Reduce Shadow IT With a Service Request Catalog
Foster business relationships through sourcing-as-a-service.
- Shadow IT: The IT team is regularly surprised to discover new products within the organization, often when following up on help desk tickets or requests for renewals from business users or vendors.
- Renewal Management: The contracts and asset teams need to be aware of upcoming renewals and have adequate time to review renewals.
- Over-purchasing: Contracts may be renewed without a clear picture of usage, potentially renewing unused applications.
Our Advice
Critical Insight
There is a direct correlation between service delivery dissatisfaction and increases in shadow IT. Whether the goal is to reduce shadow IT or gain control, improved customer service and fast delivery are key to making lasting changes.
Impact and Result
Our blueprint will help you design a service that draws the business to use it. If it is easier for them to buy from IT than it is to find their own supplier, they will use IT.
A heavy focus on customer service, design optimization, and automation will provide a means for the business to get what they need, when they need it, and provide visibility to IT and security to protect organizational interests.
This blueprint will help you:
- Design the request service
- Design the request catalog
- Build the request catalog
- Market the service
Member Testimonials
After each Info-Tech experience, we ask our members to quantify the real-time savings, monetary impact, and project improvements our research helped them achieve. See our top member experiences for this blueprint and what our clients have to say.
9.3/10
Overall Impact
$52,186
Average $ Saved
23
Average Days Saved
Client
Experience
Impact
$ Saved
Days Saved
City Of Waterloo
Workshop
10/10
$25,000
20
The highlight lies in the action items derived from the findings of this workshop.
UNA Trading FZE
Guided Implementation
8/10
$1,559
14
Silvergate Bank
Guided Implementation
10/10
$129K
35
The info-tech team has been invaluable to the organization. They truly exceed expectations while driving toward enhanced restructuring of IT framew... Read More
Workshop: Reduce Shadow IT With a Service Request Catalog
Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.
Module 1: Design the Service
The Purpose
- Collaborate with the business to determine service model.
- Collaborate with IT teams to build non-standard assessment process.
Key Benefits Achieved
Designed a service for service requests, including new product intake.
Activities
Outputs
Identify challenges and obstacles.
Complete customer journey map.
Design process for nonstandard assessments.
- Nonstandard process.
Module 2: Design the Catalog
The Purpose
- Design the service request catalog management process.
Key Benefits Achieved
Ensure the catalog is kept current and is integrated with IT service catalog if applicable.
Activities
Outputs
Determine what will be listed in the catalog.
- Catalog scope.
Determine process to build and maintain the catalog, including roles, responsibilities, and workflows.
- Catalog design and maintenance plan.
Define success and determine metrics.
- Defined success metrics
Module 3: Build and Market the Catalog
The Purpose
- Determine catalog contents and how requests will be fulfilled.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Catalog framework and service level agreements will be defined.
- Create communications documents.
Activities
Outputs
Determine how catalog items will be displayed.
Complete application categories for catalog.
Create deployment categories and SLAs.
Design catalog forms and deployment workflows.
- Catalog workflows and SLAs.
Create roadmap.
- Roadmap.
Create communications plan.
- Communications deck.
Module 4: Breakout Groups – Working Sessions
The Purpose
- Create an applications portfolio.
- Prepare to populate the catalog.
Key Benefits Achieved
Portfolio and catalog contents created.
Activities
Outputs
Using existing application inventory, add applications to portfolio and categorize.
- Application Portfolio.
Determine which applications should be in the catalog.
Determine which applications are packaged and can be easily deployed.
- List of catalog items.
Reduce Shadow IT With a Service Request Catalog
Foster business partnerships with sourcing-as-a-service.
Analyst Perspective
Improve the request management process to reduce shadow IT.
In July 2022, Ivanti conducted a study on the state of the digital employee experience, surveying 10,000 office workers, IT professionals, and C-suite executives. Results of this study indicated that 49% of employees are frustrated by their tools, and 26% of employees were considering quitting their jobs due to unsuitable tech. 42% spent their own money to gain technology to improve their productivity. Despite this, only 21% of IT leaders prioritized user experience when selecting new tools.
