual respect and shared motivation by all parties involved. If we recognise a SIAM
environment as “one team” delivering valued and valuable end-to-end services, then the Customer Organisation is not only a part of this team, but a leader.
There is also a role within the SIAM environment in setting, managing and improving the culture. A culture of collaboration and continuous improvement is hard to define, specifically in contracts and agreements, and it will be up to the Customer Organisation to facilitate such a culture and provide direction to enable everyone to maximise their participation and contribution.
The role of the Customer Organisation is not just a participant in a SIAM ecosystem, but an active leader. This is why we’ve likened the role to that of a first violinist in an orchestra. As concertmaster, they set the tone for the entire orchestra, carry the melody and work in harmony with the conductor-like Service Integrator.
Organisations that don’t or can’t fulfil this role adequately may find that planned and expected benefits of SIAM are not being achieved, and that the Service Integrator’s role is limited to a box-ticking, contract-driven reporting function which is far from the intended ‘one team’ collaborative environment.
Leveraging Kinetic IT’s experience in SIAM environments, we have outlined eight practical recommendations for the Customer Organisation embarking on a SIAM journey: