Week 3 – Service Value System and ITIL Management Practices
September 9, 2025
In Week 3, we moved deeper into the Service Value System (SVS), one of the central models in ITIL 4. The SVS describes how all components and activities of an organization work together to co-create value, ensuring that IT services are not managed in isolation but as part of a holistic ecosystem. What stood out for me this week was how the SVS connects everything: guiding principles, governance, the service value chain, continual improvement, and practices. It is not just a model on paper but a way to see IT services as a living system that adapts to demand and opportunity.
The Service Value System (SVS)
From the textbook, I learned that the SVS integrates demand and opportunities into value by aligning organizational activities under a common structure. Its core components are:
- Guiding Principles universal recommendations like Focus on Value, Start Where You Are, and Optimize and Automate.
- Governance ensuring alignment with strategic direction.
- Service Value Chain the operating model that transforms demand into value through six key activities.
- Continual Improvement ensuring services evolve and remain relevant.
- Management Practices sets of organizational resources designed to perform work or achieve objectives.
I realized that the SVS is powerful because it is flexible. Organizations can adapt it to different contexts, whether following Agile, DevOps, or traditional IT structures.
Linked Dimensions & Guiding Principles
We then worked on scenarios that combined the Four Dimensions of Service Management with Guiding Principles from ITIL. This showed how both frameworks are interconnected and complement each other in solving practical ITSM challenges:
Scenario 1
A chatbot is introduced to answer student FAQs (e.g., admissions, scholarships). Students complain it gives irrelevant answers, while staff say the data is outdated.
| Dimension causing the issue. Why? | Information & Technology. The chatbot uses outdated source data that is not regularly updated, so the answers provided are not relevant to the questions asked. |
| Principle and What is it? | Collaborate and Promote Visibility. We don’t need to solve all problems at once; we can make small improvements gradually by utilizing feedback from students and staff. |
| Link and how is it? | With iterative improvements, the chatbot can be tested and updated in cycles. Student feedback makes answers more accurate, while staff can continuously update the data source to keep it relevant. |
| Reflection | Other dimensions: Organizations & People (staff responsible for data maintenance), Value Streams & Processes (updating the workflow for the chatbot). Other principles: Collaborate and Promote Visibility (communication between IT and academic staff) and Focus on Value (prioritize student experience). |
Scenario 2
The university upgrades Wi-Fi. Vendors delay delivery of equipment, leaving dormitories without coverage. Clearly, there’s a service gap because of vendor’s risk that is not mitigated.
| Dimension causing the issue. Why? | Partners & Suppliers. The delay is caused by dependence on vendors and supplier risks that are not well managed, resulting in a service gap. |
| Principle and What is it? | Collaborate and Promote Visibility. Work across organizational boundaries with open communication, ensuring risks, progress, and obstacles are visible to all stakeholders. |
| Link and how is it? | By increasing visibility, the university and vendor can share risk mitigation plans, monitor equipment delivery schedules, and adjust actions quickly. This collaboration ensures accountability and minimizes delays. |
| Reflection | Other dimensions: Value Streams & Processes (logistics and deployment planning), Organizations & People (IT staff coordinating with vendors). Other principles: Optimize and Automate (improving tracking and monitoring), Focus on Value (ensuring dorm Wi-Fi is available as a key student service). |
These exercises showed me that ITSM challenges rarely sit in just one area. They usually cut across dimensions and require principles to guide responses. I began to see the SVS as a compass, not a rulebook.
The Service Value Chain (SVC) in Action
We practiced applying the six activities of the Service Value Chain to a real ITS case: the migration of the email system from @my.its.ac.id to @its.ac.id
Case Scenario
ITS is going to migrate its email system from @my.its.edu to @its.edu. Using the service value chain, explain how does the activities go from demand to value.
| SVC | Acivity |
|---|---|
| Plan | ITS sets the migration strategy from @my.its.ac.id to @its.ac.id to unify digital identity, enhance access security, and ease integration with Microsoft 365 services. This stage also includes scheduling, budgeting, and risk mitigation planning. |
| Engage | ITS actively communicates with stakeholders (students, lecturers, staff, vendors) to ensure needs are understood. Migration information is shared via official announcements, socialization, and other channels so everyone is prepared for the change. |
| Design & Transition | The IT team designs secure data transfer mechanisms (email, calendar, contacts, OneDrive) to the new domain. Settings like auto-forwarding and auto-reply are prepared to keep communication smooth. Migration is tested in stages to avoid disrupting campus activities. |
| Obtain/Build | ITS prepares the technical infrastructure for the new @its.ac.id email based on Microsoft 365. Servers, new accounts, and integration with supporting apps (Zoom, Teams, Office 365, etc.) are set up and tested before full implementation. |
| Deliver & Support | The migration is carried out with technical guides for students and staff, including manuals on logging in, syncing apps, and updating accounts on various platforms. The ITS helpdesk is on standby to assist users facing issues. |
| Improve | After migration, ITS collects user feedback on their experience. This input is used to improve documentation, enhance service capacity, and optimize the system. The evaluation also opens opportunities for further development to better support academic activities. |
This case study demonstrated how demand (a simpler and more professional email domain) can be systematically transformed into value (improved user experience, efficiency, and digital reputation).
Visualizing the Service Value System
To better understand how the SVS operates as a whole, I created a mind-map that placed all its components into a single picture. The map showed the Service Value Chain at the center, surrounded by guiding principles, governance, continual improvement, and practices.
ITIL Terms in Context
The week closed with a glossary of ITIL-related terms I had learned so far. Writing these definitions in my own words made the framework clearer
| ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) | A best practice framework for managing IT services with the goal of creating value. |
| Service Value System (SVS) | The overarching model that shows how all organizational components work together to create value. |
| Service Value Chain (SVC) | The operating model with six core activities (Plan, Engage, Design & Transition, Obtain/Build, Deliver & Support, Improve). |
| Four Dimensions of Service Management | Perspectives that must be considered in all services: People, Technology, Partners, and Processes. |
| Guiding Principles | Universal recommendations such as Focus on Value or Collaborate and Promote Visibility that help guide decisions. |
| Continual Improvement | Ongoing activity to ensure services remain relevant and effective. |
| Demand | The request or need from users that triggers activities. |
| Opportunity | A chance to improve or introduce services that generate value. |
| Value | The outcome experienced by stakeholders, shaped by both utility (fit for purpose) and warranty (fit for use). |
| Service Management Practices | Practices that manage services end-to-end, such as Incident Management or Change Enablement. |
| General Management Practices | Practices that apply across the organization, such as Risk Management or Continual Improvement. |
| Technical Management Practices | Practices focused on technology and infrastructure, such as Deployment or Software Development. |