In the article entitled Disney’s ITIL Journey, Glen Taylor, the Vice President of Technology for Theme Parks & Resorts (TP&R) of The Walt Disney Company, relates how he meticulously championed the adoption of ITIL in the company to achieve excellence in IT service management. This change management process took time but it was all worth it.
Change management, according to Gareth Jones (2001) is the “process by which organizations move from their present state to some desired future state to increase their effectiveness.” He adds, “the goal of planned organizational change is to find new or improved ways of using resources and capabilities in order to increase an organization’s ability to create value and improve the returns to its stakeholders.”[1]
For Taylor, the goal is clear and that is to provide guests with “the perfect experience”. For IT, this meant 100% availability, reliability and maintainability.
Taylor firmly believed that ITIL best practice could provide these assurances. ITIL provides a comprehensive and consistent set of best practices for IT service management and promotes a quality approach to achieving business effectiveness and efficiency in the use of information systems.[2] Adopting ITIL can offer users a huge range of benefits that include improved IT services, reduced costs, improved customer satisfaction through a more professional approach to service delivery, improved productivity, improved use of skills and experience, and improved delivery of third-party service.[3]
Believing on the promises of ITIL, Taylor led its adoption. First, his team focused on marketing ITIL from the executive level down and leveraging existing forums to create and raise the awareness of the current issues that the company faces and how ITIL could address these issues. Then they instigated an educational program from CIO level down, and of the 250 people trained in ITIL Foundation, 50% opted to get certified. Finally, they selected 20 champions from across the TP&R to promote the value that ITIL brings in delivering a great guest experience.
As already said, the process was slow but Taylor was certain that ITIL would achieve the company goals. Taylor was able to smoothly facilitate the transitions involved in adopting ITIL. Through this process, Taylor was able to multiply himself, creating more advocates of ITIL who would bring the customers closer to the guests.
Taylor knows that in his company, giving the best experience to the customers is the key to ensure support and loyalty to the company. And technology plays a crucial role in making this experience worthwhile.
[1] Jones, Gareth R. Organizational Theory: Text and Cases. 3rd Ed. Prentice-Hall, Inc., New Jersey, 2011. p. 389.
[2] Que, Ricson. Lecture on Digital Technology and ITIL, October 3, 2011, DLSU Manila.
[3] ITIL. Retrieved in http://www.itil-officialsite.com/AboutITIL/WhatisITIL.aspx on October 8, 2011
Thoughts Less Than Nothing 