itSMFI 2016 Forum Focus - December Forum Focus ITSMFIV3 | Page 30

Book Review By Caspar Miller, itSMF Denmark Chapter Member
By Steven C. Bell
Without knowing it, this is a book we have all been waiting for. Run, Grow, Transform views IT in the
context of/on the backdrop of the Lean philosophy, which also forms the basis for frameworks such as
ITIL ® . The author of the book is Steve Bell, who also wrote Lean IT together with Mike Orzen.
Title: Run Grow Transform: Integrating Business and Lean IT
Author: Steven C. Bell
Target Group: Anyone working with improvements within
IT and wishing to learn more about IT Service Management
in a Lean context.
Qualifications: None required, although general knowledge
of IT Service Management and Lean is an advantage.
ISBN: 9781466504493
Publisher: CRC Press
Page Count: 336
®
The ITIL Service Strategy volume describes a strategy tool as
part of the Service Portfolio Management process known as
the option space tool, a ‘useful tool for making decisions on
the timing and sequencing of investments in a service
portfolio’ (p. 187), which is based on the value and the
volatility of investments. In the context of Service
Management, this translates to customers and markets, i.e.
the customer value of an investment and whether there is a
market for the investment.
The model divides investment opportunities into three
categories with increasing risk; run the business, grow the
business and transform the business. Run is an expression of
investments that are presently ripe, i.e. which represent high
customer value (the value is higher than the cost) in an
existing market. The next level, grow, is about investments
which have a potential but are not yet ripe. Customer value
is not as high, and the market is not as developed. Finally,
transform, the third level, is a radical change or re-thinking of
30 itSMFI Forum Focus—December 2016
both products and services as well as the processes and
business modules that support them.
The book is divided into two parts. The first part deserves
thorough scrutiny and is very valuable in terms of insight
into the importance of viewing Lean as a philosophy rather
than a tool set or a way to cut costs.
Grow and
transform
Run the
business
Lean product development

Product, service and process innovation

Variety without complexity

Create differentiation
Grow and
transform
Lean operational excellence


Reduce unit cost of services

Improve service quality

Reduce compliance costs
Make it easier to do business with IT
Run the
business
If we wish to benefit more from our IT capabilities, we
must improve speed, quality, cost efficiency and customer
satisfaction through continuous improvement, reducing
waste (muda), unnecessary variation (mura) and
over-burdening (muri)—that is, CSI in ITIL lingo. In this
way, we can free resources from running the business,