Page 74 - ITIL® Foundation 3.15

What is a Service (unofficial)
A service is only needed if the delivery of that service allows the user to perform some “user” objective better or easier than the objective could have been performed without the use of the service.
The author lives in a rural area and (at
one time) had no utility
provided water source.
Water was used from a
400 ft. deep well. The
author owned the well pump and all of the infrastructure used for delivery of water. Water, although really a physical product, can be thought of as a service in this instance. Water is only good to a person if they want to accomplish some objectives. Examples of objectives that water helps to accomplish are: 1) Take a shower, 2) extinguish thirst, 3) cook, 4) wash dishes or clothes, 5) wash your car, or 6) water the lawn. If not wishing to accomplish any of these tasks, then water is unnecessary. Services act in much the same way... they sit there waiting to be used, but are unnecessary until the user needs them to accomplish
a task. When county water became available, the
author was the first person in the office asking about
being “hooked up”. No longer is this user responsible
for the infrastructure cost and risk required to deliver water. The 6 goals above can be accomplished using
the service (water) that is provided by a service
provider (water department)... The water department assumes all of the cost and risk associated with water delivery. The user just uses the service and pays a
monthly fee for delivery. If the tap is turned on, and no “service” comes out, then there is an incident process with a phone number to call... Services are what comes out of the pipes, not the pipes themselves.
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