Adopt. Adapt. Apply! No, this is not just a cute play on words. These particular three words strung together help to convey the notion that successful business results happens when there has been a “fit for purpose” approach applied to Continual Service Improvement (CSI). The magic of successful execution of any business framework or model happens when organisations become experts at “adopting” and “adapting” best practices to solve their organisation’s challenges. Whether it’s ITIL®, COBIT®, or whatever, this means that to be a highly effective IT manager you need to understand the needs of your business first, and then what processes and guidance would be most valuable to help address those needs. When you boil it down, the challenge to IT organisations is to know the value of a particular framework, and how it can – and more importantly should – be adapted and applied to your environment. That’s when the magic happens! David is on hand to take you through very important considerations for dealing with the realities of leveraging best practices and delivering business value. He’ll discuss the dangers of “implementing by the book”, and also highlight several important factors to consider for adopting, adapting and applying the guidance to deliver the desired business value.

1. Pink Elephant – Knowledge Translated Into Results
Adopt. Adapt. Apply!
David Ratcliffe
President
Pink Elephant

2. Adopt. Adapt. Apply! © Pink Elephant, 2016. All Rights Reserved.
Keep Calm…
2

3. Adopt. Adapt. Apply! © Pink Elephant, 2016. All Rights Reserved.
Agenda
§ Insert text here 1. Why Is This Important?
2. Adopt
§ What Should We Adopt?
3. Adapt
§ Guiding Principles
§ Challenges
4. Apply!
§ The CSI Approach
§ Metrics & Measurements
§ Organizational Change
Management
§ Communication
5. When You Return To Work
3

4. Adopt. Adapt. Apply! © Pink Elephant, 2016. All Rights Reserved.
Why Is This Important?
4
The magic of successful execution of any business framework
happens when organizations become expert at “adopting” and
“adapting” best practices to solve their organization’s challenges:
§ Adopt – practices that will deliver business value
§ Adapt – to your specific environment and needs
§ Apply – using Continual Service Improvement (CSI) and
supporting management competencies to implement change
The goal is to leverage best practices so that they
deliver business value to your organization.
Fit For Purpose

5. Adopt. Adapt. Apply! © Pink Elephant, 2016. All Rights Reserved.
Adopt: Definition
Merriam-Webster says:
§ To take up and practice or use
§ To accept formally and put into effect
§ To choose (a textbook) for required study in a course
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6. Adopt. Adapt. Apply! © Pink Elephant, 2016. All Rights Reserved.
Adopt: Plenty To Choose From!
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7. Adopt. Adapt. Apply! © Pink Elephant, 2016. All Rights Reserved.
Adopt: Frameworks & Standards
Quality
Systems
Lean IT
TQM
EFQM
Six Sigma
Malcolm Baldrige
Theory of Constraints
Statistical Process
Control
Deming
Etc..
Process
Frameworks
ITIL®
COBIT®
BRMI®
OCM
IBM Rational
TOGAF
Microsoft MOF
eTelecom Ops Map
PRINCE2®
CMMi
eSCM
ITAM
Etc..
§ What is defined can be controlled and stabilized
§ What is stabilized can be measured with trust
§ What is measured can be improved
Define
Improve
Measure
Control &
Stabilize
ITIL Best Practices
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8. Adopt. Adapt. Apply! © Pink Elephant, 2016. All Rights Reserved.
Adapt: Definition
Merriam-Webster says:
§ To change your behavior so that it is easier to live in a
particular place or situation
§ To change (something) so that it functions better or is
better suited for a purpose
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9. Adopt. Adapt. Apply! © Pink Elephant, 2016. All Rights Reserved.
Why Adapt?
èèè
FOCUS ON VALUE èèè
9
FOCUS
ON
CONTROL
Tension In IT

10. Adopt. Adapt. Apply! © Pink Elephant, 2016. All Rights Reserved.
Adapt: Guiding Principles
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Source: “ITIL Practitioner Guidance”

11. Adopt. Adapt. Apply! © Pink Elephant, 2016. All Rights Reserved.
Adapt: THE Critical Success Factor
§ What are your business objectives?
§ How should IT enable and support those business
objectives?
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12. Adopt. Adapt. Apply! © Pink Elephant, 2016. All Rights Reserved.
“Management by objective
works – if you know your
objectives.
Ninety percent of the time
you don’t.””
A Wise Man Once Said ....

