Creating a Service Management Office (SMO) is no simple task. There are many elements to consider, and at times it can feel overwhelming. The good news? It’s absolutely possible—especially if you have firsthand experience. So, if you’re about to start your own SMO or are already on that path, episode 90 of Ticket Volume – IT Podcast is for you.
In this episode host and Product Specialist at InvGate, Matt Beran, reconnects with the team from JAMF’s Service Management Office for a special catch-up. It’s been a while since Melissa Dunham, IT Support and Services Senior Director at JAMF, first shared her journey in episode 14.
Back then, she was at the beginning of building a Service Management Office at JAMF. Now, Melissa returns with two key colleagues, Kyle Carlson, IT Knowledge Manager, and Minta Wahlers, Change Control and Enablement Manager, to discuss the progress they’ve made and the lessons learned along the way.
Excited to learn more about what a SMO is and how the JAMF's team they are making progress? Hit play or continue reading!
Understanding a Service Management Office
Before diving into JAMF's story, let’s first explore a few core concepts about the Service Management Office. If you're only interested in the guest insights, feel free to skip the following paragraphs and jump straight to JAMF's experience.
What is an IT Service Management Office?
The Service Management Office was established initially as a governance body to oversee the Service Management initiative in an organization.
More specifically, an SMO is a center of excellence within your organization chartered to improve the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of delivering ITSM services. The SMO supports your Service Management organization by leveraging industry-standard best practices such as ITIL and modern IT Service Management tools and applying them to your organization's unique environment.
It focuses on handling all of the necessary tasks to keep the company up and running, such as managing IT assets, providing IT support, and maintaining customer relationships.
So, in essence, the purpose of an SMO in an ITIL framework is to:
- Ensure the availability and effectiveness of IT services.
- Monitor and control service levels.
- Manage incidents, changes, and problems.
- Control costs.
Roles and responsibilities of an Service Management Office
An organization's Service Management Office is responsible for designing and implementing processes that ensure the delivery of services to customers. This office also provides that such operations comply with the organization's policies and standards.
Pretty much, it’s in charge of the design and implementation of the ITSM framework within an organization. Hence, the focus areas of this office include process design, ITSM tool support, process governance, and Continual Service Improvement.
Because of that, the roles in a Service Management Office are varied and depend on the organization's size. However, every SMO has two main functions: IT operations and customer care.
Roles in a Service Management Office
Find a team that has "a wealth of background in ITSM, IT Asset Management, IT Operations Management, all the other 'AOMS' that come along with with, building out a really great practice" Teater advised in episode 14, so they are able to fulfill these roles:
- Director.
- Solutions architect.
- Process designers.
- Process owners and managers.
- Tool specialists.
- Process analysts.
- Training and communications.
Responsibilities of an SMO
All the members of that power team need to be on the same page and commit to fulfilling these responsibilities:
- Process design: designing, implementing, and maintaining IT Service Management processes.
- ITSM tool support: providing support to all stakeholders in selecting, implementing, and using ITSM tools.
- Process governance: governing processes throughout their lifecycle to ensure they are aligned with strategy, compliant with regulatory requirements, and meet customer expectations.
- Continual service improvement: improving services by looking at customer needs and how they can be met through better design, improved efficiency, or new technology.
- An ESM vision: as organizations move toward Enterprise Service Management (ESM), the SMO can play a critical role in ensuring that a singular enterprise Service Management vision is developed and implemented.
Differences between SMO and a PMO
In reality, an SMO is an extension of a Project Management Office (PMO). It is responsible for maintaining service quality and improving customer experience. This is how they differ from each other:
- The PMO is a centralized office responsible for managing the project portfolio. It has a hands-on approach and usually manages projects individually. The SMO is a decentralized office that oversees all organization project management activities. It has a “hands-off” approach and usually manages projects at the program level.
- Overall, the PMO is considered to be more strategic in nature, while the SMO is deemed to be more operational in nature.
Should an organization have both PMO and SMO?
In recent years, there has been a growing trend of large companies and organizations merging the PMO with SMO. This means that both functions are housed in one department. And this could be the case for JAMF's team.
We think it is a move often made for two reasons:
- It eliminates redundancy.
- It allows for better coordination between these two functions.
But, having both an SMO and PMO is important because they serve different purposes:
A Project Management office is typically responsible for allocating resources to ensure that projects are completed on time, within budget, and meet or exceed expectations. A Service Management Office is typically responsible for managing service delivery to customers by ensuring that the services are delivered as intended and on schedule.
Building a Service Management Office: the JAMF’s journey
During their conversation, Matt and the JAMF team focused on specific topics related to the creation and development of a Service Management Office. We found it interesting to showcase this team's firsthand experience because it truly illustrates the progress that can be achieved with a solid implementation.
From setting clear objectives to managing challenges along the way, JAMF's journey offers valuable insights and practical steps for anyone looking to establish or refine their own SMO.
How to build a Service Management Office
In theory, there are two models for an SMO. Choose the approach that best aligns with your organization's size and culture. Depending on your needs, you can either have a centralized or decentralized office.
A centralized SMO will oversee the Service Desk, Incident Management, Problem Management, and Change Management processes. The centralized SMO model also owns the service catalog, SLAs, and service-level monitoring. ITSM tools: Service Desk, Asset Management, and Event Management software.
In a decentralized SMO model, the office may have a much smaller mandate and do little more than set policy and standards, define processes and provide training to service-management practitioners distributed throughout the organization.
