CHAPTER 7: SIAM CULTURAL CONSIDERATIONS
The SIAM ecosystem and the relationships between the customer organization, service integrator and service providers create a unique environment. From sourcing and contractual negotiations through to governance and operational management, there are specific SIAM considerations.
The cultural aspects of a transition to SIAM are one such consideration. An effective SIAM ecosystem is underpinned by effective relationships and appropriate behaviors. The ecosystem culture needs to encourage and reinforce these relationships and behaviors.
SIAM is often described as a sourcing strategy, but it is more than this. It extends beyond sourcing into the ongoing management and improvement of the service to deliver better business outcomes.
Service providers that compete in other areas of a market may find themselves working together to meet overall customer objectives in a SIAM ecosystem. Some service providers might be internal departments of the customer organization, working together with external service providers.
There are specific challenges when an external organization is fulfilling the service integrator role, because it is governing service providers that may also be its competitors.
The cultural considerations examined in this section are:
1.Cultural change
2.Collaboration and cooperation
3.Cross-service provider organization
7.1 Cultural change
7.1.1 What does this mean in a SIAM environment?
An organization that moves from either an insourced or a traditional outsourced environment to an environment based on SIAM will undergo a large program of change and transformation. If the cultural aspects of the change are not managed effectively, it can create disruption in the customer organization.
Adopting a new SIAM structure can include internal role changes in the customer organization and staff being transferred from the customer organization to the service providers or the service integrator. This can have a significant impact on staff at a personal level; they will be concerned about their role, their career and their skillsets.
Moving to an environment that includes multiple service providers will require the customer organization to build SIAM expertise and capabilities, understanding of the ecosystem and technical landscape, and the future technical roadmap and strategy. This expertise and knowledge might already exist in the organization, but in many transitions to SIAM it does not. Staff will need commercial, contractual and supplier management skills, in addition to more traditional service management skills.
Cultural change will also come from a change of management style. The customer organization needs to manage service provider performance at an executive, not an operational level. Its role is to step in and resolve contractual issues when required and to provide corporate governance. This is a shift away from managing activities to managing outcomes; in other words, managing the ‘what’, not the ‘how’.
The customer organization needs to empower its service integrator to manage the service providers at the operational level. These changes in relationship dynamics and responsibilities will lead to, and depend on, changes in culture.
For the service providers, culture change is driven by the need to work collaboratively. All the service providers need to work with the service integrator and with other service providers towards the shared goal.
7.1.2 Why is it important?
No organizational change can succeed without cultural change. If the culture and organizational behaviors stay the same, new processes and ways of working will not be adopted and expected benefits will not be delivered.
Effective management of cultural change will provide the basis for a successful SIAM transformation program, and will help the customer to retain skilled and motivated staff in key roles.
7.1.3 What challenges will be faced?
Some of the challenges related to cultural change are:
•Staff who are moving to a new organization can experience concern at a professional and at a personal, emotional level. Professionally, there will be a level of uncertainty over their role and their skills and, emotionally, they will be concerned about the possible impact on their life and career. This can lead to staff leaving, absenteeism and loyalty issues.
•Organizations can suffer from change fatigue if too much is happening at once, leading to a higher chance of changes failing and new behaviors not being adopted.
•People continue using old processes or move back to old ways of working. It is important for every stakeholder in the SIAM ecosystem to reinforce behaviors; for example, at the service provider level, staff need to be encouraged to contact the service integrator, and not the customer.
•The customer organization’s own business outcomes may be affected negatively if the changes are disruptive and have an impact on service delivery.
7.1.4 How can they be resolved?
These cultural issues can be addressed in several ways, including:
•Having a clear definition of the SIAM model and all associated roles and responsibilities at organization, team and individual levels.
•From the customer perspective:
oImplementing a good business change or organizational change management process, reinforced with a strong communication plan to prevent misinformation and rumors spreading.
oApplying program management to the SIAM roadmap, tracking progress and identifying where course corrections are needed to help increase confidence in likely success.
oConsidering the use of external consultancy to provide guidance, advice and an objective view.
oUnderstanding what retained capabilities are needed and putting plans in place to keep the skilled people in their roles.
•From the customer and service integrator perspective, implementing a strong overarching governance structure, supported by processes, which work in practice and not just in theory.
•From the service integrator and service provider perspective, aligning their own communication plans with the overall communication plan and measuring the effectiveness of communication.
•From a service provider perspective, understanding the organizations it will be working with and how they want to work together, and committing to the level of collaboration required in a SIAM environment.