13. Adopt. Adapt. Apply! © Pink Elephant, 2016. All Rights Reserved.
Your Business Objectives
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1. Change every year (maybe even more often!)
2. Will be focused on:
§ Revenue
§ Costs
§ Growth
§ Strategic initiatives
3. Should be known by everyone
4. Find out what they are before you do anything else!
5. Use them to guide – and validate – your decisions

14. Adopt. Adapt. Apply! © Pink Elephant, 2016. All Rights Reserved.
Apply: Definition
Merriam-Webster says:
§ To put to use especially for some practical purpose
§ To bring into action
§ To put into operation or effect
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15. Adopt. Adapt. Apply! © Pink Elephant, 2016. All Rights Reserved.
Apply: Critical Success Factors
§ The CSI Approach
§ Metrics & Measurements
§ Organisational Change Management
§ Communication
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16. Adopt. Adapt. Apply! © Pink Elephant, 2016. All Rights Reserved.
Apply: Continual Service Improvement
16
Based on AXELOS ITIL® material. Reproduced under licence from AXELOS.
What is the vision?
Where are we now?
Where do we want
to be?
How do we get
there?
Did we get there?
Business Vision,
Mission, Goals &
Objectives
Baseline
Assessments
Measurable
Targets
Service & Process
Improvement
Measurements
& Metrics
How do we keep
the momentum going?

17. Adopt. Adapt. Apply! © Pink Elephant, 2016. All Rights Reserved.
Apply: Business Questions For CSI
17
Question Reason
What is the vision? The IT Service Provider asks this question to
better understand the long-term goals.
Where are we now? The business should ask this question to create
a baseline of delivered services.
Where do we want to be? The answer to this question helps define
business requirements.
How do we get there? What
improvement initiatives are
required to achieve the short-,
medium-, and long-term goals?
The answer to this question helps capture the
identified opportunity in the CSI register.
Did we get there? The question helps document the progress
through monitoring, reporting, and reviewing
service level achievements and actual
performance against targets.

18. Adopt. Adapt. Apply! © Pink Elephant, 2016. All Rights Reserved.
Apply: We Measure For 1 Of 4 Reasons
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Copyright © AXELOS Limited 2016. Reproduced under license from AXELOS.

19. Adopt. Adapt. Apply! © Pink Elephant, 2016. All Rights Reserved.
Apply: Valid Metrics Questions
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1. Metrics and
measurement lie at
the core of ITSM
2. Anything that can
be measured should
be measured
3. Simple observations
with the low accuracy
level should not be
used
4. It is recommended
to adopt all 355 KPIs
mentioned in the ITIL
Core Publications
5. All collected data
should be presented
in a report
True Or False?

20. Adopt. Adapt. Apply! © Pink Elephant, 2016. All Rights Reserved. 20
2
3
4
5
8
7
6
1
Kotter’s
Eight
Steps
Establish a sense of urgency
Build the guiding coalition
Develop a vision and strategy
Communicate the change vision and enlist volunteers
Empower broad-based action
Generate short-term wins
Consolidate gains and produce more change
Anchor new approaches in the culture
3
Apply: Organisational Change Management

21. Adopt. Adapt. Apply! © Pink Elephant, 2016. All Rights Reserved.
Apply: Communication
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Copyright © AXELOS Limited 2016. Reproduced under license from AXELOS.
“No single method of
communication works
for everyone.”
“Timing and frequency
matter.”
“The message is the
medium.”
“Communication is a 2-way
process.”
“We all are communicating,
all the time.”

22. Adopt. Adapt. Apply! © Pink Elephant, 2016. All Rights Reserved.
When You Return To Work
1. Understand your business – the true vision, mission, strategy and
objectives of your organisation
2. Talk to your co-workers about which practices (frameworks) will
support your business goals. ADOPT
3. Don’t be confined by the dogma – do what’s right! ADAPT
4. Check out the “ITIL Practitioner Guidance” book. APPLY
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23. Adopt. Adapt. Apply! © Pink Elephant, 2016. All Rights Reserved.
David Ratcliffe
President
Pink Elephant
Email: david.ratcliffe@pinkelephant.com
Web: www.pinkelephant.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/pinkerdavid
Thank You. Questions?