This post will definitely fall under the “lessons learned” category and has to do with a Service Catalogue not really being on the high priority list for IT in hospitals.  At the past itSMf Fusion 10 conference I met a few fellow ITSM’ers that also work in hospitals, and when asked about implementing a Service Catalogue most responded with “it’s not a priority right now.”  And why isn’t it?  Once again I’ll look towards money as an answer:  Financial details aren’t high on the priority list for IT in health care.  This is not a good thing.  In fact, it’s a very bad thing.  Since IT in a hospital doesn’t charge for IT Services (at least mine and a few others don’t), why put the work into building and maintaining a Service Catalogue when the users won’t use it?  After all, putting a dollar amount to a Service Item that reads “EMR System to Prevent Medication Errors and Save Lives….$199.99” might look kind of bad.  On the other hand, if the hospital (as the business) asks IT where is all the money going, wouldn’t it be nice to be able to show that information?  In other words, get into the details for the cost of technology.  This also goes wonderfully in line with marketing the IT department as a valuable business asset instead of just a financial black hole.  Let the hospital know that supporting all of the initiatives costs a certain amount per employee and (in my case) as the hospital grows more IT staff will be required just to maintain current Service Levels.

This may not be the exact reason why to use or publish a Service Catalogue, but I think it’s one that gives an idea as to the true cost of technology.  People in the “business” may actually start to realize the expense of IT and will hopefully ask “why does it cost so much?”  Just be sure to have an answer ready.

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Started working in IT in 1999 as a support desk analyst as a way to help pay for food during college. Studied Electrical Engineering for two years before realizing biochemistry was more fun than differential equations, and so ultimately graduated with a Biology degree in 2006. Having (reluctantly) failed at getting accepted into dental school, embraced working in IT and has gone broke becoming an ITIL Expert. Likes to jog, sing camp songs, quote Mel Brooks movie lines and make dumb jokes and loves working for an Israeli tech company where December 25th is a regular work day.