7.1.5 Cultural change and the SIAM structures
| Externally sourced | The key challenge for this structure relates to staff who are moving from the customer organization to another organization as part of the transition to SIAM; the professional and personal impact will need to be managed. |
| Internally sourced | To deliver effective cultural change and a successful transition to SIAM, the customer organization will need skilled people. These may not exist within the organization and could be difficult to recruit. |
| Lead supplier | As with the externally sourced service integrator structure, the key challenge for this structure relates to staff who are moving from the customer organization to another organization as part of the transition to SIAM; the professional and personal impact will need to be managed. |
| Hybrid | The key challenge for this structure is that confusion about roles and responsibilities can make it difficult for staff from the customer organization to change their behavior; this applies if the interfaces between the customer and external organization at the service integrator level are not clearly defined. Staff need to be clear on their role and the role of the service integrator’s employees. |
7.2 Collaboration and cooperation
7.2.1 What does this mean in a SIAM ecosystem?
In many cases, a transition to SIAM means that service providers that are used to competing must work together to deliver customer outcomes. This often requires a change in mindset. The service providers must work together; the relationship moves from competitive to collaborative.
In an outsourced environment with no service integration element, service providers may pursue their own objectives. Silos and a blame culture are commonplace. Within a SIAM ecosystem, the focus is on relationships, particularly cross-provider relationships, governance controls and pursuit of common goals, rather than achievement of specific individual organizational service levels and objectives.
In a SIAM ecosystem, service providers need to put competitive considerations aside and adapt to a new way of working. The customer and the service integrator also need to be clear on their role and the boundaries of their responsibilities. These organizations are also likely to be working in new ways.
Cultural considerations for collaboration and cooperation include:
•Fix first, argue later: when there is an issue affecting service, the service providers need to work together rather than assign blame or pass issues around.
•Service providers must acknowledge that the service integrator is the voice of the customer, and has the autonomy to direct and make decisions and govern without being undermined.
•From the customer’s perspective, it needs to empower the service integrator to manage the service providers, and not interfere or duplicate effort.
•Creating an environment that is focused on business outcomes and the customer, not on an individual service provider’s contracts and agreements.
7.2.2 Why is it important?
In a SIAM ecosystem, the service integrator does not usually have a contractual relationship with the service providers, but it does need to be able to manage and govern their behavior on behalf of the customer.
If the parties in the ecosystem are not prepared to collaborate, the service integrator will not be able to control service delivery effectively.
For example, it will be very challenging for the service integrator to manage a major incident from end to end and within service targets if the service providers will not provide information or accept responsibility for investigation.
7.2.3 What challenges will be faced?
Some of the challenges related to collaboration and cooperation include:
•From the service integrator’s perspective, the challenge of service providers bypassing it and going straight to the customer. The customer needs to support the service integrator by reinforcing correct communication paths, and the service integrator needs to build relationships and reiterate correct ways of working.
•From the service provider’s perspective:
o‘Fix first, argue later’ being abused so that it incurs additional costs. This can happen if issues are identified and not corrected by the customer or the service integrator, so that the service provider must deal with them repeatedly.
oBeing reluctant to collaborate and share with the other service providers.
•Trust is a critical success factor for collaboration and cooperation. Trust between service providers (some of which may be internal, and some external), trust between the service providers and the service integrator, and trust between the service integrator and the customer must be built and maintained.
•In a SIAM ecosystem that includes internal and external service providers, the internal service providers are part of the same organization as the customer. They may be reluctant to collaborate with the service integrator and with the external service providers; they may also have less mature delivery capabilities and so are less able to cooperate.
•In a SIAM ecosystem that includes internal and external service providers, the internal service providers will not have the same contractual imperatives that require them to collaborate.
7.2.4 How can they be resolved?
These cultural issues can be addressed in several ways, including:
•For all parties:
oCreating a ‘code of conduct’ or ‘rules of the club’ agreement, with input from all parties in the SIAM ecosystem. These govern behaviors on a day-to-day basis; for example: how staff will behave in meetings, they will maintain professional and courteous behavior always, and they will attend forums and make effective contributions. (See section 7.2.4.1.)
oSigning collaboration agreements that are part of each contract, or agreed between parties after the contract is signed, to add more detail about how they will work together. (See section 7.2.4.2.)
•Between the service integrator and each of the service providers, use operational-level agreements (OLAs) to break down service targets and agreements into more detail, helping them to understand their role and their interfaces with other parts of the ecosystem and when collaboration and cooperation is required. (See section 7.2.4.3.)
