What is value stream mapping (VSM)?

Any business that interacts with customers should recognise the importance of providing value. Without demonstrable, quantifiable value, customers fail to make the transition from buyer to enthusiast. However, as markets grow and audiences discover ever more purchasing options, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to create value propositions that stand out from the crowd. Value stream management and value stream mapping may offer the solution.

Value stream mapping (VSM) is a subset of value stream management, which is the process of integrating every aspect of your business workflow—the end-to-end process of developing and delivering software to your clients. Value stream management operates in a continuous cycle starting with the feedback from clients that drives demand, and ending with the operational management of the features that support that demand, which in turn drives new feedback. This business workflow is supported by the integration of technical solutions at every step of the way, from prioritising and planning to building, testing and deploying, and onto operational and service management.

But integration only describes the mechanics of value stream mapping; true value comes from value—customer value, specifically. Workflow has to be able to optimise the flow of value to the client, and by extension, the business. Additionally, effective VSM helps identify and resolve the bottlenecks, viewing your business as an integrated stream, not a series of individual points. Value stream mapping describes the reporting aspects of value stream management.

Mapping places value front and centre throughout the entire development and delivery process. Taking the form of highly-visual flowcharts, VSM uses symbols and directional arrows to represent work tasks and information flows. But where VSM differs from traditional flowcharts is in its focus on value. Every item associated with every step in the process is quantified as adding (or not adding) value, as seen from the customer’s view point. The business may then review, revise or reconsider those tasks that do not add obvious customer value.

Value stream mapping is a part of the Lean approach to business—maximising value while minimising waste. Lean defines ‘value’ as anything that the customer is willing to pay for. This includes relevant services, products, features, support etc. Waste describes steps or aspects of the process that customers are not interested in paying for, such as defects, wait time, low-value features, unnecessary documentation or approval processes, task switching and searching for information.

The purpose behind value stream mapping is relatively straightforward: helping your business visualise and improve entire processes, identifying and distinguishing between value-adding and wasteful steps. You can then streamline those processes to deliver increased customer value.

The end result is a structured picture of how items flow through the value stream, and where changes may be made to improve the collective process. In other words, VSM is about reducing the wasteful steps that stand in the way of delivering undiluted customer value.

As demand increases and development processes get more complex, it can be easy to lose sight of the customer. VSM realigns that focus, identifying those aspects of your processes that your customers actually care about. It puts the spotlight on their needs, their wants and their concerns, and helps you create the quickest, most efficient route to customer satisfaction.

In essence, value stream mapping acts as the customer’s representative, making sure that their voice is being heard throughout every step of development.

Additionally, VSM breaks down damaging information silos. It provides a unified view of overall processes to everyone involved, from business leaders and department heads to team members. Every player can see their specific contribution, where it fits in as a part of the whole, and how it contributes to a valuable, customer-focused end result. And, by creating a holistic snapshot of your existing processes, you can easily compare prior states to revised approaches, and evaluate if the changes have made a positive impact.

Finally, VSM is an exceptional tool for bringing key actors and decision makers together on a shared vision. In a relatively short amount of time, you can align teams and departments, get buy-in from leaders and establish vital objectives and KPIs.

Although value stream mapping is always focused on customer-centred value, it may play different strategic roles. Depending on the specific goals that a company or department wishes to accomplish, VSM applied at different levels and involving different teams and stakeholders can bring direct benefits to every aspect of a business. Executives and team leaders may employ VSM as a strategic tool to help clarify and simplify business-wide initiatives. At the same time, developers and specialists benefit from VSM by creating more-direct roadmaps and less wasteful production processes, allowing them to consistently produce more and better products.

But regardless of the advantages value stream mapping delivers throughout a business, in the end, it’s the customer who benefits most. VSM empowers organisations to provide their buyers with improved quality on fewer resources, and to always be working to improve their offering. By focusing on value, first and foremost, VSM businesses more consistently meet and exceed customer expectations.

According to the Forrester Wave™: Value Stream Management Solutions, ServiceNow is among the top VSM solutions providers in the world. Leveraging capabilities from a combination of DevOps and ITBM, utilising the Now Platform, and operating in conjunction with Governance, IT Operations Management, IT Service Management and Risk and Compliance, ServiceNow VSM provides businesses with several key benefits. These include:

• Automating change creation, tracking and approval, for faster innovation without any drop in quality.
• Automatically integrating with the DevOps tool chain to create an end-to-end audit trail, for reduced risk.
• Extending the advantages of the NowPlatform across software development and deployment processes, to simplify and scale enterprise DevOps.