Can someone please explain to me what a service integrator is?

From the cloud to digital transformation, Scrum, DevOps to SIAM and now the service integrator. Not a week goes by without a new IT buzzword. So today we are looking at the latter, the service integrator. What does the service integrator have in common with a construction site supervisor? It turns out a lot. It is the easiest way to explain what a service integrator does.

The construction site supervisor and the service integrator

Cost pressure, quality and the often missing overall responsibility play an essential role in IT. In construction, as we Austrians like to say, it has long been recognized that an additional authority is required to coordinate the suppliers and customers involved in the sense of end-to-end responsibility – a construction site supervision.

The “building supervision” controls the construction work on behalf of the client, as the client usually does not have the necessary experience and competence. Basically, the interaction, the orchestration and the suppliers involved are monitored and controlled.

In the SIAM (Service Integration And Management) context, this means that the Service Integrator assumes this function and performs it on behalf of the customer organization (IT). Regardless of whether the external, internal, hybrid integrator model or the lead supplier model is used – what the differences are can be read on SIAM Insights, it must be clearly regulated which powers and responsibilities, i.e. rights and obligations, should and can be assumed by the client, i.e. the builder. It must also be clearly regulated which competence the integrator is awarded for managing possible internal service providers. The danger lurks here that the service integrator will be rendered “toothless” due to a lack of authority and support, and thus not taken seriously by the client’s organizational units and the service providers (internal as well as external) to be controlled.

In the course of the execution, the site supervision ensures that all providers / suppliers provide the services specified in the contract and regulates possible deviations from them. She is also responsible for the following activities:

Representation of the client’s interests
Coordination & control of the executing companies
Financial Management & Controlling
Defects are identified and rectified – Continual Service Improvement.

These activities are basically the same as those of a service integrator in a SIAM model.

The construction supervision is also not to be equated with the construction management. This is another important role in a construction project. The “construction management” is usually carried out by an executing company. In our case, that would be the role of the service delivery manager of the respective service provider. This serves as a mouthpiece for the organization of the respective provider and as a contact person for the service integrator.

SIAM: a management model for controlling several service providers

Service Integration And Management (SIAM) is a management model for controlling multiple service providers in IT outsourcing. All right? Do you now dare to use the Service Integrator in your IT conversations? If you have any further questions about SIAM and multi-provider management, the experts at Blueponte will be happy to help.

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Can someone please explain to me what a service integrator is?