7.2.4.1 Example code of conduct
A code of conduct (or ‘rules of the club’) document is not a contractual agreement. It provides high-level guidance describing how the parties in the SIAM ecosystem will work together. All the parties can then hold each other to account, for example highlighting if someone is behaving unacceptably in a meeting.
This will not usually be a formal document, and is normally brief, often only a single page. Where required, it may also include:
•Title page
•Document control: author, date, status, version, change log, etc.
•Contents
•Introduction and document purpose
•Parties to the document
•Validity
•Approval/signatories
The suggested key content is:
Partnership aims
•What are the expected business outcomes?
•What is the SIAM ecosystem meant to deliver?
For example:
•Better value for money
•Greater efficiency and cost-effectiveness
•Greater flexibility to respond to evolving business requirements
Partnership ethos
•What values do the parties need to uphold?
For example:
•Maintain professionalism
•Work together as one team
•Share knowledge and ideas
•Embrace change
•Put the customer first
•Be courteous/respectful to others
7.2.4.2 Example collaboration agreement
An effective collaboration agreement will help to create a culture based on working together to deliver shared outcomes, without continual reference back to contracts.
Collaboration agreements should be used with care. They should set out the intent of how service providers are expected to collaborate with each other, and with the service integrator.
Sufficient detail should be included to avoid ambiguity, and to reduce the likelihood of future disputes when a service provider was not aware of a specific collaboration requirement, for example the need to take an active role in process forums.
Consideration must be given to the remedial approach that will be used if one of the parties does not align with the collaboration agreement. This can form part of the contract with the customer, but, to be truly effective, the parties should embrace the collaboration agreement as part of the SIAM culture, and not see it as a contractual requirement.
A typical collaboration agreement will contain the following sections:
•Title page
•Document control: author, date, status, version, change log, etc.
•Contents
•Introduction
•Document purpose
•Parties to the document
•Validity period
•Termination
•Required behaviors: for example, avoid unnecessary duplication of effort, do not hinder or withhold information from other service providers
•Mechanisms to support collaboration: for example, commitment to support process forums to review, improve and innovate processes and service delivery; commitment to triage and work together to resolve issues/challenges when requested by the service integrator; commitment to be involved in reviews and assurance activities
•Where relevant, toolsets to support collaboration
•Expected areas of collaboration: for example, review of proposed changes, incident investigation, taking part in working groups, innovation
•Dependencies between parties
•Any non-financial/non-contractual remedies: for example, where one or more service providers agrees with the service integrator and the customer to carry out actions to address an issue rather than trigger a contractual target and accept a financial penalty
•Change control
•Dispute resolution and escalation points
7.2.4.3 Example operational-level agreement
Operational-level agreements (OLAs) between the service integrator and service providers break down service targets into more detail. They include guidelines and common ways of working that support effective integration and delivery across the ecosystem. While the contents of OLAs are not themselves contractual obligations (all contracts are held by the customer organization), they should be formal agreements that are documented and controlled.
OLAs support end-to-end service delivery. For example, end-to-end incident management might include a four-hour resolution time for priority 1 incidents. In the OLA, the service provider might agree to a target of 30 minutes to either accept an incident or pass the information to a different service provider.
Within a SIAM ecosystem, it is important to define each service and its associated targets fully. OLAs support that definition and provide control and visibility. OLAs are prepared by the service integrator with input from the service providers. The service provider referenced in the OLA must have agreed the contents. The OLA supports the customer organization’s overall objectives, but the customer organization may not be interested in the document detail.
OLAs can also be set up between two or more service providers, to agree or add some detail about how they work together.
An OLA should include content such as:
•Title page
•Document control: author, date, status, version, change log, etc.
•Contents
•Introduction
•Document purpose
•Parties to the document
•Validity
•Approval/signatories
•Rules for OLA termination
•Rules for OLA governance and escalation criteria
•Review schedule
•OLA change management
•Service description
•Scope of OLA: in- and out-of-scope activities
•Dependent services
•OLA details:
oName of service (for example, service desk, capacity management)
oService description
oService hours
oService provider
oService consumers
oService outcomes
oContact points and roles
oAgreed activities of all parties (for example, party A will send an incident record to party B, party B will confirm receipt)
oService targets
oMeasurement: availability, performance targets, etc.
