The concept of ‘Unified’ is explained below from an architectural perspective:

1. The universal ‘link’ for interoperability - In the USM architecture, each service provider is seen as a link in a chain or network. This applies to all internal secondary  teams (like the IT department, HR, and Finance), all internal primary teams (in any LoB like health care, government, or any other domain), as well as to all external providers.

  • To make chains strong and supply chains functioning, these links must fit together. ‘Unified’ here means that each link uses the same service management architecture for its management system.
  • This creates a standardized interface, resulting in interoperability: different domains can work together seamlessly because they use the same process logic, terminology, and interaction models.

2. An architecture instead of a collection of ‘practices’ - For an architect, it is crucial that ‘Unified’ means that the organization is structured on the basis of principles and structure, and not on the basis of a loose collection of ‘best practices’ (as is often the case in ITIL or COBIT).

  • ‘Unified’ implies an integral and integrated process model. This model should be non-redundant for maximum efficiency: each activity should occur only once in the entire system.
  • This contrasts with traditional frameworks that define a separate 'process'(i.e. a practice) for each domain (e.g., Security, Capacity, Incident), leading to fragmentation and complexity.

3. Enterprise Service Management (ESM) - The concept of ‘Unified’ breaks down the silos between disciplines. The architecture is agnostic with regard to the discipline (line of business).

  • Whether it concerns providing a laptop (IT), a payslip (HR), or a passport (Government), the underlying management structure is identical, as specified with The 1-5-8 Formula: 1 service specification, 5 processes and 8 workflow patterns.
  • This enables an architect to design a single Enterprise Service Management System that serves the entire organization, rather than separate systems for each department.

4. Systems Thinking - From an architectural point of view, ‘Unified’ is based on Systems Thinking. A system is a coherent set of components (People, Processes, Technology) that together provide a performance.

  • ‘Unified’ means that these components are not managed as separate silos, but in conjunction with each other.
  • The First Law of Systems Thinking says: "A system consists of unique components that cannot do what the other components do and interact with each other".
  • The Second Law ofSystems Thinking says: "Improving the performance of the system cannot be done by improving one component alone, but requires the integration of all essential components".

In summary for the architect: ‘Unified’ in USM is the application of the principle "Standardize" at the management system level. It provides the manager with the “LEGO brick”: a standardized building block with which every conceivable service organization and every supply chain can be built, without the internal design (the “color” of the brick, the black box) having to be identical for each unit, as long as the studs (the interfaces/processes) fit together.