ITIL® Guiding Principles – Optimize and Automate
ITIL® Guiding Principles – Optimize and Automate
ITIL4 Guiding Principle #7 States that we need to Optimize and Automate.
“The principle “Optimize and Automate” focuses on optimizing the work carried out by its human and technical resources. To achieve this, organizations should automate work to the possible extent that requires minimal human intervention.”
So how does one “optimize” and “automate” then? Well, the order of business here is to “optimize” first before we follow up with “automate”. Let’s dive into it…
Let’s take the example of an existing process that requires 10 steps to complete it. So, if we do a Process Improvement to “optimize” it first, we will now have 6 steps to complete. This is done by inspecting each step of the process to see if it is necessary, value-add, constitutes a waste or otherwise. Otherwise, we remove them to streamline the process itself. Do note if the step involves a governance process (mandatory for auditability), then please do not remove it as it will have implications later.
Now that we have optimized the process we can move forward with the “automate” portion using a Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to make the end-to-end process more efficient.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Firstly, Improvement in the process is done using a simplified and reduced number of steps. | Firstly, require Business involvement to remove and improve existing process. |
| Secondly, reduce the line of coding required in Robotic Process Automation (RPA) during conversion. | Secondly, requires Business involvement to validate the “optimized” process before coding in Robotic Process Automation (RPA) conversion. |
| Thirdly, Improvement in speed and efficiency using Robotic Process Automation (RPA) in execution. |
So how does one carry out the correct way of “Optimized” (Process Improvement) then? We can use the Process Improvement model here.
By using the Process Improvement model above, we can continuously drive improvement in the various processes we have within our organisation. This model also helps to establish a culture of continuous improvement at various levels of the organisation itself.
When we carry out “Optimize and Automate”, Best practise suggests that we use a 6-step process as shown below.
The key benefits of doing “Optimized and Automate” includes:
- Improves Productivity
- Cost Reduction (Do more with less)
- Increase Performance
- Add Reliability
- Up Availability
Interested to know more about “Optimize and Automate”? Do visit our consulting page here or reach out to Cybiant’s consultants by dropping a quick e-mail at info@cybiant.com to us.