Don’t forget to get your ticket to Service Management’s Missing Link Webinar on Jan 26th! All registrants will get the companion White Paper!
Comparing USM’s Customer-Provider Interaction Model with SIPOC
While there are similarities between USM’s Customer-Provider Interaction Model and the popular SIPOC (Supplier-Input-Process-Output-Customer) Model, they focus on two different things.
SIPOC has been around for a very long time and is one of the most trusted techniques to map critical business processes. Part of the Six Sigma methodology, a SIPOC diagram is used in process improvement.
When we take a process view, we are seeking to understand the operational model of an organizational capability. This is the proverbial ‘white box’ view. We’re looking inside in order to figure out exactly how things are functioning.
At first glance USM’s Customer-Provider Interaction Model would seem to take a services-oriented view and therefore is a ‘black box’ perspective. We look at external behavior and don’t necessarily concern ourselves with the internal workings of the service. Our focus is on the overall value proposition.
However, once you become familiar with the USM method you will learn that the non-redundant process model and standardized workflows are embedded into the Customer-Supplier Interaction Model.
This enables rapid analysis of the people/procedures and tools/work instructions used to in the delivery of services, even if they are leveraging different practice frameworks and/or standards.
USM’s process model and standardized workflows enable service specification data to be efficiently integrated into each service provider’s management system. To ensure services are predictable, the service organization uses standardized routines that integrate people, process, and technology.
These routines include processes, procedures, and work instructions. The management of these routines can be considered the core of the USM method, and when used across the enterprise this is potentially very powerful.
USM supports an integral and integrated management approach which restores and optimizes the control over each service team’s contribution to the whole system. A singular normalized management system as an acceptable link is the core concept of the Unified Service Management method, and it is based on the concept of an integral and integrated process architecture.
USM provides a standardized, unified link for sustainable supply chains in service ecosystems. The process model and standardized workflows are used by any organizational topology, leveraging any combination of practice frameworks for all service providers.
The USM method provides the structure that is critically needed to address cultural change, innovation, and effective governance of transformative change efforts. It also provides a level of interoperability needed for success in today’s complex, multi-provider service ecosystems.
Subscribe to the Rolling Uphill blog