Any organization’s workers are expected to be productive and contribute to operational improvements or customer experience. Yet those workers don’t always have the tools needed to do the job. One option is to give the business greater control, allowing them to choose and acquire the solutions that will make them more productive. Info-Tech's blueprint Embrace Business-Managed Applications takes you down this path.
However, if the business doesn’t want to manage applications, but just wants have access to better ones, IT is positioned to provide services for application and equipment sourcing that will improve the employee experience while ensuring applications and equipment are fully managed by the asset, service, and security teams.
Improving the request management and deployment practice can give the business what they need without forcing them to manage license agreements, renewals, and warranties.
Sandi Conrad
ITIL Managing Professional
Principal Research Director, IT Infrastructure & Operations,
Info-Tech Research Group
Your challenge
This research is designed to help organizations that are looking to improve request management processes and reduce shadow IT.
Shadow IT: The IT team is regularly surprised to discover new products within the organization, often when following up on help desk tickets or requests for renewals from business users or vendors.
Renewal management: The contracts and asset teams need to be aware of upcoming renewals and have adequate time to review renewals.
Over-purchasing and over-spending: Contracts may be renewed without a clear picture of utilization, potentially renewing unused applications. Applications or equipment may be purchased at retail price where corporate, government, or educational discounts exist.
Info-Tech Insight
To increase the visibility of the IT environment, IT needs to transform the request management process to create a service that makes it easier for the business to access the tools they need rather than seeking them outside of the organization.
|
609
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40%
|
— Source: Zylo, SaaS Trends for IT Leaders, 2022
Common obstacles
Too many layers of approvals and a lack of IT workers makes it difficult to rethink service request fulfillment.
Delays: The business may not be getting the applications they need from IT to do their jobs or must wait too long to get the applications approved.
Denials: Without IT’s support, the business is finding alternative options, including SaaS applications, as they can be bought and used without IT’s input or knowledge.
Threats: Applications that have not been vetted by security or installed without their knowledge may present additional threats to the organization.
Access: Self-serve isn’t mature enough to support an applications catalog.
8: average number of applications entering the organization every 30 days
— Source: Zylo, SaaS Trends for Procurement, 2022
Info-Tech’s approach
Improve the request management process to create sourcing-as-a-service for the business.
- Improve customer service
- Reduce shadow IT
- Gain control in a way that keeps the business happy
|
1. Design the service Collaborate with the business Identify the challenges and obstacles Gain consensus on priorities Design the service |
2. Design the catalog Determine catalog scope Create a process to build and maintain the catalog Define metrics for the request management process |
3. Build the catalog Determine descriptions for catalog items Create definitions for license types, workflows, and SLAs Create application portfolio Design catalog forms and workflows |
4. Market the service Create a roadmap Determine messaging Build a communications plan |
Blueprint deliverables
Each step of this blueprint is accompanied by supporting deliverables to help you accomplish your goals:
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Communications Presentation
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Application Portfolio
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Visio Library
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Nonstandard Request Assessment
|
Create a request management process and service catalog to improve delivery of technology to the business
About Info-Tech
Info-Tech Research Group is the world’s fastest-growing information technology research and advisory company, proudly serving over 30,000 IT professionals.
We produce unbiased and highly relevant research to help CIOs and IT leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. We partner closely with IT teams to provide everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.
What Is a Blueprint?
A blueprint is designed to be a roadmap, containing a methodology and the tools and templates you need to solve your IT problems.
Each blueprint can be accompanied by a Guided Implementation that provides you access to our world-class analysts to help you get through the project.
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Speak With An Analyst
Get the help you need in this 4-phase advisory process. You'll receive 7 touchpoints with our researchers, all included in your membership.
Guided Implementation 1: Design the service
- Call 1: Collaborate with the business. Identify the challenges and obstacles.
- Call 2: Gain consensus on priorities. Design the service.
Guided Implementation 2: Design the catalog
- Call 1: Determine catalog scope and create a process to build and maintain the catalog.
- Call 2: Define metrics for the request management process.
Guided Implementation 3: Build the catalog
- Call 1: Determine descriptions for catalog items. Create definitions for license types, workflows and SLAs.
- Call 2: Create application portfolio. Design catalog forms and workflows.
Guided Implementation 4: Market the service
- Call 1: Create a roadmap, determine messaging, and build a communications plan.
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