ITIL has always emphasized the need for clearly defined roles. While previous versions have flip-flopped a bit between Process Owners and Process Managers, the newest 2011 version recommends both roles and differentiates between accountable “owners” and responsible “managers”. ITIL 2011 also speaks to the role of Service Owner, an individual who is accountable for and represents the the end-to-end service. Within each process, there may also be roles that are designed to carry out certain process activities.
Successful service management dictates that specific individuals are assigned to specific roles with specific responsibilities for one or more processes. But what about the rest of us? Where do we fit into the service management program? What role do we play?
ITIL 2011 has now defined a key role for anyone that executes any activity within any process – the Process Practitioner.
The Process Practitioner
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Carries out one or more process activities
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Understands how his or her role adds to value creation
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Works with other stakeholders to ensure contributions are effective
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Ensures inputs, outputs and interfaces for activities are correct
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Creates or updates activity-based records
Process practitioners can be internal or external staff, suppliers, consultants - even potentially users and customers. They are the "doers" of the process and their activities may cross into multiple groups and multiple processes.
However you choose to define your Process Practitioners, this role must be considered when designing, implementing and managing your processes. The inclusion of a Process Practitioner role should also help organizations build and manage a RACI matrices. If you recall, a RACI model maps roles and responsibilities to tasks or activities. Leveraging the Process Practitioner role at the highest RACI level can determine workloads and potentially identify process bottlenecks.