oRACI matrix
•Service boundaries
•Quality assurance and service reporting
•Service reviews
•Glossary
7.2.5 Collaboration and cooperation and the SIAM structures
| Externally sourced | •Internal service providers may be unwilling to collaborate and cooperate with the external service integrator. |
| Internally sourced | •External service providers may be more willing to collaborate and cooperate as they will perceive the service integrator as the customer. •There is a risk that a customer organization might not manage the service providers well owing to a lack of SIAM experience. If the service integrator cannot encourage the right culture and behaviors, this will affect the level of collaboration and cooperation. •If the internal service integrator is seen to treat internal service providers differently, this can lead to reduced collaboration and cooperation by the external service providers. •Internal service providers may be unwilling to collaborate and cooperate with the internal service integrator. |
| Lead supplier | •Internal service providers may be unwilling to collaborate and cooperate with the external service integrator. •If the lead supplier is seen to favor its own service provider in its service integrator role, this can lead to reduced collaboration and cooperation from the other service providers. |
| Hybrid | •The roles and responsibilities of the customer acting as service integrator and the third-party service integrator need to be clear. It is challenging for service providers to collaborate if they do not understand the structure and boundaries of responsibilities. •Internal service providers may be unwilling to collaborate and cooperate with the hybrid service integrator because it includes external elements. |
7.3 Cross-service provider organization
This section addresses the cultural aspects of cross-service provider organization only. For more detail about managing cross-functional teams and managing conflict, see section 6.1.
Cross-service provider organization describes the cultural considerations associated with managing a service across multiple service providers.
7.3.1 What does this mean in a SIAM ecosystem?
The SIAM ecosystem can include an internal, hybrid, external, or lead supplier service integrator, plus several internal or external service providers.
Each service provider will have its own strategies, objectives and ways of working. The customer organization does not always have the ability (or desire) to mandate that all service providers follow a common set of processes or use the same toolset. They do, however, require all service providers to be able to interface with and integrate into the end-to-end service management processes.
From a cultural perspective, cross-service provider organization requires service providers to have appropriate behaviors and attitudes to support the customer organization and help it achieve its goals, rather than focusing on individual goals.
7.3.2 Why is it important?
Successful cross-service provider organization supports delivery of the end-to-end service. It starts with the customer organization. The customer needs to articulate a clear vision of what success looks like to all the service providers in the SIAM ecosystem.
The vision needs to be cascaded through all layers and across the ecosystem. This will then enable consistent:
•Strategies
•Objectives
•Processes: this does not preclude service providers using their own processes and procedures, but assures that the overall end-to-end process is integrated, can be managed, and is driving the correct outcomes
7.3.3 What challenges will be faced?
Some of the cultural challenges related to cross-service provider organization include:
•The customer retained organization may step back into its old role and get involved with delivery, rather than focusing on corporate governance and its own business objectives. This creates confusion and duplication, and does not allow the service providers, service integrator or customer to work effectively.
•Service providers focus on their own targets at the expense of end-to-end service targets.
•Service providers do not subscribe to the culture of collaboration and do not share innovations and potential improvements with other parts of the ecosystem.
•The service integrator does not treat service providers equally, leading to resentment and disengagement.
•If service providers have poor interfaces with end-to-end service management processes and tools, the role of the service integrator becomes more challenging; for example, monitoring, reporting, measurement will all be less effective.
7.3.4 How can they be resolved?
These cultural issues can be addressed in several ways, including:
•For all parties:
oEstablishing consistent contractual targets/service level agreements and common performance measures/key performance indicators across the supply chain, so that all service providers feel they are equal and not disadvantaged.
oHaving performance measures that encourage partnering and shared innovation with other parties.
oCross-service provider processes must be based on a common language that all parties can understand.
•From the customer perspective, empowering the service integrator to have ownership, responsibility and accountability.
•From the customer, service integrator and service provider perspective, celebrate success, and praise excellent service performance, delivery and innovation to emphasize and reward the desired behaviors.
•Establish ‘champion’ process forums with representation from the service integrator and all service providers to discuss and improve the effectiveness of end-to-end processes, tools, interfaces and integration.
7.3.5 Cross-service provider organization and the SIAM structures
| Externally sourced | External service providers may be reluctant to share information about how they work with an external service integrator, if they view them as a competitor. |
| Internally sourced | Internal service providers may be unwilling to work with and integrate with external service providers. |
| Lead supplier | The external organization that is acting as the service integrator and a service provider could be seen as a ‘favorite’ of the customer. If other service providers do not feel they are being treated fairly, they are less likely to work together. |
| Hybrid | Effective cross-service provider organization requires clear direction from the customer and service integrator. If the roles within the hybrid service integrator are not clearly defined, meetings and structures to support cross-service provider organization may not be put in place. |