[1][2] Sourcing information technology capabilities and capacity from multiple external suppliers is becoming a dominant operating model for many large IT organisations.
[1] In 2016, Scopism, a management consultancy, worked with a team of experts from companies and independents including Atos, TCS and Sopra Steria to create the SIAM Foundation Body of Knowledge.
They need to build and continuously improve these capabilities for performing successful service integration and management.
Some common issues include: The SIAM BoK claims that some key benefits of moving to a well managed multisourced IT organisation can include: SIAM aims to bring the desired governance and control which will ensure organisational policies and standards are not ignored or inconsistently applied; and suppliers act in a cohesive and efficient manner.
[9] A SIAM function, department or team will typically: Examples of specific activities that a SIAM team would undertake include: assessing changes to the infrastructure and applications; managing the resolution of incidents which affect a service supported by multiple service providers; and coordinating disaster recovery.
In addition, a SIAM team would act as the gatekeeper by enforcing change, security accreditation, testing and release processes.
ITIL processes and capabilities provide a strong foundation for implementing SIAM because they cover the lifecycle of IT services, and the terminology is recognized and understood by most IT suppliers.
ITIL, therefore, provides a strong platform and common language with which a SIAM team can manage and work with a full spectrum of suppliers.
Whilst ITIL provides high level guidance on many aspects of IT management relevant to SIAM it does not currently do so in the context of a multi-supplier eco-system.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that SIAM is more mature in Europe, Japan and Australia than in North America.