Service integration and management (SIAM) – Suddenly why so serious?

Joker Picture courtesy: https://tyrite.deviantart.com/art/Why-so-serious-92162678

There is one thing that links the sudden limelight which SIAM has received in the past years and “The Dark Knight” movie. It’s the dialog of Joker- “Why so Serious?”

Now, why did I make this statement is simply for two reasons:

1. Of course - I am fan of Joker
2. Because SIAM is not something which is new. SIAM is a management approach that has evolved over the last decade and is now rapidly growing in popularity and off late this has created a lot of curiosity among ITSM professionals. Almost, every ITSM professional is now discussing about SIAM

So in a quest to find out details about SIAM, I started my own research, and after about 3 months I was finally able to write this short article to address some common questions on SIAM

A brief history of SIAM:

So, it’s like one of those stories of the Kings – Long long ago, not so long ago, nobody knows how long ago – but wait, I think people know how long ago for SIAM.

The term service integration and management or SIAM, and the concept of SIAM as a management methodology originated in around 2005 from within the UK public sector. In 2010, the UK Government published a new information and communications technology (ICT) strategy, which included moving away from large prime supplier contracts to a more flexible approach using multiple service providers and cloud-based solutions

SIAM interest became global when in 2015 AXELOS published several white papers on SIAM, and in 2016 the SIAM Foundation Architect Group was formed by Scopism – This has been one good source for me. The objective was to bring the experts of the SIAM world together and create a consolidated view of their knowledge and experience.

So what is SIAM?

If you had asked this question somewhere around two years, you would have received ten different answers from ten different people and that’s precisely the most interesting thing about SIAM – it’s evolved in response to business problems, so each organization has its own take on what SIAM is and the best way to apply it.

In a layman’s language the answer to the questions “What is SIAM?”  is in the name: service integration and management, and in particular service integration across multiple providers.

But off late, thanks to a number of organizations with SIAM experience have collaborated to develop the SIAM Foundation Body of Knowledge, so we now have the below definition

“Service integration and management (SIAM) is a management methodology that can be applied in an environment that includes services sourced from a number of service providers.

SIAM has a different level of focus to traditional multi-sourced ecosystems with one customer and multiple suppliers. It provides governance, management, integration, assurance, and coordination to ensure that the customer organization gets maximum value from its service providers.”

OK, so now we have the definition and explanation in a simple language, but what is SIAM?

SIAM addresses the needs to provide a standardised methodology for integrating and managing multiple service providers and their services. It can enhance the delivery of the end to end supply chain, it provides governance, management, integration, assurance, and coordination to maximise the value received from multiple service providers.

It is not just a methodology for the management of services by a single organisation or governing body. It supports cross-functional, cross-process and cross-provider integration, in a complex sourcing environment or ecosystem in which all parties understand their role and responsibilities, are empowered to deliver, and are held accountable for their outcomes. As such it’s an organisational change that includes collaboration, and end-to-end focus into the core of every stakeholder involved.

That’s great news, but what are the benefits?

In plain English, SIAM helps companies who are struggling to manage their suppliers. Introducing the concept of a “service integrator” gives the company, and the customer, a single point of contact, as shown below.

Source: SIAM Foundation Body of Knowledge, copyright Scopism 2017

The SIAM model provides a single logical entity with accountability for the end to end service delivery, known as the service integrator. The customer organisation has a single management relationship with the service integrator, and the service integrator manages the relationships with the multiple service providers supporting the organisation.

As more and more organizations source services from different service providers, SIAM gives them a structure that allows them to add and remove service providers quickly and efficiently, with contracts, agreements, and a culture that drive the right behaviors from all parties

If you’re a service management professional (I have had this experience personally), you’ve probably been in the situation where your network supplier is blaming your database supplier who is blaming the applications team for an incident. In a SIAM model, the service integrator coordinates the response and drives a culture of “fix first, argue later.” An incident is just a small example of course; imagine a group of service providers working in an integrated way to support strategic goals.

That sounds awesome!!! That’s all what SIAM is about, now how about what SIAM is Not?

Like all practices, there are stories around SIAM too. SIAM is a coherent framework and people need to understand it and how it can help. To understand it better, it’s also interesting to know, what SIAM is not?

SIAM is Not –

1. A replacement of ITIL – There are similarities and overlaps to the basic principles of ITIL and SIAM, but point to be noted is SIAM is not meant to take over where ITIL left off. SIAM is unique in offering a structure, culture, principles, and practices for managing a multi-service provider environment, which then allow the use of your framework-of-choice.
2. Not a solution to all your issues – issues which people have been waiting for ITIL to resolve, and then thought DevOps would take care of them, and now are looking for the next best thing.
3. A new course or methodology or something which consultants came up to sell some books or training or their certifications – SIAM has actually been around for more than 10 years and there is already a treasure of tried-and-tested SIAM practices. The need to build an agile ecosystem of multiple service providers and utilise best-of-breed, collaboration, and coordination is not going anywhere.

Final Thoughts – Why should an ITSM professional care about SIAM

SIAM has been building momentum for years, and off late it has become a defined set of management practices that you can read, learn from, use, comment on, and help evolve.

If you’re an IT management professional of any flavour, SIAM is definitely an area you need to be aware of, even if it’s just reading a blog or two. SIAM will complement and build on many other management practices like IT service management (ITSM), and show you how to adapt and augment processes in a multi-supplier environment.