We don't invent wheels.

CERN is not the only entity in the world trying to optimize and improve service delivery. A lot of best practice exists. After having explored the options, we focussed on ITIL V3 which, although initially intended to 'put some order' in the information technology domain, is applicable to all service organizations. ISO20000 is the standard for service management, and is aligned with ITIL V3. We follow the ISO standard, the standard suggests what to do and how to do it on a 'high level' (does not go into details so much), ITIL provides practical implementation suggestions. These two standards are thus complementary and since a couple of years, fully aligned.

• ITIL is relevant (we found it applicable to services provided in GS and IT departments).
• ITIL is mature (is in it's 3rd release, after many many years of review and improvement).
• ITIL is verbose (5 books of ca 350 pages each, with many practical examples and tips).
• ITIL has a broad scope (covers anything from strategy, to design, implementation, operation and continuous improvement).
• ITIL is widely adopted, and its influence continues to increase (it is the 'de facto' standard for service management).

We are pragmatic, (no bureaucrats)
The ITIL books are our 'bible'; BUT we are not extremists. We use what we think is relevant, and remain focussed on light, smooth, and simple processes and tools. Our aim is to stay far away from unnecessary complexity, bureaucracy and 'heaviness'; and as close as possible to the best practices that have proven to work for others.

We seek participation of all stakeholders

All processes were developed using a workshop-type approach to ensure stakeholder involvement from the very beginning. During several workshops which were hosted by an experienced consultant consistent and unified processes were designed and documented in a standardized manner.

This approach was chosen to ensure a positive attitude towards the new processes and at the same ensure established working practices can be integrated (up to a certain limit).

We are lean and agile

The service management team started  in 2010 with three people from GS and one from IT.
In September 2010 we got some additional help from two fellows and a project associate.
With the startup of the service desk this increased with the (internal) recruitment of a service-desk manager, and resources provided by IT to phase out legacy systems used for computer center operation.
We estimate that during 2010 the project used 1400 man days, of which 1000 (70%) were supplied  by GS and 400 (30%) by IT. This includes the effort of the tool implementation team in IT.

During 2011 the resources allocated to the project increased (service desk is outsourced and employs ca 6 FTE's); some IT user support staff joined the team in 2011 and in 2012 one additional person joined the GS team via internal mobility. During 2013 resources reduced with the fellow contracts ending that started in 2010. At the moment of writing (August 2015), the technical support team counts 2 staff (of which one on maternity leave), and 3 project associates. One project associate is planned to join the team in September.