Setting up a Service Management Office
Now it is time to implement Change Management principles in your initiative of creating an SMO. Setting it up can be time-consuming and costly, but it’s worth it in the long run.
Implementing an SMO requires a coordinated effort from all stakeholders, from senior leadership and executives to frontline staff. The SMO should be backed by corporate objectives, policies, and procedures. On that note, you should take the following considerations into account:
- Senior leaders should help establish the mission and vision of the office, select a person to manage it, and recommend participants and possible team members with experience in ITSM.
- Work with leaders from different teams to validate their role and introduce them to the initiative's purpose, goals, and processes.
- Make sure everyone is informed about and engaged with the SMO's role's vision, mission, objectives, and practices in managing the Service Management tool.
- Along the way, pay attention to your employees' experience, categorize it if necessary, and look at all the practices that will follow.
On that last note, "let your team know they are part of the decision making process, that they feel like they've been heard and that no one's just off working in a box to just slam something in right. Everybody's involved," Teater said in episode 14. How has that translated to where the team is now? How much progress has she made? Let's find out in the following paragraphs.
What progress has the JAMF team accomplished?
This catch-up episode began by exploring each team member's experience during the process of building their SMO. The conversation started with Kyle, moved to Minta, and circled back to Melissa in an exchange that highlights just how interesting it can be to hear a firsthand account.
The role of Knowledge Management
Knowledge Management has become central to JAMF’s Service Management Office. Kyle Carlson explains how having a systematic knowledge base contributes to smoother operations, allowing employees to tap into shared resources effectively. Reflecting on the evolution of Knowledge Management, Kyle emphasized:
This proactive approach supports a growing culture of knowledge sharing at JAMF. Kyle’s experience underscores the value of a well-managed knowledge system, not only for reference but also as a way to prevent repeating past mistakes.
Change Management: a new perspective from Minta
Change Management is an essential yet often misunderstood aspect of IT Service Management. For Minta Wahlers, her role as a Change Control and Enablement Manager isn’t just about implementing policies; it's about fostering a supportive environment where employees see the value in change. Minta reflects:
Minta’s approach to Change Management stands out because it focuses on building a culture of open communication. She views the Change Control Board meetings not as a bureaucratic hurdle but as an opportunity for different teams to collaborate and foresee potential risks, driving a more interconnected and resilient JAMF team.
Differentiating Between Release Management and Change Management
Minta also touched on the often-confused boundaries between Release Management and Change Management. For her, understanding and clarifying these differences is essential to prevent miscommunication and redundant processes. "Release and Change Management are closely related, but the key is understanding each one’s unique goals. By aligning tools and processes, we’re setting up for better collaboration and fewer roadblocks," Minta said.
By maintaining a clear distinction, Minta helps the team at JAMF avoid operational friction and ensures that each change, whether it’s minor or large-scale, is supported by the right team.
Building a Solid IT Asset Management foundation with Melissa
IT Asset Management (ITAM) is foundational for JAMF’s Service Management Office, and Melissa Dunham has been instrumental in turning a disorganized system into a well-structured framework. Looking back on the transformation, she recalls:
Melissa’s approach goes beyond just tracking assets. She’s worked to integrate ITAM with other departments, such as finance and security, ensuring that asset data is reliable and decision-ready. This alignment not only enhances asset management practices but also fortifies JAMF’s infrastructure as the company scales.
Organizational Change Management: bringing people onboard
One of Melissa’s main focuses has been Organizational Change Management (OCM), a critical component as JAMF transitions into a more structured enterprise. She describes this as a continuous process of educating and engaging employees to understand why changes are essential, especially for a company with roots in a startup culture. Melissa comments:
"Adoption is the biggest challenge. As we grow, we need to bring everyone along, and that means showing them why these changes matter," Melissa said. Her leadership in OCM has not only encouraged employees to embrace new processes but has also paved the way for JAMF to strengthen its Service Management capabilities.
The future of Service Management at JAMF
As the team looks forward, each has their sights set on expanding and refining the Service Management Office’s functions.
Kyle’s vision for Knowledge Management
For Kyle, the next step involves consolidating the knowledge resources across JAMF. By migrating teams to a unified platform, he aims to create a more accessible knowledge base, allowing employees to contribute effectively and align with JAMF’s overall objectives.
Minta’s next moves in Change Management
Minta plans to align all teams under a consistent Change Management process, focusing on transparency and collaboration. She envisions a future where every department, regardless of their specific tool preferences, participates in unified change practices to fully realize the benefits of a CMDB and asset management system.
Melissa’s goals in Asset Management
Melissa’s goal is to continue evolving ITAM at JAMF, with an eye on scaling the process as the company grows. Her vision includes achieving tighter integration with the CMDB to manage dependencies and ensure consistent data accuracy across systems.
Final thoughts
This catch-up episode with JAMF's Service Management Office sheds light on the impressive strides Melissa, Kyle, and Minta have made, transforming their vision into a dynamic and cohesive SMO.
Each team member’s journey offers a unique perspective on tackling the complexities of Service Management—from building a solid knowledge-sharing culture to refining change processes and establishing a robust asset management framework. Their dedication to fostering a strong Service Management culture is not only inspiring but also a valuable blueprint for organizations embarking on similar paths.
Stay tuned for more insights and practical tips from JAMF’s journey in future episodes of Ticket Volume. Catch the full episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or your favorite podcast platform.
