The Learning Lab experience is supported by both asynchronous and synchronous components. Each part includes a set of resources, an asynchronous discussion, and an interactive live session, all of which culminate in the development of a project to apply learning to local and specific contexts in support of the learning objectives.
Schedule
Part 1: Understanding Your ITSM Reality
December 7, 2026, 12:00–1:30 p.m. ET
Participants will examine the current state of ITSM at their institution. Using a practical maturity framework, they will assess strengths and gaps across services, governance, metrics, automation readiness, and organizational alignment. The session focuses on identifying the factors that most often prevent ITSM programs from delivering consistent value and selecting a small number of improvement priorities that will guide work throughout the Lab.
Learning Objectives:
- Evaluate current ITSM strengths and friction points.
- Analyze how governance structure impacts service delivery.
- Identify 2-3 priority improvement areas.
Part 2: Designing Services That Scale
December 9, 2026, 12:00–1:30 p.m. ET
Participants will choose one real service from their institution and improve how it is defined. Using a practical service definition framework, they will clarify the service’s value, who it serves, who owns it, and what processes support it. The session focuses on defining services and processes clearly enough to measure, improve, automate, and eventually support AI-assisted workflows.
Learning Objectives:
- Apply a service definition framework to a real service.
- Clarify service ownership and reduce role confusion.
- Identify automation or AI opportunities based on process maturity.
Part 3: Governance, Metrics, and Enterprise Readiness
December 14, 2026, 12:00–1:30 p.m. ET
Participants will explore how governance, metrics, and stakeholder engagement influence the success of service management programs. They will examine governance approaches for centralized and distributed environments, assess whether current metrics demonstrate institutional value, and consider what conditions should be in place before expanding service management beyond IT. The session focuses on creating alignment between services, decision-making, and measurable outcomes.
Learning Objectives:
- Distinguish between governance models and identify appropriate structures for their institution.
- Align service metrics and dashboards to measurable institutional value.
- Evaluate readiness for ESM expansion and cross-campus partnership.
Part 4: Building Your ITSM Improvement Roadmap
December 16, 2026, 12:00–1:30 p.m. ET
In the final session, participants turn their findings into a clear and realistic improvement plan. The focus is on choosing the most important actions in governance, service design, metrics, and automation to improve ITSM maturity over the next 12 months. Participants will leave with practical language and a simple structure to request resources, strengthen campus partnerships, and show leadership the value of their work.
Learning Objectives:
- Create a prioritized ITSM improvement roadmap.
- Explain needed resources and stakeholder engagement plans.
- Choose one automation or AI pilot that supports service maturity.
Lab Project/Assignments
Throughout the Lab, participants will develop an ITSM Action Brief using one real service from their institution as a case study. By examining a single service, participants will identify broader opportunities to strengthen governance, measurement, automation readiness, and overall ITSM maturity.
By the end of the Lab, participants will have:
- An ITSM maturity snapshot identifying key strengths and improvement opportunities
- A refined service definition with clarified ownership and success measures
- A short-term and long-term improvement roadmap
- One potential automation or AI opportunity aligned with service maturity
Participants will leave with a practical framework for improving one service today while advancing broader ITSM goals over time.